Casey Holford – Adjusting To The Darkness
Why did your tremendously talented friend never make it? There could be a lot of reasons, but I am willing to wager that your friend eventually gave up. This may all be down to the world being a cold, uncaring place. It could also be down to the fact that any creative industries are filled with corruption, as is everywhere nowadays. But the answer could be even more terrible.
Maybe they just gave up too soon. Maybe they, indeed, have immense potential to work with but never were able to deliver a conclusion. It’s not uncommon. In fact, movie studios, recording companies, and television stations all work with a lot of talented individuals who are not quite ready to be their star player. How long will it take until they fully develop their skills? Usually, a lot.
With this in mind, it’s really easy to hear Casey Holford’s DYI effort, “Adjusting To The Darkness.” That’s because the artist is ready. Should any of the American indie-rock bands that they reference call them to open for them, Holford will be ready. This single is well-designed, well-sung, and recorded, and, perhaps most importantly, given the singer’s mission, ready to be placed alongside artists who have fulfilled their potential.
The Kangaroos – Blood On My T-Shirt
Bands like Sigur Ros or Magma invented their own language and sang their songs in it. All of their songs? Impossible to tell. Nobody was paying that much attention. The people who liked these bands were busy having their minds blown, while the people who thought that singing in a made-up language was kind of daft were out at the bar, soaking away their grief.
The point of this is to say that in music, as in most aspects of life, people remember how you made them feel, not how clever the words that came out of your mouth were. If you can also get them to dance while manipulating their feelings, that’s great. You’re on to a winner! The fact that more non-English sung songs are becoming hits is no coincidence.
The Kangaroos’ “Blood On My T-Shirt” sounds like a half-drunk person who talks to you in a noisy bar. It’s hard to have a proper conversation with them or even determine whether they are using a language that you understand. But if they’re passionate enough, it is easy to agree with them and even start a friendship. The Kangaroos will make you dance, punch the air, and be their friend. Even if they’re singing in Dutch? Oh, wait, what? Is that English?