Trying to decipher Maggie Morrison’s lyrics can be as confusing as a game of telephone, with words and meanings quickly becoming garbled and misunderstood.
For example, when Morrison sings, “just a storm cloud,” on Digitata’s first album, “Sexually Transmitted Emotions,” some listeners hear “Mr. Storm Cloud” – which makes the group seem far more like “Kidz Bop” than they actually are.
Even Digitata’s drummer Drew Christopherson said he hears the lyrics quite differently.
“I’m always shocked what the real lyrics are,” he said.
Morrison adds a pout – not whiney, but sexy – to each syllable, which contributes to the songs’ haziness. Much of this style has to do with the group’s songwriting process.
It all starts with Ryan Olson’s electronic backdrops, which verge on Intelligent Dance Music, but are actually dance-friendly. Next, Morrison assembles a melody to go along with the beats before she figures out the final words.
Because Morrison emphasizes melody first, the ambiguity of Digitata’s lyrics is hardly noticeable. The songs on “Sexually Transmitted Emotions” beg to be sung along with, even if it seems like you’re singing Hindi.
Olson and Christopherson are also in the band Mel Gibson and the Pants, and both groups share similar electronic elements, though Digitata boasts more warmth and pop.
Morrison said that when she was first asked to join Digitata, she thought the band would be created in the vein of Fischerspooner.
“I pictured its vocals as dry and unemotional,” she said.
Instead, Morrison’s soulful voice, along with a Rhodes keyboard, give the group a human touch amid electronic grooves.
The group credits label-mate Dave Matters’ (of Belles of Skin) fondness for the 1984 pop song “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” as their inspiration.
“When you see what a song can do for a guy like thatÖ” Christopherson said.
Though “Sexually Transmitted Emotions” has its moments – especially the track “What’s Cookin’?” – which captures the gleeful pop of that ’80’s Denise Williams song, the band is as serious about their inspiration as they are about the origins of their name.
According to the three members, they found the term written on a sword pulled from lava somewhere in South Minneapolis.
Like the group’s lyrics, it’s up to you to decide the truth.
