I’m currently reading Joelle Taylor's surreal The Night Alphabet, a real trip of a book written in poetic prose. More or less, it follows a main character with the ability to fall into the past lives of other people, what she calls “rememberings.” There’s some beautiful overlap between the book and the magnetic new single from Melbourne-based indie folk musician Stella Dunai, titled “Move on!,” which I've had on repeat for the past hour.
“Well I am just one/ But you could be me/ Just try it on,” she sings in the opening verse. Stealthy acoustic plucks weave around her like an infinite vine, while snare drum taps urge the spritely melody forward. It reminds me a little of Haley Heynderickx and Laura Marling. Later, a feisty bass line joins in, deliciously revving the song up.
In an Instagram post, Dunai shared that it’s “a bit of a non-sensical song about meeting and loving and learning from the friends and the people around you.” But it really isn’t nonsensical. The song touches on the way we fall into different versions of ourselves through our interactions with other people — catching some of their magic, carrying a little of it with us, and perhaps transforming in the process. It’s a feeling that echoes Taylor’s The Night Alphabet, where the boundaries between one person’s life and another’s become wonderfully porous.
In a press release Dunai added:
People come into our lives for different reasons and lengths of time and those exchanges shape who we are and who we become. I find myself taking pieces and inspiration from the friends in my life and feel so honoured to see how we all shape and support each other every day. This song celebrates that constant evolution, while holding onto the joy, the silliness and innocence of meeting someone new, like making a friend on the playground as a child.
Listen below.
