I don’t know about you, but I never skip the 40 second intros on my favorite albums. “!!!!!!!” from Billie Eilish’s WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? has a mere 98,017 listens, whereas the least played full song on her album is played about 215 million times. I feel like these intros and transitions are secret pieces of dark matter that often get lost to the space time continuum. To counteract this common practice, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite hidden pieces.
“PRESO – Cap.6: Clausura” by Rosalía
This track is 41 seconds long and is smack in the middle of Rosalía’s Grammy winning album, El Mal Querer. This is honestly one of my favorite albums of all time, as it readapts a medieval Spanish novela, La Flamenca, through modern Flamenco. The story follows a woman who gets married and slowly discovers the true abusive side of her husband, finally killing him in the final two tracks. This track has background vocals by Rosalía and a muted synthesizer playing the gorgeous minor keys that define flamenco that surround Spanish actress Rossy de Palma’s voice as she says: “Well, for love, uff, well, I even went down to hell/ Of course, like I went up with two angels / Well, I don’t regret going down / But I went down, I went down …/ It catches you without you realizing it / You realize it when you come out / You think: ‘How did I get here?'”.
“Showtime” by Djo
This track is 49 seconds and starts actor Joe Keery’s debut album, Twenty Twenty. This is another one of my favorite albums, characterized by its psychedelic rock and 70’s synthesizer sound. The song perfectly characterizes the album’s vibe, as you hear bass strumming, drums, and a shower all blended together as if you’re on a phone call or in a dream while Joe repeats “It’s showtime.” In the last 5 seconds, Joe Keery’s voice and the rest of the instruments fade out of the phone call like sound and into reality. When you reach the end of the album, you realize that the bass and drums of the intro are actually pieces from the last song, “Mutual Future (Repeat),” bringing a wonderful full circle to Joe’s introspective identity journey that the album encapsulates.
“Our Prayer” The Beach Boys
This track is 1:04 appears as the intro to The Beach Boys’ The Smile Sessions. It’s a gorgeous acapella track with no words that showcases the beautiful harmonies and range of The Beach Boys’ voices. I first heard it at the end of an episode of Our Flag Means Death, a show streaming on HBO Max. As the title suggests, it has an angelic and intimate sound that I feel is underrated and lost to their more signature songs, such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Good Vibrations.”
“Oncle Jazz” by Men I Trust
This last track is 57 seconds and introduces Men I Trust’s album of the same name.. It starts with the lead singer saying “You’re listening to Oncle Jazz,” and proceeds with a gorgeous intertwining of bass, strings, and drums that enchant you. In the middle of the album, there’s another similar track that acts as if the album is a radio station, saying that the channel has now switched to Radio Men I Trust.
I hope you enjoyed learning about these short but gorgeous tracks! Happy listening!