With “I Know Not,” Irish songwriter Sean MacLeod continues his long-standing fascination with the space where pop melody meets musical experimentation. The single, due for release on December 5th, 2025, is a quietly daring piece of indie pop—one that sounds inviting on the surface while subtly unsettling expectations beneath it.
At first glance, “I Know Not” carries the warmth of familiar pop forms. Its chorus leans into a nostalgic sweetness reminiscent of 1950s doo-wop and Phil Spector’s wall-of-sound sensibility, while flashes of 60s psychedelia and 70s punk attitude add texture and tension. But this is not mere retro revivalism. MacLeod bends these influences into something stranger and more personal, allowing discordant vocals, Eastern tonalities, and microtonal tuning to blur the edges of what might otherwise be a straightforward indie single.
The song’s lo-fi production—recorded at home on deliberately unsophisticated equipment—enhances its intimacy. Rather than polish away imperfections, MacLeod embraces them, letting the rawness become part of the narrative. The innovative use of microtonal scales, originally mapped on medieval lyres and later mirrored through retuned percussion, adds a subtle sense of disorientation. It’s an approach that rewards close listening, revealing new details with each return. “I Know Not” reflects MacLeod’s characteristic philosophical bent. The repeated questioning of perception and meaning—summed up in the line “Is sound only just sound”—anchors the song in quiet introspection. There’s a spiritual undercurrent here, less about certainty than curiosity, aligning with MacLeod’s ongoing interest in music as a vehicle for contemplation rather than declaration. As a preview of his upcoming album That’s When the Earth Becomes a Star, “I Know Not” feels like a mission statement. It captures MacLeod’s ability to reconcile catchy, commercial hooks with genuinely experimental ideas, proving that accessibility and avant-garde thinking need not be opposites. In an era of rigid genre boundaries and algorithmic sameness, “I Know Not” stands out by asking questions instead of offering easy answers—and trusting the listener to follow.
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