The best songs are the ones that you feel. Emotional response is what separates corporate content from creative control. But that isn’t the only way to feel music – what I’m talking about is much more physical and can hardly be described with words. It’s that primal instinct to bob your head, tap your foot, or even bust out a freestyle dance session when you hear an exceptionally groovy song. With that in mind, what song do you think of? For me, it’s unquestionably Everything is Everything by Gabriel Garzón-Montano.
In an interview with OC Weekly, GGM said he recorded the demo for this song – and the rest of those on his debut EP – using the humble GarageBand app. But even now, armed with this knowledge, my ears deceive me. From the very beginning of the track, the intricately-layered and rhythmically-complex vocal harmonies are the mark of an auteur, not an amateur. There is an undeniably DIY aesthetic to the recording, to be sure, but this only adds to the song’s carefree charm. When the drums kick in after the first chorus, the vocals and bass lock into place and coalesce into an irresistible groove.
These elements come together to create the song that singlehandedly got me through 2020. In a time of extreme uncertainty and negativity, I could be sure of one thing: that everything is everything. During the dog days of quarantine, I remember getting on my bike, putting on my headphones, and cruising around my hometown listening to this song on repeat. And for those fleeting moments, in spite of all the loss, confusion and pain in my heart, things felt alright. To this day, listening to Everything is Everything by Gabriel Garzón-Montano takes me back to that time.