Mister Davey Jones – FADE (Drinking Again)
Similar artists: Jose James, Bilal, Maxwell, Sade, Musiq, Jill Scott, Common, J Dilla
Genre: Jazz, Blues
Mediocre artists can stumble onto great songs! But not often. Punk bands may have romanticized the idea of great tunes coming out of knowledge of no more than three chords. Yet, it’s not something that young artists can truly rely on.
Still, yes, some of the great songwriters talk about writing their very best tunes in mere minutes. Bob Dylan or John Lennon spoke about writing songs in no more than 15 minutes. This may be true. But how many songs did they write as a practice run?
The truth is that excellence requires effort and strategy. It’s more likely that the next great song you’ll hear will be written by someone entirely devoted to their art. It’s most likely they have spent countless hours pursuing the secrets of their chosen craft.
Mister Davey Jones’ FADE (Drinking Again) is an example of remarkable virtuosity. The singer-songwriter’s ability to blend styles together has nothing to do with chance. It has everything to do with preparation.
The song is, in spirit, a boozy blues number. It uses a modern hip-hop groove and jazzy instrumental textures. It’s a dark poetry recital. And it’s a song with the voice of a soul singer. No, these are not accidents. If they thrill or surprise you, be thankful that Mr. Jones here took no shortcuts.
Noti x Sam Himself – Coda
Genre: Indie Electronic, Chillwave, Dream Pop
Record execs used to be able to point towards their pool and ask you what you think paid for it. You might have answered “Hits.” You would have been only partially right.
Live albums used to be a veritable gold mine for record labels. This was true, especially in the early days of arena concerts. They cost nearly nothing to make. They involved the band playing the songs that they already had. And, if they sold it as a double album, they could make additional cash.
Live albums aren’t much in vogue now. Of course, people still flood concert halls. But they can also view concerts on their screens. But, the most important reason is that much of modern music isn’t made so that it can be presented in a live setting.
Noti x Sam Himself’s Coda is a piece of gorgeous dream-pop where the laptop is an instrument in itself. The laptop acts as both a studio and an instrument. The way that it’s used and the way that sounds are layered create a sound that 70’s musicians could have only dreamed about. Those record execs will need to find something else.
