Dreams submerge one into an 

altered state of consciousness. So does 
music. The two become one in Two 
Saviors, Buck Meek’s new album. 
It is tinged with sadness and regret 
but suffused with light. Steeped in 
nostalgia and setting, Meek invites 
you into a slice of his memory. The 
album feels like a love letter written 
upon waking up from a dream: a 
little confused, a little unclear in its 
language but thoughtfully done — that 
is, if it is not the dream itself.

The Big Thief member’s solo album 

begins with a daydream. “Pareidolia” 
is a breath of summer on an album 
released in the dead of winter. It is 
a vessel filled with clouds, a finger 
trailed lazily over a lover’s skin. 
Literally, “Pareidolia” is defined as the 
phenomenon of finding myths and 

patterns in random stimuli, like seeing 
figures in the clouds. These stories 
we seek to find in the accidental 
nature of our lives, this search for 
meaning, is compressed here into 
a relaxed love song. Like the rest of 
the album, it is not eager to explore 
complicated, profound ideas. It does 
not desire purpose on an intellectual 
level. Instead, it finds purpose in all 
the small, human patterns of everyday 
life. Purpose is found through a loving 
observation of the details.

Details are what give this album 

personality. Lines like “Thank God 
for coffee / and apple pie” from 
“Pocketknife” and “Well, did your 
eyes change? I remember them blue 
/ or were they always hazel?” from 
“Candle” and all the specific names on 
“Cannonball! Pt. 2” welcome you into 
Meek’s world, one filled with birds 
and guitar twinges.

Although the lyrics are difficult 

to understand at times, Meek does 

a good job convincing the listener 
that this is due to their highly 
personal, interpretive nature, rather 
than a failure on his part to fully 
communicate his meaning. He tends 
to write with snippets of images, 
leaving the listener to sew together a 
quilt of meaning from them, allowing 
each person to adapt the images to fit 
into their own lives. 

Nostalgia and sadness are universal 

experiences. Meek, using these as 
his tools of empathy, does not write 
explicitly. That is, he does not force 
the listener to interpret his work in a 
certain way. Tunes such as “Dream 
Daughter” and “Two Saviors” drift 
in the lukewarm lake of memory, 
addressing someone directly. It feels 
like a photograph in which the subject 
smiles radiantly at the person behind 
the camera. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, January 27, 2021

After the past year, the phrase 

“these unprecedented times” and 
the nonstop messages of “we will get 
through this” have become, quite 
frankly, annoying. Yes, we know that 
pandemics are unpredictable, but 
these seemingly heartfelt remarks are 
constant reminders of our complete 
lack of control. They prompt us to 
question if our life and our time serve 
any greater purpose. 

Now, imagine if you have all the 

time in the world and a never-ending 
life. How would you spend your life? 
How would you use your time? “The 
Invisible Life of Addie La Rue,” a book 
by V.E. Schwab, follows the story of 
Addie and her 300-year struggle to “be 
remembered” and define her legacy. 
Desperate to escape a mundane, 
passionless existence in 1700s France, 
a young and naive Addie makes a 
deal with a dark, mysterious god for 
freedom and time. No deal, however, 
comes without a price. Though Addie 
will live forever, no one will remember 
her. 

Soon after making her deal, Addie 

realizes that her life is meaningless 
without anyone to remember her. She 
cleverly finds a way to leave behind 
a legacy, influencing artists and 
their works. These artists attempt to 
illustrate and bring to life a mysterious 
female presence whom they can’t 
quite put their finger on. Of course, 
art is timeless, everlasting pieces of 
culture and conversation. 

So, Addie goes through the years, 

living as a ghost and spending her 
nights with lovers, only for them 
to forget her in the morning. She 
whispers into the souls of artists, 
writers and musicians, causing them 
to embody her in their work. She lives 
like this until she meets Henry, who 
remembers her.

Her entanglement with Henry is a 

beautiful love story — a boy and girl 
who find what they long for in each 
other. Henry’s history is tumultuous, 
highlighting the contrast between 
love and validation. He struggles 
to find emotional balance and 
satisfaction with his friendships, 
family and romantic partners, going 
through life without a solid anchor 
or purpose. When he meets Addie, he 
is able to journey towards emotional 
balance, learning what satisfaction 
and contentment with one’s self truly 
entails. For Addie, she is finally able 
to find someone who remembers her 
for everything she is. For a moment, 
everything is perfect, our characters 
living in bliss. Then, things go awry 
and Addie has to make a difficult 
decision. The ending leaves readers 
guessing and questioning if what they 
read was a love story, or something 
else. 

Having read some of V.E. Schwab’s 

previous works, I was confused by 
the focus on emotional character 
exploration and the “coming of age” 
vibe to the chapters leading up to the 
climax. “A Darker Shade of Magic” 
and her other series attempt to analyze 
themes such as morality, justice and 
human desires. But it all clicked when 
I read the last chapter. The ending 

reaffirmed Schwab’s trademark style 
and changed my interpretation of the 
book drastically. 

The prose is full of figurative 

language and allegories. The flowery 
descriptions are so vivid, you can see 
the years falling like leaves. I was very 
suspicious of the writing, however, 
almost as if the author specifically 
chose to write so elegantly to give 
readers the wrong impression. If you 
look past the allure of the language, 
you might uncover a different story. 

Addie sought to leave a legacy for 

herself, for people to remember her 
name. She took the company of artists, 
writers and musicians at night, letting 
them immortalize her in their art. 
When the fog clears, I see a character 
struggling between validation in the 
eyes of others and oneself. Like the 
language, art is often used as a symbol 
of the more alluring attractions and 
superficial desires of the world. Addie 
chose to create her legacy through 
superficial means. 

When she finally does meet 

someone who remembers her, the 
emotional journey that ensues results 
in character growth for one, but does 
it change the other?

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Jeffrey Wechsler
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
01/27/21

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

01/27/21

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2021

ACROSS

1 Make fun of
6 Consecrate

11 Like sashimi
14 Kind of acid in 

proteins

15 Paddled transport
16 Investment 

acronym

17 Later than late
19 Formal apparel
20 Ultimate goal
21 Welcome word in 

real estate

22 Prez on a fiver
23 Word with sky 

or spy

25 “Gypsy” star, 

1959

27 Gleeful Bedrock 

shout

33 Happening, to 

Holmes

34 Campus leader
35 “Main” road
38 Discontinued 

iPods

39 [There’s another 

doc]

40 Tearful
41 Food on the trail
42 Ailing
43 __ strength
44 Busywork
47 Caterpillar casing
49 Bug
50 Word of good 

cheer?

51 Layered mineral
54 Flannel patterns
59 Salem-to-Boise 

dir.

60 Moonshine
62 [Not my mistake]
63 Adler of Sherlock 

Holmes fame

64 Stealthy warrior
65 Sound of 

disapproval

66 County bordering 

London

67 Toot one’s own 

horn

DOWN

1 Like blokes
2 “My turn to sing!”
3 Be concerned 

with

4 “Young 

Frankenstein” 
role

5 Hipsters
6 Pre-A.D.
7 Metallica 

drummer Ulrich

8 Root canal 

procedure, briefly

9 Classic 1967 

Sam & Dave hit

10 Like some rye
11 EGOT-winning 

actress from 
“West Side 
Story”

12 Curaçao 

neighbor

13 Like candles
18 Prince who 

inspired Dracula

24 Finally got there
26 Rat or squirrel
27 Yin’s partner
28 In the distance
29 Employee’s end-

of-year reward

30 Owie
31 Park seat
32 Start to park, 

perhaps

36 Acted like

37 Greek food truck 

offering

40 Moving, as one’s 

toes

42 Many prom 

attendees

45 Christina 

Crawford’s 
“__ Dearest”

46 Big wine valley
47 Pepsodent rival
48 Welcome desert 

sight

52 Pool equipment
53 Hathaway 

married to 
Shakespeare

55 Actor Kapoor 

of “Slumdog 
Millionaire”

56 Online sign-in fig.
57 __ vu
58 Law 

enforcement 
acronym

61 Ranch nickname

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“Knock knock 
who’s there? 
Tara. 
Tara Who?
Tara McClosoff”

“Does anyone 
read this?”

The blurring of dreams and 
reality: Buck Meek’s ‘Two 
Saviors’ dives into memory

“One Night in Miami” 

brings icons to life

What would Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, 

Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown say to 

one another?

While this sounds like the prompt 

for a history essay, the movie “One 

Night in Miami” imagines these 

icons meeting on the 1964 February 

evening that Cassius Clay, later known 

as Muhammad Ali, became a world 

boxing champion.

Based on the 2013 play of the same 

name, it’s almost impossible to believe 

that this is Regina King’s (“Watchmen”) 

directorial debut. Using every cinematic 

tool to her advantage, she brings 1964 to 

Technicolor life with evocative staging, 

fitting musical choices (the song 

“Blowin’ in The Wind” is a highlight) 

and reimagined historical imagery.

The film starts off with Ali fighting 

an Englishman in Liverpool, where the 

almost completely Caucasian crowd is 

uniformly hostile. This sense of conflict 

is threaded through the next three 

introductory scenes, as Sam Cooke 

performs at a glitzy, sneering L.A. venue; 

a Southern elite patronizes Jim Brown 

and Malcolm X agonizes over leaving 

the Nation of Islam and threats to his 

family.

“One Night in Miami” sets the 

historical stage through character, 

rather than relying on setting. This 

makes the ensuing character-focused 

story all the more thrilling because 

the audience understands on an 

emotional level what the four icons 

are up against in a white-dominated 

America.

It is difficult enough bringing 

one momentous historical figure 

to the screen, let alone four. Yet 

the cast of “One Night in Miami” 

makes it look easy. The men are 

humanized enough to be relatable 

as characters, but they also bring 

history to blazing life when it’s right 

for the story — Malcolm X geeks 

out over his new camera and, just 

a few scenes later, exclaims “we’re 

fighting for our lives” in a furious 

cadence that feels like watching the 

man himself.

While both Aldis Hodge’s (“The 

Invisible Man”) Jim Brown and Eli 

Goree’s 
(“Riverdale”) 
Muhammad 

Ali are utterly convincing, Kingsley 

Ben-Adir’s (“The OA”) Malcolm X and 

Leslie Odom Jr.’s (“Hamilton”) Sam 

Cooke eclipse the other two characters. 

Throughout the night, Malcolm X and 

Sam Cooke draw one another into an 

intensifying conflict over their views on 

America. Malcolm X is appropriately 

severe in his outlook, pushing Cooke 

to stop singing love songs and to start 

fighting for social change. Cooke calls 

out Malcolm X for demonizing people 

who, in his view, could be won over 

through song. Muhammad Ali and Jim 

Brown try and put out the fires.

Since Kemp Powers, playwright 

and screenwriter of the original 

play and now the film, the movie 

sticks closely to its theatrical roots. 

Most of the narrative takes place 

inside a motel room, where the four 

characters 
converse 
about 
their 

historical moment and what it meant 

to be a Black celebrity in 1964. For a 

2021 audience, the themes explored 

concerning 
race 
and 
American 

oppression are arrestingly relevant. 

However, since the bulk of the movie 

takes place in one room, with everyone 

talking almost non-stop, even the 

best-acted and most well-written 

conversations begin to drag.

Thankfully, whenever “One Night in 

Miami” begins to lose its momentum, 

an emotional moment or a cutaway 

rips one’s attention back. The restraint 

in setting and plot, while occasionally 

one-note, gives the scenes of excitement 

a sublime air, like Muhammad Ali 

pulverizing a boxing opponent or Sam 

Cooke performing to a crowd that 

explodes with joy.

“One Night in Miami” is a thrilling 

piece of historical imagination with 

great performances, and establishes 

Regina King as a director to watch.

“The Invisible Life of Addie 
La Rue:” darkness, time and 

contentment

ANDREW WARRICK

Daily Arts Writer

ZOHA KHAN
Daily Arts Writer
ROSA SOFIA KAMINSKI

Daily Arts Writer

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Amazon Prime Video

ELIZABETH YOON

KEELED SCALES

