Drawing us in with an immersive and industrial guitar soundscape with melodic cosmic nuances and textured drums, Grumbeaux opens Now Is Near with the situational lyrics, “I was there, winter of ’48, hope stuck to the bottom of my boot, dreamt the muck of a cold, damp morning and siphoned life from the bottom of a chute…”
In essence, the song is about looking back on a life marked by poverty, exploitation, violence, and injustice. It feels super zeitgeist and reflects life under oppressive authority. The repeated question, “Where is there when now is near?” really captures the struggle to reconcile a painful past with an uncertain present. The stripped back energy with choral vocals, bell tones and celestial sounds feels raw, authentic and poignant.
We actually learn that Now Is Near was written for a documentary about Tim Z. Hernandez’s decade-long effort to uncover the identities and stories of the Mexican passengers killed in the 1948 Los Gatos plane crash. These people were reduced to the anonymous label “deportees” in the press and the track is further inspired by Woody Guthrie’s poem Deportee.
Through dark, folk-rooted sounds and innovative production that feels unique, jarring and simultaneously meditative with ebbs and flows, the lyrics about hardship, injustice, death, and forgotten lives give a voice to those passengers, something denied to them in death.
In addition to the documentary that the song was created for, we could imagine Now Is Near being featured in a film that also recounts the events, such as Broken Sky. For listeners, there are shades of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Bon Iver and the more atmospheric side of Radiohead in the experimental way Now Is Near balances organic songwriting with darker production.
We love what Grumbeaux has created and the deep intention behind the track, and have added Now Is Near to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Grumbeaux, including Flyin Shoes, and Johnny 99.