In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are modern musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.
Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It”, where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.
“Do Myself Better” — Davy Boi
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How We Found It
“Do Myself Better” is a pledge to take self-care more seriously. It’s about looking at Imposter Syndrome in the face and confronting daily anxiety in a tongue & cheek manner. Davy Boi wrote the song in a session with a co-writer friend and carved out the theme. Then did melody & lyrics on the song which informed the production of the track with what he wanted it to sound like & feel like. Due to covid a couple meetings on Zoom helped to work out the production from MKBLV & Shiftee. Luckily the smooth yet upbeat and poignant summer slap landed in our SubmitHub inbox.
Why We Like It
The opening sounds of “Do Myself Better” include a set of strings seemingly sampled from a black and white horror or adventure film. They feel like a build up to a climactic moment of reckoning. They drop out directly into summery strums of an acoustic guitar. It feels random off the rip, yet hooks you. Whatever the feeling between tickled and surprised is, describes the reaction. This juxtaposition of relaxed and free with intense and driving (in a way that at times feels slightly odd) makes Davy Boi’s new single hard to ignore or forget.
Over the just described guitar, which sonically evokes joy and relaxation, Davy Boi croons about his own self-doubt and self-deprecation. He sings, “Today I woke up feeling fake. Like I’m not worth the time it takes.” In this strange dichotomy Davy sets the listener up for his forthcoming positive outlook. It almost feels slightly humorous in its lack of matching sentiment, which only makes you want to hear more. When the chorus comes in with booming 808’s to drive the tempo, you feel relief and triumph as Davy sings, “Tryna, tryna keep my shit together. Gotta, gotta do myself better.” He reveals his mantra, that the song centers around, that combats his own fear and disbelief.
The second verse starts with the acapella lyrics, “I’m putting on my happy face.” Then bouncing off those words, he inserts the old time movie strings, again implying the struggle of his attempts at outward confidence. Davy then immediately moves into the main beat and lyrical content. He strikes again with unexpected compositional switches to mirror his own instability. The strings enter one last time after an ethereal and contemplative bridge section, and the third and last iteration of the chorus. However this time instead of moving into a place of comfort, what arrives is an outro of distortion. The closing sounds are ones of chaos and surrendering of positivity. Davy can no longer escape the impending doom of his mind-state.
From Davy Boi
“For me the song kinda has mood shifts or you can call them swings, the string sample at the top of verse two for example is painting that emotional moment. So in the emotional journey of the track the coda is sonically my anxiety disorder kicking in, which is a big part of the overall theme of the track.” – Davy Boi for CentralSauce (2020)
More From Davy Boi
The single is accompanied by Davy Boi’s new podcast series of the same name – Do Myself Better. On it, he sits down with predominately Queer talents to discuss self-care particularly during the current global pandemic. Davy Boi’s previous songs are compiled onto the 2019 EP errything so far… It includes “Dirty Mind” featuring Queens rapper Dai Burger, “what u like,” that evokes a disco era Bay Area venue, and “Foundation,” a personal song on growth & self-confidence. Also follow Davy Boi on Instagram and Twitter.
More to Discover
Subscribe to the CentralSauce mailing list so you never miss out on the freshest sauce. Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Miki has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.
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