Tag: Country

#MusicMonday: Happiness Begins

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

The Jonas Brothers have saved 2019. Before you roll your eyes and exit out of this window, please hear me out here. See, The Jonas Brothers actually tried returning as a band in 2013 but people forget about it. They released a single entitled “Pom Poms” in anticipation of their fifth studio album and even performed it on an awards show but it just sounded like a song you release when you want to give up on yourself. Gone are the purity rings now traded in for wedding rings and they are back and better than ever.

Sure this review may be entirely biased as I became a Jonas Brothers fan in 2006 and have never wavered in my support of them. I even supported each brother’s individual ventures: Kevin’s reality show (Married To Jonas, E!), Joe’s solo career then as the lead singer of DNCE, and Nick’s solo venture (Nick and The Administration) and Nick’s successful solo career (Jealous, Chains off Last Year Was Complicated).

Now that Kevin is happily married with two kids, Nick is newly married to actress Priyanka Chopra, and Joe has found lasting love and newly married to Sophie Turner (GOT), they are now fully men putting out music that speaks to the wisdom they have obtained in the ten years they were apart as a group Happiness Begins has themes of exploration and maturity and it follows the release of their Amazon Prime Video documentary Chasing Happiness, which preludes their brotherly memoir coming in November entitled Blood. Even with ten years apart, this album Happiness Begins debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Song by Song Review

pablo (30)

SUCKER: Their first single in ten years and an upbeat pop song about being infatuated with someone and someone you would go for great lengths for. The light rock instrumental is minimal, leaving the central focus being on the brother’s vocals on their comeback single. “Sucker” debuted at #1 on the week of it’s release (March 16, 2019) on the Billboard Hot 100. They are the first group to debut at #1 in this century.

pablo (31)

COOL: The second single off this album contains various references to the brothers’ personal and professional achievements from their time apart. The song and subsequent music video have a strong 80’s aesthetic. It is supposed to be reminiscent of 1984’s Miami and timeless eighties MTV in all it’s decadent glory, according to the band. The single debuted at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon it’s release.

pablo (32).png

ONLY HUMAN: My favorite song on this comeback album because it’s reggae musicality  that makes you want to dance. This track is an ode to the band’s love for 80’s music.

pablo (33).png

I BELIEVE: A synth-slow jam detailing Nick’s whirlwind romance with wife, Priyanka Chopra.

pablo (34).png

USED TO BE: A pop song about seeing a past lover living their life without you and how it brings back old emotions and memories.

pablo (57).png

EVERY SINGLE TIME: Electronic pop musicality about an on and off again lover who doesn’t have real feelings but you catch yourself always thinking about, as if the fact that they can’t love you or .don’t want you makes you want them more for a challenge.

pablo (35).png

DON’T THROW IT AWAY: An upbeat pop country song about a relationship that could end but instead is being urged to not give up so quickly.

pablo (40).png

LOVE HER: A soft romantic pop ballad showcasing the growth and maturity have regarding love and relationships. It discusses the sacrifices of being in loving relationship and what you do when you love someone.

pablo (41).png

HAPPY WHEN I’M SAD: For some particular reason, I think of Rooney whenever this song comes on (When Did Your Heart Go Missing?) It’s a track about how people judge based on face value, and don’t really connect anymore.

pablo (42).png

TRUST: A bluesy track that discusses being unable to control your senses and your emotions around someone.

pablo (58).png

STRANGERS: A song about realizing your instantly closer than you thought you were  with someone as your relationship progresses over time.

pablo (43).png

HESITATE: Joe’s love letter to his wife, Sophie Turner about wanting to carry the burdens of the person you love without hesitation.

pablo (55).png

ROLLERCOASTER: A nostalgic pop track reminiscing the band’s success. Seeing the more positive, shining moments of fame versus to the scary, negative ones.  Following signing first in 2006 with Columbia Records and then tranferring to Hollywood Records in 2007 after gaining an immense amount of traction from their single, “Year 3000,” but the boys officially broke up as a band in 2010.

pablo (56)

Because I don’t like to fangirl except on video if you want all the extras I don’t include in the review, please make sure to watch my newest episode of #MusicalNotes.

 

 

 

 

#MusicReview: Martin’s In The Blink of A Life brings something new to the table.

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Growing up, I was drawn to the song “Crazy” by Patsy Cline. I didn’t know why then (now I’m aware that her vocals on that piece were raw, honest, and carried you on an emotional journey despite the track being less than two minutes in length), my dad and I would just bond over how much that song spoke to us.

In much the same way, April Martin’s music speaks in a similar way: her vocals carry you on an emotional journey of where her heart has been, and her music reminds all who listen to it of greats like Loretta Lynn, Rosanne Cash, and Gillian Welch.

Click the image below to hear In The Blink of Life in it’s entirety.

April Martin closeup (1).jpg

April Martin started her professional life as a Ph.D. in clinical
psychology and maintains a successful practice in New York City. Though
she made up songs in her head from as far back as she can remember, she
didn’t begin writing them down until later in life.

Her first album, Pennies in a Jar, was released in 2010, and garnered
more than 10,000 fans worldwide on Internet radio. This album, In the
Blink of a Life, takes her exploration of the human heart – which is
done with tenderness, humor, and passion, to greater depths of
reflection and maturity.

April Martin cityscape no. 1.jpg

On her work on this album and as a musician as a whole, April explains:

“When I was a child in the 1950’s you could
get a song sheet for 5 cents at the corner candy store with the lyrics
to tunes on the Hit Parade. My dad, whose natural tenor voice was always
bursting into song,  would give me a nickel each week when the new ones
came out. Together we learned songs like “Secret Love”,  “How Much Is
That Doggie in the Window?”, and “Oh My Pa-Pa.” These were some of the
happiest moments of my childhood.

Those songs were my constant companions. I overheard my first grade
teacher complaining, “If that child doesn’t stop humming I will go
crazy.” I hummed the tunes and memorized the words, which spoke life’s
truths to my little heart. I knew for a fact that love is a many
splendored thing, that Davey Crockett was king of the wild frontier, and
that when you load sixteen tons all you get is another day older and
deeper in debt. My musical tastes may have broadened, but to this day
I’m drawn to the simplicity of a song that makes me laugh or cry or
wonder about something that rings deeply true.

Songwriting came to me half a lifetime later, after spending decades
immersed in the human condition as a psychologist and a parent of three
children. To my surprise I found myself humming tunes I’d never heard
before and giving voice to things that welled up in me.

With every song I write I’m grateful to the people who trust me with
their vulnerabilities and joys, to my children who made me understand
love as never before, and to my dad who brought those wonderful songs
into my young world.”april-martin-cityscape-no-2

Song By Song review:

One Breath: This song speaks volumes about something we all forget and we need a major reminder of in today’s world. We only have now. We must take life one breath at a time. Favorite line “It’s all about now, the why, and the how. It’s all about love.”

Heart Break Doesn’t Come: My favorite song off the album solely because of it’s musicality about all hell breaking lose but the speaker saying blatantly “heart break doesn’t come from loving me.” The guitar breakdown adds a nice musicality to the track.

My Rock and My Rain: This song boasts lyrics that are practically songwriter perfection. A perfect to dedicate to your upcoming valentine.

While I’m Waiting: This song could have stayed an instrumental for it’s suspenseful musicality through the use of a rain-stick and various other percussion instruments.

Looking Back: Perfect song to play at someone’s memorial, it’s a perfect combination of soft music, lyrics that are tears of memory, and soft vocals.

Everday I Love You More: A beautiful love song with nice percussive musicality

Would You Let Me In: The flute adds a great musicality to this song about falling in love with someone who is grieving.

Sara’s Lullaby: Taking on the sound of Spanish folk music, this is a both a pleasure to listen to and a little bit of a style change for the artist.

All I’ve Got: Vocally, Martin reminds me of Karen Carpenter a little bit on this track folky love song.

One Part Truth, The Party’s In Full Swing, Life is Good, and Praise The Morning all boast of Martin’s country style as a singer-songwriter, both lyrically and musically.

In The Blink of A Life

April Martin

Rating: Four out of five cookies

hf-refresh_c3_300x250

Try Amazon Music Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial