There’s a contradiction at the centre of ‘with soul’ that gives the track much of its appeal. Music disappears the moment it’s played, yet somehow manages to survive long after the people who made it are gone. Toronto artist torched porsche takes that tension and turns it into a sleek, thoughtful piece of alt-pop about intimacy, creativity and the desire to leave something meaningful behind.
Taken from the forthcoming album art lovers, the single continues a wider exploration of permanence and imperfection. The question is a familiar one, but torched porsche approaches it from an interesting angle: if human lives are temporary, perhaps art is one of the few ways to push against that limit.
Producer and musician Joel Keitner brings intricate guitar work and sharply executed bass passages into a production that also draws from electronic and hip-hop textures. The result is polished without feeling sterile, with enough movement in the arrangement to keep the track physically engaging even as the lyrics turn towards more philosophical territory.
There are shades of Glass Animals, Miike Snow and The Neighbourhood in the combination of hazy synths, deep bass and delayed guitar textures, but torched porsche is most interesting when those influences dissolve into something less easily categorised.
‘with soul’ also benefits from its sense of restraint. The concept could easily have become overly grand, yet the track keeps its focus on the connection between artist and audience, body and sound, the present moment and whatever remains afterwards.
As another piece of art lovers, it suggests an album increasingly comfortable asking large questions without sacrificing immediacy. torched porsche understands that no song can truly defeat time. But ‘with soul’ makes a convincing case for why artists keep trying anyway.