“Why is your hate so addicting?” begins the first track of the album Nocturne by Wild Nothing, consisting of Jack Tatum. The subtle nuances of the track coupled with dreamlike lyrics belie a much darker, more sinister meaning. For his lover has treated the persona so badly in the past yet despite this, is still drawn to her. Personally, this is my favorite track of the album not only for its darkness, but the strange urgency that Shadow seems to bring to the table. Ian Cohen writes:
“This seems self-defeating for a guy who works in a style of lovelorn, Anglophilic indie rock that never goes in style because it never really goes out of style, and tends to favor extreme recluses or extroverts for its breakout artists. Fortunately, Nocturne distinguishes itself from the perrennial crowd of dream-pop nostalgists for the same reason Wild Nothing's 2010 debut Gemini did: Tatum is simply one of the best songwriters in this field, and Nocturne's significant upgrade in fidelity makes that point more clearly than ever.”
Pitchfork.com
Though the above is coverage of the entire album, it is that “fidelity” that Cohen notes throughout the album that gives Shadow that almost unreal quality.
“I try to feel something for you
But that’s all that I can do
Give my shadow to you”
Genius.com
There’s that strange, almost psychotic quality to the stalker-like behaviour and as earlier indicated, the persona may be a textbook case Stockholm Syndrome sufferer. He follows the ex-lover around like a shadow, doggedly chasing after her and unwilling to let her go. Though there is no repetition in the lyrics, on further listening, the song almost seems like a mantra, with the persona telling her with more fervour each time, that he will follow her to the ends of the earth regardless of what she does to him.
If that isn’t scary, I don’t know what is.
