From young indie artist Patricia Lalor comes the hypnotic track “This Man Thought He Saved Me”, a reflection of possible insecurity. It may be hard to describe exactly what genre this falls under, but that is only because Lalor perfectly incorporates many elements of different genres, crafting a transcendent track. Starting off with a more electronic vibe, the song quickly and almost seamlessly shifts to a vibrant and prominent electric guitar, one that takes hold throughout the entire track. Viewers of the song’s music video can even spot Lalor strumming away on the guitar, a testament to the fact that the guitar really owns the whole song. While some of the rock genre is evident, it may be appropriate to take it a step further and call it a punk spectacle.
“This Man Thought He Saved Me” is a thrilling, not-so-straightforward take on feeling slightly inferior. Make no mistake, though, the track still radiates confidence in a more subtle way than normally depicted. One thing is for sure: Patricia Lalor leaves plenty of room for nuance.
The gift of music is always the best and I was recently gifted a vinyl remastered copy of Sign ‘O’ The Times by Prince. And it is the best.
Originally released on March 30, 1987, the re-release on September 25, 2020, was a much-anticipated balm for this year of canceled live tours and shows. The songs on Sign ‘O’ The Times sound as fresh as they felt to audiences 30 years ago. Prince created a tour de force with wide-ranging genres, rock-solid vocals, and lyrics that stand the test of time.
Although “Sign ‘O’ The Times” and “U Got The Look” were the two singles off the album that got the most attention, there are so many more choices that will become favorites on your playlists. “Play In The Sunshine” and “Housequake” are back-to-back songs designed to get you moving. “If I Were Your Girlfriend” also never disappoints.
I have discovered my own new favorites – “Starfish and Coffee” is one of those. Written by Prince with Susannah Melvoin, it sparkles with fun lyrics and bright beats. It’s catchy and surprising. Additionally, Prince performed it with The Muppets in 2016, which makes it that much better!
I have played Side B of Album number Two three times now while I write and I see a fourth play in my future. “The Cross”, “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” and “Adore” are the three songs on this side. They are completely different from each other, but each one is brilliant.
Sign ‘O’ The Times is becoming one of my favorite albums in my collection. Although I was aware of, and heard, all of these songs over the years, I had never purchased the album to listen to in its entirety . Now that I have it, I will make up for lost time.
At just the time when we are in need of as much cheer as we can get, Indiana-born and LA-based indie rock artist Jeremy Buck has bestowed upon us the uplifting and empowering single, “Don’t Look Down”. Inspired by how one may feel while walking on a tightrope and riddled with fear, the track sends the message that even though a lot of things really suck, everything will be okay if you just focus on the good things life has to offer.
The catchy chorus is sure to satisfy any pop music fan’s quest for a new sing-along jam, and it will likely remain in your head for an extended stay after an initial listen. Buck’s powerful vocals carry the verses, which provide a perfect sprinkle of rock n’roll.
Buck shares of the need to write a song like this:
With all of the negative energy and the constant threat of imminent doom that is being spoon-fed to use through the media, I felt a huge creative urge to share my concerns and frustrations but in a way that will hopefully spread positivity.
Alt-pop artist Kat Saul’s newest EP, Made in the 90s, has been released, and is the perfect way to celebrate being human. “Alright”, a track about how hard it is to get somebody off your mind when you’re into them, starts off the celebration with an intro that sounds like it comes from a basement rock concert. “X2” is a catchy hit-worthy bop about moving on, or actually being tired of trying to move on. In all honesty, this should be in regular rotation at all Top 40 stations. Saul slows it down a bit with “Monsters”, where the celebrations are toned down in a search for inner peace and serenity. Not to worry, “I Love To Hate You” speeds everything back up with a sobering story of mutual frustration at the end of a relationship. Appropriately, the last song celebrates that person that is always by your side at the end of the day. This is the feeling of floating on “Cloud 9”.
Made in the 90s may have actually been made in 2020 or shortly before, but the music lives up to the name. A perfect blend of 90s rock and modern pop, Saul proves that you don’t have to escape older sounds to create new ones. She explains of the EP: “It’s me reflecting on who I am and what I’ve been through as I transition into adult life so that I can process how the past has made me who I am…because that’s what art is right?”
Today, Kristen Schaeffer presents us with her rendition of the classic hit, “Don’t Dream It’s Over”.
Taking an altogether new approach to the piece, Schaeffer’s dreamy-yet-powerful cover illuminates a side to the song we didn’t even know we were missing. Compared to the upbeat original by the Australian rock band, Crowded House, Schaeffer takes the time to slow things down. The singer-songwriter proves the strength in simplified instrumentals, and allows us to appreciate her angelic vocals in their purest form.
Behind Schaeffer’s voice there is a story encompassing a multitude of experiences. Growing up in New York City, Schaeffer’s love for music and theatre became clear at an early age. After studying at Berklee College of Music, Schaeffer developed a sound for herself — one that combined her love for theatre with a folky/pop twist. Schaeffer’s most recent successes include her track “Shadows” being featured on the television drama, Charmed.
This cover is brought to us by Salinger Songs as the second installment in The Salinger (*not our) Songs Cover Series. The series showcases artists re-inventing various works, allowing their own interpretations and personal style to take charge. The series will continue throughout the upcoming months, featuring the roster and friends of the Virginia-based publishing company.
Schaeffer reflects on her cover of “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, describing it as even more relevant today than she originally thought:
It felt to me like an urgent call for hope and reflection. Are you who you want to be? Are you prepared to fight for truth, love, and optimism? Can you wade through all the noise to find what really matters? It’s never too late to ask yourself these questions and change course.
In the midst of grief, Nathan Oliver turned to music, as many do. That is how his newest release came about. Thank You for your Generosity, which he and his group began working on after the death of a member’s brother in 2017, takes the listener on a journey through the loneliness and confusion that comes with grief.
This journey begins with “Generous Seas”, an instrumental track fit for reflection as a mellow guitar plays over a more chaotic one. Then comes “Isle Of Youth”, a dive into what it feels like to be lost and distant from everything around you. This rock track is a standout on the record, blending soulful lyrics with beautiful guitar playing. This sentiment is also present in “Everybody’s Swimming”, which seems to call attention to the struggle of watching everybody continue to live their lives while you feel stuck in a painful place. One of the most heart wrenching songs is “Even If You Go”, which acts as a sort of promise that even when the subject is gone, they will continue to live with them by their side. The journey closes out with “A Tangent in Time”. A peaceful close to the album, it seems to offer a glimpse of hope, though unsure of exactly where that hope lies.
Thank You for Your Generosity is a vulnerable record that does not attempt to hide any sort of pain that comes along with the grieving process or life in general. Whether it is through the breathtaking lyrics or the gentle way each sound leaves the speaker, Nathan Oliver is working to enthrall every single listener.
01. Generous Seas 02. Isle of Youth 03. Everybody’s Swimming 04. Air Control 05. Even If You Go 06. Stand in Line 07. Runaway 08. A Tangent in Time
It was time for the members of Old News to get more personal than they ever have before. That’s how their new album, Self-Acceptance Speech, came about. Using emo sounds hailing from the late 90s and early 2000s indie rock scene, the album tells stories of self-discovery and understanding. One of these stories can be found in the reflective rock track, “1917 Cherry St.”. Here, we find out about a significant location in the singer’s life, one that he finds himself looking back on. This leads right into “722 Harter St.”, a shorter instrumental that leaves details of the significance of this address to the listener’s imagination. The starry “Flicker” provides a similar experience. This track gives the feeling of a new beginning, perhaps following the self-reflection that takes place during the prior songs. The final track is “Sunday Suit”, a standout on the album that begins with a memorable guitar riff and is an anthem for those who feel they are hiding some part of themselves beneath, in this case, the church music.
Old News have taken the nostalgia of 90s emo rock and turned it into something of their own. Says frontman Beau Harris of the goal in creating this album: “In these very tumultuous times, I think many of us are turning inwards, and we wanted to contribute by giving people a message of healing and hope.”
Eddy Lee Ryder has released her brand-new music video for her awe-inspiring song, “Vultures”. With a visual that flashes between color and black and white, Ryder compares her lover to a vulture, presumably as a metaphor for somebody who takes so much without giving a lot in return. The video seems to represent the very end of a relationship, perhaps the moment she has come to the realization that she was not fulfilled the way she should be. Because the video takes place almost entirely in the car, one may infer that this symbolizes an attempt to move away from a relationship that is harming her. Also significant is a broken-down car that leaves her stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. This seemingly suggests that she isn’t able to leave the relationship like she once thought. This inability to leave illustrates the struggles of toxic romance in a rather poignant way.
We got to speak with Ryder briefly leading up to the new release.
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What was your first musical memory, or the first album you remember listening to?
When I was growing up, I only loved new, mainstream pop music. I remember being pretty obsessed with The Coors song, “Leave Me Breathless,” specifically that yodel. On the way to a day of skiing with my dad, I made him listen to that song for about two hours straight. Finally, he was like, “This is the last time, then my old people music.” He put on “Solsberry Hill” by Peter Gabriel. That song hit me like a ton of bricks… and I was hooked on classic rock from that moment.
What, specifically, inspired “Vultures”?
I wrote the first line about four or five years before I actually finished the song, so I knew I had the mood down before I figured out what the rest of the lyrics would eventually be. Around the start of the #MeToo movement, I was involved with a guy I thought wouldn’t treat me the way other men in the past had. As the story goes, he ended up treating me worse. He was slowly taking from me, and I felt picked apart. Once I realized that, I wrote the song in about ten minutes.
The colors used in the video are gorgeous. Where did the concept for the video come from?
The concept of the music video was loosely based on The Birds. I wanted a very 1960s Hitchcockian mood. I wanted to be stalked by these vultures, which represent men in my life that I’ve known who have torn pieces of me away, little by little, the way that vultures do. The color palette was referential of vintage Hitchcock, and glitches that happen throughout are meant to segway from color to black and white to represent what’s being taken away by the vultures.
Any fun anecdotes from set?
We had one day to shoot this video due to time constraints, so it had to be done very fast. Because of this, in the aerial shots, there was a body double for me. The body double was a tall, slender man in a wig who offered up his car for the video. But probably the highlight of our stay, we were filming in California, and I booked a beautiful AirBnB that was reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour. When we got there, the Lyft driver dropped us off at the wrong place, so we had to lug our luggage–costumes and bags–up an incredible hill until we found the right place. That should have been the first sign of something ominous.
But when my stylist (and good friend) and I got there, we saw a puddle of blood splatter by the pool. We started calling my then-manager, who had supposedly checked in before us, but he wasn’t picking up. We both huddled in a corner in case there was a murderer on the loose for a long time, afraid to actually go in. We were prepared to cancel the shoot because we were convinced my then-manager had died. We called the police, and saw helicopters overhead. Turns out, my then-manager just left his phone charging in a different room, and was fine, so we figured we’d just ignore the blood splatters and check-in. In the meantime, the director and producer who we had yet to meet were well aware of the possible murder story that was unfolding; and I don’t think there is a better way to meet new people!
Anything else you’d like to share with us?
I have a lot of new music in the pipeline. I’ve been writing nonstop, and I have been developing a concept album. If you like “Vultures,” I think you’ll be really excited for what’s to come!
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Ryder channels the experience of reflecting on a former relationship into a beautiful and heartbreaking visual with “Vultures”. Check out the official premiere below.
Ireland’s Lucy Gaffney has crafted a pop/rock dream tune with her latest track, “Send Me Away”. Gaffney worked on the track alongside The Coral’s James Skelly, who produced it, as well as her brother, Thom Southern. The result is a tune that nods to greats like Carly Simon and The Cure, two of Gaffney’s musical influences. In no time after pressing play, you are welcomed into what feels like a mystical dreamland filled with love and hope. With synths that bring out the feeling of dancing along to the end credits of a coming of age film set in the 80s, “Send Me Away” can easily measure up to any timeless masterpiece.
There’s raw freedom that has been captured with this song. It’s the kind of freedom that comes with being young and in love and unsure of what the future holds. This feeling of fearlessness flows from the speakers the minute the music starts and carries all the way through to the final moments. Of the track, Gaffney says, “For me the track really encapsulates the dreamy element in the idea of love, getting lost in intoxicating moments and the electric excitement of the unknown.”
