NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Musicians sometimes have to change something about their projects in response to world events. Squad 5-0 released an album called Bombs Over Broadway  which showed WWII jets flying over New York City. Bombs unfortunately coincided 9-11, so the record label changed the cover of the album and the band didn't play the song live at first. Jimmy Eat World 's hit album Bleed American was changed to J immy Eat World  also following the 9-11 attacks. CCM singer Plumb changed her 2013 album from Faster Than a Bullet to Need You Now, in response to the Sandy Hook shooting. And in response to the 2020 Pandemic, Sam Smith retitled their upcoming album To Die For  to Love Goes . Not only did Sam Smith retitle the album, but also they restructured it. The pre-released singles, " Dancing with a Stranger ," " How Do You Sleep ," and " To Die For " would all be tacked on at the end of the album.  HOW DO YOU SLEEP WHEN YOU LIE TO ME. Sam Smith's third album

Oh Wonder is a British pop duo consisting of a dating couple Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht. The group released their first album as a series of singles each month for a year. The album sold over a million copies, being certified gold in the UK and Canada and platinum in Russia and the Philippines. The band grew popularity in the U.S. as well, performing on Conan. The band's second record was released in 2017 and feature's today's song "High on Humans." Like most of their songs, Oh Wonder's musical style consists of minimal instrumentation--piano, occasional guitars, drums, and synths--and the two singers singing in unison. Josephine's vocals are often prominent, as on this song, with Anthony's vocals being quieter in the mix.  SITTING IN THE NEXT SEAT, DEAD HEAT SUMMER. What was the first lesson you learn before going to school? It might have been about not talking to strangers. Parents try very hard to instill fear of predators into their ch

Carly Rae Jepsen is tattooed in the history of bubblegum pop for "The Song of the Summer" of 2012, "Call Me Maybe." Jepsen hasn't matched the success of "Maybe," but she keeps making music, and her fans adore her. I wrote back in January about her song " Run Away with Me" and how much her album Emotion meant to me in 2015. And while most people are sick of "Call Me Maybe," it always makes me think about Arrested Development  where George Michael can't help his feelings for his cousin Maeby Funke, but that's a post for another day. So to end a particularly streak of guilty pleasure songs, why not talk about the theme of Fuller House , sung by Carly Rae Jepsen? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PREDICTABILITY? Along with Alf and The Cosby Show, Full House is one of my earliest TV memories. First airing in September of 1987 when I was a mere three months old, Full House is a show I haven't rewatched as an adult, but there is certainl

I have no idea how this song ended up in my Apple Music library. I had no idea who the Ex Box Boys were. Maybe I had heard it when Apple Music played "infinite" music after an album or a playlist had ended. However, there seems to be no financial incentives for Apple to promote a song from 2008 that seems not to exist anymore. The band's last Tweet comes from 2016. The band has sixteen monthly listeners on Spotify. Their albums aren't available on American Apple Music, just singles that have been featured on compilations with other D-list bands. Hailing from Bellevue, Washington, the band's motto was: "Four dudes. Good music. One vision." THE PERFECT WAY TO MISBEHAVE. In 2010, it appears that Microsoft sued the band for using the name of their console. The band used the Microsoft spelling for their website. Self-professed geeks, many of the band's song titles have to do with video games. The reviews on Amazon for this album are quite funny. Three l

In 2012, a Korean rapper taught everyone around the world about K pop by talking about the wealth in a particular neighborhood in Seoul. That rapper was Psy and that neighborhood was Gangnam. However, Korean Hip Hop has not been the bread and butter of the K-pop industry. Sure, hip-hop certainly is featured in the K-pop that gets popular. While BTS has rappers, they fit into the genre of teen pop music. Korean Hip Hop; however, teaches you all the bad words in Korean and will often contain some English profanity too. These days it's especially popular among high school and college-aged boys. WHEN YOU FEEL ME TWICE. Korean Hip Hop dates back to the late '80s when the government loosened its censorship laws. In early Korean Hip Hop, artists often talked about daily life and Korean virtues. It was not widely performed at first. DJs produced music and the scene was quite underground. But in the mid-90s Hip Hop emerged in Hongdae, one of Korea's most hopping college towns in Seo

In 2008, rock music still could be played on pop radio. Kings of Leon was one of the biggest bands when their fourth album, Only By the Night spawned three singles. “ Sex on Fire ” and “ Use Somebody ” were unavoidable back then. The southern US band first saw success in the UK, but after Only by the Night , the band were internationally known rock stars, complete with the money, alcohol, drugs, and of course, fiery sex. But before the rock star hedonism, lies a story of three preachers’ sons and their cousin, all grandkids of Leon. According to a Rolling Stone article , the band’s early collaborator, songwriter Angelo Petraglia , suggested the religious band name "Kings of Zion" for the band; however, lead singer Caleb Followil l thought Kings of Leon suited the band better. While the mother of brothers Caleb, Nathan , and Jared remains religious, Kings of Leon is far from a Christian Rock band. But the ghosts of their religious past haunts the band’s albums. I CAN’T ESCA

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 .   Shamecore comes from