Mixtapemotions

  • “Drive There Now!” by The Almost, Sunday, December 11, 2022

    In 2007 Aaron Gillespie released Southern Weather with producer Aaron Sprinkle, under the moniker The Almost. At that time Gillespie was known as the drummer and clean vocalist for Underoath, a band that had just released their biggest record, Define the Great Line, the year before. In many ways, Southern Weather was like the first Foo Fighters record written and performed by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Like Grohl, Gillespie played almost all of the instruments on the record, wrote all of the songs, and then assembled a band to tour with the record. Often filling in on bass, though, is Gillespie’s good friend Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line. 

     
    WINTER DAYS MAKE ME SAY, “WHAT THE HEY?” Like all of Aaron Gillespie’s projects, Southern Weather captures a moment of sincerity in the singer-songwriter’s life. Before what some conservative critics might say that Gillespie became the agitprop for exvangelical deconstruction, The Almost’s Southern Weather authentically shows a longing for piety. Combining the emotional sounds similar to a Taking Back Sunday record with the lyrics of a charismatic church service, Southern Weather deals with feelings of inadequacy and judgement by other Christians. Some of the lyrics directly come from hymns and gospel songs. “Amazing, Because It Is” uses the hymn “Amazing Grace” as its chorus, while “Dirty and Left Out” references “Something About that Name” by Bill and Gloria Gaither. Because of these songs, Gillespie began a trajectory on the path to becoming a worship leader, eventually releasing two solo records of original worship music. But, a divorce and a quarter-life crisis upon learning about the underbelly of the Christian worship circuit led Gillespie to take some time off from releasing his own music and eventually to rethinking the way that he expressed his faith.

    “AARON, GET READY FOR THIS.”  But not all of the songs on Southern Weather are explicitly Christian. The album’s first single “Say This Sooner” deals with seeing the world differently than other people, which can be interpreted through Gillespie’s worldview no matter where he stands spiritually. The second track, “Drive There Now!” is kind of a love song. Gillespie married his first wife at a young age, and “Drive There Now!” seems to be a song about someone who pushes the speaker to pursue his dreams. Gillespie says that he and his wife divorced because of irreconcilable  differences. Gillespie has been transparent about his divorce, speaking well of his ex-wife and the reasons for divorce, which set him at odds with his career in Christian music industry. Many Christians condemn divorce for any reason, yet some permit it for infidelity or abuse. But accepting divorce for any other reason, they see as licensure for sin. Although Gillespie may have not found that supportive relationship from his first marriage, in “Drive There Now!” the singer’s extensive network of supportive friends in the Warped Tour scene and his band in Underoath and fans who have stuck with him on his journey may be seen as the drivers in this song. While not everyone is suited for a rock and roll relationship or love on the road, the network of musicians that Gillespie is a part of form a tight-knit family. And that family can drive a person to greatness. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.

  • “Let It Snow" by Filous ft. Florence Arman, Saturday, December 10, 2022 + Christmas Mix, Apple Edition

     

    “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” was written in 1945 and first recorded by Vaughn Monroe. It’s often grouped with Christmas songs, but the holiday season is never referenced in the lyrics. In fact, in the Southern hemisphere, it is sometimes played in June, July, and August. The song was famously covered by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Other popular adaptations are by Michael Bublé, Jaci Valesquez, and Kacey Musgraves. Today’s version comes from Filous with vocals by Florence Arman. It’s an extremely moody version of the song. It’s not particularly a Christmasy adaptation of the track and more likely to end up on my playlist in January as well if the snowy mood should occur. But for today’s post, I wanted to create an Apple Music version of my playlist that I made yesterday, but with a little difference because Apple Music has a bigger song selection. So I present Christmas ’22. Enjoy!

  • “Last Christmas” by Wham! Friday, December 9, 2022 + Christmas Playlist

     

    Today our representative song is Wham!’s “Last Christmas.” Maybe it’s overplayed, but it’s a synth-pop classic. It’s the kind of song that gets stuck in your head for days, and it’s okay because it’s Christmastime. It’s one of the signature songs of Wham!  and one of the most played songs of Christmas. It’s been covered by many artists from Jimmy Eat World to Carly Rae Jepsen to Hawk Nelson and each cover has its merit. But today, my Christmas mix begins with the original. Enjoy the mix!


    1. “Last Christmas” by Wham!
    3. “Wish” by Paper Route (The band has a bigger Christmas catalogue, just not on Spotify).
    5. “The Winter Song” by Eisley
    6. “Happy Christmas” (War Is Over) by Sent by Ravens

    8. “I Celebrate the Day” by Relient K 

    9. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Flyleaf

    10. “Santa’s Real” by Sasha Alex Sloan 
    12. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Copeland
    13. “O Come O Come Emmanuel” by Sufjan Stevens
    14. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Anchor & Braille
    16. “O Come All Ye Faithful” by Day of Fire

    17. “It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries” by Carly Rae Jepsen
    18. “Mary Did You Know?” by Spoken

    19. “Let It Snow” by Kacey Musgraves ft. James Corden
    22. “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay
    23. “Song in the Air” by Falling Up

  • “Artifice” by Sohn, Thursday, December 8, 2022

     

    Christopher Michael Taylor, better known as Sohn, is an English singer, songwriter, and producer. The London-born musician moved to Vienna in 2007, signed to the British record label, 4AD, and released his debut record Tremors in 2014. The Guardian gave the record a mixed review, criticizing the singer’s flare for the dramatic on certain songs, particularly on the track “Paralysed,” but praising Sohn’s musicality.

    SOMEBODY BETTER LET ME KNOW MY NAME. The minimal sounds of Sohn’s Tremors can start to usher in winter. The first single “Artifice” is the most exciting the album gets, and thus stands out on the album. Sohn has released three LPs, including this year’s Trust, but his listenership is only at about 460,000 a month on Spotify. Before releasing Tremors, Sohn remixed Lana Del Rey‘s “Ride,” and he has produced remix tracks for The Weeknd and Honne. The vocals on Tremors are vaguely reminiscent of early Fleet Foxes but I thought of this record when I first heard Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “Julien.” The title of today’s song refers to a trick or cunning, strategic behavior. In the lyrics, though, the speaker seems self-defeated–an external force needs to tell the speaker his name because he’s “not at the wheel.” Strategy is the opposite of playing the victim, but someone may use artifice to victimize another. It’s a dichotomy that kind of sums up this year perfectly–trying to get ahead but succumbing to depression and toxic negativity from others. 

    IS IT OVER?  In 2019, I celebrated the end of the year, maybe a little too much. There were certainly dark times that year, but despite those dark times, I felt accomplished–I stuck to a plan of learning Korean, my boyfriend got into medical school, and I achieved my gym goals. It seemed like I was on a path to something better. I haven’t had a good year since then. There have been worse years than 2022; 2016 and 2020 are two of the worst and last year would probably go down as the third worst. The problem with this year was that the highlights were far between and the low points were more annoying than anything a highlight could reprieve. A lot of that has to do with a toxic coworker who tries his best to indoctrinate negativity to whoever listens to him. It’s hard to be optimistic when listening to negativity for eight hours of your day. And that makes the bad news seem worse–The Itaewon crush, friends going through hard times, jobs lost, deaths, health scares. There have been good moments this year, but I feel like I’m not at the wheel, and I don’t like that. Something has to change in 2023.  

    Read the lyrics on Genius.



  • “Mulberry Street” by twenty one pilots, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 (Trigger Warning: discussion about mental health)

     

    I was wrong about twenty one pilots, and the reason I’m willing to admit that is after I spent time with their album released last year, Scaled and Icy, I realized that this duo was much more than who I thought they were. Mostly gone–but not entirely–are the emo rapping and trap beats that turned me off of the group when they debuted. The lyrics on Scaled and Icy, though, are emotional, and singer Tyler Joseph masterfully weaves clichés, esoteric messages for fans, current lingo, and new turns of phrase all to a funky piano/guitar groove. Scaled and Icy is in the vein of Paramore‘s After Laughter, on the surface it’s fun and light-hearted, but when you spend a little time with the lyrics, you’re bound to discover a surprising depth.


    THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. I was thinking about albums of the year and how last year I didn’t seem to have one. In 2019 I was obsessed with Mike Mains & the Branches‘ When We Were in Love. And although I didn’t listen to it a lot in 2020, I would have to crown folklore as the album of the year for Taylor Swift‘s songwriting and the vibe that helped create pristine moments when listening to the album. For me, 2021 was a year of old music and it seemed that was the case for a lot of bands as well, whether it was livestream concerts or re-recordings of records. Sure there were a few good records, Adele‘s 30, Ed Sheeran‘s =, Nick Jonas‘ Spaceman, and IU‘s Lilac, but none of them screamed album of the year like Scaled and Icy. My approach to this record comes after enjoying a nice shower to “Saturday” and a few of the other tracks last year and only listening to “Mulberry Street” two days in a row before deciding to check out the rest of the record. As I began research for today’s song, I realized that I really don’t have the proper licensure to discuss a band that has such a cult following that they incessantly comment on the band’s Genius pages about the fiction woven into the band’s songs, about a race on another world, a religion called Vialism that has something to do with social media, apathy, and suicide. 

    KEEP YOUR SUNNY DAYS; LEAVE US  IN THE RAIN. Much of twenty one pilots’ lyrics have to do with mental health, and “Mulberry Street” is no exception. Named after the street in New York City that fellow piano man Billy Joel sang about, “Mulberry Street” is a seemingly upbeat track that’s a fun listen. In a concert video (see below), the duo performs “Mulberry Street” in the middle of a cover of Elton John‘s “Benny and the Jets.” The Elton John cover feels fitting given twenty one pilots’ flamboyant style. But the happiness of the music covers the melancholy of the track. An episode of What About Therapy broke down the lyrics of the track from a mental health perspective. The podcasters pointed out that this track is sometimes criticized because lead singer Tyler Joseph is possibly saying not to medicate depression. The podcasters don’t think that’s what Joseph is actually advocating, but rather discussing that drugs, alcohol, vices, and temporal distractions can make us not actually process our feelings. Joseph reminds us that it’s okay to feel sad sometimes, that it’s okay to live in the weekdays not only for the weekends, and that it’s okay to move sideways because moving ahead may be too hard. So let’s live in that weekday for just a little bit longer.

    Lyric video:

    Live stream version:

    Live concert featuring “Chlorine” and a mash up of “Benny and the Jets” and “Mulberry Street.”


  • "My Bad" (내탓) [KSHMR Edit] by Advanced (어드밴스드) ft. Shaun, Tuesday, December 6, 2022

    Advanced is a South Korean DJ and producer duo. “My Bad” is sung by singer-songwriter Shaun, whose success referenced in this song, brought him to prominence in Korea and internationally. The English version is sung by Norwegian Singer Songwriter Julie Bergan. The track is remixed and the lyrics are not an exact translation. Shaun’s recording of the track is much better vocally and musically. It also has a richer lyrical content in the original Korean. This is not to say that the English version isn’t any good. “My Bad” is a kind of behind the music surrounding the rise of Shaun’s success, telling the story of a young musician honing his craft as a DJ.


    I REMEMBER WHEN I CALLED YOU AND SAID I HAD A #1. In February, I talked about the rise and controversy related to Shaun’s breakout hit “Way Back Home.” Shaun built his career in the music industry as an electronic musician in rock, pop, and EDM. His high vocal range and ability to make music sound classic and new at the same time has helped him become a beloved artist. That is for the listeners who have dismissed the controversy surrounding “Way Back Home.” But as the young artist cuts his teeth as a DJ, “My Bad” tells the story of the girl who got left behind. Shaun is known for his album covers and music videos featuring Korean models. “My Bad,” however, includes a young male character in the music video. The scenes depict them stuck in a fish tank drowning, but later, we realize that they were only pretending. But the imagery, nonetheless, depicts what it might be like to date a starving artist. It might be an adventure at first, but the two being stuck in a tiny studio apartment where the queen-sized bed barely fits (the English version) and with 2 people a dog and three cats (the Korean version), tensions begin to rise.

    BUT THE MONTHS WENT BY AND SUDDENLY OUR PLACE RAN OUT OF SPACE. I ENDED UP PUSHING YOU AWAY. I’ve felt several times that I’m waiting for my real life to start. You know, when you buy a house, have a cat, eat a salad every night. That life. I’m waiting for the right job to fall into my lap so that I can make it happen. Waiting for a partner to get out of medical school so that we could finally move in together. I’m waiting for the day when my job doesn’t suck so much. I’m waiting for the day that my house is finally easier to clean. I’m waiting to be the person I want to become–a fitter, smarter, wealthier me. And it’s not just waiting, I do put in the work. Maybe not always enough. Some days I get lazy. Some days I get depressed and just give up. Most of the time I pick myself back up. But really, when is it going to happen? For years I used student loans as an excuse for not moving forward. Eight Hundred dollars is quite a chunk from the paycheck, and I’ve gotta have a little fun. In high school I was taught to “eat beans now so you can eat steak later.” When is the steak coming? Speaking of beans, I probably shouldn’t have spent so much money on coffee. I’m a little better at not thinking about living in tomorrow, when my life will actually start. It’s actually happening now. What choices can I make for a better future Tyler?

    Lyrics (English, Korean Romanized, Korean)
    Original Video: 

     Julie Bergan KSHMR Edit:

    Lyric video:

  • "(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home" by Anberlin, Monday, December 5, 2022 (repost)














    In 2010, Rolling Stone named Darlene Love‘s 1963 song “(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home” the number 1 Christmas rock song ever recorded. Born Darlene Wright in 1941, and renamed Darlene Love by producer Phil Spector, Darlene began her musical career as the lead vocalist for the girl group, The Blossoms. Besides her career with the Blossoms and her solo career, Love sang lead on two Crystals songs and backup for many notable artists including Sam Cooke, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Sonny & Cher, and Tom Jones. Love has also acted on Broadway and appeared in the Lethal Weapon films.  Love performed “(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home” every episode before Christmas on David Letterman from 1986-2014, except for 2007 during the writers’ strike. 

    PRETTY LIGHTS ON THE TREE. “Baby, Please Come Home” has been covered by many artists including Mariah Carey, Michael Bublè, Death Cab for Cutie, and Jars of Clay, among others. One of the most famous covers is the 1987 U2 version. Released on the album A Very Special Christmas among covers of Christmas classics by other popular artists, the album was created to raise money for the Special Olympics. The album was released during the album cycle for one of U2’s biggest albums, The Joshua Tree, which made U2 one of the biggest bands in the world at that time. The bluesy rendition of the Christmas classic actually features Darlene Love on background vocals to accompany Bono’s crooning. Perhaps the U2 version is synonymous with today’s song, but it was the Anberlin version that always makes it to my annual Christmas lists. Recorded for the 2005 Tooth & Nail project Happy Christmas, Vol. 4, Anberlin’s version of this song has landed on several Christian Rock holiday albums and ended up on 2007’s B-side project, Lost Songs. Since the winter of 2005, this has become my adult Christmas favorite. I listened to it on Christmas mixes in the car until Lost Songs 
    arrived in November of 2007. It was the song that I’d drive my sisters around Christmas shopping to. The synthy intro to the forlorn guitar solo before the guitar “crashes” at the end made me think about how Christmas plans always kind of fall apart and we’re just left with the chaos of the season–the shopping, the parties, the getting together. And if we’re lucky, we’ll have some moments of silence as we stare at the Christmas lights on the tree or witness the soft sound of snow.

    THE CHURCH BELLS IN TOWN, THEY’RE RINGING A SONG. It’s three weeks until Christmas, and I’m forcing myself to feel something. In Korea, Christmas is a day off of work for schools and most offices; however, because it’s a Saturday this year, it’s like it doesn’t exist. Christmas was my favorite holiday when I was a kid. We sang Christmas songs at church. When we lived in New York, we cut down a tree and decorated it maybe two weeks before Christmas. In New York, it always snowed before Christmas in my childhood. One year was a little warmer, and it rained on Christmas Eve, but by Christmas morning the rain had turned to snow. The season always started with choosing and cutting a tree a week or two before Christmas. We’d decorate it and little by little presents would appear. We weren’t told about Santa except that some kids believed in him.  Next, we celebrated at my great-grandmother’s house the Saturday night before Christmas with my first and second cousins. The presents were always a letdown for a kid–gloves, socks, hats. Every year I hoped that there would be something fun, but I never minded because there was always great food and so many family members to see. Christmas Eve was always spent at my grandparents’ house with cousins, and the gifts were always more fun. I got Matchbox or Hot Wheels. My family started the tradition of opening presents on Christmas night. My parents didn’t want to deal with the 5 am wake-up, but they always let us open one present on Christmas morning. It was usually a board game or something we could play with until the night. We’d always leave the Christmas tree plugged in all day on Christmas day. We usually unplugged in the later morning the other days and turn it on at night, but Christmas was special. We usually played board games, watched Christmas movies, or played with Legos on Christmas day, waiting for the sun to set. Some years since I moved to Korea, my family said that they’d “Save Christmas for me” until I could get home in early January. In 2020, I said that I would try to come home every year, but it’s looking like maybe I can start that in 2023.

    Mariah Carey:

    Michael Buble:

    Death Cab for Cutie:

    Jars of Clay: 

    U2:

  • “The Love that Carries Me” by Jonezetta, Sunday, December 4, 2022

    The season 2 Labeled podcasts finale concluded the story arc of Tooth & Nail Records’ start from collecting likeminded, DIY-spirited bands to a marketably lucrative record business backed by major- label distribution, a slowing in the market and uncertain times, then back to a purely indie label. As the story goes, the label had signed two bands for general rock radio, The Classic Crime and Jonezetta. These bands were not intended for Christian radio, like how The Juliana Theory had been half a decade before. In 2006, at the time of this marketing strategy, the label was losing some of its most successful acts to major labels. Could the new signees save the label?

    WHEN THE CHORUS DIES, DOES IT KILL YOU TO BE ALONE? Neither bands reached the level Tooth & Nail had planned for them. The Classic Crime has had a successful career, but mostly because the label accidentally marketed them to Christian radio. Jonezetta, however, wasn’t played on RadioU, but I think I bought their first album Popularity in the Family Christian Bookstore after listening to the sample CD that sample CD player in their stores is the reason why I listened to more Christian Rock when I was a teenager because CDs were expensive and it was always disappointing to buy a record and only like one track). Jonezetta was marketed as the Tooth & Nail version of The Killers, Jonezetta got on tours with Anberlin, MuteMath, Shiny Toy Guns, and Family Force 5. The record Popularity was filled with fun hooks and ‘80s styled dance rock tracks, but “The Love that Carries Me” is in the center of the record, setting a calmer tone on the record. The keyboard and groove of the song seems to be a transition to the sound the band achieved on their next record, Cruel to Be Young. 

    SORRY, SORRY BUT MY WORDS MEAN NOTHING. “The Love that Carries Me” is a song about a misinterpreted song. In the vein of the title track, “Popularity,” many songs on the album deal with the superficiality of popularity. It’s a hipster irony of being “too cool for radio,” but secretly chasing it. The speaker states that “words mean nothing” and that the song is nothing more than an addictive ear worm for kids until they move on to the next thing. But “The Love that Carries” is much more than a trend; it is not a commodity; it is not fast fashion. The album examines popularity from a mid-2000s emo band perspective in ways that groups like The All-American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday arguably did better in their lyrics. “The Love that Carries Me” criticizes the popular kids who keep friendships and relationships to the surface and cast friends aside when things get difficult, and there’s a subtle comparison in the lyrics to people who do that to those who buy records and only scan for the catchy tracks. We cannot regard friends in the way that they are fleeting, otherwise we won’t be loved in the hard times and we will miss out on the deep connections that make us human. I certainly could try to be better friend, to pay back those who have pushed me along. So let’s all think of ways to be a better friend.

    Read the lyrics on Genius. 

  • “Wi ing Wi ing” (위잉위잉) by Hyukoh, Saturday, December 3, 2022

     

    “Wi ing Wi ing” was Hyukoh‘s first single. The band had just formed earlier in 2014 around guitarist and singer Oh Hyuk. Adding an additional guitarist, bassist, and drummer to the band, the band found success in Korea when their music was featured in one of the most popular shows in Korea, Infinite Challenge. The band released their first EP, 20, beginning an Adele-like feature of the band–naming projects after Oh Hyuk’s age. 


    BING BING THE WORLD SPINS. Hard-handed music listeners may not like sentimental Korean ballads, but who has time for them? “Wi ing Wi ing” uses Korean onomatopoeia. Recall from English class that onomatopoeia are words that are associated with the sound an object or creature makes. In English we say that bees buzz, that cows moo, that horns honk. In any language, onomatopoeia can sound cute, especially with repeated syllables. In English, frogs ribbit ribbit, hens cluck cluck and a train on the track could either clack clack clack creating a peaceful lull of an afternoon nap on a train through the countryside with the three times repeated syllable, or the train could clicketty-clack, clicketty-clack showing a rougher ride through the mountains. Both sounds are pleasant to read and hear read aloud. Korean uses repeated syllables for certain specific feeling words. Chool chool hada  (출출하다) means to feel a little hungry, as in the feeling that you could eat if someone suggests it but wouldn’t have suggested it yourself other. Ssal ssal hada (쌀쌀하다) is the word for feeling chilly, the kind of chill when the seasons change from summer to fall. There are plenty more examples that are non-onomatopoeia, but Korean onomatopoeia often uses cute double syllables to express a sound. Jjip jjip (찝찝) is the sound of chewing. Gaegool gaegool (개굴개굴) is the language Korean frogs  speak, which sounds like a kind of croak. Korean dogs say meong meong (멍멍), which to me seems like a stretch but so does bark.

    EVEN THE WIND CAN’T DO ANYTHING ‘BOUT MY SCARRED HEART. Korean takes onomatopoeia a step further. Not only do heard sounds have words, but also inaudible sounds have onomatopoeia. Ever wonder what the sun shining sounds like? Jjaeng jjaeng (쨍쨍). How about the sound of feeling warm? Ttaeggeun ttaeggeun (때근때근). Today’s song takes the buzz of a bee, wing wing (윙윙), and makes it the  barely audible sound of a fruit fly,  wi ing wi wing (위이 위이). And also the world spins to the sound of bing bing (빙빙). Today’s song is a lovesick indie rock track that rhythmically entwines onomatopoeia and imagery. It’s a song that’s better suited for the summer but also for a chill Saturday at a coffee shop. Enjoy!

  • “Chariots” by Paper Route, Friday, December 2, 2022 (partial repost)

     

    J.T. Daly, lead singer of Paper Route, has stayed busy in the music business during Paper Route and after the band ended. In addition to releasing solo records and several side projects, he has composed for an ESPN film, produced several alternative musicians including K.Flay and Pvris, remixed Anberlin, Judah the Lion, MuteMath, and Switchfoot, and worked in visual arts, making band merchandise, phone cases, and even directing music videos for other bands. Of course, Daly isn’t the only creative force in Paper Route. Along with Chad Howat and for their third and on their final record, Real Emotion, with Nick Aranda, Paper Route is a seriously creative band.

    YOU PROMISED ME THAT EVERYTHING IS FAIR IF IT’S LOVE AND WAR.  Like yesterday’s song, the imagery in “Chariots” brings my mind to old movies like Spartacus or Ben-Hur. On other songs on Real Emotion there seems to be a classic film theme, notably in the song “Zhivago” and its intro “Lara.” “Chariots” imagines the speaker in a long-distance relationship and from his perspective, he is the only one fighting for the relationship. As a gesture to show his love, the speaker offers to send his chariots to his lover, creating the image of a big gesture likened to wealthy landowners or rulers in the Roman Empire or Lords in medieval times. Thematically “Chariots” deals with Paper Route’s most common subject–break ups. While lead singer J.T. Daly maintains his privacy in his personal life, cryptic statements from the stage, such as “This has been the hardest year ever” on two separate years, the lyrics alluding to break ups, divorce, and using “chemicals” to forget, have fans speculating about the prurient details of the singer’s love life and mental state. The song “Chariots” depicts the speaker and his love, who is “giving up the fight” which is causing the crash of the “chariots” and ending the relationship. 

    IS IT NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR?  While Paper Route was a tinderbox of production, instrumentation, and thoughtful lyrics, the flame of success was fanned out before they caught on.  The second single from Paper Route’s third and final album, “Chariots” Clark McCaskill of Ear Milk calls an “exhilarating 4:36-minute ride,” describing the song’s “invigorating orchestration of frenetic rhythm, soaring vocals, and captivating chord progressions.” The song premiered in the trailer for FIFA 17 and was featured in the game. (Side note: Go Korea tonight!) The band released Real Emotion through Kemosabe Records, a label started by Dr. Luke and a division of Sony Records. A late-night appearance with an almost radio single for “Balconies” played into the narrative of the indie band that could never catch a break. There might be a fourth Paper Route album someday. If it does well beyond fans it will be because of viral success rather than a consorted effort on the band to be bigger than an indie band. Fame was perhaps a “Blue Collar Daydream.” The fickle music industry requires either singular devotion to breaking into it or luck or both. Bands like Paper Route have tried and failed that level of success. And making it comes at the cost of external songwriters and marketing. Is it worth fighting for?

    Read the lyrics on Genius.


    Live album release performance: