Papercuts: Warmth And Doubt In A Single Breath

Courtesy of the artist

Jason Robert Quever, the sole mainstay of Papercuts, finds a sweet spot between dreamy, psychedelic pop and so-called freak-folk on his new album, Fading Parade. The record's most affecting song, "Do You Really Wanna Know?" provides further evidence of Quever's creative vitality, as his cherubic voice takes an easy ride on ripples of guitar.

"I just don't know right now if I love you so / But you don't look so bad in the grass in the sun / I don't mind, I don't mind if it's all an illusion," Quever sings, wrapping up warmth and doubt in a single breath. The uncertain relationship of convenience at the song's core may have no real future, but he still finds a way to cast it in amber; a good thing, given the inevitability of the thrill's evaporation. In that way, it's a perfect song to accompany the longer days of a spring that hasn't quite arrived: You might as well learn to stomach the sweaters a little while longer, because you may well pine for them as soon as you no longer need them.