Only a band from Brooklyn, NY could encapsulate what would be considered a 'midnight love letter' to whom ever those feelings where aim towards. Adrianne Lenker, lead vocals for Big Thief, educates the audience with how we would want to be, rather than how it should be. Love can not only be blind but hypnotizing and unrational. Maybe even radical but who would have ever thought that would be ill advised. Paul may be the name of the individual however, even so the track name seems to hold the power of 'exactly the right amount of what was needed in four letters' within.
As melodic as Paul presents itself, half-way through the guitar acts as a hollowed-out glass euphoric touch. Vibrating and echoing the times that use to be and now how memories tend to fade and made-up scenarios fill the gaps. What Big Thief are accomplishing is a sentimental letter without over stepping the overly too smooth boundary. Something about Paul is real and even though you may not know a Paul, someone in your life ultimately fits the discription. Or in this case, the idea.
Instead of nostalgia being the prime reason to listen to this track, try listening from a different stand point. Maybe a pair of friends that are going through a struggle or even an old friend that has come back into your life. Because filling those gaps more than likely have reasons to be missing in the first place.
