Sour - Waiting for You

There are a few musical tropes that get me. Singing in staccato is one of those and when it's used properly it's as versatile as a punctuation mark. With both the track and Connar's vocals, they absolutely know how to properly utilize this from the sticky slap bass to the pre-chorus where Connar just drives the song forward note by note. Sour is creating pop music that isn't exactly right. It's a bit broken like most of us out there. It's flawed and a bit darkly emotive and I think it fits perfectly in today's musical climate. Connar's vocal stylings are very reminiscent of Marc Almond and Jimmy Somerville and whether he realizes it or not, just by being; he's paying homage to two of the greatest storytellers and vocalists of all time.

"Waiting for You" is a song that touches a place in our lives where we are in love with someone deeply and madly but we can't help them get to the place they need to be in order to be the proper partner. It's a rough lesson to learn when you realize you can't care about someone more than they care about themselves and you have to let them do it all on their own. Sure, we can be supportive and we can help be a guiding light through the darkness but someone never grows and learns unless they fight the fight on their own. We fall down so we can learn to get back up again. That's what this song means to me. That's what I pull from this. We want so desperately to be the person we know we can be to bring as much to the table as we can in a relationship but our partners have to do their part and we can't fight our battles while we are fighting theirs for them.

In the same breath, while we are waiting on our partner we can sometimes be caught in the middle of their healing and growth and it can take a strong person to take the emotional roller coaster they can inflict on us. Suffering the slings and arrows and all that can lead to a lot of feelings we have to unpack. We can develop our own self destructive methods of coping with their healing all the while we keep telling them we'll wait, no matter what. Relationships can be hard. They shouldn't be. They shouldn't feel like work and a lot of times, if they are; then perhaps an evaluation is in order.

This is a pretty special song. Another in the list of songs that Sour have created that have resonated deeply with me. I think these men are important in the music they're creating and they're going to continue to grow an international fan base if they keep releasing songs like this.

Sour on the Web

Sour - Separate Ways

So let's talk about this new track, "Separate Ways" by Essex based trio, Sour. You've got a vocalist in Connar Ridd, a bassist: Jonn Downham, and Sam Mumford  on drums. Which is all you need to get a party started. So then you take 21 year old Connar and you inject so many vocal influences into this new, hip voice. I hear influences from artists ranging from Andy Bell to Glenn Tilbrook and even a bit of Marc Almond. It's brilliant and it's reminiscent of a much simpler time in music. He's also got just a bit of that whole Eastern UK feel to it. The swag and attitude that comes with it and it's great. On this track, his vocals come in a rapid fire delivery that almost imitates a percussive instrument and it's an incredible way to show off his talent. I honestly think these 3 young men compliment each other quite strongly and if this is the quality of music they're going to put out, I'd love to hear then I can't wait to hear more.

Connar says this track is an exploration into his own sexuality and I think it's a beautiful vehicle for him to be able to do that. I talk about how music is a medium and a language that we can all speak and it's what brings us all together and enables us to see how we are more similar than different than people around the world. We've been represented in so many ways across the musical spectrum and we desire so much to hear our struggles and our own lives reflected back to us in music. So however Connar identifies, I hope that someone out there hears this and feels like he's speaking directly to them. I know the very first time I heard a love song sung by a man to a man, it was like my eyes had been opened for the first time and it was beautiful and it was new and made me want to hear more and more. I hope that someone out there feels similar when they see this video or they hear this song.

They state this isn't a break up song but I think I'd classify it more as a growth song. Knowing that regardless of how you feel, you have to do what makes you happy with people that make you happy. If that means going your own separate ways, that's what you have to do. You have to take care of your heart and your feelings and find those people in your life that help you become the most fully realized version of yourself and that especially rings true in any relationship. If you're not getting what you need with the partner you have and communication isn't doing what it needs to do, then you have to step back and analyze the situation and make a change.

This is an infectious, funk filled pop tune that makes you just bob along with it and enjoy the message without realizing you've been delivered a message. It's a cool jam that will hopefully open quite a few doors for these artists and allow them more of a platform to be able to tell their stories.

Sour on the Web