narrative | Unfortified Castle

Benjamin Kassel

Mar 25, 20223 min read

"Papercut": when I realized there was more to electronic music

Zedd's serene house-pop production featuring Troye Sivan was the first track of its kind that impressed me with the greater story it told.

Benjamin Kassel

Feb 25, 20225 min read

"Inner Light" speaks to my anxious self in a re-emerging social climate

Elderbrook and Bob Moses' lyrically driven house production has been a personal anthem since I first heard it about half a year ago.

Benjamin Kassel

Feb 24, 20223 min read

"Message in a Bottle": togetherness... in loneliness?

As weird as that sounds, that's exactly how Sting positions his lyrics in one of the Police's many timeless hits.

Benjamin Kassel

Feb 19, 20223 min read

"The A Team"'s singular narrative makes me think deeply about the homelessness I see around Berkeley

Ed Sheeran's tale of one Angel grapples with connection, addiction, and its subject's all-too-likely fate.

Benjamin Kassel

Feb 15, 20224 min read

On "Dirt," Keane are true to themselves as they decry an all-too-familiar conflict

Their title track from last summer's EP has an unavoidable gravitas as it speaks to the fallout the innocent suffer from war.

Benjamin Kassel

Jan 12, 20225 min read

"Sacrifice" is both a dance floor-ready pop anthem and a narrative turning point

In The Weeknd's newest single, he revels in his old lifestyle one last time before his outlook on love shifts across the rest of the album.

Benjamin Kassel

Jan 1, 20224 min read

I ring in 2022 with "Comfortably Numb," of all songs

Why? It just kind of happened once, and I've kept it up since... but I try to read into it anyway.

Benjamin Kassel

Dec 29, 20213 min read

"The Guitar Man" and the sustaining of fame (or lack thereof)

Bread's hit celebrates the music maker while also reminding listeners that fame is so often temporary.

Benjamin Kassel

Dec 28, 20213 min read

"The Tears of a Clown" is unique in a profoundly Motown way

Uncommon instruments for pop and a spin on a heartbreak narrative make for an iconic soul number.

Benjamin Kassel

Dec 21, 20214 min read

Looking back on my adolescence through "1979"

The nostalgia the Smashing Pumpkins evoke isn't rose-colored, but that's fine, if not good; it means their song helps me honestly reflect.

Benjamin Kassel

Dec 15, 20214 min read

"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" has the perfect amount of narration

Elliot Lurie and Looking Glass relay just enough to the listener to make their story both succinct and rich.

Benjamin Kassel

Dec 9, 20213 min read

Thanks to its synth pad, "Let Me Touch Your Fire" narratively leans into its title

A R I Z O N A sonically track their narrator's heart opening up as they unexpectedly feel love.