Track by Track: Your Arms Are My Cocoon
Two words that I never thought I’d hear in 2020 is bedroom skramz. These are two subgenres, at least on first look, seem to be in opposition to each other. But that’s the joy of the debut release from Your Arms Are My Cocoon, the project from 19-year-old and recent Chicago transplant Tyler Odom. The thought behind the project was simple. These are two styles of music I like, so why not try to combine them? What comes out of that simple thought is pure joy for the listener, even if it's documenting Odom coming out of the depths of a deep depression hole.
Almost immediately after hearing the record on Bandcamp, I reached out to Odom to do a track-by-track breakdown of his debut. Read his words below.
Foster Nosferatu
Before I recorded this project I was in a really bad and shitty place. Right around when I started recording this project was when I started coming out of it. I was starting to see the brighter side of things a little bit. I wanted to write about that and how much I loved my friends.
Clifford The Big Red Stab Wound
That song is mostly about nostalgia and being a kid. It’s my most plain track I think in terms of instrumentation. Technically, it’s the hardest to play. There are two guitar tracks on that song and both of them require two-hand tapping and I don’t remember how to play either.
In October of 2019 I Called a Suicide Hotline For the First Time in my Life
What a mouthful, huh? Actually, fun fact: I realized a week ago that it wasn’t actually 2019. It was 2018. I completely messed that up for no reason. That’s a true story. Calling the suicide hotline was the turning point for me. I was at the brink and the person on the other end was so reaffirming to everything that was happening to me. It just totally flipped me around and after that I was changed.
Illinois//Alberta
This one I don’t remember how to play either. I don’t know if its obvious in the lyrics but this one is about love. I think what inspired these lyrics was I was listening to a lot of iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook. Those very vivid, almost like yearning lyrics kind of brought that out of me. Originally, the guitar and the melodica bit for the second part of the song wasn’t in there. It was just the drums and twinkly guitar bit for a year almost.
The sample about being happy that you were sad cause now you know what its like to be sad is from Game Grumps. Game Grumps is an internet show where they play video games. They were playing through legend of Zelda Wind Waker. It just came up in conversation. Dan was going through one of the darkest parts of his life and he would not do anything for weeks at a time and stay at home playing oblivion. He was constantly on drugs and stuff and finally had this moment where he got out of it. I had the idea to take it from Game Grumps because a lot of what fueled the writing on this [record] was nostalgia. That show is pretty nostalgic for me. I’ve been watching it since sixth grade.
Metamorphosis
I don’t know where this one came from, to be honest. I think I just ran through chords one day. I thought it would sound cool if I played these chords and it gradually got louder. I had a lot of trouble coming up with lyrics for this one. I went through a lot of different drafts. I don’t know what these lyrics are about. They could be about anything.
I play violin in this track. I play a lot of instruments on this and I don’t think a lot of people realize that. I couldn’t afford a microphone. I didn’t have a microphone. All the drums were done in FL STUDIO. I recorded drums by running them through a bass amp and then recording them on my phone on Garageband. And everything else is recorded directly into my phone on Garageband.
snowy!
I think it’s the only one that’s constantly in 4/4. This one has a solid four on the floor beat. I finished this one way before I started the other ones. I finished this song junior year of high school. It was just a one-off song that I recorded for fun. I had a crush on a girl and I thought I would record a song about it. I had the idea to make an album and I just threw it on the end for fun.
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