Glazyhaze – NIRVANA
Watching rock bands playing inside of a stadium is usually the dirty little secret kept by a few thousand people. Sure, everyone there probably had fun. But ask them again in a few years, and they’ll probably deny everything.
Instead, they’ll tell you that they’ve been listening to cerebral, emotionally independent music. They’ll tell you that they’re interested in songs that have a bit more weight to their lyrics. You’ll nod, of course, and smile.
But that’s the way things go! Grand Funk Railroad may have rocked thousands and thousands of listeners, but nobody’s selling posters of them nowadays. On the other hand, The Velvet Underground, who never had one sober fan during their original run, could’ve as well been started yesterday.
Glazyhaze is a band that’s brilliant at picking up influences from the greatest of sources. “NIRVANA” mixes the vocal phrasing of someone like Lou Reed with dreamy singing and arrangement reminiscent of 1990s shoegaze. The song is delivered with tenderness, but there’s a pacing to the music that makes it charming. Will it sell millions? It’s too early to tell, but it might well influence many, many people for the better.
Nik Brinkman – Heavy World
Do you rock yourself to sleep? Do you do breathing exercises that you learned from your yoga teacher, or just try to picture yourself lying under the Sun on a tropical beach somewhere?
Must be something. Seriously, what do you do to find some relief when the trouble hits? Because although I do not know you, I have to assume that trouble does occasionally hit, and when it does, it tries to knock you out.
It’s alright. It happens to everyone. And, as it turns out, most people don’t have healthy coping mechanisms with which they can work. If there’s something that can nearly instantly calm you and put you in a better mood, you better run with it.
Nik Brinkman isn’t looking to act cool, detached and uninterested. Nah, the singer wants to make the kind of music that you turn to when you need a bit of help with your day. “Heavy World” is a song built off beautiful melodies, a gentle guitar-pop arrangement and a genuine wish for things to be better soon. Take it, use it, let it make you feel better.
