Tag: vocal

Yola | Faraway Look

Many thanks to Jonathan “JHarms” Harms for submitting this knockout tune!

UK-born singer/songwriter Yola (Yolanda Quartey) has performed as a backup vocalist with a wide range of artists, including Massive Attack, James Brown, and The Stax Band. AllMusic.com states that as she pursued session and touring work, Yola fronted the country/soul band Phantom Limb and “began crafting a set of deeply personal songs that pulled stylistically from Muscle Shoals-era country-soul, old-school R&B, countrypolitan, and classic singer/songwriter.”

The album Walk Through Fire (2019) and its single “Faraway Look” garnered three Grammy Award nominations: Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Song, and Best American Roots Performance.

Previewed briefly during the verse, the shift from the B major of the verse to the C# major of the chorus at 0:59 pales in comparison with the sheer power of the vocal and wall of sound production. At 1:27, the next verse reverts to B major. The composition style, reminiscent of Bacharach’s writing for Dusty Springfield, is belied only by the 21st-century audio production. According to Songfacts.com, Yola explains that the track “makes me think of a time in my life where I was encouraged to stay in my lane and be thankful for my lot…In a world that questions a woman’s every objection as well as every ambition, the faraway look is king.”

Elvis Presley | If I Can Dream

Written by W. Earl Brown and originally performed by Elvis Presley in 1968 just a few months after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, “If I Can Dream” frequently quotes Dr. King directly in its lyric.

The song marked the rebirth of Elvis’ career after he had spent most of the 1960s recording mainly soundtracks to the movies he was appearing in. This was the final song he sang on Elvis, his 1968 NBC comeback special in the USA which was his first live performance in seven years. Key change at 2:02.

The Maccabeats + Naturally 7 | Shed a Little Light

This tune features more of a key-of-the-moment shift than a true modulation, but we hope we’ll be forgiven. ❤ Here are two top-drawer a capella ensembles, The Maccabeats and Naturally 7, collaborating on a gorgeous 2016 cover of James Taylor‘s “Shed a Little Light” (1991), honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. amid Washington, DC’s monuments.

Set overall in Bb major, the tune shifts to a v minor / bVII major / I major vamp as the bridge starts at 1:53, returning to a straightforward Bb major at 2:17.

Barbra Streisand | What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year’s Eve! Thank you all for making 2019 a memorable one at MotD, introducing new music to our libraries, with key changes brightening every day. We close out the year with “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve,” performed by Barbra Streisand from her 2001 album Christmas Memories. Key change at 2:47. See you in 2020!

Josh Groban | Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to the MotD community! We on the admin team are grateful for your continued support of the page. Today, we feature Josh Groban‘s “Thankful” (2017), which features a key change at 3:42. Tomorrow we begin our holiday season at MotD, extending through December 25. If you come across any key changes as you listen to your favorite holiday albums, please share them!!

Jacob Collier | All Night Long

Vocalist/arranger/multi-instrumentalist and overall musical wunderkind Jacob Collier released a cover of Lionel Richie‘s 1983 hit “All Night Long” this month, featuring a cappella legends TAKE 6 and the cutting-edge Metropole Orkest.

Starting in F major, a bridge at 3:16 lands us in Ab major at 3:54; lastly, we transition to A major at 5:58. But modulation is really the very least of the special effects here. The rollercoaster bridge, saturated with quick key-of-the-moment progressions and exotic harmonic tensions, illustrates Collier’s any tone/any time practice (not just those in a diatonic scale). The sheer variety of the lush arrangement is striking — and worth every second of this seven-minute listen.