NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Just 21 miles south of the Canadian border is Bellingham, Washington, the town where Ben Gibbard formed the band Death Cab for Cutie. The band became an indie rock legend as their success grew. Bellingham being north of Seattle, Gibbard contributed to a vibrant indie scene. For a short time, he played bass in Pedro the Lion, and musicians in Seattle often name-drop the Death Cab founder when talking about the development of the Seattle sound. The platinum-selling Plans put Death Cab for Cutie on the map, with the single "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" being their most recognizable song in the band's career.   WITH YOUR ARMS STRETCHED OUT TRYING TO TAKE FLIGHT. Listening to Plans is great all year, and it may be a year for your existential crisis. The love songs on the album are often tinged with something else: death, getting older, or in this case, a loss of passion, maybe apathy. When Jonah Bayer called the album “cinematic” in his Alternative Press review, he was p

In 2010 Rolling Stone named Darlene Love's 1963 song "(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home" as the number 1 Christmas rock song ever recorded. Born Darlene Wright in 1941, and renamed Darlene Love by producer Phil Spector, Darlene began her musical career as the lead vocalist for the girl group the Blossoms. Besides her career with the Blossoms and her solo career, Love sang lead on two Crystals songs and back up for many notable artists including Sam Cooke, the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Sonny and Cher, and Tom Jones. Love also acted on Broadway and appeared in the  Lethal Weapon films.  Love performed "(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home" every episode before Christmas on David Letterman from 1986-2014, except for 2007 during the writers' strike.  PRETTY LIGHTS ON THE TREE. "Baby, Please Come Home" has been covered by many artists including Mariah Carey, Michael Bublè , Death Cab for Cutie, Jars of Clay, among others. One of the most famous covers

Formed in 1994 first as Shrug and then as Polarbear but finally changing their name to Snow Patrol  due to other bands by their former names, the Northern Irish band became very popular in the early '00s. Their first single " Run " was a hit in the UK. But in America, the band would become famous because of their song " Chasing Cars " when it was included in the season 2 finale of Grey's Anatomy . "Chasing Cars" is the song most people know by Snow Patrol, and most wouldn't be able to associate the name with their hit song. The band continues to produce music, most recently releasing 2018's Wildness .    TRAIN THIS CHAOS, TURN IT INTO LIGHT . If you've had time to get into Taylor's Version of Red , you may have noticed a feature by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody . Once the Indie Rock band became recognized, the band members started working on pop music, and Lightbody writing for Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran . The Snow Patrol singe

Opening Nick Jonas ' latest album, Spaceman , is the etherial ballad "D on't Give Up on Us ." Though produced by Greg Kurstin , a hit maker whose accolades include Sia 's " Chandelier " and Adele's " Easy on Me " and " Hello ," Nick Jonas's 2021 album only spun two singles, " Spaceman " and " This Is Heaven ." Were listeners and critics too harsh on Spaceman?  Slow pop songs with electronic atmospheres and falsetto R&B vocals and lyrics a committed, marital relationship may have left listeners who cynical from their post-lockdown breakup annoyed. It may have bored other listeners. While it may not be a masterpiece, it's certainly worth a revisit. The moody opener of Spaceman isn't lyrically deep, but its atmosphere opens an album that really should work. I HEAR YOU CALLING WHEN I'M HERE ALL BY MYSELF. Maybe it's the original cover of the album, but I can't help but think about kids

Codes and Keys was a very different Death Cab for Cutie album. The records prior to the band's 2011 album were guitar-based, but the band's producer and guitarist Chris Walla and lead singer Ben Gibbard decided to make guitar a secondary feature of the band's seventh album. Furthermore, the band broke with the melancholy, producing what listeners found to be a decidedly more upbeat, positive Death Cab record. Codes and Keys was written and released in a time when Ben Gibbard was married to actress Zooey Deschanel. But just as everything seemed to be going well--a number 1 Alternative hit and a number 1-selling rock album--the success wouldn't last. PLATES, THEY WILL SHIFT. I’ve talked about how Death Cab for Cutie was so influential on my college experience . I don't think I'm in a unique position, though, because Death Cab was the cool band for twenty-somethings for half a decade before Plans. The spiritually ambiguity of the record seemed to speak to millennia

Ben Gibbard started performing in 1997 under the moniker Death Cab for Cutie , the name of a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song by the same name released in 1967 and featured in The Beatles ’ film Magical Mystery Tour . When Gibbard signed a recording contract, he turned his solo act into a band. The band released albums on indie label Barsuk Records , garnering spots in films and television, which got the attention of Atlantic Records . Their major label debut, Plans , was released in 2005 and spawned three singles: "Soul Meets Body," " Crooked Teeth ," and " I Will Follow You Into the Dark. " Despite being on a major label, Death Cab for Cutie is a symbol of Indie Rock music. They consistently produce thought-provoking music and have many Grammy nominations under their belt. However, like most bands with die-hard fans, their older records often resonate best, whether it's We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes , Transatlanticism , or Plans --the ner

Last month, I wrote about " Getaway ," a song located in the center of Turn Off the Stars' only LP . I keep coming back to this obscure album, despite its simple, sometimes generic songs. "Brightside" is the last track on the 2006 eponymous release. The album takes listeners on a range of emotions from desperation to wonder to love to loss to dealing with the monotony of life, and finally to looking on the bright side. The optimism of the ending track perfectly embodies the Christian cliche of writing in a minor key but ending in on a major chord. However, I always wish listeners had an opportunity to hear what kind of music the band would have developed into. So, as we end another month's playlist, let's go out on a high note. Next month will certainly bring a range of emotions as the summer ends and school starts again in the endless cycle of children growing up and teachers aging toward retirement. Take a moment on Saturday, July 31st to enjoy some su