NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Every band tackled the Covid-19 pandemic in different ways. Many bands are selling live-stream tickets. Some have decided to give free concerts on social networking. Cleared from the time-consuming task of driving across the country, setting up equipment, and tearing down only to drive to the next city, musicians have been able to produce music in new ways. It doesn't hurt that all of their equipment and professional microphones are in their basements. Two years ago,  Emery  produced a show on their   Twitch channel , in which they played their songs. They often had guest vocalists from other bands, such as  Hawthorne Heights ,  Silverstein , and  Dave Elkins   of  Mae . Emery reimagined some of their songs and the guest vocalist's band's songs too. The collaboration of " Embers and Envelopes " was a beautifully updated take on Mae's first single.  TO WRITE THIS DOWN AS MEANS TO RECONCILE . The word "reconcile" is an awkward term to put in a song. Bu

Everything  Switchfoot  has done musically rests in the shadows of their 2003 album,  The Beautiful Letdown .  While  Letdown  was sonically superior to their prior albums, the once surf-rock band still needed to finish evolving after their commercial blockbuster record. I'm biased to think that  Nothing Is Sound   is lyrically and musically superior to  Letdown,  but that may be because of how  Letdown  lost its novelty over the countless plays on youth group trips, on Christian radio, then on rock and alternative radio, and finally on pop radio and in some TV shows. Subsequent Switchfoot releases garnered less attention. LAST WEEK SAW ME LIVING FOR NOTHING BUT DEADLINES.  Two albums after  Letdown,  Oh! Gravity.   attempted to bring Switchfoot back; this time with an experimental album with a flair for the avant-garde. The poppy second single stalled on the adult contemporary chart and was never released to pop and alternative radio as planned. But Switchfoot's fidelity to th

  Jon Foreman became the liberal long-haired surfboard philosopher to millions of youth group kids in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. The San Diego-based band Switchfoot, firmly based in the West Coast faith-based music tradition, often challenged the ideas of capitalism in Christianity and the over-politicization of Christianity, while never seeming to have found all parts of the solution in organized religion. And yet, lead singer Jonathan Foreman, offered that while the “faith of our fathers” isn’t perfect, he has not found a better solution. The Beautiful Letdown was the band’s thesis statement-- Foreman had been rewriting this thesis statement for three albums, and after their fourth record, he would expound upon that statement. I WILL CARRY MY CROSS TO WHERE I DON’T BELONG. Whereas my mom could tell me every track on Fleetwood Mac ’s Rumors or The Rolling Stones ’ Some Girls , many youth group kids my age know every track on Switchfoot’s Beautiful Letdown. Five of the 12 songs f

Hawk Nelson released two Christmas EPs in the earlier part of their career, starting with 2005’s Gloria . The four-song EP featured two original songs with familiar choruses and two covers--the sacred “ I Heard the Bells ” and the secular “ Last Chrismas .” The original songs, “ Alleluia ” and “ Gloria ” were also divided into sacred and secular. While all of the songs on the EP are interpreted with a mid-'00s emotion, the two original songs are especially emotionally charged. “Alleluia” is a song about the nativity that uses the tune of a liturgical chant for the chorus. “Gloria,” on the other hand is a cheesy Christmas love song that talks about Santa giving the speaker a girl for Christmas named Gloria. Singer Jason Dunn adds a lot of emotion into the first verse, which feels strange given that the song can’t be that serious. The song ultimately interpolates the chorus of the French carol, “ Angels We Have Heard on High ,” because the girl that the speaker wants for Christmas

Twenty years ago, Switchfoot released their seminal, breakthrough album, The Beautiful Letdown . The Christian Rock band had recorded three records on veteran CCM singer-songwriter Charlie Peakcock 's re:think records. Like Steve Taylor had planned for the likes of Chevelle and Sixpence None the Richer, Peacock had hoped to market the band outside of the Christian market. But just before Switchfoot released The Legend of Chin , their debut album, re:think was bought by one of the largest Christian labels of the time, Sparrow Records . Re:think still released Switchfoot's records, but distribution was almost exclusively in Christian retailers.  I DARE YOU TO LIFT YOURSELF OFF THE FLOOR. While The Beautiful Letdown is Switchfoot's biggest record, the band's sophomore record New Way to Be Human and third record, Learning to Breathe , laid the groundwork for their success. The "noise pop" punk-pop adjacent sounds gained television spots on WB shows back when to

Every band tackled the Covid-19 pandemic in different ways. Many bands are selling live-stream tickets. Some have decided to give free concerts on social networking. Cleared from the time-consuming task of driving across the country, setting up equipment, and tearing down only to drive to the next city, musicians have been able to produce music in new ways. It doesn't hurt that all of their equipment and professional microphones are in their basements. Two years ago,  Emery  produced a show on their  Twitch channel , in which they played their songs. They often had guest vocalists from other bands, such as  Hawthorne Heights ,  Silverstein , and  Dave Elkins   of  Mae . Emery reimagined some of their songs and the guest vocalist's band's songs too. The collaboration of " Embers and Envelopes " was a beautifully updated take on Mae's first single.  TO WRITE THIS DOWN AS MEANS TO RECONCILE . The word "reconcile" is an awkward term to put in a song. But

  Fiction  Family  was a side project found by  Christian Rock band Switchfoot 's Jon Foreman and bluegrass band Nickel Creek 's Sean Watkins . Eventual Switchfoot, Tyson Motensbocker producer Tyler Chester and Aaron Redfield also joined the group.  The band produced several folk rock recordings and a free Holiday EP on NoiseTrade (now Paste ).  The album is not available on streaming sites, so besides my YouTube playlist , I will include "California Christmas" from Switchfoot's latest release this is our Christmas album.  But I will include "I Don't Need No Santa Claus" because I think it nails the meaning of Christmas that I've been appreciating this holiday season. I DON'T NEED NO CHRISTMAS SONGS.  Christmas this year feels unfinished. There are some years that I'm in a holiday spirit from September to February. Other years I'm just glad that Christmas ended. But this year I feel as if Christmas didn't actually happen. Fo

  J.T. Daly , lead singer of  Paper Route , has stayed busy in the music business during Paper Route and after the band ended. In addition to releasing solo records and several side projects, he has composed for an ESPN film, produced several alternative musicians including K.Flay and Pvris , remixed Anberlin , Judah the Lion , MuteMath ,  and Switchfoot , and worked in visual arts, making band merchandise, phone cases, and even directing music videos for other bands. Of course, Daly isn’t the only creative force in Paper Route. Along with Chad Howat and for their third and on their final record,  Real Emotion , with Nick Aranda , Paper Route is a seriously creative band. YOU PROMISED ME THAT EVERYTHING IS FAIR IF IT'S LOVE AND WAR.    Like yesterday’s song, the imagery in “ Chariots ” brings my mind to old movies like  Spartacus   or  Ben-Hur .  On other songs on  Real Emotion  there seems to be a classic film theme, notably in the song “ Zhivago ” and its intro “ Lara .” “Chari