Jacob Klein and his friends’ group i give my friends flowers explores love, loss, and change in DOGSTAR 1.

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TOP 5 SONGS

5. VOICES

I love the production on “VOICES.” It starts with an instrumental intro featuring atmospheric synths, a strong beat, and bright guitars. The instrumentation throughout the track stands out in general. There’s a lot of indie folk influence here, and that’s one of my favorite genres. There’s something rock-like about the very end that I also really appreciate. The song builds really nicely. Klein’s choices caused the subject of the song to leave, and he regrets it while taking full responsibility. I particularly like the lyric “Promises made up of fool’s gold” to describe a failed relationship.

4. When I See the Moon

“When I See the Moon” begins with a beautiful piano instrumental that immediately moves into lo-fi electronic instruments and creatively produced vocals. The piano returns in the chorus. Some of my favorite lyrics are on this track. He compares losing and destroying precious and expensive objects (like spilling champagne or crashing his favorite car) to losing this relationship and giving her his heart. This is another example of Klein taking full responsibility for losing the person in question.

3. sara’s not a name for dogs

On the surface, “sara’s not a name for dogs” is a series of unrelated lines. However, when taken as a whole, it becomes clearer what the song’s about: things that remind Klein of someone named Sara who used to be in his life to the point that he accidentally calls a dog by her name. Klein has been “all night on [his] phone” wondering where she is. The song is almost entirely random-seeming things put together, but the few lines describing his emotional state tie them all into the theme.

2. Wolf Heart

“Wolf Heart” opens with another piano and flutes, and the vocals feel almost conversational. The rhythm is very repetitive and similar to how people talk, but over an equally repetitive melody. Klein states that he knows the future because he’s always running forward, but it doesn’t “kill the magic” of what happens. However, he does miss the past. Interestingly, he compares himself to the Jake Gyllenhaal character Donnie Darko from the movie of the same name since Donnie knows the future. This adds an almost selfless nature to showing the person the sunrise at the overlook in the same verse, given how Donnie Darko ends. That also ties into knowing that some things must happen, but that doesn’t change how much those things still mean to Klein.

1. BABY FELL IN LOVE WITH A STAR

The production of “BABY FELL IN LOVE WITH A STAR” feels almost like a science fiction score, which fits with the track’s title. This song is about his lover leaving him and him sitting there, still thinking about her. He is especially haunted by the question of what she will think when she looks back on their time together. This is my favorite because of the way the production supports the lyrics so thoughtfully. It feels futuristic in a strange way, while the track’s lyrics are nostalgic and looking back. I love the image of his ex-lover leaving him for better things as her falling in love with a star—distant, out of reach, and impossible to compete with.

SONG BY SONG RATING

EVERY MOMENT SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL DIES (4/5)

pollen (4/5)

cloud-hidden, chamomile (4/5)

BABY FELL IN LOVE WITH A STAR (4.5/5)

sara’s not a name for dogs (4.5/5)

jambs (page 39) (4/5)

ASHES (4/5)

FANG (my world, a symphony, my heart, a comedy, a tragedy, my love) (4/5)

Wolf Heart (4.5/5)

When I See the Moon (4/5)

VOICES (4/5)

better days (4/5)

RGM RATING

(B)

Jacob Klein may give his friends flowers, but I’d like to give him and his group their flowers for DOGSTAR 1.

i give my friends flowers is the project of Jacob Klein and his friends, and their album DOGSTAR 1 is an impressive, hybrid-genre body of work spanning lo-fi folk, alternative hip-hop, dream pop, indie soul, and everything in between. As I listened, I was reminded of music by a variety of artists like Finneas, Big Red Machine, and Bastille. The subject matter is losing people and choosing love despite it all, and I think that the music and lyrics, in combination with one another, did that very nicely.

Emma Platt