MonoNeon’s Quilted Stereo finds the son of Memphis surging into new genres with exciting hybrid grooves, but the sit-up-and-take-notice track is unquestionably the medium ballad “Stereo.” The four-and-a-half-minute “Stereo” is striking for several reasons. First is the brooding, minor-key harmony (actually Ab Dorian) that summons such reflective songs as Donald Byrd’s “Cristo Redentor” and Michael Jackson’s “Lady in My Life” and “Earth Song.” Then there’s the soul-bearing, first-person lyrics that Mono offers unapologetically. Perhaps most compelling is his revelatory use of bass chords, something we’ve rarely heard the boundless bass explorer do, especially on his more recent song-focused records, where he’s often playing guitar and keyboards.

Credit co-producer, co-writer, and keyboardist Davy Nathan. Explains Mono, who notes he had his Steely Dan and Donald Fagen roots in mind coming into the track, “Davy had mentioned that I should think about writing a song on bass. He knows I usually don’t write songs using my bass; I mainly write on keyboard. But he thought it would be good to have a bass-written and played song on the record. So when we were sitting at his keyboard in his L.A. home studio, thinking of ideas for ‘Stereo,’ I grabbed my bass and did some trial-and-error composing. Davy has a way of producing my weird and quirky ideas and making them accessible to the average ear; that’s why I trust him so much as a collaborator. After we got the music down, we wrote the lyrics based on the challenges in my life, like dealing with depression and fame.”

Mono played his Signature Fender 5-string direct into the Universal Audio interface at Nathan’s home studio. Let’s look at the transcription of the chord part first (tabbed for standard 5-string bass): The intro sets up the II–V chordal figure that continues through the first verse (letter A), with its lyric-fitting “dark to light,” minor-chord-to-major-chord sound. Offers Mono, “When I play chords on the bass, they’re usually triads or even two-note chords.” Note the nice voice-leading, with the 5th, dominant 7th, and 3rd of the Abm7 moving to the 3rd, 5th, and root of the Db.

For the pre-chorus at letter B, the tonality shifts to Ab major, with a III–VI–II–V cycle that resolves to the IV minor (Dbm6) — the perfect enigmatic sound to match his lyric about feeling lost. Here, Mono lays down the basic triad chords shown, but he also tracked a second part, not shown, that presents different triad inversions further up the fingerboard (for example, Fb–Bb–Db starting on the 19th fret of the A string, for the Dbm6). In addition, he adds more motion and leading tones between the higher chords. “I was thinking like an R&B guitarist on the overdubbed part,” he says.

The chorus arrives at letter C, remaining in Ab major but pivoting off a parallel harmony in the E/F# chord. Here, Mono cranks up the contrast, turning to tasty cluster arpeggios that can also be viewed as two-notes chords, given that he lets the last two notes ring. Verse (letter D), pre-chorus (E), and chorus (F) are repeated, leading to an ear-grabbing eight-bar bridge interlude of strings and vocals that moves through several keys. “That was all done by my friend [saxophonist/composer] Sly5thAve, who I play with in Ghost Note and who used to play baritone sax for Prince. I gave him complete freedom to do what he wanted, and that’s what he came up with.” After four bars of the opening vamp comes the third verse (H), with lyrics that have a positive resolution, and then a concluding chorus (I).

Now let’s look at the bass part, which Mono cut second on his signature Fender 5-string, after doing the chord part first. His intro/verse figure (letter A) matches the rhythm of his chord part, while pedaling on the Ab. In addition, he takes advantage of the breaks in his vocal every other measure by playing a bluesy fill on beat four in response, which keeps the motion going. For the pre-chorus at B, he again matches the rhythm of his chord part, adding 16th-note motion to connect the roots and add rhythmic interest.

Arriving at the chorus (letter C), the bass takes a more prominent role, given the room left by the beat one clusters in the chord part. Here, Mono switches to a muted sound: “I’m using thumb and palm mute in my plucking hand, and also deadening the strings in my fretting hand by cupping the fingerboard and using the flat of my hand to mute the strings.” Operating out of an old-school, root-fifth-octave shape, he gradually adds approach notes and different rhythmic phrases to develop his part, again taking advantage of the space after his vocals to stretch on beats threeand four.

Letters D, E, and F repeat the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus. Mono then returns on bass in the seventh measure of Sly5thAve’s bridge, followed by a verse and chorus ending the track. Of “Stereo,” he sums up, “It’s one of my favorite songs on the record, and I especially dig it lyrically — it makes me both happy and sad. I’m definitely going to add it to my live show, and going forward I’ll certainly write more on bass.”