NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  Today, we’re going to explore 21st-century singer-songwriters. Beyond the Taylor Swift s, Ed Sheeran s, and Phoebe Bridgers and my favorites like Tyson Motsenbocker and Sasha Alex Sloan , I also include some up-incomers I’ve found more recently but haven’t delved into their music as much. For example, LA-based artist Rosie Darling released her debut full-length album, Lanterns , last year. Her debut EP, 2021’s Coping , and its follow-up 2022’s Golden Age were more indie pop than Lanterns uses more acoustic guitars. I’m not considering either style for my playlist as more worthy of the title of singer-songwriter , though the acoustic guitar does seem to satisfy the stereotype better. I hope you enjoy the playlist and discover some new music.

In December 2022, I opened up my Instagram one morning as I often did after my 5 a.m. alarm. There was a post from mikemainsmusic, who hadn’t been very active on social media. Mike Mains and the Branches hadn’t released an album since 2019 and had only released a few singles between 2020 and 2021. In the post, Mike Mains wrote about his suicide attempt in 2021. He wrote: “1 year ago today I attempted to take my life. I am here because of my wife Shannon.” He went on to say that we wrote the post “to encourage those who’ve danced with this dark devil.” After his suicide attempt, he wrote that he “bought a one way ticket to the desert to get help.” DARLING, MY HEART IS FULL OF REGRET. After talking about his suicide attempt, Mike Mains told fans that he and the Branches would return with new music in 2023 and tour dates. Mains also talked about how his sobriety contributed to his mental healing after his suicide attempt with the Bringin’ It Backwards Podcast In June, Mains released

I don’t know anyone who can’t understand if not relate to the title of today’s song, “ Oh, No ” (Regarding Panic Attacks, 2016-2021).  I’ve talked about several of the tracks from Tyson Motsenbocker ’s Milk Teeth , and I’ve yet to exhaust inspiration talking about the album. A lot of the source material I’m talking about comes from interviews cited in my posts for “ Carlo Rossi ” (Love In the Face of Great Danger,”“ Wendy Darling ,” and “ Hide From the World .” Those pieces were based on two interviews, The Black Sheep Podcast “ Tyson Motsenbocker ” and Labeled Podcast ’ s “ Oh, No. ” These interviews give context for Milk Teeth, which feels esoteric at times. Motsenbocker explains in the Labeled interview that he included concrete images to balance the deeply personal stories behind the songs. THREE IN THE MORNING. Furthermore parentheses explain songs that are especially vague. “Carlo Rossi”‘isn’t just about a bottle of cheap wine, but about falling in love at a volatile time. “ All

Tyson Motsenbocker 's "High Line" always hits at just the right time when the air gets cooler. While the fall season starts in the United States with Labor Day, yesterday was the equinox which is the calendar mark of the first day of autumn. Two weeks ago I made a Spotify playlist as a harbinger of autumn. It's my favorite season so I want it to last longer. But I think an Apple Music edition is certainly necessary, too. So today, I present Autumn Mix 2023: Apple Music Edition.   

Today we finally do it. We look at Harry Styles ' Fine Line track by track. So far, I've published three posts about Styles' 2019 record. This record set expectations high for last year's Harry's House , which has a higher Meta Critic rating but has also been criticized for its bi-polar nature between the beginning and ending of the record. I think that the dynamics on Fine Line are more evenly dispersed. To compare the two albums, I was surprised by the catchiness  and musicality of Fine Line, beginning my listening experience with Styles both unaware of his previous album and One Direction career and heavily biased against the former boy band singer--I've come around to both his eponymous record and One Direction career. Listening to  Harry's House, however, I brought my expectation from listening to Fine Line , but felt disappointed by the derivative sounds that the artist often used in One Direction. Keeping that in mind, let's appreciate Fine Li

Last year, my most streamed song on Spotify was Tyson Motsenbocker ’s “Carlo Rossi” (Love in the Face of Great Danger). I wrote about the song in December, but the weather didn’t seem appropriate for Motsenbocker’s tropical sounds. While it’s only April and I’m kind of on a mini-vacation, I thought that this song would be a fun revisit, particularly after the heavy subject matter from the previous two days. That’s not saying that the subject of this song about falling in love when the world is on fire isn’t just as serious—it’s just the chill guitar riff adds that illusion. Enjoy the rest of the original post from December ! TAKE ME ON A NEW VACATION.   " Carlo Rossi " (Love in the Face of Great Danger) is my pick for song of the year for 2022. Tyson Motsenbocker condenses a novel's worth of theme into a single song while offering vivid imagery that feels like a classic film, yet it is uncanny how contemporary that classic film seems. On the  Labeled Podcast , Motsenbocke

  Today we take another dive into my #1 album from last year, Tyson Motsenbocker 's Milk Teeth , specifically a song that seems unmatched with the other tracks, " Hide from the World ." The song breaks up the musical themes established in the first four tracks. But "Hide from the World" adds a whimsical guitar chords and equally whimsical lyrics. Then it's back to the serious musical tone by track six, " UC Santa Cruz ." I WANT TO HANG IN SNOOPY'S DOG HOUSE AND HE SHOULD BE THERE TOO. Unlike   the other songs on Milk Teeth, in "Hide from the World" Tyson Motenbocker chooses easily accessible references. On other tracks, Motsenbocker references locations, alcohol brands, bands, and uses vocabulary that merit a Genius annotation. But with the exception of extremely sheltered evangelical or ex-vangelical kids particularly with the Harry Potter reference on "Hide from the World" most listeners quickly assimilate the meaning that

Today, I'm going to present an evolving list. Last year, I chose an album of the year. In 2021, it was difficult because so much music was re-releases and nothing seemed dynamic enough to be album of the year. I finally settled on Scaled and Icy by twenty one pilots, but I actually didn't listen to it much in 2021. It seemed that 2021 was a year for good music outside of my immediate band preferences. Like many music listeners, my tastes are evolving, and I'm continuing to discover or just listen to older albums, which may change today's list. However, I'm going to try to present a list of the best albums from every year that I have been alive. I get this rank based on how much I've listened to the album, rather than by critical reception. Enjoy! 1987 The Joshua Tree by U2 . This was arguably when U2 became a cultural phenomenon. The first four tracks are the biggest hits from the record. The band always tackled issues of faith and doubt, but The Joshua Tree