Our fascination with time travel stems from being hostage to an invisible, universal clock that ticks on through infinity. As much as we dream about turning back the hands of time or leaping to the future, it is pure science fiction. Singer-songwriter Matthew Liam Nicholson’s latest single, “Time Machine,” is a majestic folk rendition that waxes poetic about the complex realm known as time.
As we all know, time marches on for everyone. But, not if you’re the “universal outsider in a broken time machine” as introduced by Nicholson. “Tuning in and tuning out of worlds seen and unseen,” this traveler jumps across the cosmic timeline in a haphazard fashion. Reflected in Nicholson’s shimmering, underwater filtered vocals, there is an imperceptible membrane that separates the traveler from each new world. They are a visitor from another place and time, but cannot break through in order to put down roots.
This poetic exposition on time is carried by an acoustic and string laden, folk melody that induces a dreamlike state. Much like his vocals do, Nicholson’s crafted an echoing tune that pulls upon your consciousness with each pluck and strum of every sweet note. For a song that dives into the abstract realm of time, this sound carries a deep, but soothing resonance.
There are a pair of captivating lines in this song that concisely capture world history and our place in it. “A toast to the end of a gruesome epoch on this cosmic refugee rock,” Nicholson opens. “Goodbye psychopath rulers, your claws lose grip on our clock.” Most of history has been defined by strife and the leaders who propagate it. Here, Nicholson is serving up a beacon that, one day, the future will bring an end to a scourge of malevolence.
On “Time Machine,” Nicholson recreates the sci-fi aura associated with time travel thanks in part to a whimsical folk melody. The gravitational force of time itself loses its power and you are caught up in this tune’s lighthearted flair.
Written by Travis Boyer
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