Casey Frazier – If We Grow Old
Many kids try to record a couple of songs or start a high school band. The ones who can afford it make a bid to be pop stars. They put out a video and designed an online marketing campaign. Most of them stop once the money or the interest runs dry. The majority of people get on with their lives and only mention it with a bit of nostalgia after a few drinks.
There are some, however, who simply can’t stop. Some think of it as a calling, and some say it’s an ambition. Those who are less charitable call it a bizarre addiction. It’s a thing that enriches the artist’s life as much as it takes away from it. And, if the artist in question has enough things going for them, those sitting on the sidelines are even more inclined to ask: “Well, why do it?”
Casey Frazier sounds like a person who hasn’t really got to choose whether to be a folk-rock singer. It may well be too late to stop now, even though Frazier has plenty of things going for him, not least of all a strong, comfortable singing voice. “If We Grow Old” is a song seemingly born of melancholy-inducing regrets and the kind of dramatic fatalism that really lifts these sorts of songs. The performance is very good. But it does make one wonder whether Frazier couldn’t have done something else. After having recorded more than 150 songs, the answer is, “No, there was nothing else to do.”
Laura Zarougian – New Used Car
There are jobs that are desired by many, and the initial requirements are unclear. People who don’t manage to land the positions argue amongst themselves about what they should have said or done differently.
By contrast, everyone seems to know the things needed to become a pop star or an actor. No, I’m not just talking about the conspiracy theories about having to be related to someone directing the industry, although when has that hurt?
Modern pop stars, for the most part, have to have more in common than they have distinctive from the stars that are already successful. That’s why unless you are dedicated, it’s hard to tell them apart. Do they have stories of their own, or are they just working to please the crowds?
Laura Zarougian, an Armenian-American singer-songwriter, knows she has a unique story to tell. And she didn’t even need to make it up or exaggerate it. She just needed to live. “New Used Car” introduces Zarougian as an outsider falling in with the wrong crowd, falling out of love with the chaos and travelling to a new story. You get to know the artist in 3 minutes, and you get to know she’s not like every other pop star.
