NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

This is the fourth entry that Marshmello gets in my blog and the second entry by Halsey . Every time I write about Marshmello, I have a sinking feeling in my gut. It's hard to explain, but writing about music as purely a hobby, I feel like I have acquired a knowledge of music production, commercial performance, and touring--many aspects I've come across in my research for both writing and enjoying music. Looking at the charts and artists listed used to be unsurprising: "Song" Artist/Band Album Record Label. Of course, albums are not always relevant, and record labels are sometimes obsolete for hugely successful independent artists.  TELL ME WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO OUTTA YOUR MIND.  Admittedly, some artists and genres are more fun to learn about. I've thought about sticking to one genre and even avoiding popular music altogether. Popular songs have enough dialogue around them that what I have to say, often late to the game, doesn't add much to the conversation. Bu

  Let’s revisit last month’s discussion about The Album , the latest record from Jonas Brothers.  Referring back to the interview with Charlie Harding on the podcast Switched on Pop , Nick Jonas explained that the brothers wanted to put “something together that sounded like what coming to one of our shows is like.” Achieving this sound has the band leaning into the past rather than electronic elements or studio sound effects.  IT’S GON’ GET FIGURED OUT. Charlie Harding referred to the Jonas Brothers’ The Album ’s sound as “album-oriented, band-driven music,” which refers to the music of the ‘60s- ‘80s when many listeners preferred listening to albums over singles. My guess is that the experience of a Jonas Brothers show in the late ‘00s probably wouldn’t be focused on the musicality of the band, but rather the euphoric dopamine rush (for a certain demographic) of seeing the brothers performing. However, with only Kevin strumming a guitar in the band’s recent videos, the “band sound

With over a billion streams for his hits " Wolves " and " Silence " and 1.8 billion streams for his song with  Bastille , " Happier ,"  Marshmello 's collaboration with the  Jonas Brothers  is on the path to being a mega Spotify hit, with nearly 600 million streams as of writing this post. In 2015,  Chris Comstock  began publishing remixes of songs online, gaining fame under the pseudonym Marshmello. When he performed as a DJ, he wore a white bucket shaped like the confectionary treat. In 2017, Comstock's identity was confirmed by  Forbes ,  however, Comstock continues all public appearances with a bucket covering his head.   I'M THE TYPE TO GET NAKED.  Nick   and   Joe Jonas   each get a verse on "Leave Before You Love Me," while the eldest brother,   Kevin , plays guitar and sings back up. Some of the conflict resolved over the course of the documentary film   Chasing Happiness  deals with Kevin feeling slighted by his younger broth

Dabin  is a melodic EDM music producer from Toronto who currently lives in Colorado and  Conor Bryne  is an Irish singer-songwriter known for his YouTube covers. I first heard this song last week when Apple Music played it as "music you may like based on the artists you just played." It's probably the most surefire way for me to discover music these days.  Based on the nursery rhyme, " Ring Around the Rosie ," " Rings & Roses " explores the career path of someone, a friend or a lover, who is pursuing fame. That person has become too popular for the singer, who warns that in the end "they all fall down." Simple enough.   WAITIN' ON THE DREAM YOU BEEN SOLD.  Pursuing a dream takes work and sacrifice. There's something in our youth that makes us believe that anything is possible. But somewhere along the way, the novelist in us, the future basketball player, or the rockstar gives way to the backup plan. Of course, thanks to the Intern

British pop-rock band Bastille had what it took to survive the changing landscape of rock music. Today, the band has 18 million monthly Spotify listeners. Prior to “ Happier ,” a collaboration with anonymous DJ/producer Marshmello , the band has already explored EDM and had cultivated a rather radio-friendly pop sound. Propelled to fame with their number 2 British single " Pompeii ," Bastille is a band that has accomplished what few bands could achieve in the 2010s, relevance.  WHEN THE MORNING COMES AND WE'RE LEFT WITH WHAT WE'VE BECOME.  We all sang " If You're Happy and You Know It " when we were children. It was a standard in Sabbath school, but we also sang it at school. I can't remember if it was on a children's television show or at school where I first heard another verse: "If you're angry and you know it, stomp your feet." I don't think that I was emotionally stunted by my church upbringing, and if I was school may hav

The members of Emery work hard both on their side hustles and their main gig, and sometimes it's hard to distinguish between their side hustles and their main gig. Lead singer Toby Morrell and guitarist Matt Carter started a blog with their friend Joey Svendsen , which later became The BadChristian Podcast. They started a record label, BadChristian Music and released Emery records and other artists--mostly Tooth & Nail associated bands--who shared a vision of Christian music that pushes the envelope. And while Emery only has about 172,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, the band has actually migrated their most loyal fans to their own Patreon -style music subscription service. This service used to be under the name Emeryland, but recently the band has merged its production of BadChristian Podcast and Emery's music and their work with the Labeled Podcast to one subscription-based plan under the moniker Knuckle Breakers .    MAYBE NOT TO AGREE, BUT TO PROCLAIM LOVE. I'

Dabin  is a melodic EDM music producer from Toronto who currently lives in Colorado and  Conor Bryne  is an Irish singer-songwriter known for his YouTube covers. I first heard this song last week when Apple Music played it as "music you may like based on the artists you just played." It's probably the most surefire way for me to discover music these days.  Based on the nursery rhyme, "Ring Around the Rosie," " Rings & Roses " explores the career path of someone, a friend or a lover, who is pursuing fame. That person has become too popular for the singer, who warns that in the end "they all fall down." Simple enough.   WAITIN' ON THE DREAM YOU BEEN SOLD. Pursuing a dream takes work and sacrifice. There's something in our youth that makes us believe that anything is possible. But somewhere along the way, the novelist in us, the future basketball player, or the rockstar gives way to the backup plan. Of course, thanks to the Internet

With over a billion streams for his hits " Wolves " and " Silence " and 1.5 billion streams for his song with Bastille , " Happier ," Marshmello 's collaboration with the Jonas Brothers  " Leave Before You Love Me " is on the path to being a mega Spotify hit, with over 271 million streams as of writing this post. In 2015, Chris Comstock began publishing remixes of songs online, gaining fame under the pseudonym Marshmello. When he performed as a DJ, he wore a white bucket shaped like the confectionary treat. In 2017, Comstock's identity was confirmed by Forbes, however, Comstock continues all public appearances with a bucket covering his head. I'M THE TYPE TO GET NAKED. Nick and Joe Jonas each get a verse on "Leave Before You Love Me," while the eldest brother, Kevin , plays guitar and sings back up. Some of the conflict resolved over the course of the documentary film Chasing Happiness deals with Kevin feeling slighted by

There's always a certain level of trust an artist has to have in a producer. Pvris had worked with one producer, Blake Harnage , on their first two albums and EPs. But after recording with Paper Route 's JT Daly , the band decided to finish their third album, Use Me , with him. The result was a hookier, poppier, vibier version of the group. This met with some backlash with some of the fans of the band's older material; however, lead singer Lynn Gunn told Alternative Press , "We've always been kind of a pop act." The first single from the Hallucinations EP " Death of Me " helped to bridge the old sound to their second single "Hallucinations," which sees the band flirting with EDM production, yet in the haze and psychedelia, it's still clearly rock. MY MIND IS RUNNING WILD.  Gunn had had a songwriting session with Marshmello and Amy Allen, but she didn't think anything from that session fit her band. JT Daly told Gunn, "Serio

  Adam Dutch is a DJ from Ocean City, Maryland, who specializes in blending pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. In 2018, he took two very sad songs, the current hit at that time by Bastille and Marshmello , " Happier ," and set it to Anberlin 's 2005 fan favorite, " Paperthin Hymn. " What the track gains is a harder, more passionate vocal line from Bastille's lyrics, along with Stephen Christian 's occasional line, adding "I thought you said forever over and over." Anberlin's lyrics, though, are mostly buried in the musical layers, making the song about a breakup and not about death. But, by choosing this mashup, I believe I have disqualified myself from writing about "Paperthin Hymn" on another "Sunday morning" or on an "August evening," so I will bring the original songs into the conversation as well. I THOUGHT YOU SAID FOREVER OVER AND OVER... Anberlin's "Paperthin Hymn" is an excellent example of