Josh da Costa - 96 Year Old Girl
With its driving beat, shimmering synth tapestry, and wonderfully off-kilter title, Josh da Costa’s “96 Year Old Girl” is impossible to resist.
Josh da Costa’s “96 Year Old Girl” is hypnotic and mellow, built from a soft vocal, a rich tapestry of synths, hard-hitting drums, and a driving beat that keeps pulling you in. It is a song with a wonderfully off-kilter sense of humor, yet there is real feeling beneath its playful title: about pushing people away and the ache of not being seen by the person you are with.
“I wrote and recorded this song one night after getting really high, ordering Domino's, and watching Terminator 2. The verse’s vocal melody is a riff on what is known in some musical circles as ‘the lick’ – an extremely common motif in jazz music that became a meme in itself – and the chorus was an old idea that I was kicking around for years and finally found its home here.”
The video takes its own full-glam, Japan-inspired route, and Josh da Costa explains:
“I love singing the chorus because I feel like I’m caught somewhere between pretending to be Bobby Gillespie, Prince, and Peter Ivers. The instrumental features my usual bag of tricks - some jangly Gibson SG bits and my trusty SixTrak synth. Recorded in my bedroom, drums and all.”
“96 Year Old Girl” arrives ahead of Josh da Costa’s new album New Wave Graveyard, out July 24 via Stones Throw. Listen to "96 Year Old Girl," our Song Pick of the Day, and watch the video, directed by Skellyot, too:
Connect with Josh da Costa and add "96 Year Old Girl" to your playlist as we add it to our #glamglarepick playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.
Follow the #glamglarepick playlist to hear every Song Pick of the Day, or sign up to receive a song per day in your mailbox.