NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Paper Route signed to Universal Motown before releasing their debut LP,  Absence ,  following their  Are We All Forgotten   EP. Only the title track of the EP appeared on  Absence,  as the band stepped further away from their Americana roots and more into the realm of retro-synth pop. Bassist/keyboardist  Chad Howat  recorded the album. The band played multiple instruments and recorded in an old mansion near Nashville. I remember reading something about how the album was intended to be rerecorded but the band and the label preferred the originals, but I can't find an article about that.  Absence  was the debut of Paper Route as a band, complete with a guitarist, bassist, drummer, and a ton of synthesizers. However, Paper Route would become a revolving door for drummers and guitarists. Only singer and multi-instrumentalist  JT Daly  and bassist/keyboardist Chad Howat would stay for the entire duration of the band's career...

  Paper Route ’s debut record Absence was mostly word of mouth from the band’s existing fan base and getting on major tours with Paramore , Mutemath , and others, despite the band being on a division of a major label. The band’s established fan base, curated through touring and social media, had already been introduced to the band’s evolving sound on the Are We All Forgotten EP released on 2008 from the folk-electronic sound of their early efforts. Absence though was full electronic progressive pop, but one that started with a hypnotic acoustic piano loop. HE STOLE AS BEST HE COULD. The disorienting intro to the song " Enemy Among Us " is a reverberated piano. In the living-room-filmed album promotional performance video (see below) shows a drum set a top the electric piano as Chad Howat plays the song. I have no idea how the band recorded the song, but Absence is an album that I would like to know more technical specifics about how they captured certain sounds. Besides w...

  Listening to  Paper Route  makes me wonder, what if  Coldplay , after recording  X & Y   had continued making electronic music and honed in on their lyrics.  Paper Route has a solid pop-rock band, on par with any of their contemporaries (i.e.  OneRepublic , Coldplay), but their somewhat eccentric fidelity to their craft, recording their albums themselves in old Tennessee mansions to let the natural acoustics reverberate on the record, had cemented them as an indie rock band. " Balconies " was kind of Paper Route's first and last hit. The band's music had been featured in movies and television shows, but "Balconies" got them a late-night performance slot on  Seth Meyers . As one of the most obvious hits from their third album,  Real Emotion ,  the song was released to radio but didn't do too well on the charts. After touring to support the album, the band went on "an indefinite hiatus." However, as the band has had long gaps be...

  As we wind down on “love month,” I thought I’d share one of my favorite albums  filled with love songs,  Paper Route ’s sophomore record  The Peace of Wild Things .  I’ve written about many of the tracks before, but here I’d like to give a home for future posts as well as give a brief reflection on each song. As I’ve discussed,  The Peace of Wild Things  takes its name from a poem by poet, farmer, and conservationist Wendell Barry whose themes discuss the importance of people returning to nature and reducing reliance on the industrialized world. However, Barry’s more radical themes do not seem to impact the record.  The songs that I’ve written about before will have a link.    1. “ Love Letters ” starts the record with the imagery of Adam waiting for Eve in the Garden of Eden. The song isn’t quite a straight-forward love song, with singer  JT Daly  claiming, “This time I’m different.” The rhythmic drums also distract listener...

Today, I’m going to share the songs that I have listened to the most on Apple Music. I can't actually share the playlist because of Apple Music settings, but I found it surprising what made my most played. I think a lot of the plays come from playlist placements, particularly my Coffee playlist that I listened to at work until this year. I have blogged about most of the songs on this list, but today's song is the most-played track I haven't blogged about yet.   I’VE GOT FAITH IN NOTHING. I’ve blogged about 17 of the 25 songs listed. The number is approximate because there’s several technicalities that I’ll address as I write link to each blog post. Then at the bottom, I’ll post a shareable Apple Music playlist.   1. “ Far ” by Canopy Climbers . I’ve posted this track twice, first in January 2021. Many of the songs on my list are kind of background music that don’t intrude with my thoughts.  2. “ How to Love ” by Cash Cash ft. Sofia Reyes . I haven’t written about today’...

I talked before about how  Albatross ,  The Classic Crime 's debut album  was set to be the breakthrough mainstream album for both the band and for  Tooth & Nail Records . And of course, neither of those happened because someone at iTunes or Tooth & Nail or  EMI  or any combination released this record in the genre "Christian Rock." Of the two 2006 secular signings of Tooth & Nail,  Jonezetta  avoided Christian radio, but The Classic Crime admitted defeat and even embraced the genre. With an album like  Albatross,  it would be hard to hear the songs and not think of Christian Rock. " The Coldest Heart " is a bit Calvinistic for the general music listener. A COUPLE OF TEARS AND I'M A BROKEN MESS.  "The Coldest Heart" belongs to a sub-genre of Christian Rock I've heard called " Shamecore , " a term coined by licensed professional counselor Krispin Mayfield on his podcast The Prophetic Imagination Station .   Shamecor...

Nothing beats the foliage in the American Northeast. However, being the first week of November, the colors peaked a few weeks ago, and now the trees are looking bare. When I was young, growing up in Central New York, when the leaves came off the trees, it meant a long winter was on the way. One year we got snow on Halloween, which lasted until April. New England is romanticized in America, from movies to books to magazines and even a few songs.  BOSTON, WHERE NO ONE KNOWS MY NAME .  In  Season One of  The Big Bang Theory ,  Leonard is moping after his love interest, Penny, starts seeing another man. He comes into the apartment  singing   Augustana 's  " Boston ,"  quite horribly. "Boston" is Augustana's signature song. It was a Top 40 hit on the  Billboard’ s Hot 100  and a top 10 Adult (light rock) hit. The band formed at  Greenville University , a conservative Christian college where  Jars of Clay  formed ...