The Smell of a Song pt. 1

Hello and welcome back to The Drydown Boutique Newsletter! This week, we’re asking the important questions. Have you ever heard a song for the first time and felt your world shift? Or a certain guitar solo or vocal riff made you wish you could somehow turn the sound into something tangible so you could wrap yourself in it? What about what a song might smell like? Maybe you have, or maybe you haven’t, but this is a thought we’ve spent a lot of time mulling over at The Drydown Boutique. That’s why we are starting our new series The Smell of a Song, where we imagine what songs, albums, or an artist’s discogrophy might smell like. Keep reading to learn about some of our favorite song/fume pairings!

Fanghorn II by Pineward & Work Song by Hozier

fragrance notes: silver fir, moss, lichen, pine needles, wet soil, damp vegetation

perfumer: Nicholas Nilsson

relevant song lyrics: When my time comes around lay me gently in the cold dark earth. No grave can hold my body down. I’ll crawl home to her

This song and perfume combo is what set us off on this idea of pairing music with perfume. I (Sam) am getting married in September and wanted my wedding scent to smell the way Work Song and frankly, most of Hozier’s discography makes me feel.

Throughout Hozier’s career, he has excelled in bringing the extremes of life into one song. Life and death, freedom and captivity, love and hatred. He often chooses opposing themes in order to bring sharp relief to one or the other. Afterall, it is said that shadows are what make light so beautiful.

Likewise, perfumer and founder of Pineward, Nicholas Nilsson, blends perfume with an understanding that nature is beautiful because of the parts that are a bit dirty. The smell of the forest is beloved because of the pine needles in the trees of course. However, the aromatic picture is incomplete without the rawness of the dirt beneath the wanderer’s feet.

Fanghorn II is the complete scent memory of walking through the forest immedietly following a storm. The air is dense, the earth is damp, and the trees are wide awake.

The same earth the narrator of Hozier’s Work Song is crawling through in order to join his lover exists within the Pineward forest brought to life by Nicholas Nilsson.

Blues by Zernell Gillie & You’re so Vain by Carly Simon

fragrance notes: apricot, coffee, magnolia, almond blossom, opoponax, brandy, ebony wood, molasses, oud

perfumer: Zernell Gillie

relevant song lyrics: You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht. Your hat strategically dipped below one eye, your scarf it was apricot.

I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee and you’re so vain

How good do you think it felt for Carly to write You’re so Vain? I can just picture her writing this song after a glass of brandy, with righteous indignation flowing through her pen, a satisfied grin gracing her lips.

In the song, she is specific in the details of the picture she’s painting. His scarf was apricot. Surely, lyrics such as these can only incriminate one person, but in the end the subject’s own hubris is what will trap him. If he voices that he thinks the song is about him, his hand is forced and he must look himself in the mirror claiming his own vanity.

You’re so Vain is a perfect song from start to finish. It even sounds fantastic being absolutely butchered by Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Blues by Zernell Gillie is a match for obvious reasons, with notes of apricot, coffee, and brandy, it’s a perfect fragrance wear for the bold. Anyone who has ever gotten dressed up for the sake of “accidentally” running into an ex (just me?) knows the care that goes into your self-presentation for that moment. Blues is a perfect fragrance for someone who knows exactly who they are, and that they’re better off without them. Any great revenge song should come with a revenge scent.

Awakening No. 02 by Kida Kyo & Mushaboom by Feist

fragrance notes: yuzu, timut pepper, magnolia leaf, green tea, vetiver, musk, mate

perfumer: Pia Long

relevant song lyrics: We’ll collect the moments one by one, I guess that’s how the future’s done.

I’ve got a man to stick it out and make a home from a rented house

Hey! Soooo, Feist is actually criminally underrated and that is a hill I am willing to die and decompose on. 1234, I Feel it All, and Mushaboom may be her most well-known and beloved, but she has some excellent deep cuts that do not receive nearly enough attention. (Any Party is a personal favorite.)

I digress. Though Mushaboom mentions lilacs and snow (both of which are fragrance notes we have listed in other perfumes stocked at The Drydown Boutique) what strikes me most about Mushaboom as a song is its eternal optimism and the desire to hope for a happy future. It’s a song about seeing the glass half full.

The perfume best suited to this ideal stocked at The Drydown Boutique is Awakening No. 02. There’s a bright, sunshine-y opening thanks to yuzu and timut pepper. However, let’s not confuse brightness and optimism of both the song and perfume with vapidity and frivolity. Both offer depth to the enjoyer in their own ways.

Mushaboom is both sanguine and realistic, “It may be years until the day my dreams will match up with my pay.”

Awakening is radiant yet finds itself grounded through notes of green tea and vetiver.

In their own ways, both Mushaboom and Awakening No. 02 strike a balance. For those that like to see the silver lining in everything, Awakening No. 02 may just be a perfect fit.

So there you have it! Those are some music and perfume pairings that we have in house. It was so fun to sit and think about where these two art forms might intersect and why. Leave us a comment with any songs, albums, or artists you’d like us to match next! We definitely want to keep writing these! Smell ya later!

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