NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

We’re at the end of another month, now solidly into fall in the northern hemisphere. This month’s playlist has been the most repeats of any other month with 17 reposts and 13 new songs. And yet I don’t regret the choices because almost every song fits a certain autumny nostalgia. So today, despite the weather being a record high, I chose one of my favorite fall songs from an album I’ve talked about to death. But repeated listening is not the same as repeated reading. So, if you've read enough about Acceptance, skip today's post and just go listen to  Phantoms   or " In the Cold ." THE WORDS, THEY TAKE THEIR MEANING.  While " In the Cold " is a mid-album track that had very little potential to become a single, I feel that this song best encapsulates the "cooling" of interest Columbia Records had with Acceptance . I've talked about the  anti-piracy CD recall  that took the band's record from the shelves. But there were more problems. Columbi...

Fleetwood Mac might be one of the most interesting stories of rock sellouts of all time. The band had been around playing different genres of rock since 1967, but after tons of line up changes and minor hits, the band reformed with Lindsey Buckingham as lead singer and his then-girlfriend Stevie Nicks , playing a tambourine and sometimes the keyboard while singing back up and a few stand out lead vocals on songs like " Landslide " and " Dreams ." THE CLOUDS NEVER EXPECT IT WHEN IT RAINS. Despite Buckingham and Nicks solidifying the classic line up upon releasing Fleetwood Mac's eponymous, tenth studio record and the band's follow-up, Rumors , selling over seven million copies, the band's inner-conflict was legendary. It was sex, drugs, and creative control that simultaneously made the band work and tore them apart. Buckingham left the band in 1987 and Nicks in 1991. But neither Nicks nor Buckingham had to leave Fleetwood to kickstart their solo careers...

Spoken formed in 1996 and signed to CCM singer-songwriter Crystal Lewis 's Metro 1 label the following year. The band's early music was influenced by Rage Against the Machine and P.O.D., mostly consisting of rap-core and nu metal. After releasing three studio records and a greatest hits compilation through Metro 1, the band signed to Tooth & Nail Records in 2003 and released their fourth studio record, A Moment of Imperfect Clarity .   A CHANCE TO CHANGE THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. Spoken's fourth record, A Moment of Imperfect Clarity  developed the band's sound from a rap-rock, nu metal band to a melodic post-hardcore band. With the Tooth & Nail years during the explosion of the record label and the mass-marketability of Christian Rock, Spoken gained a greater audience. Also with the backing of the record company, the production on their Tooth & Nail albums increased significantly. On the first Tooth & Nail record for spoken, the band worked with Garth ...

Kenny Loggins  is known as the "King of the Movie Soundtrack." Starting with the 1976 version of A Star Is Born , Loggins most recognizable songs are 1985's "Footloose," the titular track to the film in which Kevin Bacon rebelled against a backwards town that banned all dancing, and 1986's " Danger  Zone ," one of two songs he contributed to the Tom Cruise  summer blockbuster  Top Gun ,  and one of two major hits from the film, the other being Berlin 's " Take My Breath Away ." Like many songs on the  Top Gun soundtrack, “Danger Zone” ended up being performed by an artist the song wasn’t intended for. SHOVIN' INTO OVERDRIVE. "Danger Zone" is a recurring song throughout Top Gun and even appears in the film's 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick ,  performed by alleged Yacht rocker Kenny Loggins.  Originally Toto was asked to perform "Danger Zone," but there was a conflict between the band's lawyers and the s...

  Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches formed in 2011 after friends and fellow bandmates of the alternative rock band Aerogramme   Iain Cook and Martin Doherty left the band because they wanted to make a different kind of music and Aerogramme wasn't successful. Joining with vocalist Lauren Mayberry , the band's lineup was set. The band decided on the name Churches, not because the band was religious, but because the connotation of the band's name allowed listeners to make the band's music about what came to their own minds. The band decided to spell their name with a v instead of a u to help listeners search for the band more easily.  IN THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. Chvrches' fourth studio record, Screen Violence was released last year. The Glasgow-based band's latest record was lyrically inspired by lead singer Lauren Mayberry carving out a space for women in music and online in a digital world that is weeded with violent pornography and hatred towards women. May...

We’ve been waiting for a new full-length record from the teen pop queen Carly Rae Jepsen since 2019’s Dedicated or 2020’s Dedicated Side B if you consider a b-sides record a canonical release. Coming on October 21st is The Loneliest Time , Carly Rae Jepsen’s fifth studio record. “ Talking to Yourself ” is the third single from the record, following the light, breezy “ Western Wind ” and the comedically catchy late-summer hit “ Beach House .”  YOU WERE NEVER JUST MISERABLE. In 2022, Carly Rae Jepsen released the funny holiday single, “ It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries ,” talking about the mixed bag that being around the ones you love brings. It seems that The Loneliest Time builds on that 2020 single’s theme.   Given Jepsen’s release date leading up to the holiday season and the album artwork featuring what looks like harvest decorations, the album seems at least partially referring to compounding feelings of loneliness from wanting to meet the one and being ...

In 2019, Kacey Musgraves won the Album of the Year Grammy for her pop-country crossover record, Golden Hour . Before accepting her Grammy, she kisses her husband of almost two years, fellow country singer-songwriter Ruston Kelly , and makes her way to the stage in hugging presenter, the actress Nina Dobreva . Both the singer and the actress are clad in red, but Musgraves flourished dress presents the country turned pop star as potential for bigger red-carpet moments. Music's biggest night has recognized Musgraves for her accomplishments. It's all sunshine and ponies from here on out and a Pop-Country career filled with love, " Butterflies " and " Rainbow s." But the pandemic took different tolls on everyone. GOD, HELP ME BE A GOOD WIFE. Musgraves in interviews talks about how it was the pandemic that made her realize that her marriage was over. Musgraves said, "I could have coasted through another couple of years, just not paying attention to my feeli...

  Last Saturday, Copeland performed a concert at The Caverns , an underground concert venue in Grundy County, Tennessee. The band was accompanied by The Sewanee Symphony Orchestra in order to promote Copeland's latest record, Revolving Doors ,   a sort of greatest hits project reimagining some of Copeland's standout tracks from their six studio records and one of their EPs complete with orchestration. The band livestreamed the concert and played most of the songs on Revolving Doors and a few extras. Today's song, " You Have My Attention " is the closing track on Revolving Doors. From Counting Crows and '90s rock played before their set and from their inclusion of the most tracks from   their most rock record In Motion , it seems that Copeland looks back fondly on their days as a rock band. Today, I felt more in the mood for the original track, so I include it in my playlist. But I'll also post the Revolving Doors version. JUST DO YOUR BEST TO HEAR ME.  ...

Sylvan Esso is an electronic duet composed of vocalist Amelia Meath and electronic programmer/producer Nick Sanborn formed in Durham, North Carolina. The group had some success on the radio and album charts and even garnered a Grammy nomination , but their genre-bending sound of pop, rock, dance, and adult alternative has mostly gone under-appreciated. Like Oh Wonder , Meath and Sanborn are a couple, and they married in 2016. "Die Young" comes from the band's sophomore album. The standout feature of the track is Meath's vocals, sometimes sounding old fashioned, but the synths remind the listener that this is a modern sound. It's a modern romance between two characters who met by chance and gave meaning to each other's life.  I HAD IT ALL PLANNED OUT BEFORE YOU MET ME . On Genius, listeners debate if Meath is talking about suicide or living recklessly. Some may argue that living recklessly with various substances was equal to suicide. However, thinking about...

Folklore   is an album without a radio single, according to Taylor Swift . However, the music industry, even with its changes in practices over the last decade and over the course of the pandemic, is still the music industry. And when one of the biggest pop stars releases an album, there better be a single to release. But what song? There was a lot of great music released and produced during lockdown. Charlie XCX , Lady Gaga , and The Weeknd had us dancing in our underwear in the living room with our old cereal bowls stacked up on the arm table (did I just confess something?). Travis Barker produced a shit-ton of music, changing rap into rock. There were a ton of lockdown concerts. For Taylor Swift, lockdown was all about reinventing herself by going back to the basics.  CHASE TWO GIRLS, LOSE THE ONE. Like when Stephen Christian  at a Cornerstone set jokingly called " Like Steps in a Dance " was the "radio hit" from Anchor & Braille 's Felt , an album that...

Composed by  Kenzie , the professional name for  SM Entertainment 's songwriter Kim Yeon-jeong, the debut single " Into the New World " by what would become one of the biggest K-pop groups, Girls' Generation , set the tone for a ten-year career of fun, bubble-gummy, uplifting songs. Composed of nine young women all born between 1989 and 1991,  Girls' Generation   has been been called "the Nation's Girl Group," in South Korea due to their popularity between 2007-2017. Beginning with a sample of   Don Henley 's 1984 classic " The Boys of Summer, " (covered last August by   The Ataris ), "Into the New World" builds on the nostalgic piano and synth sample. Rather than calling back with longing for the past, this song propels listeners forward into the future. I LEAVE BEHIND THIS WORLD'S UNENDING SADNESS.  I've been pretty critical of K-pop in the past for being a-political. I used to think that music in America was too pol...

  Sensational Feeling 9, better known by the acronym  SF9 , debuted in 2016. Before their debut, the group performed in Japan with 11 members, but ultimately only 9 members would make the final cut when they released their  Feeling Sensation  single. The group enjoyed modest success in Korea and toured Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. In January 2020, they released their first full-length studio album, titled  First Collection . This  record has been the band's most successful release, shattering their previous record sales and chart placements. The group also garnered award nominations.  THE DAY IS QUITE LONG. EVEN WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES, IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME DAY.    Not to be confused with what Todd in the Shadows deemed 2021's worst song of the year, the racist single by former Staind lead singer-turned outlaw Country singer Aaron Lewis ,   " Am I the Only One ," is the second track on SF9's   First Collection.  The song wasn't ...

Melissa Viviane Jefferson, better known by her stage name, Lizzo , released her disco-infused fourth LP this year titled Special . The album was a smash hit, debuting at number two on Billboard 's top 200, and the album's lead single, " About Damn Time ," topping the single's charts for two weeks. Lizzo began her career performing and recording Hip-Hop independently in the Minneapolis scene. In 2016, she released a major-label debut EP, titled Coconut Oil and a 2019 LP Cuz I Love You . But it was her 2016 hit, " Truth Hurts " that took the singer to the top of the charts for the first time.  I BEEN SO DOWN AND UNDER PRESSURE. With the Apple Music version of Special, Lizzo recorded a message for her fans, a voice track titled " A Very Special Message from Lizzo ." In this 99-second track, Lizzo explains why she hasn't released an album since 2019. The singer certainly wasn't  cutting corners, as she wrote hundreds of songs over the span...