NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

A band that started their career by being billed as the featured artist to Timbaland , their producer, who merely added a few grunts to a remix of their song " Apologize ,"  OneRepublic quickly gained popularity on their own terms. Their debut album spawned several other hits including " Stop and Stare ." On top of OneRepublic's success, lead singer Ryan Tedder quietly became one of the go-to songwriters for pop musicians. In the late '00s, Tedder began writing songs for Beyoncé and Kelly Clarkson , and began producing tracks for other artists. Then in November 2009, the band released their sophomore album Waking Up . BETWEEN THE NOISE YOU HEAR AND THE SOUND YOU LIKE. OneRepublic's debut record, Dreaming Out Loud , wasn't particularly innovative. A band coming out of Focus on the Family 's hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and composed of (mostly) good Christian boys who, much like The Fray , were raised up on '90s CCM sounds of Stev

Today we revisit Jimmy Eat World 's 2007 album, Chase This Light . Over the span of four records, from Clarity to Chase This Light, Jimmy Eat World showed what a band with a driving punk-rock rhythm can do with modern production. Clarity is a cult-favorite record. It shows the early days of Power Pop and Emo. Bleed American shows what happens if you get the energy of MxPx , an articulate voice, and  throw in a few sound effects, you get a few pop hits and and some Alt-rock bangers. GOTTA LOVE HOW IT’S SOMEHOW ALL ON ME. The band's follow up to Bleed American, 2004's darker  Futures  was somewhat of a departure from the punk rock origins of the band. The titular opening track had a different driving energy than a punk-rock beat. In fact, the songs that follow on Futures don't return to punk until track 6, the first single from the album " Pain ." The band's 2001 Bleed American had paved the way for other punk-rockers to enter the spotlight, whether it we

A few years ago, YouTuber Nick Canovas, or Mic the Snare , made a video about the characteristics of meme songs and why some songs go viral. Not all meme songs are created equal. Some annoyingly catchy songs get stuck in enough heads to become a hit. These are so bad that they’re almost good. Then there are old songs that become renewed for the TikTok generation. These songs had a solid presence before taking off on social media. Some of these songs are laughable in a modern context—the swanky sax solo from “ Careless Whisper ,” Rick Astley ’s shoulder dance when he sings “ Never Gonna Give You Up .” But some meme songs are what music critics still call legitimately good. A-ha ’s “ Take On Me ,” Simon & Garfunkel ’s “ The Sound of Silence ,” and today’s song can be legitimately enjoyed with an extra dose of irony once it has soundtracked a meme. YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO CUT ME OFF . In the spring and summer of 2012, I did a lot of driving. I had to get my paperwork together to go t

Eleven   years ago,  Deas Vail  released their  self-titled album , and with the exception of a Christmas EP,  For Shepherds & Kings ,  and a B-sides album, this has been their last full-length project. Composed of husband and wife  Wesley  and  Laura Blaylock  and three other musicians, Deas Vail is Latin and Old French, meaning "humble servant of God." As a lighter indie rock band they gained momentum in the Christian Rock and  Warped Tour  scenes before stopping touring and ultimately disappearing from the scene. Their final, self-titled album is a beautiful collection of songs, produced by  Relient K  guitarist and self-proclaimed minimalist,  Matt Hoopes . Minimalism seems to be a consideration as there is nothing particularly florid in the album or packaging, from the lyrics that don't stick out at first, to the cover art, to the subdued tones throughout the album. Listening to  Deas Vail  reminds me that it's not the grand days that make a lifetime great, b

  As a singer-songwriter and YouTube cover artist, Tiffany Alvord has collaborated with other YouTube musicians such as Alex G , Tyler Ward , Megan Nichole , and  Boyce Avenue . She released a number of pop covers albums until 2016 and then began releasing singles. She released a cover of Taylor Swift ’s “ Bad Blood ” on her 2016 I’ve Got It Covered, Vol. 6 , which includes three other 1989 Swift covers, “ Blank Space ,” “ Wildest Dreams ,” and “ Out of the Woods .”  The album’s opener, “Blank Space,” falls flat, as Alvord doesn’t add anything to the Swift masterpiece. Tyler Ward adds a masculine perspective to “Wildest Dreams.” But where Alvord shines is on the blander Taylor Swift tracks, “Out of the Woods” and today’s song, “Bad Blood.” While Swift is a good singer, Alvord’s vocal color brings the two seemingly monotonous versions alive. TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE.  Celebrity feuds aren’t particularly interesting. But when we talk about Taylor Swift, we have to talk about the

We've been through several emanations of Lady Gaga . Her debut album, The Fame , was both a satire and a full embrace of the decadence of pop music. Critics were quick to draw comparisons to Madonna : both singers celebrate female sexuality and both artists are of Catholic Italian-American families which cause several similarities in themes throughout their discographies, and hence, both singers faced a hell of a lot of controversy. But just when critics said "enough" to Gaga's avant-garde Artpop , the singer switched things up. She recorded a Country-inspired album Joanne . She recorded with musical legend Tony Bennett , singing mid-twentieth century standards. She won an Oscar for the song " Shallow " from the movie she also received a nomination for her acting, A Star Is Born . I LOST MY LOVE AND NO ONE CARED. Lady Gaga's 2020 record, Chromatica , was originally planned for April, but delayed due to the pandemic. It is the return to Lady Gaga house mu

  In the welter of the ever-changing music industry, Anberlin decided to call it quits in 2013, but not before a final record, Lowborn ,  and a farewell tour. The band started to feel that they were hitting the glass ceiling of what a rock band could achieve in the 2010s. On the Your Favorite Band podcast, lead singer Stephen Christian revealed that after Universal Republic Records failed to promote radio singles from Vital , the band was able to take their record to an indie label, Big3 Records , re-releasing Vital as Devotion , a massive three-disc deluxe edition of Vital . The band formed a radio team to promote the opening track, " Self-Starter ," as a rock radio hit. But the song didn't catch on. SHUT UP AND ACTUALLY TRY. Stephen Christian   often attributes the success that the band had and that he has had in his solo career as a daily "hustle." I've written about band who debut and experience success, but Anberlin worked steadily and experienced g

On Friday, Watashi Wa released their latest record People Like People   on Tooth & Nail Records . Over the past two decades, lead singer Seth Roberts has had three bands: Watashi Wa, Eager Seas , and Lakes , but in a recent episode of As the Story Grows  podcast , he said that he feels that he will only make music with Watashi Wa from now on because all of the other monikers were basically the same band as Watashi Wa. Roberts is a collaborating force, so when the latest Watashi Wa record was announced a list of bands in the milieu of Tooth & Nail pop-punk, nostalgic listeners got even more excited about the resurrection of the sound of 2003's The Love of Life . PISSED OFF AND BLEEDING. While collaboration is one of the strongest selling points of  People Like People , Scott Fryberger from  JesusFreakHideOut.com  in a review of the album called out the band on their overselling the featured artists. Listeners are often hard-pressed to identify the featured artists. The alb

A coffee-shop singer songwriter and early YouTube music creator, Caroline Glaser  (now Caroline Swon)'s breakthrough came when she auditioned and got a place on season 4 of  NBC 's talent show, The Voice . Three performances advanced her to further rounds, but she was cut on the forth round singing Ed Sheeran 's " The A Team ." After The Voice, Glaser recorded an 8-song self-titled record , from which today's song, a cover of The Outfield 's 1985 debut hit single " Your Love ," comes from.  YOU KNOW I LIKE MY GIRLS A LITTLE OLDER. Other than a 2018 single , Glaser hasn't released any recent music under her name, but rather she started releasing music under the moniker Brother Bird  and has released their first LP, gardens , last year. Also in 2018, Glaser married fellow The Voice alumni Colton Swon  of the country duo The Swon Brothers , a group that had placed third on Season 4. Caroline's voice has a soft, singer-songwriter characterist

In 1996 Tonic scored a number 11 hit with their song “ If You Could Only See ” from their debut record Lemon Parade . Three years later, the band releases the first single from their follow up record Sugar . “ You Wanted More ” first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1999 teen sex comedy American Pie . Unlike “If You Could Only See,” “ You Wanted More” failed to crack the Hot 100 but peaked at number 3 on the Modern Rock chart. The band’s sophomore record had several underperforming singles. After their third record, 2002's Head on Straight , the band went on a lengthy hiatus. I DON’T KNOW HOW I GOT BITTER.  While many people have probably forgotten about Tonic’s debut single and their less successful follow ups, 1996 is an interesting time for music. Music YouTuber Rick Beato claims that Rock music died in 1996 mainly because Rock started divorcing itself from the blues. He also claims that the rock music of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s popularized "nameless" bands, m

After a commercially-failed sophomore record,  Folklore ,  which was more personal to the Portuguese-Canadian pop singer than her debut record, Whoa, Nelly! ,  Nelly Furtado worked with producer Timbaland to go big with Loose . Furtado had tried to take her listeners on an artistic journey into her Portuguese heritage on Folklore. Loose, however, brings back the hip-hop beats and sets the formerly ascendent star back into orbit, at least for one more album. This is not to say that Furtado wasn’t artistic on her third record.   YOU DON’T MEAN NOTHING AT ALL TO ME. The artistic concept behind Loose is referred to in its double-entendre of a title. In Rolling Stone Furtado talked about how the production used in making the album was one of the reasons for titling it. The title also has to do with a celebration of female sexuality, Furtado bringing a sex-positive attitude in ‘06 when the noughties were heating up.  Loose  was an international hit, marketing different singles to differen

Formed after British Colombian Nu-metal band  Stutterfly 's lead singer left the band,  Secret & Whisper  incorporated the high-registering vocals of Charles Furney (then Finn) with their speed metal guitar riffs. Furney cites The Smashing Pumpkins as one of his influences, and the band is often compared to  Saosin  or  Circa Survive . In fact, a rumor circulated that Charles had left Secret & Whisper and joined Saosin after their lead singer  Cove Reber  left the group. In 2008, Secret & Whisper released their album  Great White Whale   on  Tooth & Nail Records , touring with  Emery  and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. The band's follow up album in 2010,  Teenage Fantasy ,  was their final record, with three members starting the post-hardcore band,  Shreddy Krueger .  A SILENT FIGURE, A VAPOR THAT LOOMS BEYOND . The lyrics of  Great White Whale  are inspired by  Moby Dick   combine with Furney's dreams and experiences. While tapping into the motif of lo

In Lana Del Rey 's first interview with Zane Lowe , she talked about her inspiration for the 2012 record, Born to Die . She talks about the collaboration between her, hip-hop producer Emile Haynie , and string arranger Larry Gold to create an album that sounds classic and fresh. Although Del Rey has moved away from the Brooklyn-style hip-hop beats in albums after Born to Die, the album still feels relevant ten years later. In fact, when  Pitchfork re-examined the record last year , the review bumped the score from 5.5 to 7.8. While pop cynics may argue that music has gotten worse rather than being misunderstood at the time, the young adult escapism, the post-modern life she sings about makes more sense among the younger artists Del Rey influenced such as Lorde and Billie Eilish .  I EVEN THINK I FOUND GOD. " Without You " appears as the thirteenth track on the  Target Bonus Tracks edition of Born to Die. The album's standard edition ends with " This Is What