𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 - this week: Airtist - POL

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly - an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘼𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 - 𝙋𝙊𝙇

Charles plays with words…

A couple of weeks ago I went into the idea of the enigma, and whether it is always a good idea to solve them. Well, here’s something a little more accessible to most of us, and certainly something where the goal IS to find the answer. Word games. We have all at one time or another played word games of a sort. Whether it be the humble and utterly pointless “word search”, or perhaps something a little more taxing like anagrams, I believe there truly is something for everyone. My father, for example, completes The Times Crossword on a daily basis since his 20s. As WE are munching through a bowl of cereal in the morning, there HE is, eating words for breakfast. I count my own wordy pastime as being these very reviews. You may think of this as not really being much of a puzzle, but if you think about it, I have all these words in my head: I just have to select the appropriate ones and put them in the right order. This is the tricky part. Lucky for me, though, there is no “one answer”. Just like in music: there is no definite good or definite bad. No definite right or definite wrong. But speaking of definite rights in music, let’s (once again!) take our good old friends, Joan, Pol, Stodge and Wrongo. The group’s very name was a play on words. Or on word, anyway. “It’s Beetles with an A”, said Joan. emphasising the “Beat”, as it were. Hilarious! Well, not hilarious. Pretty darned awful, if you ask me. But luckily their music turned out to be pretty darned good, so the name was hardly important by this point. The Who? A splendid little cleverity. The Rolling Stones? Poetically justified. Coldplay? Well, I get the feeling they hadn’t read the instructions, meant to come back later and finish it, but never did. And then there’s U2. There’s always someone who goes too far and spoils the party. Thank you, Bono. Words form our entire existence as humans, but few use them further than a means of conversation. How’s about a little less conversation: a little more action, please. We can hide things in the context of words. We can make fun things funner! Words are most of wit, for me. If a word is just a word, it doesn’t exactly excite, inspire or intrigue. But sometimes even just an innocent word can take on a new personality if viewed in a different way. Take the verb “Understand”, for example. Now split it in two. We have “under”, we have “stand”. Now think literally. When our legs are straight and in a vertical position, we are standing. What is under that? The floor. To floor someone, is to amaze and render them speechless. So the next time someone explains something wildly complicated, followed by “Understand?”, you can simply reply “Understood.”, despite not having comprehended a single syllable. But they have indeed floored you. Understand? No, I thought not. I will dribble on, regardless.

I am not a huge fan of jokes in lyrics, however. Wit, yes. “Clever”, annoying jokes, no. A subtle difference that (you’ll be relieved to hear) I won’t be going in to. But occasionally there is something brilliant in a lyric that you just didn’t see coming. Take Pol Bacardi’s Lovely Rita, for example: “In a cap, she looked much older, and the bag across her shoulder, made her look a little like a military man” - this use of “military man” instead of the obvious “soldier” rhyme, was simply inspired! Now what if I told you there was another Pol in the game? And what if I told you he was able to make wordplay and riddles full of hidden meaning, from instrumental music…? Please Welcome POL to the stage, with his latest single, Airtist. Now, how many of you have seen the title on the New Artist Spotlight playlists and assumed it was “Artist”…? Come on, be honest. Or maybe some of you thought it was an error? I personally noticed instantly (because I’m purfict in evrysingel way) and was intrigued from the day of its release. But as you all know, I like to keep things a mystery. Up to a point. Then I can take it no longer. So what does it mean, I hear you cry? Simply put, it is a blend of the words “artist” and “air”. We, as artists “shape the air through sound”, says POL. Having taught guitar in the past, he referred to his students as “sculptors of the air”. Now THIS, I like. And THIS is exactly how I feel about his own virtuosic guitar playing. It is far from inane widdling. It is crafted and indeed sculpted. It slices through the very air in front of you, like a skilled samurai. As his music continues with rapid tidal force, he is less a samurai, and more a ninja. The air is thin at the mountain’s peak, but POL is playing from the clouds. The world is his amphitheatre. His guitar starts to speak. Nay: scream, like a demonic angel on acid. At times he makes Brian May sound positively introverted. In fact, in a way, POL has been able to take Queen into the 21st Century, blurring the lines of the division. Utterly classic; utterly new. But first and foremost, it damned well ROCKS!!

Do the riddles stop at Airtist…? Do they, hell. Another release of his from March of 2021 is called 2One. So that’s Two One, right? The year it was released. Well, yes, it is. But that’s not all. Okay, I’ll try again. Twenty Knee? Is it about a terrifying spider with 20 legs? Surprisingly, that’s not it. The Two can also be construed as a Zed. Or a Zee (for you drinking Coca-Cola from an aluminum can), making it Zone. It refers to Zone 21. Don’t know what that is? Well, “a Zone 21 area is classified as a place in which an explosive atmosphere consisting of a mixture with air or flammable substances in the form of powder or dust is likely to occur in normal operation”. But of COURSE!! Everyone knows that. To quote Billie Eilish: “Duh”. So you see, POL does very much enjoy these hidden little messages within his instrumental music. It truly adds another dimension to the already tremendous talent he exudes. What about another 2021 release by the name HIT ME… Seems pretty self explanatory. Could be literal, for someone who likes that sort of thing. Could be like Max Martin - the accomplished and disgustingly wealthy songwriter - cleverly used it in Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time… But it’s not. It involves POL’s native language of Spanish. “Today I try everything except escape” translates into Spanish as “Hoy intento todo menos escapar”. Take those initial letters, and what do you get…? H I T M E. Bloody AMAZING!!!

There is SO much more hidden meaning in POL’s repertoire, but I will leave that for you to decipher. I must however implore you to watch his music videos, as there are even more hidden gems lurking beneath the surface. These are truly staggering videos.

Understand…? Understood.

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