More Than Words: 5 Songs With No Vocals

This week's songs are from Gary Gunn, Charlie Hall, Sandy Bull, Henri Texier, and Hania Rani.

Nick Cave, featured in last week’s entry on vocally affecting songs, is primarily known for his distinct voice, and verbose music. In a recent interview discussing grief and mourning, he told a story of picking up food at a restaurant soon after his teenage son died. He described how fragile he felt being out in the world while consumed with loss, wondering if anyone knew what he was going through, how the world can carry on, or how people would approach him. After paying for the food, the cashier handed him his change, and grasped his hand tight for a moment. The silent gesture was profound to him.

“It was so beautifully, quietly, articulate of one human being responding to another human being. It was beyond language, beyond words.”

Well said, Nick.

In that spirit, and in the inverse of last week’s theme, here are 5 songs with no vocals. They aren’t necessarily anything profound, but they are evocative and establish a mood, and therefore are able to accomplish something “beyond language.”

Gary Gunn - “Opening Theme from A Thousand and One”

This instrumental track is exactly what the title says: the opening theme from A Thousand and One, an under-the-radar movie from 2023. It’s got a great lead performance and a fantastic score, as evidenced here. The theme calls to mind Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On, lush strings paired with R&B and sleek production. There’s a looped bass sample that has the pop and crackle of an old vinyl record, a steady hip-hop beat, and a jazz ride that feels like it picks up the force of the orchestra when it kicks in. It’s transportive, like a movie in and of itself. I’m hoping to see him get some more film work in the future. I can imagine this theme itself being reused in commercials, sports media TV productions, etc. It’s got swing and swagger.

“Even just as a listener, that’s what music is. It’s like a vibration that starts there and ends with you.” - Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall - “North Henry”

Charlie Hall is the kimono-wearing minimalist drummer of the great, maximalist band War on Drugs. His solo album is all meditative, synth-forward jams like this one. It wouldn’t be out of place as the underlying texture of a song on any War on Drugs record, but it could also work as the soundtrack to a 1980s movie where Michael Douglas plays a cop and there’ a lot of rain or something (at least one of those already exists, but there’s room for more). It’s so thick with mood. But that’s the whole idea here, right? Vibrations and rhythm—sound—trigger feelings, images, and ideas in the listener’s head. It’s pretty wild!

Sandy Bull - “Gospel Tune”

String-instrument savant Sandy Bull is a recent discovery of mine, but he’s apparently had a devoted cult following for a long time. Ragas, Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Bull dabbles in all of it. “Gospel Tune” starts off like a simmering blues dirge, but picks up into a loose boogie with pristine guitar playing. It’s got a little hi-hat tapping to suggest a beat, which is perfect. Nothing else is necessary for Bull to rip through a one-man country blues boogie on par with the Grateful Dead. You don’t really miss all of the other instruments, or a traditional pop song structure at all. That’s no knock on the Dead, but a compliment to Bull’s work here.

Henri Texier - “L’Elefant”

Henri Texier is a French jazz double-bassist. I’m not familiar with a lot of his work outside of this album. “L’Elefant” sounds like the theme to the greatest long-lost Spaghetti Western out there (if there is one?). It’s cool, has a sustained momentum, and a really unique sound of a lead double-bass that could still be described as “subtle.” Texier is not going full Mingus on those strings, instead just humming along with a pulsing tone. While repeating itself, it’s not repetitive like a loop or sample would be, it’s got a momentum to it. This is a nice example of someone setting out with a single idea and executing it.

“I think that every artist needs their own steps to come to realize which stories are really interesting for them or where you feel, ‘this is meaningful,’ or ‘I really want to face these aspects’. With this decision comes music.” - Hania Rani

Hania Rani - “Hawaii Oslo (Live from Studio S2)”

Hania Rani is a Polish pianist who started from a more classical practice, but has incorporated elements of jazz and ambient electronic music into her more recent work. She even sings on her most recent album Ghosts. “Hawaii Oslo” is the first track in this 4 song performance, originally recorded for “worldwide piano day,” which is apparently a thing. This is a perfect selection for those who celebrate. The whole performance is worth the listen, but I’m particularly taken by “Hawaii Oslo,” through her use of the whole instrument (in this case muting the piano strings with her hand) to create that rhythm sample that propels the rest of the song. Beyond that, there’s so much going on here beyond my comprehension that I will leave it with “this is great stuff.”

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the listening.