Bretton Kyle – We Can Be Good
At the very start of Hollywood, studios couldn’t pay a leading actor enough to take on the part of a villain. What if this was all that audiences were going to remember him for? What if their mother saw them in the movie and thought that they were actually capable of doing the things that they were depicted as doing? These were all risks too much to ignore because of a fat paycheck. That’s how you end up with a Bela Lugosi mumbling Transylvanian English.
On the other hand, the rock world was immediately full of villains. And, as more bands took this route, they found that spitting blood, bringing a boa constrictor on stage, or tying naked women to crosses was the shortest route to infamy and, eventually, to actual, bankable fame.
But what about hope? What’s so wrong with people giving themselves up to the feeling that, if they try really hard, things can be better for themselves, their loved ones, and even people they don’t know? It’s time, perhaps, that, for all of our sakes, as Bretton Kyle does, we embrace some of that once again.
That’s because Bretton Kyle chooses to walk a hardly ever-used road. On “We Can Be Good,” an arena-sized pop-rocker in the vein of U2 or Coldplay, the singer tells his listeners that there’s a way to reach a better tomorrow and that it starts by doing well by others. In this time and place, that’s a dangerous thing to say out loud. And, precisely because of that, maybe you ought to listen!
Courtney Hadwin – Die And Stay Pretty
At this point, pop-rock music can’t help but reference itself. After all, what other cultural movements have had the same impact as it has? And, at the end of the day, who in this world isn’t aware of the biggest pop stars of the last few decades?
At its core, pop-rock has always been about escape. It’s the thing that comes on when you need to forget about the hardships of the day. It’s the sound that makes you think that tomorrow is going to be better and that you shouldn’t worry about today.
Precisely for these reasons, pop-rock at its smartest has to contend with what kind of message it is leaving for its biggest fans. This is why Courtney Hardwin delivers a story about excess, personal ruin, and, ultimately, hopefully, redemption.
Courtney Hadwin has a real knack for getting you to pay attention in a lovely, saturated world of pop stars. The title of this single, “Die And Stay Pretty”, on its own should make you do a double-take. But it is Hadwin’s soulful vocals, which are part pop princess, part rock rebel, that really get the lyrics of the song to stick. It’s mighty smart, and terribly difficult to get these songs to straddle the line between commercial and alternative, and Hadwin manages to do this here.
