Embrace a reality outside the gender binary with margomool’s bewitching ‘The Space Between’
Reality is what you believe: if margomool’s new song is advice, then it’s advice we all want to take. Let its blissful beats cleanse your soul.
Photo: Darling Baby Jay
This track begins peacefully yet it’s hard to describe, other than to say it washed over and calmed me in a way I did not expect. Have you ever stepped back in the shower so that the water pours over your head and face and completely envelopes you? It’s safe and comforting, right? Well, this track is like that. It welcomed me in. It didn’t put me to sleep, but it did soothe me.
The Space Between has a deep and sensual soft-spoken vocal that feels both suggestive and tantalising, yet reassuring. In terms of references, margomool’s sound, at least with this track, put me in mind of The Roots and Jill Scott. It’s the kind of track you’d hear in the chillout room of a nightclub, or in a trippy festival tent where people have their hands in the air, as they sway to the rhythm and communicate with invisible forces beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals.
But before I disappear too far into my own cosmos, let’s step back. margomool’s The Space Between sits somewhere between R&B and hip hop – with a bit of jazz – and is described by the band as being “dedicated to anyone living outside the gender binary”. Some of you might roll your eyes at this but fear not. The way the band weave in their message is quite subtle and elegant. Almost by stealth, they have something important to say.
First, they seduce you with mood and tone and then you begin to hear the message. At least, that was my experience. On first listen I missed most of the lyrics as I soaked up the atmosphere. On second listen I began to pay attention to the words. Lines like “Reality, the space between | Reality is what you believe” and “I am not too stuck up in your binary box.”
I felt like I’d been the subject of some kind of sleight of hand magic trick, yet I was pleased to be sucked into the illusion and have my perception altered, even for a little while.
As margomool says, “reality is what you believe”.
