NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  First appearing in 2001,   Lovedrug   released their   eponymous EP   in 2002 and their    Rocknroll   EP in 2004 before releasing their debut record,   Pretend You're Alive ,  in June 2004. Selling over 20,000 records soon after the record was released, the band was signed to   Columbia Records ,   and their song " Spiders " was intended to be marketed as a radio hit. But rock star grandeur was never really in Lovedrug's reach, as the label dropped the band in the middle of restructuring. Lovedrug was a hard-working band, touring with acts such as   The Killers ,   Robert Plant ,   Sam Phillips ,   Switchfoot , and   Copeland . They would enjoy some success with their follow-up record,   Everything Starts Where It Ends ,  but would continue making music until 2020, although they are probably best remembered for their first two records.   SEARCHING ON A WIRE FOR A WIRE .  The Militia Group  was a record label founded by former  Tooth & Nail Records  employee  Ch

My musical history started with hymns and classical music playing in the house, and sometimes classic and alternative rock in the garage. After going back to church, my mom stopped listening to secular music, well  contemporary secular music,  and tried to convince me that rock music was evil when I started liking the sound of it. Little by little, she started listening to modern music--first CCM, especially  Michael W. Smith 's  This Is Your Time   album because of the bagpipes. Then she started listening to music she grew up with, the soundtrack to her teenage rebellion. These were the smooth pop songs of  Hall & Oats  and  Elton John  and some rock bands like  Boston  and  Journey . MY MISSIONARIES IN A FOREIGN FIELD.  All of these songs' artists could be heard on local light rock radio stations along with contemporary hits by  Kelly Clarkson ,  Train , and of course  Coldplay . When my mom heard " Viva la Vida ," she loved it and bought the album. Soon, on lon

In another life, we would have a light, optimistic Anberlin . This version of the band would have followed up their bright-eyed debut Blueprints for the Black Market with an upbeat pop-rock album about the gender divide, high school crushes, and traveling the world. But the band chose to go in a hard rock sound for their sophomore album, Never Take Friendship Personal , in part because of some of the conflicts the band had with guitarist Joey Bruce , whom they kicked out before the record. The hard rock album with grittier lyrics didn’t completely kill Anberlin’s pop-punk sentiments with songs like “ A Lay Late ” and “ Time and Confusion ” becoming fan favorites.   OH, THEY LOVE THESE AMERICAN BOYS. Anberlin’s third album, Cities , took an even darker tone than their sophomore record. The intense album had the pop-rock moments of “ Adelaide ” and “ Dismantle.Repair. ” But the serious tone of the album as a whole left no room for the carefree moments on the previous albums. Lead singer

Every band tackled the Covid-19 pandemic in different ways. Many bands are selling live-stream tickets. Some have decided to give free concerts on social networking. Cleared from the time-consuming task of driving across the country, setting up equipment, and tearing down only to drive to the next city, musicians have been able to produce music in new ways. It doesn't hurt that all of their equipment and professional microphones are in their basements. Two years ago,  Emery  produced a show on their   Twitch channel , in which they played their songs. They often had guest vocalists from other bands, such as  Hawthorne Heights ,  Silverstein , and  Dave Elkins   of  Mae . Emery reimagined some of their songs and the guest vocalist's band's songs too. The collaboration of " Embers and Envelopes " was a beautifully updated take on Mae's first single.  TO WRITE THIS DOWN AS MEANS TO RECONCILE . The word "reconcile" is an awkward term to put in a song. Bu

  Charlie , the third record from Charlie Puth , tells pretty much the same story as the previous two Charlie Puth records: the tales of being unlucky in love. The twelve tracks on the album come from a place of heartbreak, being used, and nostalgia for a good time in love. Musically, most of the songs are saccharine pop with Puth’s somewhat funk-inspired falsetto. Every record Puth has released has steadily raised in critical reception. Charlie holds an 81% on Metacritic ; his debut, Nine Track Mind , holds a 37%. Today we’ll look at the tracks that make up Charlie.  I am surprised at the difference in critical reception between the albums. Personally, I think that while his first albums lack maturity, the albums have more variety than the third record as we’ll see in more detail. “ That’s Hilarious ” kicks off the album with a heartbreak. Similar to Third Eye Blind ’s break-up hit “ Losing a Whole Year ,” Puth laments “You took away a year / Of my fuckin’ life.” The song is ironic in

" You Are My Sunshine " is a popular folk song copyrighted and recorded by American singer-songwriter Jimmie Davis in 1939, though its authorship is disputed. Davis later became the governor of Louisiana, and "You Are My Sunshine" became the state's official song. Davis's recorded versions are not the definitive version of the song, though. M any artists have covered the song, such as Johnny Cash , Christina Perri , and  Zach Bryan . Each time the song is covered, the artist brings an emotional layer to the beautiful song. Cash anthologizes the song in the American songbook and Perri emphasizes the lullaby-like qualities of the song.  THE OTHER NIGHT DEAR, AS I LAY SLEEPING. “You Are My Sunshine” is a   cradle song many mothers sing to their children. It’s a bright love song with a twinge of melancholy that grows upon examination. It’s a song full of longing and desire with the full knowledge that the sun may be covered by the clouds. The speaker hopes that