Thomas Johnson taught Berner all his secrets.
When I spoke to Lando Chill last year, he referred to “Early In The Morning” as a song to “light up with your significant other.” At that time, “Early In The Morning” was a delightful, piano-laden sativa session. It had crisp drums and a mellow guitar. And just like Lando said, it was a few minutes of peace with a significant other, zoning out together at ceiling stucco and sunrises. Early morning wake-n-bake optimism, passing the spliff to someone you love, etc. That still rings true. But seven months has brought “Morning” an accompanying video that expands the vision.
By comparison, “Morning’s” first iteration sounds slight. Laid back guitars become day-glo. Drums go from lo-fi to get tipsy, then back to get high. Synths offer tropical buoyancy. Ocean sounds meet xylophones. Lando’s voice mutates into an animated version of itself, something approximated on his debut For Mark, Your Son, but never stuck as well as it does here. It becomes a psychedelic instrument of its own, eschewing the jumpiness of original and rides the beat off melody and instincts.
I don’t know if I’ve ever had a day as nice as the one Lando and his septum-pierced lady friend experience in “Early In The Morning.” But there’s still an internal, simpler beauty within the the video. It’s color saturated and vibrant, making a day-trip look like three lifetimes at Disney World. It’s about getting drunk, just you two, and playing Uno in a motel bedroom. It’s about unadulterated love, hopefully shared with someone special until the joint turns to dust.
