here they are:
"Above the Clouds of Pompeii" by Bear's Den: This beautiful, heartfelt song has been around since August, and, two months down the road, it has finally gotten the radio play on adult alt stations that it has deserved for so long! A bittersweet acoustic ballad, "Above the Clouds of Pompeii" is one of those songs that comes around only once in a blue moon. The song is about the death of someone important in the lead singer's life, probably his mother, but the song itself sounds more like the achingly lovely event of life starting anew! Highly recommended!!
"Cigarette Daydreams" by Cage the Elephant: Cage the Elephant are really putting the "mellow" in their latest album, "Melophobia", with each new song they've released from it. "Cigarette Daydreams" is, by far, the mellowest song on the album, and perhaps even of CTE's career. Though CTE aren't exactly strangers to "soft" rock, they have never done an acoustic song, to my knowledge, which makes "Cigarette Daydreams" a first for the band, since it is dominated by an acoustic guitar sound. "Cigarette Daydreams" is far from sounding pungent like a cigarette, and instead sounds light and airy, like a daydream. For a group of guys who started with frat-rock anthems like "Ain't No Rest For the Wicked", they sure have come a long way!
"Ex's And Oh's" by Elle King: Elle King could be the one to give fellow jazz/rock/blues/roots hybrid femme fatale, Gin Wigmore, a run for her money. Even their voices sound somewhat similar. Elle King's cleverly titled "Ex's And Oh's" is, of course, about Elle's ex-boyfriends, and how they have treated her, and has nothing to do with tic tac toe. Gin Wigmore exudes more energy and has more of an edge than Elle King, but Elle knows how to be sultry and jazzy with the best of 'em!
"From Eden" by Hozier: Does religion play a theme in the music of Irish indie-pop artist, Hozier? With titles like "Take Me to Church", and now, "From Eden", I would venture to say that is so! The two songs couldn't sound more opposite, though! "Take Me to Church" sounded like a dirge turned into a pop song, and was somewhat controversial (probably why the song was such a big hit on "alternative" rock stations), but "From Eden" sounds more like a bouncy indie-pop song, written in a more major key than its predecessor. Beneath the chirpy sound of "From Eden", however, lies yet another dark theme, and that is the temptation of lust, as indicated in the song's refrain, "I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door". What a two-faced "snake" Hozier is!
