12. 'In the Water': An Unexpected Journey

(Continued from Chronicle 11. At the Comet: ‘The Mortals’ Final Show)

When the big show with which ‘The Mortals’ bid an indefinite farewell to the stage came to an end, we were all left floating on a cloud. An immense feeling of peace and daze began to wash over us, especially me, who hadn't stopped since 7 in the morning. My shirt was soaked from all that jumping and headbanging. My neck didn't even dare to complain, but I could feel its call. That night would be burned into our minds forever, but things had only just begun, especially given what was coming next.

but things had only just begun,

especially given what was coming next.

We bid the band a warm farewell and, after regrouping our circle of friends, the six of us stepped out of the bar with a smile wider than SpongeBob's. I mean, we looked like six laughing sacks on legs, and when one wasn't laughing, another — guy or girl — was, so what an orchestra we made, right out in the street at that hour. -Please, somebody make it stop!-, I begged inwardly. And even I, who didn't even get the jokes, was no exception. They spoke that 1-a.m. English and I didn't catch much, but I was in stitches just from watching their faces contorted by such roars of laughter. We looked like a procession of zombies bursting with joy. When we reached the big Jeep, Seth opened the door and, a bit more serious and composed, drove us all back to his house.

Earlier, during the concert, they had floated the idea of me joining them after the show to spend the weekend at a place I had never heard of in my life, but at least I knew it was countryside, nature, the open air — flowers and trees instead of concrete and buildings. I immediately pictured the typical American movie scene where a group of friends goes off to spend a few days at a cabin in the middle of a forest and mysteriously — plop! — one by one they start dropping like flies!

They asked me to bring a swimsuit. They were saying something about a lake, but I had never set foot in one, nor did I intend to. With the sea and the beach twenty minutes from my house in Menorca, as if I were going to wade into some lake. Who knows how many amoebas and protozoa that thing was crawling with. The image of the famous three-eyed fish from a certain episode of The Simpsons came to me right away. I had watched way too many movies. That's how TV raises us, or “the window of leisure” as the lyrics by these NDNO guys go. TV, that little gadget that later, once we're over here in the United States, makes us think: -Holy cow, it's like I'm in a movie all day long!-.

Once we got to Seth's house we split up into two cars to head for the destination I would discover the next day: Lake Cumberland. I rode with the girls from Pennsylvania, and on the way we stopped by my apartment to grab some clothes — not forgetting the swimsuit, of course. Behind the wheel was Alyssa, a young, attractive blonde who did graphic design for t-shirts and logos. She also did contortion, as the incredible musculature of her body would later reveal to me. What a six-pack she was sporting. More than a few would love to have one like it. Meanwhile, riding shotgun was Hunter, the other friend who, as her name suggests, devoted herself, among other things, to deer hunting. Apparently the overpopulation of these animals in Kentucky, as she told me on the way to the woods, poses an extremely serious problem for forest regeneration and an enormous risk for drivers who cross paths with them in the middle of the road. As if the deer were to blame for humans wiping out nearly all the wolves in the state and, as a result, the deer population exploding out of all proportion. I have sometimes seen them slipping away past the shoulders of the interstate highways, and even lying dead right on the shoulder. Man was now the wolf. All in all, who would ever have guessed that those two attractive girls devoted themselves to such unsuspected, yet entirely legitimate, pursuits.

The drive was long and got a bit heavy for me. It lasted about three and a half hours. We stopped at a few gas stations and even had time to take a few wrong exits and get lost. Honestly, when they do roadwork right on the highway, it turns into such a chaos of markers and signs that driving through it is terrifying. It was nighttime and I was tired, drowsy, and quite hungry. I was riding in the back of a Blue Toyota Camry. None of your Seat Pandas or Cinquecentos here. The spaciousness and comfort of its seats felt like a vast bed inviting me to sleep. I felt like stretching out there at my leisure and enjoying the string of great tracks that hit me the moment I climbed into the ride. I felt like I was in Thelma and Louise's car, enjoying as a mere spectator the musical tastes of Alyssa and Hunter, their siren songs and their mere presence as we crossed Kentucky from north to south.

I felt like I was in Thelma and Louise's car, enjoying as a mere spectator the musical tastes of Alyssa and Hunter, their siren songs and

their mere presence as we crossed Kentucky from north to south.

I began to fall in love with both of them, so if Lexi wasn't enough, now I was up against these two new fronts that I had zero control over. Let's say each one carried her own brand of madness that I connected with. But I cursed my own — falling so fast into such nets. I knew all too well that as quickly as those forces invaded me, just as fast I would have to shake them off. But man lives on dreams, and at that hour of my nocturnal intoxication I wasn't up for many moral games, so I went on surrendering to the magic of that night, barely able to put up any resistance. I pulled out my phone, fired up Shazam and started hunting songs like a madman. It was one more way of learning something about them. They were opening their souls to me without my being the invited guest. I liked almost every track, and on top of that I was under the spell of their profiles, which I glimpsed intermittently in the constant headlights of the passing cars.

I began to fall in love with both of them,

so if Lexi wasn't enough,

now I was up against these two new fronts

that I had zero control over.

It was one more way of learning something about them.

They were opening their souls to me without my being the invited guest.

It was a trip with its very own, original soundtrack. Every song was part of that story and a new enchantment with which those two nocturnal beings finished casting their spell over my night. I was caught, as if in a spiderweb, by the sonic atmospheres emanating from those carefully studied fusions of EDM playing in there. It was a kind of electro made in USA that was pretty addictive, even though it's not my style. But it had something that made it special: the night, the situation, them. Music that alternated with other alternative influences and even Chill out. I was marked by the tracks of Oliver Tree, like Life Goes On; Jerk or Alien Boy, ideal for setting off on that voyage that had only just begun. I began to feel like I was at a new concert, only with the luxury and exclusivity of being alone with the two of them. Then came pieces where the soft, calm melodies gave way at once to the vibrations of those powerful 808 basses, later alternating with a raw guitar which, on its own, eased down the climax that had already hooked you from the very start. All of it to smooth a terrain that carried you back up to that peak with which the whole car vibrated. I discovered the powerful, exquisite electro of the Canadian producer Rezz , in collaboration with the American musician Grabbitz on their Someone Else, whose opening alone already had me levitating. At that precise moment I felt so immersed in alternative American culture that I can no longer say whether it was all part of a dream. However, when the next track came on: Gold (Stupid Love), by the American DJ Illenium, my foundations shook. I began to feel its lyrics as part of my story, of my movie on that journey with the new Thelma and Louise. As the lyrics moved on, my eyes welled up more and more, understanding the premonition of the destiny that awaited me before those two beings of light.

I began to feel its lyrics as part of my story,

of my movie on that journey

with the new Thelma and Louise.

[Verse 1]
[…]

[Chorus]
[…]

[Post-Chorus]
[…]
[…]

[Verse 2]
[…]

[Bridge]
[…]

[Post-Chorus]
[…]

[…]

When the song ended I felt a great sense of release and took it as a great message someone was sending me at that precise instant of ‘an unexpected journey‘.

Next came upbeat, uplifting tracks like Teleport, by Grabbitz; or the alternative rock of new American bands like Paramore with their Ain´t It Fun; or the exquisite production of Go F*ck Urself, by Royal & The serpent, whose chorus stood out to me for that ultra-saturation of vocals which at moments took me back to the purest grunge style, or ‘Seattle sound’, which has left such a mark on me.

Suddenly, a voice pulled me out of my movie: –Do you wanna?– Hunter was asking me.

– To be continued next Saturday, March 2, 2024.

Chronicle 13. ‘In the Water‘: Just in case