Look At Us Now, With (a very long) Whisper
A showcase on how a good riff or a solo can further lift a good song
There are some evident reasons why ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ is such a huge success. You pick up a very successful novel that itself picked up on some rock music legends and molded them into a new/same story. You actually make the actors play and sing the music that itself uses all the key pop rock formulas and that is composed with the help of the likes of Jackson Browne, Phoebe Bridgers, and Marcus Mumford and you make that music stand alone by itself. It all makes both the storyline and the show itself, well, ‘fictionally believable,’ or if you will, turn fiction into life.
One of the reasons Daisy Jones & The Six music works, particularly ‘Look At Us Now (Honeycomb),’ the best song there is the inspired guitar riff/solo that serves as a sort of a peak of the music. Such inspired moments can make or break a song, whether it is brief or over three minutes long like Kevin Salem’s solo on ‘In A Whisper.’ Salem didn’t make it big so far, but this song, with its solo, is as inspired as any.
Waking Bear - Running
Waking Bear from Olympia Washington boasts no big solos or riffs here and relies on their sense of a good dream pop melody, excellent vocals and not overextending their stay. Works.
Michael B . Thomas - The Moment
Michael B. Thomas, aka Thomas Barr from Leeds, modifies his singer-songwriter mode with some underlined soul and a subtle arrangement to make ’The Moment’ a good moment.
Lael Neale - I Am The River
Updating something that got the tag of twee pop is not such an easy task as it might seem at first hand, but Lael Neale’s move from Los Angeles back to rural Virginia seems to be the right spark for her to do exactly that with great results.
Joshua Henry - Can Nobody Tell Us Nothin’
This one starts as a slow-burning soul and turns into something that any producer looking for that grandiose sound would be yearning for, and Henry’s voice is that glue that makes it all work in the way that it should.
Rutherford Royal - Bleak
This Southern Carolina guy working out of Nashville, neither comes up with your standard Nashville pop country, nor is this song in any way bleak, but a truly new take on what is dubbed singer-songwriter music.
That Summer - Black Jack Grin
It just might be given that you name your band That Summer and come up with an old-style rock song that is more than a perfect fit for those drives with your car roof or all windows down.
Boy & Bear - Apex
They say that these Australians are a folk band, but then quite a few might disagree by hearing this song that has quite a few different elements in there. Still, makes no difference, since it is quite a good one, no matter where you want to fit it in.
Far From Saints - Take It Through The Night
Combining country and soul/blues can in most cases produce some great results, and Kelly Jones and the cohorts in this newly formed group prove that point with quite some ease.
Maggie Miles - Asleep
Another one coming out of Nashville sounds more like a New York/London combo of some quality dream pop with some beefed-up production, definitely pre-sleep stuff.
Fences - Thin Legs
Christopher Mansfield, aka Fences, has been coming up with some brilliant melodic pop/rock for a while now, and these ‘Thin Legs’ actually have some serious musical substance in them.
Alice Auer - Unknown
With the help of Connor Albert, Auer comes up with something that you can easily fit in with your Michael Franks collection (of which you shouldn’t be ashamed) of what can be called quality smooth jazz
Mike Tod - The Coo Coo
With his take on old-time country/folk Tod definitely brings back the times when the coo coo clocks were the standard, and he does justice to this concept. Good to be reminded of it, once in a while.