Tag: 2010s

Kooman & Dimond | Blue Horizon (ft. Heidi Blickenstaff)

“This is a song about moving on,” say songwriters Michael Kooman & Christopher Dimond on their blog. “Blue Horizon,” sung here by Broadway actress Heidi Blickenstaff, is featured on Kooman and Dimond’s 2011 studio album. The tune alternates between Bb major (verses) and G major (choruses) throughout.

Jonas Brothers | Pom Poms

“Pom Poms” was the lead single for the planned 2013 album “V,” which would have been the fifth studio album for the Jonas Brothers. The band broke up prior to the album coming out, but ultimately released six songs intended for the record.

Ironically, “Pom Poms” was one of the last songs they recorded. “It’s one of those things I feel like most artists do. They make the whole record and sort of find out the different palette of the tones they have for it and then sort of feel like they are missing a piece and that’s where we were kind of at when we wrote ‘Pom Poms,’ said Nick Jonas in an interview. “We had a lot of songs that were a bit darker in tone and we needed a brighter song and something that was really just fun and this song just kind of happened. It was toward the end. From the minute we finished it, we felt it was the right song to lead with.”

The song starts in G# minor and shifts up a step at 2:46

Phoebe Katis | Make Believe

Thanks to MotD contributor Carlo Migliaccio for this submission!

Phoebe Katis is a British artist whose work spans from folk to funk. She released her debut album, Honesty, in 2019, which despite Covid time dilation making it feel like centuries ago, is far more recent than the extent of her career would suggest. Across the four albums that she has now produced, her music runs the gamut from intimate ballads such as “Songbird” (Sweet Reunion, 2022) to the raucous bop that is “Touches” (Honesty, 2019). She has displayed that musical versatility not just through solo music, but also through collaborations with Scary Pockets, Vulfpeck, and Cory Wong, the last of whom produced several of her albums and accompanied her on many recordings.

Katis composes many of her own tunes and has cowritten several others. She is a capable pianist, with a voice that blends a slight breathiness with soulful clarity. All of this is to say that she has produced some extraordinary music. Of course, her greatest work has to be “Make Believe” – a soulful ballad off of Honesty – as it provides us with today’s modulation.

The song begins with Cory Wong delivering a sweet Latin ballad rhythm in the key of D major. However, the tune quickly settles into a laid back pop/soul feel as the full band joins in to accompany Katis’ smooth vocals. A short build beginning at 2:17 culminates in a whole step modulation upwards into E Major, where the tonic remains until the end. Enjoy!

One Knight (from “Wonderland”)

Frank Wildhorn’s musical Wonderland, based on the Lewis Carroll story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, played on Broadway for a month in 2011, plagued by a poor and confusing script. In his review of the production for The New York Times, critic Charles Isherwood called the score a “competent rendering of various pop styles.” This song, sung by the White Knight, comes early in Act 1 and modulates from F# major to A at 2:56.

Hometown Hero’s Ticker Tape Parade (from “Dogfight”)

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s musical Dogfight is based on the 1991 film of the same name, and tells the story of a group of young men in the 1960s preparing to deploy to Vietnam. The musical premiered Off Broadway in 2012 and received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Score. This song, the opening number of Act 2, starts in F major and wanders briefly through F# and G coming out of the bridge at 2:24 before ultimately landing in Ab at 2:34.

Stephen Sondheim | Being Alive (from “Company”), feat. Rosalie Craig

“Being Alive” is the final number in the 1970 musical Company, featuring a score by the late Stephen Sondheim. Comprised of a series of vignettes about marriage, Company ushered in the era of the “concept musical,” where the focus is on a theme rather than a narrative-driven plot. Bobby, the central character of the show, is celebrating his 35th birthday, and has invited his married friends over for a party. Over the course of the show, they describe the costs and benefits of being married, and this song represents his response.

The original production was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won 6. In 2018, a major revival was mounted in London, featuring a female Bobbie as well as a same-sex couple for the first time. Sondheim gave his blessing to the changes. “My feeling about the theater is the thing that makes it different from movies and television is that you can do it in different ways from generation to generation,” he said in an interview. “Company has a different flavor than it had before feminism really got a foothold…What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints.”

The production transferred to Broadway and was originally scheduled to open on Sondheim’s 90th birthday in March 2020, but was delayed due to the pandemic. Sondheim was able to see the show in New York a few days before his death last November, and the cast, musicians and crew subsequently dedicated the entire run to his memory. Company is nominated for Best Revival at the upcoming Tony Awards.

The song begins in A and subtly shifts up a half step to Bb halfway through at 2:29.

Jack Antonoff, MØ | Never Fall In Love (from “Love, Simon”)

“Never Fall In Love” is featured in the 2018 coming-out film Love, Simon. Written and performed by Jack Antonoff, who also produced the soundtrack, the synth-driven song features Danish singer MØ. Beginning in D, a modulation to E occurs at 2:55.

Andra Day | What The World Needs Now

“Right now the world is full of opinions, which is always fine, and full of agendas and people making things out to be a certain way and they aren’t listening to each other,” Day said upon recording this 1965 Burt Bacharach song. “That requires love and that requires selflessness.” Day’s cover was used for Hyatt Hotels’ World of Hyatt campaign, and premiered in an ad during the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.

The track begins in A and shifts up to Bb at 1:54.

Green Day | Brutal Love

“Brutal Love” is the lead track on the 2012 album ¡Tré!, the third and final installment of a series released by the American rock band Green Day (who today make their MotD debut.) According to Billboard, the track “marries glam-rock, doo-wop and soul music. Part of the melody is lifted from Sam Cooke’s 1962 hit “Bring It On Home To Me,” leading him to be credited as a co-writer.

The song begins in Ab and modulates up to A coming out of the second bridge at 3:45.