here they are:
"All You Ever Wanted" by Rag 'N' Bone Man: Expecting another smooth alt-R & B song from Rag 'N' Bone Man like his mid-2010's mega-hit, "Human"? Think again! On "All You Ever Wanted", Rory "Rag 'N' Bone Man" Graham shows a bit more of a passionate rock and roller side! The ardent enthusiasm and echoic sound of earnest arena bands and performers like Kings of Leon, U2, and Bruce Springsteen have clearly influenced Rag 'N' Bone Man here! A refreshing change of pace, isn't it?! The lyrics seem a bit Springsteen-ian as well, especially during the part when Rory says, "It's a city of a thousand heartbeats/No room for another soul." Fusing rock and roll and poetry with such vivid, touching imagery used to be a thing during the genre's heyday. It's time that fusion was brought back to the mainstream!
"Click Click Domino" by Ida Mae (featuring Marcus King): Husband-and-wife duo, Ida Mae, debut onto this blog with an earthy, gritty brand of blues-rock! Equally gritty blues-rocker, Marcus King, is no stranger to this blog, though, and he is featured as the guest guitarist on Ida Mae's "Click Click Domino." I have yet to find out what the phrase "Click Click Domino" actually means. Could be onomatopoeic, for all I know! However, I do know what the song itself is about. Apparently, it came about as a response to all the "rumors on the internets," to paraphrase one of the best known "Bush-isms," that have been spread about today that make their way into news outlets, the political world, and seemingly everywhere we look. Ida Mae decided they are sick of all that, and make their feelings about it known in "Click Click Domino"!
"Dried Up River" by The Lone Bellow: The laid-back, Americana influenced folk-rock sound of The Lone Bellow's "Dried Up River" makes it seem like something from early in the trio's career. As their career progressed, they seemed to add increasingly more detailed instrumentation into their music. "Dried Up River" just seems like the basic two guitars, bass, and drum (with keyboard in the background) formula that The Lone Bellow used for their first three adult alt radio hits back in 2013. Much as its title suggests, "Dried Up River" really isn't very..."deep" (if you'll pardon the pun). Nothing to really take away from it aside from its billowy, breezy, somewhat rural sound. The lyrics seem to suggest a disconnect of sorts, though it's never made clear whether the problems are romantic or if they're between two struggling friends.
"Questions" by Middle Kids: At the end of this list are Middle Kids, who have been interesting since the beginning of their career (see what I did there?!), providing us with one of the few songs in the history of this blog to begin with the letter Q. Lead singer Hannah Joy sings with anything but joy, laced with doubt and fear, about a relationship in which her partner is probably cheating on her in Middle Kids' latest song, "Questions." The "questions" she has are all about whether the cheating she has suspected has really occurred. The songs sounds sweet enough, though, that some listeners might never suspect that the song is about such a troubling subject, with its fun sounding handclaps and bright, spirited brass section. This being the end of my blog for the week, I hope you have no more questions about "Questions"!
