Canada Hill – Hit!
Rockstars who campaign for the environment, work to get aid to impoverished areas, or speak out against human rights abuses, often have their hearts in the right place. Many do good work. Some, although not many, even do important work.
But they might’ve been misled by the very profession that they’ve chosen. Not everyone can produce a song as filled with hooks and mesmerising rhythms as Canada Hill’s “Hit!” And can you really expect to be treated like a rockstar when you can’t produce that?
The deal’s simple, although it’s likely to break poor Bono’s heart. The world will listen to anything that a rock star has to say. But the world wants something in return. It once had danceable grooves, clever lines and three-minute singles. Think you can pull that off? You have the world’s undivided attention.
Canada Hill’s “Hit!” might be a song about reaching the end of your rope, falling out of love with everything, choking on the frustration of the day-to-day. But, just the same, it could be sung in Mandarin in a London club, and it should be successful. It’s because this is the classic British guitar single. It’s never boring, punchy the whole way through and may make you want to play it back immediately. Now, what was it that Canada Hill really wants from the world?
Dave Gutter – Gold Records
The recent passing of two of rock n’ roll’s legendary figures, Sly Stone and Brian Wilson, should make you think about legacies. It’s not that you want to, but you do, practically, have a responsibility towards your ultimate obituary.
But don’t get your hopes up. You won’t be able to outrun or outlive your mistakes, vices, or the frailty of your mental health. Dave Gutter might be thinking of gold records hanging on his office wall, and that’s certainly a good start.
But Mr. Gutter should not forget the opening lines for the articles celebrating the careers of Mr. Stone and Mr. Wilson. Nearly all of them mentioned in the very first paragraph that these geniuses struggle with addiction and mental illness. What legacy do you want to leave, and how are you going to make sure that you can even control it?
Dave Gutter knows that taking part in the music business is to be involved in a heist, in something that the Church, your teachers and your mother would frown upon. “Gold Records,” Gutter’s smart soul-pop ditty is a song about having complete control over your creative efforts and none over how successful those are. Like Stone and Wilson, Dave Gutter will just need to get by knowing that some people will surely be inspired by his work.
