It Takes Two: Duets (LP #45)

Songs of love, tension & harmony.

varied/mix

horizon/godot

, and

horizon

Jul 16, 2025

This week on LONGPLAY, it takes two.

This is a show about duets. But really, it’s a story of what happens when two people try to make something together.

In music, a duet is typically defined as a composition for two performers, two voices arranged to carry equal weight. But that balance isn’t always perfect. Sometimes one voice swells while the other recedes. Sometimes they harmonize. Sometimes they fall apart. Sometimes they sing the same thing at the same time and it still sounds like an argument.

The history of the duet stretches across genre and tradition. From opera arias and jazz standards, to soul ballads and synth-pop sparring matches, to brothers on back porches, lovers in studios, strangers caught mid-verse. Some duets are scripted. Others are improvised. But all of them are relational.

Tonight we’re exploring all those dynamics. The yin and the yang. The tension and the surrender. What it means to sing in tune. What it means to fall out. What happens when you pour yourself into another voice and don’t disappear.

This mix moves from the smoky hush of the standards to bickering, sweaty funk, bedroom whispers, and slow-dance devotion. These are songs of duality. Of negotiation. Of longing. Of love.

Because sometimes you need a partner. Sometimes you need a foil. And sometimes the only way to tell the story… is with two voices.

This is LONGPLAY.

Thanks for tuning in.

About varied/mix & Brainrot Radio Partnership

To bring our playlists to life on air we work with Brainrot Radio, a non-profit independent internet station broadcasting coast to coast.

Tune in live at brainrotradio.com every Tuesday from 11 PM – 12:30 AM for the show, where we curate playlists that reflect the moods and energies of the midnight hours (though they’re great at any time).

The next day, catch our writing and the full playlist right here on Substack.