I think maybe this is one reason why I like demos so much: no added cheese. An overly earnest or emotionally indulgent song can be great if the arrangement is suitably restrained. Dylan’s Blood in the Tracks is in many respects an emotionally excessive record, but the simplicity of the arrangements helps to make it not cringey but overwhelmingly powerful.
cheese – The Homebound Symphony by Alan Jacobs
Alan Jacobs’ critic of what constitutes as ‘cheese’ has me thinking about Michel Faber’s book Listen and how subjective music can be.