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Yoome: Reflections After The Divorce

"Amsterdamn" is a divorce song, but it's reflective rather than angry; the title's suffix is more "damn" than "damn!" Told from the perspective of both parties involved, the song finds its subjects admitting some degree of fault ("Sometimes I can't control my alcohol," "I suffer from extreme mood swings and seasonal depression"), but also assigning blame for mundane problems ("He embarrassed me this one time around my parents," "She was an extremely aggressive driver"). Rather than argue, the players meekly claim to have moved on ("I've even been to Amsterdam"). Over a weary, minor-key synth melody and an aggressive, stumbling drum beat, the song plays out over a field recording of kids playing in the park, fueling a gloomy commentary on maturity, relationships and self-deception.

Yoome is a Chicago-based group composed of rapper Serengeti, New Zealand-based singer Renee-Louise Carafice and producer Tony Trimm. The project came about at last winter's peak, when Serengeti, feeling bored and blue, journeyed to Trimm's place and did some meditative recording. The Boredom of Me sprung from a handful of intense sessions: "I was just trying to write myself out of some [problems]," Serengeti has said, noting that while "Amsterdamn" is fictionalized, the experience creating it was "really dark." It shows, but so does the catharsis.

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Ben Westhoff