Exploring the Gestalt principles in music is certainly something that I hadn’t thought about before listening to Spoon. However, once I did listen to the podcast and to the song (several times), it began to make sense how there are specific Gestalt principles that can be heavily applied to music.
Firstly, there was the element of repetition. The drummer, Jim Eno, points out that they played around with different types of music, but with each beat, there is a specific repetition to it. There is also a distinction between the repetition during the chorus and during other parts of the song. There are different types of music that get repeated at different parts, but in the end, it creates a sense of unity in the song because there is an overarching drumbeat continuous in the background.
Additionally, there is a sense of continuity in the song. While there are different types of music in the song, the transition from one beat from another is seamless, and doesn’t break up the song and cause the words or meaning of it to become lost.
I feel that these two Gestalt principles in general are what drive most forms of music to be considered art. We as humans are always looking for patterns, and repetition + continuity is a pattern that is, well, music to our ears.