JAKE CLELAND

In songs like ‘Holiday’ or ‘OK’, it’s impossible to tell where irony ends and sincerity begins. When one person sings Are you sure you’re okay?, we have to question whether or not they actually care. And when the other person responds Couldn’t be better, you realize you have no idea how anyone feels in this conversation — about themselves or the person they’re speaking to. We live in a time when fewer and fewer people are able to discern someone’s tone, to the point where some people have suggested developing a font that allows us to signal when we are being sarcastic. There’s a palpable sadness at the heart of these songs, frustration at the constant inability to connect with one’s fellow humans. It is part of Never’s genius that even at their most sincere the songs feel tinged with contempt. And even at their most scornful there is still a degree of love.

—Scott Creney on Micachu & the Shapes.