Guest contributor Alejandro Espinosa (@wolfman1405) has submitted a song called “Ashita Mo (明日も)” by the Japanese indie rock band Shishamo. The band’s members met during high school and made their debut in 2011.
Alejandro reports that the tune “begins in Db major. At 1:15, the chord progression goes V7/vi -> vi (also related ii) -> V7/V -> IV -> bVI -> V7). The V7 (Ab) resolves deceptively as a sub V into G major. The transition back happens at 2:09; it’s just kind of sudden and unprepared and it feels great. G into F, and now we’re on a Db again.”
Max Embers, an LA-based singer/songwriter originally from Germany, has produced many original tunes, including “Lookin’ Up,” featured on the TV series Songland in 2019. On the series, Embers competed with several other songwriters to have a song chosen for a performance setlist by John Legend.
Here, Embers covers a 1967 classic by one of his musical heroes, Stevie Wonder: “For Once In My Life” (2019). The modulation is at 2:05.
As its final season reached its end, the music-packed TV comedy Portlandiafeatured the tune “Let’s Give Up” (2017). The lightweight pop feel of the track is completely out of character for the personal musical style of vocalist Carrie Brownstein, who’s spent much of the past 25 years as a vocalist and guitarist for the punk-tinged indie rock band Sleater-Kinney. But it’s 100% on-brand for the series, which saw both Brownstein and her vocalist/multi-instrumentalist co-star Fred Armisen lightheartedly hop from genre to genre throughout.
From Stereogum‘s review: “The song flips through a series of major topics, like global warming and trying to tune out the news, before taking on the numbing convenience of social media and binge-watching TV.” Portlandia’s final seasons weren’t among its best overall, but you’d never know it from this glittery, cutting satire.
Starting in F# minor (the track starts at the 0:28 mark), the kicky funk/pop tune modulates up to G# minor for the chorus at 1:02, reverting to F# minor for verse 2 at 1:19.
“Beautiful City” is from Stephen Schwartz‘s musical Godspell, which opened in 1971 Off-Broadway, moving to Broadway in 1976. This song was originally written for the 1973 movie, and has since been inserted in the show in various locations, in both uptempo and ballad styles. The track seamlessly and beautifully alternates between Gb Major in the verses and Eb Major in the chorus, before an unexpected shift to D Major right at the end. Performed here by Hunter Parrish from the 2011 Broadway revival cast; key changes are at 0:47, 1:17, 1:52, 2:22, 2:45, and 3:11.
From Schönberg and Boubil’s musical Les Misérables, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (2014) is performed here by Ramin Karimloo, who has appeared in productions of the show on both the West End and Broadway in multiple roles. Key change at 2:14.
In a departure from its trademark uptempo jazz/funk sound, electronica duo Knower‘s “Trust the Light” (2010) is a gentle waltz. Full of harmonic pivots, the tune features a simple but compelling 5-note melodic motif, first heard at 0:06 – 0:08. The motif is the only constant as the harmonic ground falls from beneath our feet between 0:24 and 0:50. At 0:51, we’re back in the original key for a second verse of this engaging miniature; starting at 1:08, the motif echoes again over the outro. This tiny jewelbox of a tune runs for a total of only 1:40.
Many thanks to MotD fan Jonathan JHarms Harms for this submission!
Infinite (인피니트) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. According to Billboard.com, the band’s single “The Chaser” (2012) made its list of “20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2012”, taking listeners “on a ride the second they start the track…proving risk and innovation in K-pop can trump all.”
The frenetic dance track’s accompaniment shifts throughout, cycling through varying patterns of syncopation in the sung and rapped verses before reaching the sing-along choruses. 2:34 brings an unexpectedly spiky modulation amid all of the glossy production and multiple hooks: the vocal line shifts keys a full beat earlier than the accompaniment!
Tori Kelly‘s “You’re Never Alone” won the 2019 Grammy for Best Gospel Performance/Song, and features legendary performer, choir director, and 15-time Grammy winner Kirk Franklin. The key change is at 2:52.
Some background on the song’s inception courtesy of Songfacts: “The track finds Kelly singing about the reassurance of not being alone during times of struggle since God is with her. She recalled to NewReleaseToday how the morning before her first writing session with Kirk Franklin she got anxious. She was going to write songs about God for the first time in her life and started whether she had the ability to do it. ‘I’ve always loved God,’ Kelly explained, ‘but could I articulate this in a song?’ On top of this, Kelly was in a new city, missing her friends and family back home, and just feeling lonely.
At that moment God ‘dropped a little reminder’ into her heart, in which he said, ‘remember I told you I’d never leave you? I’ve already gone before you and I am in control. Just trust me.’ Kelly immediately felt God’s peace and emboldened she grabbed her phone and typed out the phrase ‘I’m never alone.’ Later that day she sat down with Kirk Franklin to write their first ever song together. They started talking and she read the note to him from her phone. ‘Let’s start with this,’ she said, ‘I am never alone.’ Around that simple phrase their first song together was built.”
According to Boston.com, the NYC-based/Boston-made band Guster is “a buoyant pop act formed by Tufts University students (which) has used its word-of-mouth popularity to hit the big time.” Apparently the “intelligently playful pop band” gives a bit of extra thought to its Boston appearances: “When the band last played the Pavilion, it arrived in a rubber dinghy. And once, at the Orpheum Theatre, band members came in from the ceiling.” Guster has cranked out college radio anthems for years, but none more quirky than 2019’s “Overexcited.” The video, an earnest homage(?) to modern dating, adds a few more smiles and cringeworthy moments to the simplicity of the lyrics and the earworming melody.
Modulation at 2:04. Many thanks to chronic contributor JB for this submission!!!
From longtime MotD fan Carlo Migliaccio comes this jam-packed pop/soul confection of an arrangement from NYC-based band Lawrence, “It’s Not All About You” (2019). Siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence are at the core of the band, both as songwriters and performers. Relix‘s overview: “The rich 9-piece arrangements pay tribute to Motown, Muscle Shoals, and everything in between.”
The tune starts at the 0:56 mark, but watch the entire video to catch the full snark quotient of the narrative arc. A half-step modulation hits at 2:39, with a second key change at 3:04.
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