GlorySergei – Wrecking Ball
Similar artists: White Stripes
Genre: Blues, Americana, Lo-fi Rock
Music critics cannot escape hearing and then referencing certain albums. Those are the records that did the most to prop up the things we now label as pop, rock etc.
It’s music usually made many decades ago. It’s beloved not only because of its influence but also because of the fact that for those willing to look past its age, it provides thrills as few other things could.
The blues, in particular, is the style to which, it seems, every other genre must provide a form of tribute. It’s the starting point for modern music. And it comes and goes out of style. Even in recent years, many of the well-known guitar songs of the day utilized blues motifs.
GlorySergei’s Wrecking Ball takes on the blues and serves it with the kind of manic glee and abandon characteristic of a Jack White song. Unmistakably there’s a blues guitar cliche serving as the foundation, but the wacky vocals and surreal lyrics add to it all of the dreaminess that it needs to convince modern listeners.
Leah James – “Auld Lang Syne”
Genre: Americana, Dream Pop
None of the problems that any of us may deal with are new or unique to us. That could be a scary thought. Still, it can also be a tremendously liberating one. Most issues were eventually overcome, although we may have all forgotten about how that happened.
Modern pop-rock works much in the same way. There’s nothing unexplored it can offer, really. But that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing new, innovative, and potentially life-changing that it can provide us with.
That’s one of the reasons why looking at the past can be important in music and other aspects of life. When we have the peace of mind to observe it, we not only find our connection to what went before us, but we also find a way forward.
Leah James’ “Auld Lang Syne” is a poignant rendition of hopeful, old music. There’s something in the way that this is performed that can, if you listen carefully, speak to you in this time and place. It’s a plea for forgiveness, bravery, and peace. If you shut down all the noise, if you make room for James’ rendition, you might just find the way quicker. That’s what old wisdom can do.
