Last Sunday the 74th annual Tony Awards were presented at the Winter Garden Theatre, belatedly recognizing Broadway shows from the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season. Marc Shaiman penned the opening number for the ceremony celebrating the return of live theatre to the Big Apple. Key changes at 1:39 and 2:21.
Tag: 2020s
Jonah Nilsson | Diamond Ring
Jonah Nilsson’s management agency, AGI, provides this bio of the Swedish vocalist/keyboardist: Jonah’s “life changed overnight after he and a couple of long-time friends (Dirty Loops) uploaded their own covers of huge pop hits, like Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance’ and Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby,’ to YouTube.
The unique funk-pop covers spread like wildfire in the music community, garnered them millions of views, and got them the attention of many acclaimed artists, namely 16x Grammy Award winning producer David Foster … (he) has acquired a significant fan base of high-profile musicians, including music impresario Quincy Jones: ‘He’s different though, he’s got the perfect balance of right brain creativity and left brain music theory. It’s in his blood,’ says Jones. ‘He’s got soul, with one of the biggest ranges I’ve ever heard.’”
Nilsson’s “Diamond Ring” (2021), featuring the legendary Steve Vai playing “Stunt Guitar,” finds Nilsson out from behind the keyboards, thoroughly embracing the role of frontman. After starting in C# minor with a full funk groove, 2:19 brings a quiet interlude in D# major; at 2:43, we’ve climbed to E major. At 3:00, another transtion: the sole accompaniment is the band clapping en masse on beats 2 and 4, along with some beatboxing(?). The cherry on top is Vai’s appearing via green screen for a culminating solo in A Dorian minor as the tune’s volume — but never its intensity — fades.
Jordy Searcy | Better
“There’s something different about Jordy,” said Pharrell Williams, who coached Searcy on the NBC reality singing competition The Voice in 2014. His 2018 EP Dark In The City established him in the Nashville singer/songwriter scene. “Dark In The City is a masterpiece,” said the online music publication The Music Mermaid. “Seven tracks teeming with near-tangible emotion and a wildly impressive ability for heart-gripping.” “Better” is featured on his latest EP, Love? Songs, released in February 2020. The tune modulates from A major to B at 2:41, then reverts to the original key at 2:55.
Sting | Sister Moon
Derived from Shakespeare’s Sonnet #130, the title of Sting’s second solo album …Nothing Like the Sun (1987) doesn’t appear as the title of one of the album’s songs, but rather only as a lyric in the tune “Sister Moon,” the tenth of twelve tracks.
In an interview with Spin, Sting noted that the album was the first which he’d recorded in all-digital format — a novelty at the time: “Although recording digitally was difficult and kind of alienating, it allowed me more flexibility in terms of arrangement … and that drove me crazy. I could change the key, add whole sections to the song when it was already finished, change the tempo, everything. But basically I knew there was a core in each song that worked that you couldn’t destroy.” Q Magazine‘s review of the album focused on the artist’s growing maturity after his years of rock/reggae/pop with the Police and a debut solo album from two years earlier: “It’s a measure of what makes solo Sting special that after so many years in the hype machine, living a lifestyle based on god only knows what riches in the bank, he has finally found the will and the voice to sing simply and affectingly … “
This 2021 performance of “Sister Moon” was recorded remotely for the Sanborn Sessions, an echo of host David Sanborn’s groundbreaking 1980s music TV series Night Music. The tune begins in F# melodic minor, with plenty of emphasis on the natural 7th degree of the tonic chord. 2:02 brings a shift to A# minor at the chorus, but at 2:25, we return to F# minor well before the chorus ends.
Don Broco | One True Prince
UK rock band Don Broco‘s “One True Prince” is a single from its forthcoming album Amazing Things, scheduled for release in September 2021.
IndieIsNotAGenre details lead singer Rob Damiani’s thoughts on the track: “‘(it’s) about finding comfort in the fact that whatever you’re going through and however bad it may feel, nothing lasts forever. In these moments I try to remind myself how insignificant I am. Just one person amongst billions, on a rock orbiting a dying star, in a universe that will eventually implode on itself.’ … Amazing Things is the band’s fourth album, and follows the release of 2018’s Technology, which was a Top 5 album in the UK charts upon release … “
After starting in C major, the track dies down to a quiet grooveless interlude from 2:39 – 3:05, but then returns in the same key at full power at 3:12. The shift to a Db Lydian scale drops like a 10-ton anchor on dry land — in the middle of a phrase, no less — at 3:25.
Cross That Bridge (from “Schmigadoon!”)
Schmigadoon!, a comedy TV series that premiered on Apple TV+ last month, is a parody of and homage to Golden Age musicals from the 1940s and 50s. “Schmigadoon! is nothing if not corny,” said Vulture TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk in her review. “It is a backstage musical (like Cabaret or Follies, a musical about putting on a show) that’s stuck in the world of integrated musicals, shows like Oklahoma! or Sound of Music, where songs are naturalistic extensions of the narrative’s emotional arc. In other words, it is a show where the only real way to register your feelings about being trapped in the aesthetics and the morality of a Golden Age musical is to burst into song about how weird and frustrating it all is. And really, what could be cornier than eventually giving in and singing about the transformative power of love (and also musicals)?”
“Cross That Bridge” is from the third episode of the show, and takes its inspiration from the Frank Loesser songs “Brotherhood of Man” (from his 1961 musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat” (from the 1950 musical Guys & Dolls). The tune features modulations at 1:58 and 2:14.
Astral Drive | Onebiglove
Phil Thornalley is known as a co-writer (along with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) of Natalie Imbruglia‘s international smash single “Torn.” The tune reached #2 on the UK Singles chart in 1997, led airplay around the world, and maintained a #1 position on the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks. Thornalley, a UK native, is also known for his early-80s stint as a producer — and for a time, the bassist — for The Cure. In various production roles, he also worked with several other bands, including Duran Duran, Prefab Sprout, Graham Parker, and XTC.
In an interview for Sound on Sound magazine, Thornalley examined his place in the music ecosystem: “My natural inclination has always been to make pop. Having had such success with Natalie, I suddenly was a pop writer and producer, and I’m not unhappy about that at all. The artists that I worked with … all have their own artistic voice, but I don’t think I ever had that. I’m not ashamed to say that. I have always felt that I am a craftsman: I like to make things. Some people know how to make a chair or a table, and if someone comes to me with a request to make something in music, I go: ‘Oh, yes, I know how to do that.’ Of course I respect artists: my biggest influence is Todd Rundgren; but I’m not an artist or protest singer.” Despite Thornalley’s modesty, ArkansasOnline‘s review of his 2018 release (as Astral Drive) suggests that the work indeed rises to the level of art: “Astral Drive feels dreamy and pre-punk, shot through with sunshine with just a hint of melancholy. It’s sonic virtual reality, something you can get lost in. It transports. It connects. And so it succeeds.” The 2021 release, while distinct from the Astral Drive debut, operates on or near the same axis.
The 2021 track “OneBigLove” features a gentle intro built on compelling yet ambiguous compound chords, a regular feature of the Rundgren liturgy. At 0:15, now firmly in A minor, the verse features an insistent eighth-note groove with a prominent sub-V Bb major kick at 0:24, just in case you weren’t paying full attention yet. At 1:03, an early syncopated start to the lead vocal line opens a trapdoor into the next verse, this time in B minor. We can’t locate liner notes, but longtime Rundgren bandmate, Utopia co-vocalist, songwriter, and free-range bassist Kasim Sulton has collaborated on recent Astral Drive tracks and his distinctive tenor seems to be in strong evidence on backing vocals. During a mini-bridge starting at 2:06, the groove falls away, but returns again at 2:17 as the key shifts to C# minor. The long fade, more than 30 seconds, suggests that this track was a party that nobody wanted to bring to an end.
Many thanks to our stalwart mod scout JB for this submission!
Brian David Gilbert (2Wins2) | Just One Day
For a guy who’s racked up five-million-plus views on a video entitled “I Read All 337 Books in Skyrim So You Don’t Have To” on the Youtube channel for the popular gaming site Polygon, Brian David Gilbert is orders of magnitude more musical than you’d have any right to expect. But then multiply that sentiment by many, many Polygon videos, combine it with an effortlessly musical one-man sendup of classic late 90s/early 2000s boy band cliches, and <scene>.
Members of the thankfully fictitious sibling boy band 2Winz2 apparently focus on drive-by insults as much as they do on their latest single. The 2021 release “Just One Day” suggests that quartet member Dale’s days in 2W2 might be numbered — and not by his choice. The lyrics are not to be missed.
At 2:30, the much-maligned Dale earnestly dives into the bridge: his moment in the sun has arrived. By 2:43, a key change kicks in — but is rendered almost completely inaudible by thoughtless use of a blender, followed by an intra-band quarrel that shows Dale’s future with the group is in serious question.
Many thanks to first-time contributor Alex D. for this hilarious tune!
Pretenders | Didn’t Want to Be This Lonely
The single “Didn’t Want to Be This Lonely” was released in the spring of 2020 as part of the album Hate For Sale, Pretenders’ eleventh studio album. Frontwoman and songwriter Chrissie Hynde co-wrote tracks for the album with guitarist James Walbourne, a first for the Hynde: “I wanted to write with him since day one. James is especially sought after and has recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave Gahan, and The Rails, to name but a few,” Rockpit reports. The comic book-inspired video for the tune was produced entirely during COVID lockdown.
Starting in C major, the tune features not only the usual I/IV/V rock chords, but also plenty of bVIIs. That addition becomes a fulcrum — the V of the new key — when the tune jumps up to Eb major at 2:02.
Many thanks to our distinguished frequent contributor JB for this submission!
Moody Joody | Lockeland
Alternative pop/rock duo Moody Joody might not be mainstream, but their new and unique sound caught the attention of Spotify, which placed the 2021 single “Lockeland” on one of its most followed curated indie-pop playlists. This intense focus put the track on top of Moody Joody’s profile as the duo’s most streamed song, and rightfully so!
The chill-but-driven groove doesn’t align with the flamboyance typical of most key-changing tracks. But the “driving with the windows down” adventure vibes of the song definitely warrant the beautifully executed key change at 2:41. When all the instruments drop out and the vocals make a surprise a cappella entrance — an energizing whole-step up — you can feel the wind in your hair.
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