Portland-based Afrobeat, reggae, ska and funk band Zeme Libre is ringing in the new year with the new song “Hourglass.”
The single ventures away from their usual sound and into a rock one. They’ll return to their roots on an EP that’s slated for a springtime release.
Singer Andrew Yankowsky said the song is about when he was 19 years old and depressed, confused and angry.
“I was living in very bad situations (that I brought upon myself), and I found myself questioning my place in the world and wasn’t sure how to push myself out of the hole I was in,” he said.
The verses of “Hourglass” are Yankowsky talking to – and encouraging – his younger self, while the chorus reflects conversations with other people in which he told them he was fine because that’s the expected response.
Lastly, the phrase “hands gifting” from the song is about the birth of Yankowsky’s daughter Emma and how she represents the path to his return to Portland from Seattle a few years back.
Listen to “Hourglass:” zemelibre.bandcamp.com/track/hourglass
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