NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

There had been hints and tendencies listeners could pick up on from earlier Falling Up records. There was the occasional strange word choice on Crashings . There was esoteric storytelling on Dawn Escapes . There were the made up words on Exit Lights , the remix record. And for the band’s third studio record on BEC Recordings , Captiva ,  Falling Up delved into Greek mythology and science fiction.  But for the band’s fourth record,  Fangs!   Falling Up presented a full concept record, this time without Bible verses in the album notes.  This time fully indulging in world-building. SOME OF US HAVE SEEN GOLDEN ARROWS POISED.  Working with frontman Casey Crescenzo of cult-status progressive indie band The Dear Hunter , the sound on Fangs! steers the band away from the electronic and Nu Metal influence Falling Up had previously embraced. Before releasing the record, lead singer Jessy Ribordy shared the story behind the concept record. Ribordy explained that story is a prologue to the alb

" Escalates " is the second single  from Falling Up 's debut record, Crashings . All three of the band's singles from Crashings, " Broken Heart ," "Escalates," " Bittersweet "   topped Christian Rock Radio charts. Falling Up signed to BEC Recordings because of industry hype from the band Kutless , who came from the same suburb of Portland, Oregon as Falling Up. Working with the same producer, Aaron Sprinkle , Falling Up was set to be the next big Christian Rock band. I CAN'T FIND IT, BUT MAYBE I'LL COPE.    I've talked about the sonic production on Crashings and how I think that it is perhaps on of Aaron Sprinkle's best feats of production despite the record never coming up in the podcast conversations I've heard with Sprinkle. I've speculated that there's an interesting, perhaps an uncomfortable, story about Falling Up's tenure in the Tooth & Nail universe. Sprinkle and the band maintain high-tempo s

There were a number of Christian extreme sports shows that featured harder Christian Rock. These shows might be featured late nights on cable tv or on Christian channels. In 2003,   Anberlin   released their first radio hit to Christian Rock radio, " Change the World (Lost Ones) ." However, around that time " Readyfuels " was included in one of those sports shows. The sport: luge racing. "Readyfuels" was the band's first promoted single by the record label. "Change the World" was sent to Christian radio. But "Readyfuels" wasn't a Christian Rock song, in the traditional sense.  GIRLS AND THE BOYS CHASE DOWN RUNNING HOT TONIGHT. “Readyfuels” is   a song that   mostly  glorifies the carnal nights of youth--a prelude to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Today’s song would go on to chart on even Air1 , a Contemporary Christian pop radio station. Anberlin's intention was never to be a Christian band, but unlike other Tooth & Nail

  Today, we’ll revisit high school in a playlist The Angsty Aughts. This playlist will compile and celebrate the Emo songs I’ve blogged about. For this list, I’ve decided to focus on scene music from 2003-2009. I’m sure that a second generation of Emo featuring Olivia Rodrigo and Goody Grace will be a post in the future. For this playlist, I've decided to stick to a high school theme because that's what Emo does best, so I listed the song as "Class of" based on the year that the song was introduced. Enjoy! Listen to Angsty Aughts on AppleMusic . 1. " The Sound " by Further Seems Forever (Class of '03), the song of the day. 2. " Embers and Envelops " by Mae (Class of '03) 3. " All of Me " by Watashi Wa (Class of '03) 4. " Coffee " by Copeland  (Class of '03) 5. " Crushcrushcrush " by Paramore  (Class of '07) 6. " Sick in the Teeth " by Jonezetta (Class of '08) 7. " Spiders &quo

You could probably derive 2000s Christian Rock and Christian Rock adjacent bands from two sources: Linkin Park and Jimmy Eat World . Falling Up was an example of how Linkin Park influenced Christian Rock. Today's example is Jimmy Eat World, particularly their 2001 hit " The Middle ." The first single released from  Never Take Friendship Personal   sees   Anberlin   remembering their poppier tracks from   Blueprints for the Blue Market ,  but taking a much more mature approach to writing the lyrics. Rather than a complaint about how " Girls speak in code " and cliches that sound a bit sexist in today's world, " A Day Late " relies on storytelling about something that could have happened in the past, and really shouldn't happen now. SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT... Never Take Friendship Personal  is an album all about relationships, and it was a perfect album for high school. While certainly not as big as  Fall Out Boy , I found the lyrics on  Fr

Labeled fans are still waiting for the Jonezetta story. Several parts have been teased in previous episodes, about how they were one of two general-market bands signed to Tooth & Nail (The Classic Crime being the other). The band's sound drastically changed between their first and second record, Cruel to Be Young . But today rather than digging into Jonezetta's story, we're going to explore the career of Cruel 's producer, Aaron Sprinkle , as Cruel to Be Young has become a cult classic and an essential piece in the legendary producer's catalogue. Using just tracks that I've written about over the year+ I've been blogging, I made a playlist celebrating Aaron Sprinkle's career. IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL . I'm going to post the Spotify playlist here and talk briefly about each track and why it is quintessential Sprinkle. This is an unofficial list. I may be missing some from my blog, and there are certainly other artists such as MxPx , Poor Old

Shapes & Colors formed in 2011 after members from a group called Aria Aesthetic combined with the vocalist Travis Bobier from Search the City  as well as musicians from other bands. The Troy, Michigan- based group disbanded in 2018 after releasing several singles, three EPs, and an LP, which is not available on streaming services. Following the band's break up, members of Shapes & Colors went on to form the band CXMPASS , though the group only has one song available, " The Focus ," released in September of last year. Today's song is the third track on the band's final, self-titled EP. I KNOW I PROMISED YOU THE MOON. In their short discography, cynical listeners could point out how the upbeat throwback to late '00s emo seems derivative of the band's influences. Their 2015 EP, produced by Aaron Sprinkle , and their last work, produced by Kenneth Mount and Zach Odom writers for Mayday Parade and All Time Low , may seem like a shadow of the more s

  The idea of a remix album has been around since the 1970s. In 1987 Madonna released her remix album You Can Dance , the second most-selling remix album ever after Michael Jackson 's 1997 Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix.   Jennifer Lopez 's remix album J to tha L--O! The Remixes , in  2002, was the first remix album to top Billboard 's Hot 200 album sales charts.  There have been some notable rock remix records. Nine Inch Nails released Further Down the Spiral in 1995, remixing their classic album The Downward Spiral. In 2001 Limp Bizkit released New Old Songs , which sold 500,000 copies. However, I argue that it was another platinum remix album that was followed by a slew of Christian Rock artists to copy their style. The band is Linkin Park and the album was Reanimation , a reworking of their 12x platinum debut Hybrid Theory.  HE'S IN THIS PLACE TO QUESTION WHO YOU ARE. Reanimation featured collaboration between rockers and underground rappers. While t

In 2007, Falling Up released their third studio record, Captiva , returning to the production of Aaron Sprinkle . Unlike their debut album Crashings , also recorded with Sprinkle, on Captiva, Sprinkle plays the role as songwriter alongside lead singer Jessy Ribordy . Captiva also marked the end of four years of a daunting release schedule. Their debut album and follow-up Dawn Escapes were released within just 20 months of each other. They then released their remix album, Exit Lights a year later. Captiva attempted to keep hype in the Christian Rock and pop market, releasing four singles, the first of which is today's song, " Hotel Aquarium ." ALL THE LONELINESS IS FILLED BY YOU INSIDE . In April, I wrote about the band's first hit, "Broken Heart."  By the band's third album, musicians started shuffling to other, more successful, more overtly Christian bands. Falling Up's lyrics started mentioning Greek gods and space. Frankly, Ribordy's lyrics

  The BEC in BEC Records is short for Brandon Ebel Company and is an imprint label of Ebel’s other company, Tooth & Nail Records . Today, the label serves as the Contemporary Christian side of Ebel’s business, just as Solid State serves as the heavier music side; however, the distinction between the label imprint have not always been so defined. Case in point is Falling Up , whose career started as an explicitly Christian band but later became the creative outlet of vocalist and songwriter Jessy Ribordy to write his science fiction song lyrics. By the band's third record, Falling Up had become much less about Christian music, and much more about abstract sci-fi landscapes, littered with Greek mythology. And after the band's fourth album, the label and many fans had lost interest. IN THIS MOMENT SYNCHRONIZED INSIDE. But let’s go back to the single that helped the band sell over 50,000 albums the first week of their debut Crashings ’ release—“ Broken Heart .” This was Feb

From the Airport is a South Korean electronic rock duo, consisting of vocalist Milo and guitarist Zee. About 90% of their songs are in English. They have two full-length records and they seemed to have disappeared after the release of 2017's The Boy Who Jumped .   Drawing a comparison of this band is difficult. They definitely have pop influences. The keys and the guitar production is atmospheric, causing a pensive nature in the songs, yet Milo's lyrics, while often simple, are positive and combined with his vocal pattern and high-range vocals keep the songs light and optimistic. It's like if Falling Up were less moody and poppier.  WISDOM SHALL SHOW.  I picked this song for a few reasons. First, it struck me as I was walking home today. I like to pick a song for the day that I listened to authentically, like it came up naturally on shuffle; however, that doesn't always happen. Another reason was that I wanted to write about this band and introduce them. But the bigges