Two Extended Intensity Builds

       Most crescendos occur during a small portion of a song. They are energizing. Here are two songs with extended builds.

     SUAD is a Finnish singer-songwriter. She is set to release her debut solo album in early 2021. “I’ve been in many bands that at first I didn’t consider myself as a solo artist, I wanted to write songs with others. But after I moved to a new city to study music I ended up on the path I am now. I found myself on my own, so I began writing songs alone”, SUAD tells of the first steps of her career.

     “Streets” by Suad – the extended piano-driven crescendo begins when the vocals end at 2:20.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuadMusic12/

     Luke Nao is based in Ulm, Germany. In his song “Roccastrada,” the crescendo begins at 3:04.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lukenoaofficial/
Website: https://luke-noa.com/

Three Guitar-driven Singles

      Guitar-driven singles are not as plentiful as they were during the Classic Rock era. But they are still appreciated. Here are three from 2020 that qualify as guitar-driven, but to different degrees.

     The members of Crystal Cites are Geoff Rana (vocals, guitars), Jared King (bass, backing vocals), and Daniel Conte (drums). The trio is based in Sydney, Australia. 

      “Shadow of a Doubt” by Crystal Cities

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crystalcitiesmusic
Website: http://www.crystalcities.co/

     The Marquis are another strong trio from Sydney. The members are Nick Johnson (drums), Conor O’Donoghue (vocals, guitar), and Daniel O’Toole (bass)

     “Strangers” by The Marquis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMarquisbandaus/

Website: https://themarquisband.wixsite.com/home

     RAMES are a four-member band based in London. They are Alan Li (rhythm guitar, vocals), Oli Zanetti (lead guitar), Joseph Bedford (bass) and Joe Jarvis (drums)

     “Won't Be Long” by RAMES

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ramesband/
Website: https://www.musicglue.com/rames/

“Forget Me Nots” by Town Meeting – A Song Post

 

     Comprised of brothers Luke Condon (vocals, guitar), Russ Condon (vocals, drums), Brendan “Babe” Condon (vocals, harmonica, percussion), Tim Cackett (Mandolin, lead guitar, vocals), and Derek Fimbel (bass, banjo, vocals). Town Meeting formed in 2013 in Ayer, Massachusetts, informed by a deep love of listening and playing the music they grew up with. They soon combined their love of 60s and 70s folk rock with the raw, unbridled energy of punk music.

     “Forget Me Nots” by Town Meeting

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TownMeeting/
Website: https://www.townmeetingmusic.com/

 

Four That Reflect Influences

      More than it should have, the lack of concerts affected our motivation to write about music discovers. The hunting and the gathering continued, but the writing fell to the wayside. With only a few days left in 2020, it’s time to clean the closet of blogworthy discovers from the year. Here are four songs that stand strong alone, but we hear an influence (rightly or not).

     Mid City is based in Melbourne, Australia. Their sound, and particularly the vocals, carry a connection to The Killers.

     "Good For It" by Mid City

 

Website: http://www.midcity.band/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midcitybandmelb

     The Tame and the Wild identify their influences in the sounds of bands such as Daughter, Boy, Kodaline or Feist. But we hear Of Monsters and Men. They are the duo of Seja Katharina Rockel (vocals, guitar) and Flëpp Wenger (bass, guitar, backings), along with band members Maurizio DiStasi (guitars, backings), Alain Kremer (guitars), Tom Goedert (keys, backings), and Pete Mertens (drums). 

      “This Is The Beginning” by The Tame and the WildFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetameandthewild

Website: http://www.thetameandthewild.com/

   As we noted in a 2019 post, “if you enjoy the vocal style of Bon Iver, it’s time to spend more time with the music of Hayden Calnin. He is a Melbourne vocalist/songwriter.” This song includes an orchestral ending and elegant piano.

     “Oh What a Mess I'm In” by Hayden Calnin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haydencalninmusic
Website: http://haydencalninmusic.com/

     The Mighty Small is Paolo Morena. The pianist in this song is Philip Gardiner. The song bears resemblances to the sound of Arcade Fire.

     “Dee Dee Have You Got Your Boots On?” by The Mighty Small

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMightySmall/

Three for Listeners of Lyrics

      More than it should have, the lack of concerts affected our motivation to write about music discovers. The hunting and the gathering continued, but the writing fell to the wayside. With only a few days left in 2020, it’s time to clean the closet of blogworthy discovers from the year. Here are three for Indie listeners who pay attention to lyrics. All three are related to looking back on one’s life.

     “The idea behind ‘Second Time Around’ is that we always have the chance to start over,” says Quinn XCII. “It’s a song about self-love and it’s very much grounded in my faith, which is something I want to keep exploring in my music going forward.”

     “Second Time Around” by Quinn XCII

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quinnxcii
Website: http://quinnxcii.com/

 Lyrics of “Second Time Around” by Quinn XCII
Tell me when it's too late for forgiveness
If I apologize
In the mirror is my only witness
And he don't sympathize
 
Been at war with myself
Makin' my friends the enemy
I let all of them down
And I've been livin' in Hell
A prison of my identity
There's nothing left of me now
 
I'm asking life for another chance
Before they put me in the ground
Lord, I swear I will do my best
On my second time around
I will live nothing like my past
I will make my mother proud
There will be no mistakes on my
Second time around, second time around
 
I don't think I can make it to Heaven
Believe me, I will try
I will not waste a day I am given
Like years I let go by
 
Been at war with myself
Makin' my friends the enemy
I let all of them down
And I've been livin' in Hell
A prison of my identity
There's nothing left of me now
 
I'm asking life for another chance
Before they put me in the ground
Lord, I swear I will do my best
On my second time around
I will live nothing like my past
I will make my mother proud
There will be no mistakes on my
Second time around, second time around
 
You've caught me in a thousand lies now
But I swear this is the last
And I'm scared to look you in your eyes now
But our moments left don't last
I've let down everyone that I call mine
God, I know I don't deserve it, but I need more time
 
When I'm asking life for another chance
Before they put me in the ground
Lord, I swear I will do my best
On my second time around
I will live nothing like my past
I will make my mother proud
There will be no mistakes on my
Second time around, second time around
 
Second time around, mmm
I know that I can never go backwards
To undo what I've done

     "Man Now is about a point in my life where I didn’t know how to grow up. I felt like I didn’t know who to learn off" Adam Taylor explains. "All the pressures of being a “man” (or needing to become one), I felt like the person who should be there to teach me wasn’t. I was kind of lost as a kid trying to pick up and put back together the pieces of something that wasn't there to begin with. It's probably the most personal song I've ever written, the roots of my journey, and the place I came from. I just hope other kids listening to this can relate and understand that as much as it feels like you're lost at that point, it doesn't last forever."

     “Man Now” by ADMT

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAMADMT/

     “Gnight” serves as Aimee Vant’s third single. Through moody Indie melodies and calming vocals, Aimee speaks to her younger self, and apologizes for not protecting her from reality. “Through my experiences of pain, I’ve observed that true euphoria belongs to those who are brave enough not to grow up. To be able to see reality as a blank canvas rather than a brick wall is a limitless advantage. I hope ‘Gnight’ reminds listeners how important it is to protect your inner kid.”

     “Gnight” by Aimee Vant

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aimee.casavant.5

Lyrics of “Gnight” by Aimee Vant
She was naive enough to think the world could end
But somebody taught her reality is persistent
Now she folds all her clothes
She’s too broken to see that romance lives in chaos

She was an astronaut the queen the president
But somebody taught her real life can’t match what's in your head
She held her ground he wore her down
He was proof in himself that our innocence can drown
 
Gnight little girl I hope someday I’ll meet you again
I’m sorry little girl I gave away your magic to a man
 
Her comfort used to lie in the unknown
But now she hopes that science knows a way to make her feel less numb
He kept a count of her mistakes
Pinned them down and beat them till they bled and spilled their secrets
 
Gnight little girl I hope someday I’ll meet you again
I’m sorry little girl I gave away your magic to a man
I hope one day what he broke can be fixed again
Gnight little girl I know you’re scared to ever taste love again
 
I’ve never prayed before but then one night my legs couldn't carry my feet
I dropped down to my knees and said if you exist you’ll give him back to me
Asked him to hold me till the lights are out cause darkness felt so alone
Don't want to tell the little girl that real love’s not always returned

“Pieces” by Des Rocs – A Song Feature

     The Muse influence upon Des Rocs is on full display in “Pieces.” Still, the whole is much more than the sum of its Muse-esque parts. That is clear in the first 30 seconds. The vocals intro begins with humming that has a slight kazoo feel to it, then advances to a passionate explanation of concern. The first verse reveals the creativity and the origin of Des Rocs, as the second and fourth lines briefly pause before the final syllable and the third line ends with a New York City accent (the lyrics are included at the end of this post).

 
     The instruments enter with the second verse. The guitar adds to the attractiveness of “Pieces.” But it isn’t until the 50 second mark that the percussion starts pushing to the front. The percussion conducts its crescendo as the vocals soar, until the drumming flexes its muscles. The Muse influence begins, but the vocals are more aligned with the acrobatics and sophistication of another UK band - Nothing But Thieves.
 
     “Pieces” is one of five tracks on the EP “This Is Our Life,” which was released by Des Rocs on December 11, 2020. He is Danny Rocco. Quoting the bio:
  The music of New York-based artist Des Rocs is boundary-bending, risk-taking, riff-driven, explosive rock’n’roll. Des is a fourth generation New Yorker whose very life force is synonymous with The City. A dynamic live performer, he is hugely inspired by Elvis, Roy Orbison, Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Queen and Jimi Hendrix. In just his first couple of years, Des Rocs has opened for The Rolling Stones (“…it was so inspiring that they just liked my music and wanted to give it a platform”), Muse (“I can’t begin to tell you how profound a connection I have with their music”) and Grandson, to name a few.
 
     “Pieces” by Des Rocs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IamDesRocs/
Website: https://desrocs.com/

Lyrics of “Pieces” by Des Rocs
Taking apart all your limbs
‘Til there's nothing left but pieces
Tell me you know what you're doing
That you know how to fix this
 
Careful, you're wasting away
And now everyone's suspicious
Paying the price of the pain
Now there's nothing left but pieces
Well I hope you know
That they’re all talking about us
And I hope you know
That it's all too much for me
 
Out of the deep and into the hurt
This is the way it always works
Out of the deep and into the hurt
You're moving your lips, but I don't hear the words
I couldn't be much sorrier
Out of the deep and into the hurt
 
Taking apart all your limbs
‘Til there's nothing left but pieces
Tell me you know what you'rе doing
That you know how to fix this
 
Now careful, you're wasting away
And now everyone's suspicious
Paying the price of the pain
Now there's nothing left but pieces
 
Well I hope you know
That they’re all talking about us
And I hope you know
That it's all too much for me
 
Out of the deep and into the hurt
This is the way it always works
Out of the deep and into the hurt
You're moving your lips, but I don't hear the words
I couldn't be much sorrier
Out of the deep and into the hurt
 

“Afraid of Love” by Beta Radio - A Song Feature

     Vocally engaging, lyrically intelligent, and instrumentally enchanting - “Afraid of Love” delivers on all three. The song by Beta Radio capitalizes on vocal skills in multiple registers. But the falsetto and lower register vocals both expose vulnerability. The inflections caress the lyrics that admit both the desire for and the fear of love, that request patience, and that conclude with the question, “Is that alright?”.  Beta Radio is the Wilmington, North Carolina, duo of Benjamin Mabry and Brent Holloman.
 
     The instruments are also carefully tailored to the message. Perhaps the best example occurs at 1:49, when the sound of strings transitions from being mere atmospheric support to an important contributor to the emotion in the lyric “I woke up with that song of love you sang humming in my brain.” The second half of “Afraid of Love” is more orchestral than the first, particularly during the instrumental bridge that begins at 3:06.
 
     The song’s message is clear, but the lyrics are poetic and not immediately grasped. Instead, “Afraid of Love” invites the listener to give attention to the verses and to personalize the interpretation. The full lyrics are included at the bottom of this post, but an example of the thoughtful poetry is found in the first verse:

But I’m not here at all

I’m too afraid I’ll fall

From the cloud of my distractions

To the lowlands of my soul

 
     While talking about “Afraid of Love,” Benjamin Mabry said:
  "I’ve spent most of my recent songwriting career trying NOT to write about love. It’s done so much, (we’ve done it so much), and I was tired of it. It got to the point that when I would sit to write song lyrics, I would try to be intentional to not use the word ‘love’ because it was already everywhere my ear turned. But then the new year arrived. And then the world got sick. And then we all saw again how broken our system(s) of justice are. And so, it seemed that love was all that I could write about. Even if I am sometimes afraid of it."

      “Afraid of Love” by Beta Radio

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betaradio/
Website: http://betaradio.com/

     “The video was actually shot and completed prior to the song being finished in the studio,” Benjamin adds. “Although the lyrics were solidified after the video, that is what I love about songwriting... the sense of place the video conveys totally still works for the song, even though they ultimately took form separately. I love how music works that way. Visually, linguistically and audibly. All these senses are speaking to the same narrative, which is ultimately open to the interpretation of the viewer or listener.”

Lyrics of “Afraid of Love” by Beta Radio 
In my soul, there’s something that I want to say
 
We laughed until we cried
We cried until I changed
I changed until I thought
Maybe now I can come back again
But I’m not here at all
I’m too afraid I’ll fall
From the cloud of my distractions
To the lowlands of my soul
 
Was it a dream?
Then what does it mean?
When all my self-indulgence
All falls back down on me
I’m out on a limb
I wanna fall in
There’s all the ways I’m afraid of love
But I still wanna be
Here with you
 
Do you mind? For a moment I want to stay
 
We laughed until we cried
In my mind you remained
I woke up with that song of love you sang
Humming in my brain
But I forgot the words
Do they sting when they are heard?
Or do they sing, the way to rain
A heavy peace down on my heart?
 
Sometimes I, I feel like, I didn’t want it, I didn’t want it this way
 
Was it a dream?
Then what does it mean?
When all my self-indulgence
All falls back down on me
I’m out on a limb
I wanna begin
There’s all the ways I’m afraid of love
But I still wanna be
Here with you
 
So I’m not feeling around to being brave?
What is love, if not forever, is it love?
 
You broke me open, when you cut me up
I’m afraid of love, but I can never have enough
It takes me over, but it takes time
Is that alright?