Now It's On

Favorite Albums of 2019: #3 - SYML - SYML

I hesitate to call SYML a new artist as Brian Fennell, who records as SYML, has been making music for awhile. After releasing Safety Songs, an album under his own name in 2005, Fennell formed a band around his touring mates. Barcelona would go on to sign a major label deal with Universal Motown and released three full length albums, as well as a few EP's, between 2007-2016 before Fennell decided to branch out on his own again with a new musical project.

That new project would be SYML, Welsh for simple, given Fennell's heritage and the idea of stripping things back to himself, with a stripped down musical sound as well. After EP releases in 2016 and 2018, and a number of single releases, it was finally time for Fennell to put forth the first full length SYML album in 2019. Two of the songs on SYML first appeared on his 2018 EP In My Body. It's no surprise "Where's My Love" is one of them. The song has been huge for the SYML project, becoming a hit in a number of countries including the U.S. and a massive hit in Canada where it was certified Gold and shot to #1 on the CBC charts. The other, "Wildfire", appears here in a drastically different version from the 2018 EP release. That version was restrained, Fennell accompanied by piano and strings. The new version, produced and mixed by Mark Ralph, adds drums, beats, and all manner of electronic effects but doesn't suffer at all from the extra production. I love both versions of the track, it's hard to mess up that soaring chorus and beautiful melody.

SYML reflects the growth of Fennell's sound as SYML. The early EP's were sparse, piano heavy affairs, mostly ballads and lovely. There is still beautiful music here, the man crafts heart- wrechingly gorgeous melodies in his sleep it appears and songs such as personal favorite "Connor" and "Girl", recorded for his son and daughter respectively, reflect that. Then there is "WDWGILY", an acronym for "Where Did We Go I Love You" and "The Bird" which add glitchy electronics and beats to the mix, while "Clean Eyes" and "Bed" are pure 80's synth-pop influenced heaven.

As much as I enjoyed the two SYML EP's, the first album took my appreciation of Fennell's talents to a whole different level. This was without a doubt my favorite "debut" album of 2019, even though Fennell isn't exactly new to the game. Getting to see him perform live twice during the year, first as an opener then as a headliner, further solidified his spot as a can't miss artist for me. He continued releasing new music the rest of the year with three new singles, all heart-breaking and stunning, that hopefully will form the basis of a sophomore album in 2020. Anything this man releases, I'm there to support it. SYML is that good.                

Favorite tracks: "Connor", "WDWGILY", "The Bird", "Wildfire"

SYML was released May 3rd, 2019 on Nettwerk Records.

Official Website of SYML

Follow SYML on Twitter

Purchase SYML from the SYML Web Store

Purchase SYML from Amazon.com

Stream SYML on Apple Music

Stream SYML on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #4 - JR JR - Invocations/Conversations

After starting as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. in 2009, a side project for the Detroit based duo of Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, things escalated quickly. Their 2010 debut EP Horsepower caught on quickly with influential radio stations and music sites and the buzz helped land them a major label deal with Warner Bros. Records. DEJJ went on to release three albums on Warners, tour nationally many times over, play on national television a few times and score a huge hit with 2015's "Gone". By the time "Gone" was released, they had decided to drop the Dale Earnhardt part of the name, mostly at Warners suggestion, and rechristened themselves as JR JR.

But something happened after the success of "Gone". And it's a story many bands are familiar with in this day and age of music. The record label was not as enthusiastic about some of the darker subject matter explored on ensuing singles, specifically 2017's "Same Dark Places", a song born out of Epstein's struggles with anxiety and exploring the depression and obstacles we all face in life. The message of the song was uplifting but the duo felt Warners purposefully did not promote a song with a message it deemed too dark and that threw the plans for their fourth album into limbo as "Same Dark Places" was slated to be included on that release. By this time the fourth album was ostensibly done but the two decided it was time to move on from the major label game. This of course takes time, and in that time Epstein and Zott kept recording and working on new material.

That brings us to 2019. JR JR now has their own label, Love Is EZ Records, that allows them to release what they want, when they want. And what they released this time was a double album, Invocations/Conversations. The first eight tracks, or the Invocations section, is made up of songs from those sessions in late 2016 when things were in limbo with Warners. A number of them, including "Wild Child" and "Holding On", were instantly recognizable to me as they had premiered them at a show in Detroit at the Masonic Temple around that time. The second half of the album, Conversations, consists of eight more tracks worked on more recently after breaking loose from Warner Bros. The sixteen songs allows the duo to spread out and explore all their musical influences and delve into different styles. There are sweet ballads in "Pull you Close" and "Big Bear Mountain", anthemic pop in "Young Forever" and "Low", which should have been as big a hit as "Gone", but in this day and age of the streaming shit storm I'm tired of getting angry over worthy music that doesn't make a big enough impact. Needless to say, if you missed "Low" shame on you, and correct this transgression immediately. There is pop, some rock elements, some good old synth-pop, plenty of electronics, even some folksy moments. It's the sound of two musicians freed from the corporate music game and coming out better for it in the end.                

Favorite tracks: "Low", "Wild Child", "Young Forever", "All Around You"

Invocations/Conversations was released May 31st, 2019 via the Love Is EZ label.

Official Website of JR JR

Follow JR JR on Twitter

Purchase Invocations/Conversations from the JR JR Web Store

Purchase Invocations/Conversations from Amazon.com

Stream Invocations/Conversations on Apple Music

Stream Invocations/Conversations on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #5 - Dido - Still On My Mind

I first saw Dido perform back in 1999, not too long after No Angel was released, before most people in America knew who she was, in a tiny club in Pontiac, Michigan called 7th House. I doubt there were even 100 people in the place and Dido still brings this show up in interviews to this day as an example of performing the same way, whether it be for less than a hundred people in a tiny, now long shuttered club, or in front of tens of thousands. The reason I was there and aware of who Dido was, long before the collaboration with Eminem, long before No Angel went on to become one of the biggest selling albums of the 2000's, was through her involvement with her brother Rollo's band Faithless. I'd always loved her vocal contributions on Faithless' albums and with Rollo playing a huge hand in the writing and production of No Angel, was fully supportive of this collaboration between the two talented siblings. 

Fast forward to the beginning of 2019, now twenty years after No Angel was released in the U.S. Dido announced a new album was coming, her first in six years since 2013's Girl Who Got Away, my least favorite in her catalog. More importantly, she announced the new album Still On My Mind would be a return to the earlier days of working with her brother on the entire project. The prior album suffered, in my opinion, from too many outside writers and producers and just didn't have the same feel or quality of her previous three. My anticipation grew even more heated after the album's first single "Hurricanes" was released. Starting as a somber acoustic guitar ballad, the tension grows with electronic flourishes until it explodes mid-song into a hurricane of its own with synth runs, thumping beats and Dido's angelic voice howling through the winds of the beautiful noise. It then all settles back to just her voice before a solemn beat takes the song out. The song knocked me out and signaled that Dido and Rollo were back, at the top of their form and Still On My Mind was set to be something special.

And special it is. Across twelve songs there is a mix of ballads like "Give You Up" and "Some Kind Of Love" that signal the end of relationships and looking back on loves past, dance tracks like "Friends" and the scintillating "Take You Home" that recall Rollo's best dancefloor gems with Faithless and more experimental, darker material like "You Don't Need A God" and "Hell After This." Holding it all together is that heavenly voice, sounding as perfect as it did twenty years ago on her debut. Still On My Mind was a welcome return that was only made better by Dido's return to touring. I had not seen her perform since that early show in that tiny club in Pontiac, and even with no dates in Michigan, that was not going to stop me from seeing her on this tour. Her show at The Danforth in Toronto was one of the highlights of the concert year for me, by far my most welcome comeback of 2019.                   

Favorite tracks: "Hurricanes", "You Don't Need A God", "Take You Home", "Hell After This"

Still On My Mind was released March 8th, 2019 via BMG.

Official Website of Dido

Follow Dido on Twitter

Purchase Still On My Mind from the Dido Web Store

Purchase Still On My Mind from Amazon.com

Stream Still On My Mind on Apple Music

Stream Still On My Mind on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #6 - Elbow - Giants Of All Sizes

Formed in 1997, Elbow have always been lumped in with other English alternative rock bands I like such as Radiohead, Doves and even Coldplay. And for whatever reason, I'd never connected with their music until 2017's Little Fictions which went on to be one of my favorite albums of that year. 2019 saw the band release their eighth studio album and coming off an album I so dearly loved, I was hopeful Giants Of All Sizes would have the same impact on me as Little Fictions did. Mission accomplished as it joins the ranks of my favorite albums of 2019 at number six.

I've been trying to reconcile what clicked for me with Elbow's music in the last few years. Why had I dismissed earlier albums after one listen, while these last two instantly sunk their hooks in me? It wasn't that their previous work was lesser material, they've been critically acclaimed from their first release, with awards and best of lists to show for it. Maybe a part of it was revisiting all of Peter Gabriel's work while I read a biography of the musical legend. Gabriel is a big influence on Elbow and its chief lyricist and lead vocalist Guy Garvey, so maybe looking at their music through that lens played a part in it. I also looked at the evolution of my appreciation for Coldplay. I make no apologies for loving their first four albums, but something went off the rails with Mylo Xyloto and the further they strayed from their alternative rock roots into radio friendly pop and, shudder, dance tunes the more they turned into musical fast food for me. In contrast, the more I explore Elbow's back catalog now, with their willingness to take risks, experiment, and with Garvey's tremendous talent as a lyricist, it's finally clicked as the elegant musical feast I'd been seeking.    

So Giants of All Sizes is a bit of a darker turn for the band. Tracks like "Dexter & Sinister" and "Empires" address Brexit and the negative impact it has had. Government and societal neglect is touched upon on the angry "White Noise White Heat" and "Doldrums". But it wouldn't be an Elbow album, or Guy Garvey songs, without the more tender moments touched upon in the album's final three tracks. "Just this morning alone with you worth/ a lifetime alone on this Earth" he sings on "My Trouble", as beautiful a ballad as any recorded in 2019, dedicated to his wife and touching upon those moments you are away from the one you love and appreciating the time you do spend with them more because of it. "On Deronda Road" recalls a memorable bus trip Garvey made with his young son Jack, while album closer "Weightless" is a tribute to Garvey's father who passed away in 2018 of lung cancer. It's a short, simple lyric, repeated twice that carries an emotional wallop as he compares the passing of his father to the birth of his son. "Hey, you look like me/so we look like him/And when the time came/Just as you are/He was weightless in my arms". It's lyrics like that, songs like the nine on Giants Of All Sizes, that finally woke me up to the brilliance of this band. Better late than never and I'll enjoy the journey of revisiting their back catalog in 2020.   

Favorite tracks: "My Trouble", "Seven Veils", "Weightless", "Empires"

Giants of All Sizes was released October 11th, 2019 on Polydor Records.

Official Website of Elbow

Follow Elbow on Twitter

Purchase Giants Of All Sizes from the Elbow Web Store

Purchase Giants Of All Sizes from Amazon.com

Stream Giants Of All Sizes on Apple Music

Stream Giants of All Sizes on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #7 - The Cinematic Orchestra - To Believe

Led by founding member Jason Swinscoe, The Cinematic Orchestra have been mixing jazz, classical and electronic music into their own unique sound for over a decade now. 2019 saw the group release their fourth proper studio album, the staggeringly gorgeous To Believe.

As they've done on past releases, The Cinematic Orchestra enlisted the help of a number of vocalists and collaborators on To Believe. Moses Sumney delivers a tender vocal on the exquisite opening title track while the great English rapper Roots Manuva returns to work with the group on the powerful "A Caged Bird/Imitations of Life". London based neo-soul singer Tawiah is featured on "Wait For Now/Leave The World", a string-laden beauty of a song. Other vocalists contributing to the album are Heidi Vogel and Grey Reverend, while two long instrumental pieces are placed in the middle of the collection. "Lessons" is more a driving jazz based track, while "The Workers Of Art" is a slow burning, ambient/orchestral piece. Both are magnificent, a word that sums up the entirety of To Believe perfectly. 

Favorite tracks: "A Caged Bird/Imitations Of Life", "A Promise", "To Believe", "The Workers Of Art"

To Believe was released March 15th, 2019 on the Ninja Tune label.

Official Website of The Cinematic Orchestra

Follow The Cinematic Orchestra on Twitter

Purchase To Believe from Amazon.com

Stream To Believe on Apple Music

Stream To Believe on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #8 - Strand Of Oaks - Eraserland

The brainchild of Timothy Showalter, Strand Of Oaks has seen a lot over the course of its first five albums. Critical acclaim has certainly been showered on the project, with 2014's HEAL making many critic's best of the year lists. The album led to Showalter and band opening for big names like Iron And Wine and Ryan Adams. But after 2017's Hard Love and the touring that followed, Showalter was burnt out and appeared ready to give up on the project. Enter Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket. He offered his support and services to the recording of a new Strand Of Oaks album, and the rest of My Morning Jacket, minus Jim James who was involved with solo projects of his own, joined to help raise Showalter out of his depression and musical funk.

The result is Eraserland, an album that Showalter describes as everything he has ever worked towards in leading Strand Of Oaks. And for those My Morning Jacket fans bemoaning the lack of a new MMJ studio album since 2015, this is a must have. Showalter and the MMJ boys created an essential rock masterpiece here, an album so in line with My Morning Jacket's sound it's impossible to not appeal to fans of that band. I mean hell, it IS that band minus James, and Showalter at the helm soars. 

As Showalter describes it, the ten songs on Eraserland are about existing and carrying on. That there is always hope. Highlights like "Weird Ways" and the powerful "Visions" explore the darkness he was falling into, while "Ruby", which he calls the happiest song he has ever wrote, and album closer "Forever Chords" carry the hope and new beginning on the other side of that darkness. Showalter calls Eraserland "Where we all can start again". His rebirth produced one of the year's best.

Favorite tracks: "Visions", "Weird Ways", "Forever Chords", "Eraserland"

Eraserland was released March 22, 2019 on the Dead Oceans label.

Official Website of Strand Of Oaks

Follow Strand Of Oaks on Twitter

Purchase Eraserland from the Strand Of Oaks Web Store

Purchase Eraserland from Amazon.com

Stream Eraserland on Apple Music

Stream Eraserland on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #9 - Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars

Look, I'll admit it. When 2019 started, I was not expecting a Bruce Springsteen album to be among my favorite releases of the year. I've always respected the hell out of The Boss, liked some of his material and acknowledged his legendary status, but my favorites have always leaned more pop. I'm one of those guys who owned Born In The U.S.A. and that was it, the same type of person that I'll admit would annoy me when Purple Rain was the beginning and the end of their Prince knowledge. I've always checked out Springsteen's albums and cherry picked tracks I liked, but I was not the collector type.

Western Stars came out of nowhere for me and blew me away. It also helped that the first three singles released, all before it came out in June, are among the strongest tracks on the album building up the expectation for a classic release and Springsteen does not disappoint. The ballad "Hello Sunshine" was the first to get my attention. The slide guitar and strings on this beautiful song call out that this is not your typical Springsteen album and intrigued me instantly for what the rest of Western Stars held. Second single "There Goes My Miracle" sealed the deal with it's soaring chorus. This is an album, cinematic in scope, filled with Western imagery, majestic orchestration and Springsteen's greatness at telling stories in his songs. A stunningly masterful work from the now 70 year old legend. 

Favorite tracks: "Stones", "Hello Sunshine", "There Goes My Miracle", "Sundown"

Western Stars was released June 14th, 2019 on Columbia Records. 

Official Website of Bruce Springsteen

Follow Bruce Springsteen on Twitter

Purchase Western Stars from Amazon.com

Stream Western Stars on Apple Music

Stream Western Stars on Spotify

Favorite Albums of 2019: #10 - Copeland - Blushing

Copeland decided to call it quits in 2010 after releasing four albums, but the driving force behind the band, Aaron Marsh, reformed the project in 2014 with the release of Ixora. 2019 saw the Lakeland, Florida based trio release their sixth full length and Blushing finds itself as my #10 album of the year.  

Blushing delves into dreamy, lush alternative rock sounds. It's melodic, it's experimental, there are plenty of electronic flourishes, lavish strings envelope many of the album's tracks and the album explores themes of love and relationships in its lyrics. First single "Pope" has Marsh asking, "Would you be my love, until I can prove that this world is not real?" as strings swim around his angelic voice. Also released as a single, the gorgeous "Lay Here" is a plea to a lover to just lay together, be there for each other in the face of worries and fears. "Skywriter" is a devastatingly heart-breaking ballad featuring Young Summer joining Marsh on vocals. "What's the use in loving you if it just makes me crazy?" they ask each other in this tear-jerker that explores the sadder aspects of being in love. On the opposite end of the love spectrum is "On Your Worst Day", with Marsh declaring "I just want to make you smile on your worst day".

Cohesive from start to finish, emotionally rich, sonically adventurous, Copeland's finest album to date Blushing has been a favorite since it was released in February and had the staying power to make my Top Ten of 2019.       

Favorite tracks: "Lay Here", "Skywriter", "On Your Worst Day", "Pope"

Blushing was released February 15th, 2019 on Tooth & Nail Records.

Official Website of Copeland

Follow Copeland on Twitter

Purchase Blushing from Copeland's Web Store

Purchase Blushing from Amazon.com

Stream Blushing on Apple Music 

Stream Blushing on Spotify

Album Spotlight: All Hail The Silence - ‡ (Daggers)

BT is a legend of electronic music. Never afraid to experiment or push into new dimensions, he's a true innovator of the genre. His 1999 album Movement In Still Life in particular is one of my favorite electronic music albums of all time, covering everything from hip hop to trance to alternative rock. It's a masterpiece. So when a new BT project is in the world, it has my attention.

The All Hail The Silence project has been in the world so to speak for some time. Christian Burns, formerly of the band BBMak, had collaborated with BT before, most prominently on his 2010 release These Hopeful Machines. In 2012 the two discussed recording an entire project together as a duo and All Hail The Silence was born. An album was recorded and slated for release that year but the duo decided to put the project on hold to focus on solo projects both were also working on. There have been stops and starts since then including live shows and an EP released in 2016. But 2019 finally sees the release of their highly anticipated full length album Daggers, fashioned as ‡ on the album cover. 

So what should you expect from Daggers? Well BT has made it clear from the start this project was recorded entirely on analog synthesizers. No computers were used in the creation of this album giving it the throwback to the 80's feel they were aiming for. Think Depeche Mode, think Human League, think any number of great 80's synth-pop bands. Given that I grew up in the 80's and Pet Shop Boys are second only to Prince as far as my favorite musical acts of all time, of course this project has massive appeal to my tastes. Although there are plenty of stand-out tracks to choose from, none hit me as hard as "Looking Glass", the highlight of the album for me. The chorus sears itself in your skull, BT's production is insane, seriously listen to this one through headphones, and Burns slays on vocals. It's a microcosm of what the fourteen tracks on Daggers hold. Burns on vocals over BT's masterful production taking you back to one of the greatest eras of music.   

As great as "Looking Glass" is, there are loads of other can't miss tracks on Daggers including "Talk" with its mesmerizing keyboard lines, the uplifting pop track "The Alarm" and the darker vibes of "English Town"and "Broken Satellite". BT and Burns have crafted 2019's first must hear release, an album certain to be among the best electronic music releases of the year and one I'll be playing loud and often.       

Favorite tracks: "Looking Glass", "Talk", "Stand Together", "The Alarm"

Daggers was released January 18th, 2019 via KSS3TE Recordings.

Official Website of All Hail The Silence

Follow All Hail The Silence on Twitter

Purchase Daggers from Amazon.com

Purchase Daggers from iTunes

Stream Daggers on Spotify

Album Spotlight: Frances Cone - Late Riser

Originating in Brooklyn but now based out of Nashville, Frances Cone may sound like a solo artist but is actually a duo consisting of Christina Cone and Andrew Doherty. A classically trained pianist, Christina Cone is the voice of the project, providing lead vocals on their material. The band formed in 2013 and released their debut album Come Back that same year with input from other members but are pared down to the duo of Cone and Doherty for the follow-up, Late Riser.    

Frances Cone's music is very much in the pop and rock realm, with added ambient and electronic flourishes to at times give it a dreamy feel. Late Riser is one of those short, concise albums we used to get back in the day. Ten tracks, no filler, clocking in at 34 minutes. It's always refreshing to get a release like this in today's age of overstuffed albums to help inflate streaming numbers. The opening track is so important to reel a listener in, especially if you're new to a band, and "Wide Awake" does that here. It's a shimmering ballad with a Prince-like drum pattern and ethereal chorus. Catchy choruses and melodies are abundant throughout the album with "Arizona", "Waterline" and "Failure" among the highlights. Late Riser is an early favorite in 2019.

Favorite tracks: "Wide Awake", "Failure", "Waterline", "Arizona"   

Late Riser was released January 18th, 2019 via Living Daylight Records.

Official Website of Frances Cone

Follow Frances Cone on Twitter

Purchase Late Riser from the Frances Cone Online Store

Purchase Late Riser from Amazon.com

Purchase Late Riser from iTunes

Stream Late Riser on Spotify