Neel plays with a polymeter for his songwriting challenge answer

For Neel’s answer to the 2025 songwriting challenge, he wrote a baroque-esqe song using multiple time signatures and polymeter sections.

Download the lyrics to Vice and Rack to follow along.

We talked about:

• The song Cup of Coffee by Garbage and how they used a polymeter (which Neel incorrectly labelled compound time)
• How Neel incorporated four different time signatures in his song, including a polymeter of “3 against 4” (3/4 and 4/4 simultaneously)
• Using a 7/4 time signature with alternating 3+4 and 4+3 emphases
• The appearance of odd time signatures in classical Indian music
• How Neel’s approach to the bridge resulted in a modulation for the final chorus
• How Neel used a metronome and selectively muting tracks to compose the polymeter section