Hurricane Love - Only Human

This is the absolute perfect video for this song. I couldn't have thought of a better concept, ever. Hurricane Love have quickly become one of my favorite Swedish groups and I am infatuated with music from Sweden. The harmonies are some of the best, the writing is amazing and they just sound good.  I love this song because of the way it's told from two perspectives.  I love how it mimics life and humanity as much as it does and I love the fact that it actually makes me feel something.  If they keep up this caliber of work, they are certainly going to be a force to be reckoned with this year.

Bright Light Bright Light - Your Loving Arms

It's astounding what the change in an arrangement can do.  When you hear the track with the alterations, it can either make an impression or it can leave you shaking your head at what the producer was trying to do.  Bright Light Bright Light never ceases to amaze me with how he hears a track.  His world must be filled with such creative energy it's immeasurable.  What he's done with Billie Ray Martin's club banger is a work of genius.  It's taken this song that was on one end of the emotional spectrum and tilt shifted it and sent it to the other end.  What your left with is this forlorn and heart-achingly beautiful ode to that one person that can make everything better. Slowing it down and removing all the production has created something so much greater than it was before.  And I say, Bravo.  Keep doing what you're doing Mr. Thomas.

Here's the original if you were curious.

Fitz and the Tantrums - Out of My League

Change.  It's important, it's inevitable, it's constant.  We have to have it in order to grow and mature and become something more than just creatures in a state of perpetual stagnation.  Fitz and crew proved they could totally rock the blues/rock vibe on their first album and with the release of the official audio for the lead single off their next project, they have made a stylistic leap into new territory.  It's still full of amazing Fitz moments.  The piano, the syncopation, Noelle's harmonies and Fitz's amazing vocals.  If you aren't bobbing along by like the :25 second mark, we probably can't be friends.  This is such a killer sound.  It just builds and builds and creates this pretty perfect storm of a song.  I think I am going to really enjoy the second album if there is more that sounds like this.  I've listened to it over and over now and I am really really impressed.

Nathalie Archangel - Next To Me (Official video)

When the quality of the song is high enough, you don't need a flashy video to make it more than what it is.  The idea behind this song of having that special person with you, throughout the good and the bad times, is what's important.  Knowing that you are going to get through the rough patches when things aren't as steady as they could be.  What I love the most about this video is seeing the couples in it.  There weren't any models or people that are totally unobtainable.  They were real people with real love to share with their friends and lovers.  That's what makes this video better than anything produced by Spike Jonze or choreographed by all star choreographers.  It's real and it's honest, like the thought and the sentiment behind the song.

I did a write up on the track way back in September and you can read what I had to say then by clicking here.

It's one of my restorative songs that I listen to when the world has beaten me around the head because it restores my faith in what could be and really should be.

Missing Andy - Acoustic EP

In a prelude of their new album (that's not coming out soon enough), Missing Andy have recorded an acoustic EP - cleverly titled Acoustic EP.  It's 4 tracks that you can get at your favorite online music retailer.  The theme of the songs are varied enough that if you wanted a quick way to explain to someone who and what Missing Andy are, you have the ability to do it with this EP.  That being said, you have to make sure that you go ahead and explain they are so much more than this but it's a helluva jumping off point. Alex sounds amazing.  I think his voice is tailored for any type of singing - which doesn't work out so well for a most artists.  "It's Over" is a brilliant break up song that is amazingly written and sung.  I talked about it here -----> Link so I won't spend much time on it.  "Young Disciple" and "Mr. Policeman" show of their talent at storytelling, which they do an tremendous job of doing.  "Slip Away" is this great piano number that is just this tender tune about running away and getting away from it all.

It's an incredible EP and it's only $4 so go get it.  They are one of my favorite bands and I want them to have as much commercial success as possible.  You can buy it here and listen to samples of the tracks.  They really deserve the support.  I promise.

Ryan Silverman - If Only In My Mind

I write about music because of the connection I am able to create with the artist and their work.  This connection is made generally because the artist is able to express a thought or feeling I am having difficulty doing.  Ryan Silverman has a knack of doing just that and he does it with such flair and panache that I feel like my original feeling has been upgraded to something less pedestrian and more "top shelf" as it were.

In his latest single, he talks about the things he's going to do with his true love but as luck would have it, he can only do these things because they aren't the two that are the two.  Be it distance, or incompatibility or just lack of availability  we all have had that moment where we see the perfect person and you immediately plan out the next ten years of your life and where your time share is going to be and how you are going to split the holidays, but those things are just things because in that same moment - they're gone.  He does all this to a funky Calypso/Latin  inspired beat and has created a very evocative video that expresses the longing and loneliness you can feel when you don't have that person.

I really like Ryan's music.  It's classy. It has a maturity to it that most popular music doesn't have. It's cabaret. It just makes you want to have your shoes polished and put on your best suit and have a night on the town.  He has an album in the works and with what I've heard so far, there is the potential to do something great and bring focus to a style of music that doesn't have much of a face to it.  I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next because it just keeps getting better and better.

p.s. the dance number at 1:30 is about the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time.