“Bermuda” Tops the Indie Pops
A former travel writer’s wistful memories of an assignment in Bermuda has inspired one of the most played and most-talked about indie music tracks in the world.
Penned by singer Jesse Kivel, the whimsical, retro-sounding “Bermuda” from Los Angeles duo Kisses’ debut CD “The Heart Of The Nightlife” is a nostalgic throwback to 1980s electro-pop.
“Kivel was a travel writer, and ‘Bermuda’ was apparently written as a way of capturing the feeling of freedom that results from escape to far-flung destinations and the simultaneous sense of isolation and distance from loved ones and home,”said a UK critic by way of explaining the song’s locally-inspired title and subject matter.
Variously described as “heart-rendingly lovely” and “as light as a feather as Jesse Kivel’s voice contentedly drifts over hypnotising wafts of synthesizers, strings and percussion,” the lyrics to this haunting ode include the lines: ”Bermuda, in the night you dance with me, I thought that all my friends were over me. Oh Bermuda, I’m alone, Bermuda, I’m all alone …”
Released earlier this year, the single is currently enjoying a massive resurgence in interest worldwide after Kisses — which comprises Kivel and girlfriend Zinzi Edmundson – made a wildly popular appearance at a New York music festival. As a result, the UK’s “Independent” newspaper reports “Bermuda” is now among the most discussed and widely-circulated tracks on music blogs internationally.
“To these ears, ‘Bermuda’ is a winsome, lo-fi pop composition filled with unlikely, cheap synths, a delightfully handclap-heavy drum machine thump, and a terrific sense of melody,” raved one on-line reviewer. “Indeed, one of the most defining traits of (Kivel) is his gifted hand when it comes to whipping up large, flowing melodic passages, and this track is no exception. Singing of ‘Bermuda in the night’ is potentially fraught with all kinds of kitschy peril, but Kisses’ tunefulness is too sweeping and uncomplicated to resist.”
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