Now Only

The lyrics deal with a number of topics such as the life Elverum and Castrée lived, "the absurdity of the bigger picture" of Elverum's life and Elverum playing the songs in public.[9] Like in A Crow Looked at Me, time plays a significant role, with the range of events and dates being more extensive.[7] The lyrics takes on a more direct descriptive manner rather the than the poetic style of his music before Castrée's death.[11] In comparison to A Crow Looked at Me the lyrics are "stranger, sometimes facetious".[12]

Elverum described the songs present on the album as "deeper and broader" than those on A Crow Looked at Me.[13] Elverum sings in a direct, sing-speaking, "stream-of-consciousness" manner.[14][15] Despite every song dealing explicitly with Castrée, the central focus of the album is Elverum and his perspective on death.[16] His perspective ranges from "ruminative, cosmic existentialism to carefully observed banality".[12]

The songs are musically similar to those on A Crow Looked at Me but longer, averaging seven minutes each, compared to A Crow Looked at Me's averaged less than four minutes.[17][18] Elverum explained that the reason for this change was his interest in "having a more nuanced conversation."[4] They have also been said to feature "richer instrumentation".[12]

The songs also feature multiple movements and follow non-linear narratives.[19] Just like A Crow Looked at Me the theme of the absurdity of performing initmate material in public while pretending otherwise is present as is the theme of contextualising death, particularly in the song "Two Paintings by Nikolai Alstrup".[9][20] The theme of "shifts in memory and posterity" which Elverum called the theme of album is also present, such as in songs like "Distortion".[9] The role of art within the grieving process is also a recurring motif.[12]

The title of the song "Tintin in Tibet" refers to Tintin in Tibet, the twentieth volume of the comics series The Adventures of Tintin by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.[6] A copy of Tintin in Tibet owned by Castrée previously appeared in the cover art of A Crow Looked at Me.[7][21] Thematically similar to A Crow Looked at Me, the song details Elverum's memories of Castrée before her illness.[16][22] It opens with a major chord.[23] The song along with others on the album incorporates multiple tempo and instrument changes such as the transition from guitar chords to melodic riffs played on a classical guitar.[24] The song also features cymbal crashes and snare rim hits.[10]

The second track "Distortion", which has been described as an 11-minute epic,[16] deals with the ideas of memory and mortality.[16][25] Across its six verses,[26] Elverum contemplates how one will be remembered and how Castrée lives on through his memories.[16] It, like many of Elverum's past works, opens with heavy distorted guitars.[26] Alongside that it features guitar arpeggios, distorted metal bass notes, vocal harmonies and piano trills.[27][28] The instrumentation is evocative of his previous black metal work.[19] The song references Jack Kerouac and his daughter with Elverum noting a resemblance between Castrée and Jan Kerouac.[9] It also references Elverum's childhood memory of his great-grandfather's funeral in particular the impact of seeing his corpse and a pregnancy scare he experienced at age 23.[7][25]

The title track which has been described as the centerpiece of the album. It features a "playful" recitation of the phrase "People get cancer and die."[29] It's notable in the context of the album and Elverum's discography as a whole due to it functioning as a hook which Elverum admits that he's "maybe never written" before.[29] The phrase is intended to represent the "absurdity of everything" with the clash between the "catchy and pretty" instrumention and the grim lyrics representing "the clash between the facts and experiencing beauty and devastation in the same moment."[29] Elverum reflects on his time spent in hospitals, the absurdity of playing his "death songs" to audiences at a music festival outside of Phoenix, Arizona and the success of A Crow Looked at Me.[25][16][19][30] The song uses the Arizonan deserts as a reflection of Elverum's "self-discovery and coping."[31]

In the song "Earth" Elverum references "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots" by the Cascadian black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room,"[9] The song details Elverum discovering pieces of Castrée's bones in the area where he spread her ashes. Elverum was careful with how he portrayed this moment framing it not as gory, gratuitous, or shocking, merely a reflection of the truth.[9] It features a grunge style opening reminiscent of his 2008 EP Black Wooden Ceiling Opening and his 2009 album Wind's Poem[19][32] along with power chords, open hi-hats, finger-picked acoustic guitar and keyboard accompaniment.[10][33][34]

"Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup" refers to Norwegian painter Nikolai Astrup and his paintings Midsummer Eve Bonfire (ca. 1915) and Foxgloves (ca. 1920).[25] Elverum chose Astrup upon realizing that the phenomenon of "observing the transition from a living person into a memory" he is experincing with Castrée, once similarly happened to Astrup and to "every person who's ever been alive."[9] The lyrics contain Elverum pondering the occurrence of his death such as flight over the Grand Canyon suddenly crashing.[16][25] The opening lyrics "I Know No One" are a reference to the opening track on his 2005 album No Flashlight.[19] The melody is reused from his song "Who?" from his 2008 album Lost Wisdom.[32]

The final track "Crow, Pt. 2" is a continuation from "Crow", likewise the final track from A Crow Looked at Me.[35] The song is more energetic than "Crow" although it still retains the previously established dark tone and features finger-picked acoustic guitar.[35][36] While still directed to Castrée, Elverum's daughter is the central focus of the song, mentioning her sense of grief.[36][37] Throughout the song and the album as a whole Elverum lists a "series of symbolic incarnations" of Castrée, the areas and ideas in which he sees Castrée[lower-alpha 2] however he ultimately admits that he doesn't see her in anything, anymore.[19][35]

Now Only appeared on numerous year-end top lists by several publications. Such as AllMusic,[61] The Daily Emerald,[62] Digital Trends,[63] Earbuddy,[64] Exclaim!,[65] KCPR,[66] Loud and Quiet,[67] Noisey,[68] NPR,[69] Pitchfork,[70] The Seattle Times,[71] The Skinny,[72] Slate,[73] Tiny Mix Tapes,[74] and Treblezine.[75] Songs such as "Tintin in Tibet", "Distortion" and "Now Only" also appeared on year-end top lists by Treblezine,[76] Pitchfork,[77] and the Phoenix New Times,[31] respectively. American singer-songwriter Kevin Morby included the album on his list of his favorite albums of 2018.[78]