But no matter the medicinal virtues of being a true friend or sustaining a long close relationship with another, the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.
David Whyte
Come as you are, as you were
As I want you to be
As a friend, as a friend
Nirvana
How many friends? Just to ask you a question, just to see how you was feelin’
Kanye West
***
As a concept, All My Friends retains tide/edit’s ethos of playing “happy music”—a phrase that endured for six years since I’ve first met them in 2012 for the release of their debut effort, IDEAS EP. The latest record, the band’s third full-length release, mirrors that enthusiastic approach in music-making with sharper focus and a keen sense of self-awareness and sheer optimism. This also spills over their strong sense of imagery in lieu of lyrical composition. Clarence (Garcia, guitars) says of the importance of their visual identity, “We don’t dictate the meaning of the songs via lyrics but we try to come up with an art/image that sums up how ‘we’ feel about the music.”
Great songwriters have the gift of bridging the gap between language and feeling. The pursuit of happiness is an ever-evasive quest: sometimes meandering, often challenging. And yet one of the most arbitrary and compelling elements of human happiness is friendship—its complexities, routines, and “varying types and degrees of companionship, intimacy, affection and mutual assistance.” The joy of tide/edit’s pursuit of happiness is the accessibility of their music and its creators, especially their willingness to bring everyone for the ride. All My Friends is a non-linear journey that documents the stillness and turbulence of that pursuit, strongly characterized by songs such as ‘Chronograph’ (a study in meaningful silence) and ‘Aggro’ (a collision of deep-seated emotions). I recall my own friendships and its many uneventful silences, occasional fadeouts, and generous moments of kindness, which I’m often a recipient of.
Listening to tide/edit’s discography, especially in today’s context of coarseness of men and apathy towards each other, offers something beyond mere escapism: a form of belongingness, acceptance, solace, joy, and love—in its purest nature. As friends and as musicians, tide/edit augments happiness with boundless and selfless friendship, a kind that inspires warmth, openness, and affirms their presence in any space and time where they are most needed.
DECIBAWL 