This edition, we bring you warm acoustics, hopeful tracks with a country twang, and stunning piano duets holding grief tenderly.
Listen to the whole playlist right here:
Michael Landgarten – “Falling In And Out“
“Falling In And Out” opens The Long Highway with an unhurried suave that only comes from musicians who have been playing together for decades. Acoustic guitar strums anchor the track, accompanied by clean electric guitar notes layered atop an even bass. Landgarten’s vocal delivery assured, his low, gravelly voice telling a hopeful story. The combination of the acoustic notes and the vocals give the track a real country twang. Lyrically, the song is honest and hopeful, holding out for that one day on which this transient thing might stick — “Fallin in and out of you/Then one day, one sweet day, you and I get through.” The clear notes that play right before the last lines of the song are sung are a real treat.
Michael Cohen – “Prelude South: Living in Dadeland”
“Prelude South: Living in Dadeland” opens unexpectedly, with pared down traffic noises – just a couple horns in the distance. It is the sort of opening that makes you double check your phone to ensure that the song really has started playing. This blends seamlessly into the energetic strumming that follows. Cohen builds this track around warm acoustic strums and groovy guitar twangs, the instrumentation itself carrying a kind of sun-softened looseness that somehow feels sun soaked. The strings that enter are delightful, especially mixed with the vocal layering the song does. It is like being transported to a slightly altered dimension. The song captures a certain sense of displacement – “There you are/Living in daylight/Half a life away from where you wanna be…”
The Bergamot – “Tides”
“Tides” announces itself with piano — ethereal, glistening, each note stacking on top of the other. The Bergamot, the award-winning indie-folk duo of Nathaniel Paul and Jillian, have made something here that really earns the word “orchestral”. The song draws from a deeply personal place, and the effects of this are clear in every aspect of the track. The vocal duet that arrives over the piano is gorgeous, and manages somehow to hold the relentless ache of loss in light, gentle hands. The Echo-ey effect of the vocals adds greatly to this feeling, almost like being enveloped in the blankets of a familiar, almost comforting pain. From this playlist, this is definitely the track I’ll keep revisiting.
DownTown Mystic – “Superstar”
“Superstar” arrives with a booming energy that reminds you why this kind of rock and roll got called timeless in the first place. Guitar riffs that hit with purpose and warmth, a rhythm section that locks in from the get go, and the effortlessly smooth vocal riffs. The song, co-written with G.T. Sullivan, leans deliberately into the classic rock lineage. Steve Holley’s drumming has an authority that keeps the whole thing grounded as it rises and falls. Thrilling little flourishes that sound almost like the xylophone is being played decorate the song, surprising, delighting, and disappearing all in a matter of seconds.
Aircraft – “Люди”
“Люди”, which means “People” in Ukrainian, opens with ambient notes that bounce from ear to ear. There is something eerie about them that holds attention and directs it. The song pulses steadily, receding and returning as Merkulov’s vocal sits above atop with a certain detached tenderness. The singing, which is in his native Ukrainian gives the track an intimacy that transcends language. Listening to this track, you understand the emotional register even without completely understanding the words. The combination of the singing and drum machine gives away 80s inspiration. Merkulov brings all the characteristic restraint that has defined Aircraft across more than a decade of work.
