Inside Singing Voice.
Quarantine music has never sounded so good for your social isolation playlist, playing from the middle of the day to late at night on repeat as you can't even tell the distancing on this songs vibe check length. Take me to the 'River' legend Leon Bridges truly coming home is know to cut a rug. Whether it's on the maroon smooth music videos for the 'Good Time' funky soul singer like 'Bad Bad News', or being coaxed by a date in El Paso to go 'Beyond' after dinner for the southern singer. Even in collaboration like 'Texas Sun' with Khruangbin, or 'July' and its awesome artwork with Noah Cyrus, on the outstanding Odseza track and good time, cookout, family get together over crates of vinyl and beer and piano playing chereography, 'Across The Room'. 'It Feels Good', right? When this man moves...he Moves! But now he's doing it in his living room. Sliding across the wooden floors from the hallway to the kitchen like the 'Risky Business' of Tom Cruise, white collar, black shades, sans pants. Candlestick holder as microphone in hand. "Slide through when you want/You know I want to put you on/It's evil out there/Let's keep it at home/So come on/I wanna see you slide across the kitchen floor/can't give you more", Leon laments in lyrics for what in this one world, 'Together At Home' is one Zoom meeting music video collaboration away from being the quarantine anthem we all crave. Unlike the ill advised, but well intentioned collaboration with 'Wonder Woman' Gal Gadot. Which didn't need to be taken down in more ways than one. Imagine.
Motown mapping through the keyhole in baby blue some awesome artwork like a Lionel Richie single back in the day, 'All Night Long' like a classic Commodore, this record calls on a collaboration with rock guitar hero John Mayer like Skype or Kanye. But bittersweet this song for the record was actually cut last year during a session. Yet picked up off the cutting room floor what better time to put it out there than right about now? Some of "it's evil out there/let's keep it at home" wise words seem knowingly ahead of their time and forewarning...even last year. As this one off track for a man who has classically covered Ginuwine's 'Pony' (not literally mind) and made movie records for everything from Will Smith's NFL critical (and with good, we need to do something about this now, this movie came out four year ago reason) 'Concussion' to Ryan Gosling's reunion with 'La La Land's' Damien Chazelle on their 'First Man' small steps on Neil Armstrong's giant leap (playing late, great American poet Gil Scott-Heron in the movie and covering his 'Whitey On The Moon' (what's crazy is last night me and my parents were emailing Bridges song videos from back home in the UK to here in Japan-live and 'Tiny Desk' NPR etc (now that's how you do quarantine)-and after sending some Leon, Dad replied back with Heron's 'Whitey On The Moon' unbeknownst to him of the link. Isn't that something?)) is the only thing you need right now as you keep it four walls and bolted. As Mayer's trademark, take you there guitar riffs soothe you in stunning soloist sound as they sing, "you can be my inside friend". Leon Bridges and John Mayer in your living room. If that doesn't keep you at home. Nothing will.
How can this not be our and your 'Song For The Moment' at this time of corona? "Won't You be my inside friend?" As someone seeing themselves right out the door, doesn't call this perfect pair anymore like Alica Keys asking "How Come" like Prince (Rest Peacefully. Four years gone. 4ever reign). "Come through with your hair still wet/Yoga pants, sweatshirt on the bed/Heart heavy and your week been crazy/We can be lazy baby embrace me", couch potatoed and bed bound with some Netflix and chill they paint the perfect picture in motion with their music. With the wax lazy boy lyrical poetry of, "we can be lazy baby embrace me", Bridges and Mayer take what most think is a prison at home (ELLEN!!) and talk about it being the finer things in life like when "hair still wet, yoga pants, sweatshirt" like no make-up is truly when the one you love is at their most beautiful like R.E.M. or your wildest dream. And if your week (if you've even been counting the days) has been crazy then this one's for you in sofa solidarity. The original concept came from Leon and John joking about how this would make the perfect date for an introvert like Bridges. And now all these months later it's the perfect track for our times. With all the proceeds from this single going to MusiCares, COVID-19 relief fund, like the G.O.A.T. M.J. giving the proceeds of his Netflix, corona brought forward Chicago Bulls, ESPN 'The Last Dance' documentary (2 episodes in, already at $4 Mill) to charity. What more could you want like Gaga, Elton, John Legend and The Rolling Stones performing in home-to-home, Mi Casa concert together? "I hope people find it soothing and uplifting while we hole up indoors and get through this", Leon Bridges told music magazine Rolling Stone. And half an hour later on repeat halfway through the day I think it's safe to say I have a new inside friend for this lonely company all the way, thousands of miles from home in the Far East, lost in translation. Comfort over crowds, this laidback soul jam session makes for the perfect date night even if you're stuck inside again with nothing on as we stream. As they say, "that's what inside friends are for". TIM DAVID HARVEY.
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