The Helio Sequence - "Hallelujah"

I'll just make a clarification right now. This is not the one billionth version of Leonard Cohen's classic. This is a song that has clawed its way to become one of my favorite songs of all time.

Interestingly enough, this song's in the same ball park as Buckl- er, Cohen's song. For as high as Helio Sequence's electronic wall of sound can get, they really can't mask the fact that at the heart, "Hallelujah" is a three chord folk song. The march of the drums and the arresting cadence of Brandon Summers' voice, if left by themselves, wouldn't be out of place on a Noah and the Whale album.

Lyrically, the song follows in that folky vein. It's an interesting treatise on religion, part praise ("Everyone moved with ease") and part condemnation ("We don't want answers anyway.") The simplicity and cleverness with which Summers writes isn't marred by the inanity or unappealingly bitter acerbity that sometimes plagues indie songwriters. Especially on subject matter like this. "Hallelujah" is crestfallen and disappointed, and poignantly so.

Musically, "Hallelujah" is a thrilling example of the whole being more than the sum of the parts. The video game bleeps and wash of static at the outset spiral behind and add a bit of heft to the simple guitar part. And when drummer Ben Weikel starts showing his skills a bit more, that wall of sound starts to become more and more unignorable. Combine that with the lyrics, and this is just a gut wrenching song.

The last two minutes of the song is the sucker punch. I do need to declare my bias; an instrumental passage in a song will capture my attention more thoroughly than anything. As such, an extended instrumental coda, especially one as powerful the last half of "Hallelujah," will absolutely enthrall me.

I visualize instrumentals, and when the chord progression changes at that two minute mark my attention is completely held. And as the bass finally kicks in and those little keyboard phrases pile on, the effect is quite literally awe inspiring.

This is easily my favorite piece of music from the last five years.