Philip Bowen – Lightning Bugs
Similar artists: Zach Bryan, Charles Wesley Godwin, Josiah and the Bonnevilles
Genre: Americana
Philip Bowen makes gentle pop music, but it would be unfair not to acknowledge his considerable gifts.
I used to find it very easy to ignore pop music. Sure, it was blasting out of every car radio and supermarket aisle. But that’s precisely why it was so easy to have it turned off in my mind. Instead, a distrust developed. How could this be any good if they were trying so hard to sell it to us?
Later on, I tried to make my own. While I started out making noisy, abrasive sounds, I decided nice singing, good arrangements, and pristine production tended to make songs better. Of course, that leads me back to pop music and to reconsidering its merits.
Philip Bowen’s “Lightning Bugs” is a sweet acoustic-based pop song that puts the great vocals and easy-going, late-night romance centre stage. As it turns out, most people need these kinds of things. Furthermore, it is a sound built off of undeniable musicianship and even a keen sense of what sinks and swims in the music industry. It’s pop music, but there’s something to be learned from it.
The Soods – Don’t Let Me Go (I’ll Only Float Off Into Space)
Similar artists: Guided By Voices, Spiritualized, Galaxie 500, R.E.M.
Genre: Lo-fi Rock, Indie Rock
The Soods take their hurt and turn it into bright, acoustic-based songs that say something about everyone else’s pain as well.
Do we need any more songs in the world? I mean, there must be more than 1000 tunes right now. Could that be enough, and could all the previous decades of pop music have provided it us it every shade of emotion conveyed through tunes that we will ever need?
No, everyone hurts or celebrates differently, even if the generations that existed before us also hurt and celebrated. That’s the reason why every era has its own version of pop music. That’s why every period in pop music history has to have created its own stars.
The Soods may start out at a place of deep personal reflection, but they’re shooting for a universal statement with “Don’t Let Me Go (I’ll Only Float Off Into Space).” The mellow, acoustic-based song speaks of love and of the anxiety of losing love. Everyone’s felt it throughout history. But when you feel it, this will be brand new. The song works much in the same way.
