Artist:Brooke Law Hometown: London, England Song: “Millionaires” (featuring Andy Jordan) Release Date: September 24, 2021 Label: Archetypes Music
In Their Words: “‘Millionaires’ is really special to me. It’s also my dad’s favourite song of mine. I wrote it with the first person I ever fell in love with and we were best friends. We always wished we’d be playing the song to millions of people. đ€Ł ‘Millionaires’ is about a couple who are struggling to make things work without having a lot of security, but as long as they have each other and have love they can still dream.” — Brooke Law
Artist:Kris Gruen Hometown: Worcester, Vermont Song: âPictures Ofâ Album:Welcome Farewell Release Date: September 24, 2021 Label: Mother West
In Their Words: “My firstborn has started a list of her first choices for college. I’m gonna look past how stereotypical I sound and just say it… Feels like yesterday that I was swinging her to sleep in her detachable car seat and spinning her favorite episodic bedtime story, Stanley the Friendly Whale. I’ve written her songs, and into songs, in the past. One of them was about a deep nostalgia for her younger years, but ‘Pictures Of’ is a tribute to her maturation and readiness for the world. It’s a Woody Guthrie-esque declaration of belief in her courage and her right to be in love with the world, recognizing that we, her elders, spend hours every day filling her ears with reasons to fear it. ‘Pictures Of’ says, ‘Yes, be excited for and in love with the world! Regardless of our collective fear in the unknown, I can tell you want to be! And you’re right to be! And I’m glad you are!'” — Kris Gruen
Artist:The Connells Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina Song: “Stars” Album:Steadman’s Wake Release Date: September 24, 2021 Label: Black Park/Missing Piece Records
In Their Words: “I find the lyrics to be the hardest aspect of songwriting, which is why it is not uncommon for me to come up with the basic idea for a song well before the lyrics are finalized — months and months in some cases. That’s the way it went with ‘Stars.’ It is the tongue-in-cheek lament of someone who feels as though the stars are aligned against him, and who is asking âWhen it’s over, tell meâŠ.’ There’s been a lot going on in the world — global pandemic, political turmoil, global warming — that make the ‘When it’s over, tell me’ refrain a bit more resonant.” — Mike Connell, The Connells
Artist:Single Girl, Married Girl Hometown: Los Angeles, California Song: “Wreck Cut Loose” Album:Three Generations of Leaving Release Date: November 19, 2021 Label: Head Bitch Music
In Their Words: “Iâve always loved torch songs and big weepy ballads, especially country ones. ‘Wreck Cut Loose’ lets me belt and sing like the incomparable voices I grew up listening to and have tried to emulate countless times — Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Tammy Wynette, and Patsy Cline, but in a contemporary musical setting. We didnât want to sound like an old country or pop vocal song, but the lineage should be obvious.
“Lyrically, itâs about something most people have gone through in their lives — a breakup, but Dan Morosi, our friend and former drummer, who wrote the song, manages to portray the emotional intensity we feel in the aftermath of being dumped through simple, direct language. It sort of fixates on mundane elements that belie the complex feelings being expressed and examined, all the while building to this heartbreaking crescendo.
“For the music video, we wanted a concept that was not gimmicky but a little tongue-in-cheek. Itâs literally one shot once the music starts; Iâm walking home from being dumped and encounter multiple friends along the way who try to cheer me up, when all I want to do is go home, be alone, and have a really good cry. Itâs all to say that we need a little support in our lives during hard times, that we are stronger together. We hope the video feels like a big group hug.” — Chelsey Coy, Single Girl, Married Girl
Artist:Rod Gator (aka Rod Melancon) Hometown: Wright, Louisiana Song: “Out Here in Echo Park” Album:For Louisiana Release Date: September 17, 2021 Label: Blue Ălan Records
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Out Here in Echo Park’ during my last year living in Echo Park. Every evening I’d walk five miles down to the L.A. River and sit along the bank. It was one of the most peaceful times of my life. During the walk I’d hear Spanish music playing from windows and watch the sun slowly set. East L.A. means a lot to me. It’s where I go in my mind when I feel overwhelmed. I picture myself sitting along the L.A. River. I miss Echo Park everyday. Itâs the place where I finally began to feel comfortable in my own skin.” — Rod Gator
Artist:Abby Posner featuring Constellation Quartet Hometown: Los Angeles, California Song: “Low Low Low” Album:Kisbee Ring Release Date: November 12, 2021
In Their Words: âWhenever I have an opportunity to collaborate with a string quartet, the experience is transformative. Strings take you to a zen-like space where everything feels just right, perfect for the song, and what I wanted to convey. âLow Low Lowâ is about depression, anxiety, and learning how to be kinder to the darkness within, so working with Constellation Quartet was the sonic hug this song so desperately needed to feel complete. Constellation Quartet are currently making a name for themselves as both performers and collaborators, working with the best of the Los Angeles musician scene through their residency at the Garden Concert Series in Redondo Beach. The video was shot live during sunset deep in the Malibu hills with a battery-powered setup, hikers passing by, and a reverence for the creative process.” — Abby Posner
String arrangements: Max Mueller (cello). Cinematography: Ian McIntire. Photo credit: Rollence Patugan
Artist:Chris Robley Hometown: Lewiston, Maine Song: “Love Is a Four-Letter Word” Album:A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next Release Date: September 14, 2021 Label: Cutthroat Pop Records
In Their Words: “Bob Dylan wrote a song called ‘Love Is a Four-Letter Word.’ I didnât know that until I was on stage announcing my new song and someone shouted, ‘I LOVE Dylan!’ Anyway, you canât copyright titles and I didnât borrow any other lyrics — so weâre not in Darius Rucker or Old Crow Medicine Show territory here. Itâs all mine, Bob! I donât know if thereâs much to explain except the obvious: love can be a double-edged sword. We can build beautiful things inspired by love. Or we can build walls, reactionary political movements, or just act like selfish shitheads, all because of the same basic force. One word, different outcomes.” — Chris Robley
Artist:Birdtalker Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Song: “Better Days” Album:Birdtalker Release Date: October 8, 2021 Label: AntiFragile Music
In Their Words: “This song captures a sober moment of realization and the choice to grasp at hope rather than drown in the breakdown. Musically, itâs lush and flowing, as if youâre floating through the experience in a dream state, lulled into acceptance and moving forward but not grounded. This atmosphere is created by the lilting, at times questioning, bass line and the fluttering and tactile percussion which both give the song an intimate feeling of humanity, as if they represent the wanderings of a questioning heart and its fluttering uncertainty. The flesh surrounding the songâs heart is the regular thrum of the acoustic guitars and the layered harmonies that build throughout. We went through a bit of a journey in the studio figuring out the instrumentation and tone of the song. It began with a more straightforward and confident presentation which we eventually scaled back to this more organic approach, leaning into the songâs uncertainty and delicacy.” — Birdtalker
Artist:Field Guide Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba; now Toronto Song: “Tupperware” (Live at Monarch Studios) Album:Make Peace With That Release Date: September 17, 2021 Label: Birthday Cake
In Their Words: “Once in a while if youâre open to it, the universe may use you as a vehicle. This was the case with ‘Tupperware’ which came bursting out of me in a cool 20 minutes. I love that feeling and I really love this song. Itâs about my early days living in Winnipeg; itâs about Tuesday nights in Osborne Village where a couple of wicked soul bands play weekly; itâs about my favourite restaurant which has since closed its doors; itâs about the beautiful parts of life that arenât meant to last forever, and thatâs okay.
“I wrote this album while swimming through a sea of change. âTupperwareâ came to be as my life in Winnipeg was coming to a close. Iâd just moved out of my house, ended a relationship and was set to move to Toronto as soon as a cheap sublet surfaced. In September 2019 I finished mixing my previous release You Were just outside of Vancouver. I jumped on a plane and flew straight to Toronto to move into a little basement apartment at Crawford and Harbord St. in Torontoâs West End. For the next few months I wrote songs, put together a band and started to play around town, and then I met someone who made the songs come out even faster than before. The world shut down and I started looking inward, writing and writing some more. In the summer of 2020 I rented a van and drove back to Manitoba to make this album with my dear friends. I hope you like it!” — Dylan MacDonald, Field Guide
Grace Pettis tells a dramatic story of regret in “Landon,” as she carefully weaves together her account of what happened in small-town Alabama when her childhood best friend came out of the closet. Instead of finding the loving support of a close friend, the songâs subject found judgment and scorn.
âLandon needed somebody to be on his side. He trusted me. And I let him down,â she says. âInstead of listening and responding with love and acceptance, I replied with a lot of canned answers taken from my Christian belief system, what the church taught me to say. Years of soul-searching, prayer, and information gathering led me to a very different place. I knew that I had wronged Landon in a way that I could only explain in a song.â
Years down the line and now based in Austin, Texas, Grace Pettis wrote her heartâs sorrow and contrition into a song that can only suggest the emotional complexity of her experience. But this story doesnât end here. Thankfully, the subject of the song heard her words and the two have mended their fences. âWe are in a great place now,” she says. “Heâs forgiven me, and we get to be close in a new way, now that weâve made peace with ourselves. Weâre both living a true story now.â
In July, Pettis released a new version of the song (after the original acoustic video premiered on BGS), this time backed by the Indigo Girls. In addition, the new music video features the very friend who inspired the song. Take a look at “Landon.”
Photo credit: Nicola Gell
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