Pina Palau - Super Ego (2022) Hi-Res

After releasing a string of upbeat singles, singer-songwriter Pina Palau is finally slowing down, but just a pinch. Her latest release is the dreamy ballad titled Patti's Word. The song was written from the perspective of a dream (quite literally) and sounds like it, too. As listeners, we bear witness to the moment in which waking consciousness infiltrates the cozy, insular bubble of slumber. Reality seeps in gently (at first), dressed up in fuzzy, warm colors. The sound of the Velvet Underground wafts in like the scent of freshly brewed coffee. It’s all just a notch short of persuasive. And then, suddenly, the super ego kicks in! It goes from zero to a hundred at a drop of a dime; and proceeds to methodically hit all the right combinations to get the protagonist out of bed. We’ve all been there! For some of us, it’s a daily battle.

The track is based around the soft plucking of the acoustic guitar. Sparkling piano notes are sprinkled throughout; the whole thing is padded with airy strings and a cooing trombone. It feels like a deep, warm embrace. Pina recalls the session: “It rained a lot that day, and the sound of the raindrops hitting the leaves of the reed tree outside of the studio window was so beautiful. So, we opened the window and placed a microphone right in front of it. I was sitting there with this huge acoustic guitar in my lap, playing the song to accompany the rain. It was the perfect setting for this piece.”