4/5
A Song For Us.
"Oh life! Is bigger". Hopefully bigger than this. This year of 2020 that from Kobe to Chadwick, coronavirus to police brutality and so much more tragedy has taken so much from us. So much so you'd be forgiven for 'Losing Your Religion' like the saying goes or the more spiritual side. As we sing Black Lives Matter from the streets and hope that strokes of our art reach. Locked down in quarantine and socially isolated from a distance in the studio, some singers and songwriters have been producing their best work, taking it to the boards like the mattresses. From Haim's 'I Know Alone' to Alicia Keys' first name self-titled latest in this year of 'Women In Music' from the boots of Norah Jones' multiple projects, to landing and taking one small step on Lady Gaga's 'Chromatica' with one giant leap for womankind. It's that creative process that fans and purists alike pursue in equal measure as the Spotify's stream into the millions moving in rhythmic unison. Move your body to this one, as the 'Song Exploder' pop podcast from the brain waves of creator Hrishikesh Hirway (a musician whose credits also include 'The West Wing Weekly' podcast with show alumni Joshua Malina which will recently have a lot to talk about for that shows on stage reunion broadcast for Michelle Obama's 'When We All Vote') has now turned into a hit Netflix series like Jon Favreau and Chef Roy Choi turning that grilled cheese sandwich and movie in to a 'Chef' aid cooking show or their sport coaching 'Playbook' that screams with motivation until you are Doc Rivers hoarse. And this is just a four track opening strum for Volume 1. With the amount of podcasts exploding in your earphones from Ghostface Killah to Metallica over the years and ears, expect more for your playlist shuffle soon. But for now, from Lin-Manuel Miranda giving something for the huge 'Hamilton' fans again off Broadway in quarantine like a Disney Plus, to Ty Dollar $ign ('Remember' his remix with South Korean alt K Pop singer KATIE?) penning a verse about 'LA' in mere minutes like he was touched by an angel for the best 'Exploder' episode. Bringing Brandy ("I have all her stuff on my phone. What artist can you say that about today") and Kendrick Lamar's kinetic, Laker legendary verse into the studio to lay down a love rap, angelino anthem to this Californian city that soars like the Hollywood sign in this city of stars. There's so many songs for you here.
'3 Hour Drive'. I have a confession to make. I once sent Alicia Keys a song. Yep...by snail mail too. Pathetic. I know. But I was so inspired by Harlem's own Miss Keys' 'Diary' entry, 'You Don't Know My Name' produced by a golden era Kanye West, featuring matrimony pianos with the G.O.O.D. Music keys of an emerging artist by the name of John Legend. Not to mention the New York cinematic music video from the steam of the sidewalks grids to the ones cooled from the stores coffee, featuring rapper slash actor Mos Def in the without so much as a word, performance of his career. So moved by the soul and the interlude like intermission of their, "I just have to go ahead and call this boy" phone play that I had to just write something in reply. So I wrote a song called, 'The Waitress From The Coffee House On 39th and Lennox'. Uh, yeah I did feel kind of silly doing that. And no I'm not going to share with you any lyrics here (but they were aight), just like this was no love letter to Alicia. More a love letter to the song and an aspiring writer trying to flip the script and pen the perspective of the man for an act two to this romantic coffee shop situation we've all been in and still am now as I hope to God the next time I go into Starbucks she's right there (no...not Alicia! She's happily married to super producer Swizz Beatz thank you). Just a case of one British writer trying to work with an American girl, that has now actually and properly happened with the talent an A List artist like this actually deserves in the soothing and sobering sound of Sampha from South London Town. "Three hour drive, I'm headin' nowhere/I've got the time now that you're not here/I keep travellin' by, travellin' by/Lookin' for love, you got me lookin' for love", she sings about missing her son. Whilst Sampha sings the same, but so different in reply and then, "Heart on a sleeve/No you, no me/It's more than I can take/Down on my knees/come back to life" about missing his Mum. The difference being on this three hour cruise with the neon and traffic lights reflecting on the raindrops of the wound up car windows pane, Keys will soon be on her way back home to see her boy. Whilst Sampha looks up to the heavens with eyes not dry. But as they both sing, "you give me life" in the same way in harmony you can see just how much of a hold this mother's son and sons mother have on each other. As coast to coast in the process of writing, recording and laying down this track they really connect like you will with this evoking episode as compelling as the middle of the night, nostalgic sound of the song itself.
Mandolin, then there's the big one. One big enough to bring R.E.M. back like being able to dream again after this year. 'Losing My Religion'. I don't believe it. This sweet strumming, lulling you like a lullaby will have you counting sheep with glee. This song alone for the night swimmers, deserving a quiet night; 18 million units sold. More than Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Now never mind that. This sounds like heaven. Based on a Southern saying for dismay but used all around the world from political protests to religious gatherings and questions of such. I'd say more, but "oh no I've said too much". Back together like they always will be as friends the band wax lyrical about their run and get emotional as they take it back. As embarrassed as lead singer Michael Stipe gets when they play back his original demo. To think this monster record off 'Out Of Time' came in the same year as their duet with those 'Shiny Happy People' the B52's, but just like that bassline, you can't deny this iconic riff as it plays into the veins of your nostalgia and brainwaves of your circadian rhythms as you will end up day sleeping with this one on repeat. That is once you crate dig this one out your iPod's or stream the songs EP the band have re-released in conjunction with this epic episode. That not all as Hirway ends each episode with a memory lane highway that's plays each episodes song in full with an aural accompaniment in the form of a new visual acting as a music video. 'Religion's' being a stop motion animation of flowers wilting in shyness of the sunshines spotlight like, "that's me in the corner." One that can even stand up next to the bands original MTV generation classic music video complete with the kind of angel wings everyone poses with now like everybody hurts on city brick walls for Instagram. Not to mention iconic Stipe steps of feeling the music in mandolin mesmerizing moves. Now give this one a hand as it deserves your round of applause like the beautiful moment drummer Bill Berry realizes the handclaps are still there in the final mix, surviving the cruel cutting room floor. This feels like a dream. Now consider this like the hint of the century...I haven't said enough. Under deconstruction, listen to this. This podcast makes for a great miniseries, no amateur vlog. But something the service should flog by the volumes. Crossing the Netflix stream, we can't wait until more songs in this series explode. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
No comments:
Post a Comment