When I wrote about Seems Like Forever’s debut ‘Listen’ back in March 2024, Matt Etherton and Jackie Kasbohm were introducing a partnership with plenty of experience behind it and room to experiment ahead. Etherton brought us shoegaze pioneers Presents for Sally and Kasbohm’s contributions to Echodrone and The Devil and Her Chauffeur gave us a few clues about their musical pedigree. Their shared enthusiasm for rough recording textures, melodic songwriting and stranger little details offered plenty to get curious about. ‘Stray’ followed that July, continuing their early run of releases. Now they return with A Song For Davey, a three-song EP whose starting point is deeply personal. Dedicated to Kasbohm’s lifelong friend David Baca following his sudden death, it brings their approach to writing and recording into a conversation about grief, friendship and the memories we carry into our everyday lives.
There is affection in the way this release has been put together, from the numbered physical copies of the CD to the inclusion of Davey’s actual voice with his family’s permission. Across its three tracks, the EP gives us chiming guitar pop, electronic psychedelia and an acoustic ballad. You get a good sense of the freedom these two allow themselves, alongside the care they bring to the subject.
Let’s dive in.
‘A Song About Davey’ opens on chiming guitar and a drum loop, establishing a lightness that carries through the song. Kasbohm’s heartfelt lyric soon leads to the gentle bass completing the picture, and I love how naturally those elements sit together. Each part has a clear purpose within an arrangement that gives you time to take in what she is singing. This is an ode to grief, to loss and how we cope and carry on with our lives carrying the memory of those we lose with us. Its almost playful quality feels central to that idea. There is room here for the affection and happiness associated with someone, for the memories that still make you smile when their absence remains difficult to comprehend. I love how the band’s optimism shines through. It makes the act of remembering feel active and present, part of living from one day to the next. How often does a small, happy memory arrive while you are doing something completely ordinary? That’s the kind of closeness this song suggests to me, with its steady rhythm and chiming guitar making space for fondness within the sadness.
The electronic surroundings of ‘Help Me’ take us further into the duo’s experimental interests. Glitchy sounds gather around Kasbohm’s voice, creating the peculiar sensation of hearing something familiar through a half-remembered dream. Sonic Boom is the reference that comes to mind for me, particularly in the way the psychedelic character grows from the relationship between the voice and its setting. There is a nursery rhyme quality to the song, a hypnotic simplicity that gives your ear something to follow as the electronica introduces its odd little distractions. Seems Like Forever’s taste for experimentation serves the mood beautifully here.
Etherton takes centre stage for ‘Come In From The Cold’, and the acoustic setting brings another aspect of the partnership into focus. His Oasis influence is easy to hear, with the song suggesting the sort of Gallagher B side you might develop a particular attachment to. There is a pleasure in that familiarity, especially after the electronic setting of ‘Help Me’. The acoustic ballad gives you a clear route into the writing and lets Etherton establish his own presence within the EP. I am particularly fond of the low fidelity production. Its rough texture suits the song, giving the performance an informal closeness. The closing section then brings in drums and Kasbohm’s backing vocal, adding fullness to the arrangement at just the right moment. Her voice accompanying Etherton makes for a lovely final passage, and the extra rhythmic support gives the ending a more expansive feel. After hearing her lead the first two tracks, that change in role also lets you appreciate how their voices contribute to the partnership in different ways.
Across these three songs, Seems Like Forever give grief room to exist alongside warmth, curiosity and the pleasure of making music together. The opener’s chiming guitar and gentle bass, the strange electronic textures of ‘Help Me’ and the acoustic intimacy of ‘Come In From The Cold’ each offer a different way into the EP. What stays with me is the optimism in that first song and the companionship suggested by the voices coming together towards the end of the last. There is care in those choices, and enough musical variety to make returning to these tracks a pleasure in itself. Give the whole EP your time and consider the people whose memory continues to accompany your own everyday life. Seems Like Forever have made a touching contribution to that act of remembering, with love at the centre of A Song For Davey.
A Song For Davey is out now. You can check it out over on the Seems Like Forever Bandcamp page.
You can follow Seems Like Forever on social media here…
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