When it comes to siphoning influence for a record, sometimes a song that can’t be replicated in any way is more inspiring than one that lends itself to the sonic palette you’re working toward. To hear Mike Deni discuss a handful of tracks that found their way into the DNA of his risk-taking sixth album as Geographer, there may be structural ideas borrowed from Matty Healy and a sense of humor harnessed from folk troubadour Jim Croce, but for the most part the 17 tracks he compiled for a playlist are compositions he’s stood in awe of for years—an end goal he’s looking to achieve on his new record A Mirror Brightly.
In addition to the unique performance art that’s preceded the album’s release, the project’s early singles have been hard to classify as they skate between a sophisti-pop take on Springsteen’s heartland opuses and the intersection of contemporary hip-hop and R&B that James Blake has long been carving out. While he may have revealed some of his more explicit influences through his “In My Living Space” covers series on YouTube, the playlist Deni compiled for us gives us a sense of where his head was at during A Mirror Brightly’s conception, as he lists artists ranging from classic pop and rock figures like The Blue Nile and Dire Straits to more contemporary musicians currently on the rise such as Empress Of and Dora Jar.
Before the rest of the record is made available this Friday, read his thoughts on each track he included below.
The Blue Nile, “The Downtown Lights”
“The Downtown Lights” is definitely the mascot of this record. My fiancée introduced me to this song (and the band, too) while we were falling in love. I’d never heard anything for the first time feel so familiar. Listening to this song has the same effect on me that pondering Bruce Springsteen does. It’s almost avuncular somehow—the sonics, the sentiment, and especially the vocal delivery. “I Don’t Remember It Starting,” one of the songs on A Mirror Brightly, made it all through the recording and mixing process with the name “Blue Nile.” And I covered “The Downtown Lights” in my series “In My Living Space” during the album rollout, where I played stripped-down versions of the singles and the songs that inspired them.
Caroline Polachek feat. Oneohtrix Point Never, “Long Road Home”
I listened to this song a lot when I was practicing for the music video for “You Never Know,” which I learned and performed a modern dance—which I don’t do—piece written by my friend Frankie Tan. Basically I had to learn to dance in a month, and every night I cleared out the furniture, ate a gummy, and popped this song on repeat, improvising to find out which ways my body liked to move, and how to forget that I felt ridiculous. The song has a primordial futurism to it. I picture barren landscapes punctuated by volcanoes, and Caroline Polachek singing next to one of the craters. So that was the energy I was trying to embody.
Aphex Twin, “4”
Always a staple influence for any and every Geographer record, simply because hearing this song awakened me to the possibilities of music. Nothing sounds like Aphex Twin, even though we can all make these sounds—we have the computers, we have the synths, we just don’t have the brain. And I like that: the artist, the creator, being somehow miraculous.
Laurie Anderson, “O Superman”
Just an explosive, quiet bomb of musical artistry. One of the highest and most exciting examples of electronic music with a pulse.
Dire Straits, “Romeo and Juliet”
Breathtaking songwriting that accompanies me everywhere in the back of my mind, making me wonder, “Should I even try to write lyrics as perfect as these? Or is it more prudent to just try to do something else?”
Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
I used a lot of drum machines like this one on the record. I was infatuated with this type of song—of which there are only a few that I enjoy without irony—that combines a kind of electronic dance beat with sophisticated syncopation. I obviously don’t make music like this, but I pluck little elements here and there.
Radiohead, “There There”
No Geographer influence playlist would be complete without at least one Radiohead song, we know that.
Empress Of feat. Jim-E Stack, “Turn the Table”
Really love Empress Of, and I loved watching her breaking through to another level that’s still going! I just found her very inspiring. I feel that we’re working toward a similar artistic goal of making exciting electronic compositions that make you think and make you dance. Listening to her new songs made me want to push my own songs further.
Dora Jar, “Polly”
The second I heard that riff, I was hooked. Very much like when I heard “Ocean Eyes” for the first time. My ears perked up, I knew I was listening to something special.
Jim Croce, “Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)”
This song does such a great job of putting personality and humor into the lyrics without sacrificing any poignancy—and even adding to it. This song to me is like an Albert Brooks movie: fun, delightfully honest, and sad. This is the first record where I allowed humor to be a part of the sentiment in a few of the lyrics.
Justin Hurwitz, “Mia and Sebastian’s Theme (La La Land)”
This song inspired “The Burning Handle,” one of my favorites on the record.
Radiohead, “I Might Be Wrong”
Incredible, bone-chilling simplicity. I laugh sometimes when I think about how good Radiohead is. And they inspire everyone I know and love.
Tourist, “Run”
A beautiful example of dynamic and human dance music. This one lives permanently in my brain, too.
The 1975, “How to Draw / Petrichor”
Notes on a Conditional Form reminded me that there needn’t be any shackles on a record. If you want to make a pretty song with flutes and mallets that busts into an Aphex Twin jam, then do it! It’s a music album! Make it breathtaking every chance you get. A nice reminder that clearly sunk in because I put three interludes on this album.
Fred again.. & The Blessed Madonna, “Marea (we’ve lost dancing)”
This song excited me in my favorite way, where I couldn’t fathom how to make it. That allows me to really get lost in it, and I think people who make music for a living often lose that sense of wonder as they spend more and more time behind the curtain. It can be gratifying to witness young artists zapping and popping with electric sparks of ideas, because it reminds you that’s what you’re here for.
Toro y Moi, “Ordinary Pleasure”
A big old billboard of a song that says to me “As long as you stay unafraid, you can keep making truly great music.”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “The Waiting”
I wrote the chorus of “The Light in the Dark” deep in the thralls of Tom Petty fever after watching the documentary by Peter Bogdanovich [Runnin’ Down a Dream]. I was so obsessed, and after sloshing every single song he ever made around in my brain for a few months, that song came out of the oven.
