Max DiRado – America (The Song)
Similar artists: Conor Oberst, Bob Dylan, Lana Del Rey, Leonard Cohen, Big Thief
Genre: Folk Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
The great explorers weren’t very concerned with Northern America. Columbus’ lead Spanish fleet never actually got there and decided setting up shop in Central America and asking the king for a percentage on everything that they could ship back to Europe was far more interesting. Future Spanish explorers corrected the Genovese on a number of things, but not this one.
When the Portuguese came to America, it was because the wind blew them off course as they tried to sail around Africa. They found Brazil but left it as it was. Only after they’d set up a factory near India, they sent people to draw a map of their new possession. They decided it was worth hanging around and didn’t bother sailing North for quite a while.
In fact, when the English did set themselves up in what would now be part of the modern United States, the Spanish decided it wasn’t worth the man power to chase them away.
But America is part of our daily thoughts, and there’s no better subject for a modern folk song. That’s what Max DiRado thinks as well. “America (The Song)” resembles the paranoid spiritual numbers of mewithoutYou, including a focus on profound poetry that seems to be unravelling as the singer passionately pours every breath into the song. The land forgotten by The Navigators and Conquistadors certainly matters now!
The Coo – Promise Me
Genre: Indie Folk
Since the very start of “pop music,” audiences have unsubtly hinted that they rather enjoy a spectacle from time to time. Managers and their performers noticed the importance of having a powerful image from the very start. It all starts with Elvis shaking his hips and arrives in the modern era with television shows like Eurovision.
While it’s easy to understand why performers would put themselves through the trouble, as you look at their costumes that require a group of six employees, you have to wonder just how good their songs must be. Or, rather, you have to wonder just what they need to hide so desperately that they’d light themselves on fire on stage or take the appearance of genetically diseased peacocks.
The Coo might enjoy costumes and stage sets, but it’s not like they need it. “Promise Me,” a folk-rock dialogue between the group’s two singers, is meant to prove just that. It begins with whispered vocals, provides space for singalongs in the middle, and ends on the same quiet note. But it demands your attention, letting you know that this might well be a story that you’re involved with as well. Adding firebreathing dancers would just pointlessly take that away.
