Ariel Pink has always been something of a romantic songwriter, it’s just a matter of reading between the lines. His latest single, “Put Your Number in My Phone,” showcases a more overt sense of romance–or at least in the more modern sense of the word.
The song, slated to be released on his tenth studio album, Pom Pom, favors Ariel Pink’s typical brand of lo-fi (though not in the same vein as Karen O’s latest), early 70s-inspired fare, contrasted perfectly by the lyrical content, in which he states, “Put your number in my phone…/If I could get some time alone…” The lackadaisical tone of the track connotes the overall non-committal nature of any guy who’s asking a girl to put her number in his phone. And then there is the sexual subtext of the syntactical formation of the song title. How could you not put your number in his phone?
Ariel Pink’s frank brand of honesty with regard to approaching women is a refreshing perspective on the trolling scene. Rather than being an all-out sleaze, he makes himself seem vulnerable by asking, “What could tame this gypsy heart?” A.k.a. it isn’t his fault if he loses interest in a woman the second he gets her number. Nonetheless, he enjoys it when “your luscious lips entice [him] to discover.” Fucking with the hearts of women throughout L.A.
In the end, however, he ends up toying too much with the hearts of strangers, prompting one of them to leave the uncertain message, “We met at the taco shop in Silver Lake…” But when it comes to pursuing women, Ariel Pink’s contemporary philosophy is: “Talk to me. It’s now or never.”
