“The House Was Haunted, But It Knew My Name” by Neo Brightwell

 

     The strength of the song is in the lyrics, which are poignant and open to interpretation. Neo Brightwell sings of entering a house that he remembers well, even recognizing the “same hinge squeak.” More significantly, the house remembers him. The house was haunted but it held me close - said my name like a psalm, although a psalm that no preacher knows.
 
      The house is a metaphor for the mind (or soul) of the person. We all have weaknesses, painful memories, and emotional damage of past experiences. And most of us have no desire to revisit where those flaws reside. But “The House Was Haunted, But It Knew My Name” represents a revisit.
 
     The song begins with acoustic guitar and articulate accounting of the visit. The texture is enhanced shortly after the one-minute mark, although the additional instrumentation carefully stays away from interfering with the lyrical description.
 
   And “The House Was Haunted, But It Knew My Name” ends with a degree of defiance and resilience – The house still knows my name, I’m home, I never left. Neo Brightwell says, “I don’t sing to the camera. I sing to the silence. Through walls, through ghosts, through time itself. This song was never meant to stay inside.” Appropriately, the song is the opening track from an album entitled “We Didn’t Survive to Be Quiet.”
 

     Brightwell is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He self-identifies with “Moonshine Disco” as he “writes scripture for the silenced and songs for the scorched.”

      “The House Was Haunted, But It Knew My Name” by Neo Brightwell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neobrightwell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neobrightwell

Partial lyrics of “The House Was Haunted, But It Knew My Name” by Neo Brightwell
I stepped through the door
I swore I’d burn
Same hinge squeak
Same porch light turn
 
Dust in the lungs
Breath full of flame
And damn if that hallway
Still whispered my name
 
No screams
No chain
No holy blame
Just old wood knowing what I became
 
The wallpaper curled like it missed my shame
Yeah, the house was haunted
But it knew my name
 
The house was haunted
But it held me close
Said my name like a psalm no preacher knows
 
No curse in the creak
No fear in the flame
It didn’t haunt me
It just knew my name
 
I tried to run
But I stayed the same
This ain’t escape
It’s where I came
 
It didn’t flinch
It didn’t flame
The house was haunted
But it knew my name

“Autopilot” by Alexsucks

 

     The discography of the Los Angeles-based band Alexsucks shows a diversity of influences. For their single “Autopilot,” there are signs of Bloc Party, a standout UK band. The song carries an urgency similar to Bloc Party’s “Banquet.” Autopilot” travels at 155 beats per minute and lyrically asks “Why am I bleeding,” while “Banquet” is only a slightly less frantic 149 beats per minute while explaining “Cause I’m on fire.”
 
     The quick tempo of the Alexsucks' single belies the lyrical subject matter, which relate to the confusion with a flawed relationship. “Autopilot” is the title track of the band’s recently released album. The band members are Alex Alvarez (vocals, guitar), John Luther (guitar), drummer Jonny Ransom (drums), and Garrett Orseno, aka DJ Topgun (bass),
 
     “Autopilot” by Alexsucks

Website: https://www.alexsucks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/ALEXSUCKS-100091128336982/?_rdr

Lyrics of “Autopilot” by Alexsucks
There you are, you sit around and all you got
Is yourself to talk and you go on and on
You bite your tongue, you bite your tongue
When your thoughts are loud, when your thoughts are loud
 
Don't wanna hear it
If I'm the one that holds the gun
Then tell me, why am I bleeding? I'm bleeding
So what? We lost control
Autopilot, I need you, I need you
 
And there you go, you're never one to take it slow
Where you off to now? Where you off to now?
You lost your touch and you've lost touch
And now you're freaking out, you're freaking out
 
Don't wanna hear it
If I'm the one that holds the gun
Then tell mе, why am I bleeding? I'm bleeding
So what? We lost control
Autopilot, I need you, I need you
 
I need it
If I'm the one that holds thе gun
Then tell me, why am I bleeding? I'm bleeding
So what? We lost control
Autopilot, I need you, I need you

“Miyazaki” by Paris Paloma

 

      The latest release from outspoken Paris Paloma is named for outspoken Hayao Miyazaki, who is famed for his era-defining body of work and who is unabashed in criticizing AI-generated art as “an insult to life itself.” Paloma presents songs as a commentary on societal imbalances and injustices. While talking about ““Miyazaki,” she explained:
   “I wrote this song about art, about the burning, urgent desire to create art as my way of making sense of the world, and as my way of resisting darkness and hatred. It’s a defiant song, about defending the human need of artistic creation in a world that is increasingly devaluing it in the face of AI; that’s why it is named after renowned director Hayao Miyazaki. I wrote this song for everyone who has an urgent and unexplained need to express themselves through their art; it is for the painters, the dancers, the writers, the storytellers, the crafters, the directors, the singers, musicians, anybody who relates to this creative fire, and the threat that AI generated slop might take the place of essential humanity.”
 
     Paris Paloma is based in London. Originally hailing from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Paris Paloma channels the experience of womanhood into her songwriting, speaking to the female experience, grief, love, death, and power.
 
     “Miyazaki” by Paris Paloma

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parispalomamusic/
Other Socials and Tour info: https://parispaloma.ffm.to/links

Lyrics of “Miyazaki” by Paris Paloma
I have something to say
As has anyone who’s ever made
Anything worth enjoying
Nobody can destroy it
Left unchecked it mutates
Bleeding desperation to create
Collapses me like a star
Sickness inside my heart
 
Whenever I fear death I think of that which I would fear much more
Never dying Is that what you all are striving for
I leave a stream of greenery in every path I walk
Chased by a monster of a thousand voices that always wants
One more
 
Please don’t ever take it from me
Changes the color of the air that I breathe
 
In grief’s fertile land
The space in between clapping hands
They say it’ll pass
I used to pray that it would
But its absence never brought anything good
I wake in the morning
Do all of my chores then
Of thinking in silence
And drinking sweet wine
Putting my mind somewhere outside
Where it can feel the sun
Maybe it’ll connect with someone
 
The world’s the world
And I’m a person in a tiny body
I vow to live
I won’t let fear be anything that stops me
I’m not a violent person but I make things with aggression
I’m not a violent person but my work is one exception
 
I won’t let you take it from me
Changes the color of the air that I breathe
 
I wasn’t always tortured
I made art long before then
I call into the void until I lose my voice but
Sometimes a cry reverberates back
A child with mud caked hands
Or a prolific and obsessive older man
I’d do it unpaid, unseen, unthanked
It’s worth more than anything that I have
 
(You can never have it ever)
(You can never have it ever)
(You can never have it ever)
 
 
I won’t let you take it from me
Changes the color of the air that I breathe
I won’t let you take it from me
Changes the color of the air that I breathe
 
I won’t let you take it from me