Sometimes when you hear a song, you’re not quite sure whether it’s the first time you’ve heard it. You might be minding your own business, washing dishes or browsing unimaginative greeting cards at the local pharmacy, when the song floats into the edges of your conscious.

You listen for a moment before slipping back into whichever activity it interrupted. But something about it won’t let you go. The song becomes a child in need of attention, tugging at your sleeve until you finally squat down and ask it what it wants.

That’s the way it was for me with “Shona” by Jake Chudnow.

While he has a minimal, almost coy web presence, the one thing of note I found out about Jake Chudnow is that he’s the musician behind the music for the popular YouTube channel Vsauce.

Vsauce specializes in science videos with eye-grabbing titles: “How to Count Past Infinity,” “This is Not Yellow” and “Which Way is Down?” Always fascinating and always delivered with an enthusiastic intensity that is almost off-putting, I’ve enjoyed Vsauce’s content off and on over the past decade.

While “Shona” never appeared in any of the channel’s videos, I’ve watched enough of them that the vibe of Chudnow’s music must have been recognizable to me. Something about it evokes curiosity.

What makes this a beautiful song:

1. It fades in with the EQ tilted heavily towards the low frequencies, giving the impression of music coming from inside a passing car.

2. As it cycles through its three chords, layers of percussion and synths keep piling on, but somehow it’s never enough.

3. At 2:30, the three-chord cycle is briefly broken, but only long enough for you to be happy when it returns.

Recommended listening activity:

Learning.

Spotify.

The post Week 791: “Shona” by Jake Chudnow appeared first on Beautiful Song Of The Week.