NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  In 2018, I met a young man who claimed to like “Indie music. You know, like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons ?” I hope I didn’t roll my eyes in the middle of the conversation because it was extremely hard to bite my tongue when he had just named two of the biggest bands in the world. The kid in his early twenties talking to me in my early thirties at the time did, however, remember a time when calling Coldplay indie was more accurate. My first exposure to Coldplay came in 2001 when they released their third single “ Trouble ” in America. Specifically, I remember watching the music video with my dad on MTV or MTV2. While “ Yellow ” may be the more remembered single from Coldplay’s early days, I only have recollection of hearing the song a while after hearing “Trouble.” THEY SPUN A WEB FOR ME. Coldplay formed in 1997 when the members attended University College London . After releasing two EPs and signing to Parlophone Records , the band released their debut album Parachutes in 2000 an

In 1946 George Orwell wrote in an essay titled " Politics and the English Language ": "In our age, there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.” In my lifetime,  there seemed to be a time when we could be ambivalent toward the democratic process. We could sit in our homes on election day in good faith that the majority want the right thing or even stew in our own cynicism that the two candidates were different faces to the same policy. But look at how choice has been effaced.  A BEAUTIFUL WAITRESS WHO JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT.  The third record by Irish pop-rock band  Kodaline  titled  Politics of Living  isn't an overt political statement, but more of a casual jab at 2018 zeitgeist. Cynical reviewers panned the record as Kodaline's attempt to enter the U.S. market. The album's production and song structures do suffer a bit from

In 2018, I met a young man who claimed to like “Indie music. You know, like Coldplay and Imagine Dragons ?” I hope I didn’t roll my eyes in the middle of the conversation because it was extremely hard to bite my tongue when he had just named two of the biggest bands in the world. The kid in his early twenties talking to me in my early thirties at the time did, however, remember a time when calling Coldplay indie was more accurate. My first exposure to Coldplay came in 2001 when they released their third single “ Trouble ” in America. Specifically, I remember watching the music video with my dad on MTV or MTV2. While “ Yellow ” may be the more remembered single from Coldplay’s early days, I only have recollection of hearing the song a while after hearing “Trouble.”   THEY SPUN A WEB FOR ME. Coldplay formed in 1997 when the members attended University College London . After releasing two EPs and signing to Parlophone Records , the band released their debut album Parachutes in 2000 an

Last Friday, Lauren Daigle returned with her first record since 2018’s blockbuster sophomore record, Look Up Child .  Daigle’s music has been featured in movies and television shows from Blade Runner 2049 to Grey’s Anatomy ,  which makes the singer stand out from other artists in her genre, Contemporary Christian Music, a genre she dominated with the number-one Christian song for sixty weeks for the crossover hit, “ You Say .” WE KNOW THE FUTURE’S BURNIN’ BRIGHT. Maybe like me, you spent a part of the ‘10s backsliding from your evangelical upbringing. Don’t worry, I’m not here to tell on you. You probably stopped listening to DC Talk and Michael W. Smith , and maybe became a “ Bad Christian ” with Emery , followed Michael Gungor ’s journey, or went full-out atheist like Underoath . Somewhere along the way, what was playing on Christian Radio sounded like a bad version of what was popular two years ago on the pop station, only mellower. Somewhere along the way, Hillsong and Bethel M

In 2011, San Antonio-based Christian Rock band Abandon released their third record, Control . This was the band's second release on ForeFront Records , a label that had been forefront in the Christian music scene in the '90s, releasing albums by dc talk , Audio Adrenaline , and Rebecca St. James . But after the label's success with Stacie Orrico , it seemed that the success of other Christian labels like Tooth & Nail Records  was eclipsing the once legendary record label. I'M LIKE EVERYONE LIVING IN A QUICK-FIX NATION. Before   ForeFront Records was absorbed completely by its parent label, Capitol Christian Music Group , the label had a few last-ditch efforts to produce rock in the '00s. The early '00s gave them the "two-album wonder" The Benjamin Gate and a few head-scratching hip-hop projects. In 2007, the label released the debut record from This Beautiful Republic , a band that seemed to be the label's answer to Anberlin and the success

In April 2012, five months before they released their second album,  The Peace of Wild Things ,  Paper Route  performed a concert in an art studio, which was filmed and aired as the third episode of Brigham Young University Television's music show,  Audio Files .  The show only lasted for two seasons, but the first episode featured then up-and-coming band  Imagine Dragons .  Paper Route performed songs from their first album  Absence ,  but also indulged listeners' expectation by performing several songs from their upcoming album and shared stories about the songs and the recording process. WE WELCOME YOU THIS EVENING.   The entire performance used to be up on the show's now defunct website, but now we can only watch " Wish " and " Tamed ," on YouTube, the latter being a short eerie duet with singer-songwriter  Cacie Dalager , lead singer of the indie band  Now, Now , and harpist  Timbre . I don't remember all of the songs Paper Route performed on th

Dutch DJ  Armin van Buuren 's sixth studio album  Embrace   was released in 2015. The album topped the Dutch charts and reached number 4 on the  Billboard  US Dance/ Electronica charts. " Heading Up High " was released as a single in February 2016. The song featured Dutch rock band  Kensington . The band had formed in 2005 and had modest success in the Netherlands and Belgium. Like groups like  A-ha ,  Scorpions , and  Blindside , Kensington prefers to record songs in English rather than their native tongue. "Heading Up High" reached number 40 on the Dutch charts. It's a pop song, but it also has clear rock origins. These days, EDM has mostly ignores rock, yet 'rock bands' such as  Imagine Dragons  and  Coldplay  have incorporated more and more electronic elements to stay relevant. The smokey, rock-vocal style of  Eloi Youssef   makes for an interesting dance track along with the the synthetic sounding electric guitar.  WHEN YOU'RE HOLDING ONTO A

  Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, or Halsey , released If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power  in 2021, recording with Nine Inch Nails members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross . The production leans into Nine Inch Nails’ industrial sound, making Halsey both a rocker and a dark pop artist on her latest album. The emotions are high in the singer's latest record; Halsey called the album “a concept record about the horrors of pregnancy and childbirth.”  EVERY MORNING GOT A HOLLOW WHERE MY HEART GOES.  The album’s cover features Halsey sitting on a throne with a bare breast exposed and holding a baby, inspired by various artistic depictions of the Madonna and Child, Mary and the Christ child, a kind of crèche scene, though the focus seems completely on the “god” herself, not the child. Some of the themes on the record deal with the singer’s bisexuality and non-binary gender identity. As of last March, Halsey claims both “she/her” and “they/them” pronouns. Wrapped into the fabric of Halsey’s mus

If you're driving through Columbus, Ohio you can tune your radio to 88.7 and find out where music is going. First hitting the airwaves in 1996, the radio station went worldwide via SkyAngel satellite network.  RadioU  plays Christian Rock and has been home to artists who would otherwise never hit the radio waves. However, bands often disappear from the playlist over time. This can because the band changed their sound or their message. Artists like the  Newsboys ,  Audio Adrenaline ,  dc talk , Jars of Clay , and Jennifer Knapp were played in the '90s and first few years of the '00s, but the listeners didn't like the direction that those artists took in their later careers. Other groups like Copeland , Mae, and  MuteMath  started out with RadioU and "got too big," or at least that was the story. Sometimes they will pick up groups like Thrice, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Paper Route, in the middle of a successful career.  TAKE IT SLOW . Partly because of RadioU

In 1946 George Orwell wrote in an essay titled " Politics and the English Language ": "In our age, there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.” In my lifetime,  there seemed to be a time when we could be ambivalent toward the democratic process. We could sit in our homes on election day in good faith that the majority want the right thing or even stew in our own cynicism that the two candidates were different faces to the same policy. But look at how choice has been effaced.  A BEAUTIFUL WAITRESS WHO JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT. The third record by Irish pop-rock band Kodaline titled  Politics of Living  isn't an overt political statement, but more of a casual jab at 2018 zeitgeist. Cynical reviewers panned the record as Kodaline's attempt to enter the U.S. market. The album's production and song structures do suffer a bit from t

In April 2012, five months before they released their second album, The Peace of Wild Things , Paper Route performed a concert in an art studio, which was filmed and aired as the third episode of Brigham Young University Television's music show, Audio Files . The show only lasted for two seasons, but the first episode featured then up-and-coming band Imagine Dragons .  Paper Route performed songs from their first album Absence , but also indulged listeners' expectation by performing several songs from their upcoming album and shared stories about the songs and the recording process. WE WELCOME YOU THIS EVENING.  The entire performance used to be up on the show's now defunct website, but now we can only watch " Wish " and " Tamed ," on YouTube, the latter being a short eerie duet with singer-songwriter Cacie Dalager , lead singer of the indie band Now, Now , and harpist Timbre . I don't remember all of the songs Paper Route performed on the show; how