“HEAR! HEAR!” EXCLUSIVE: Danielle Wehr’s “Blue Tattoo” introduces a confident, relatable songwriter ready to conquer Nashville
I’ve tried my best to forget that night by the sea
But this little blue heart keeps reminding me
Now I’m bluer than my blue tattoo
I’m bluer than blue
Sixty seconds and Danielle Wehr wins you over with the indelible ink tattoo of this song’s addictive chorus. We’ve all been there: a spring break mistake when in love for the first time becomes that memory we can’t forget, even if it’s more subtle than a blue tattoo. But it’s not regret she sings of, but rather the empowerment you get from jumping in head-first and making those memories while you’re young. In her words:
This song is a song about making mistakes, you want to be young, you want to be bold and fierce, and sometimes these memories are permanently attached to you for the rest of your life, like the blue tattoo. The only thing you can do is learn from your mistakes.
Wehr is smart enough to keep the song short and sweet, introducing the hook early and then hammering it home for the songs remaining ninety seconds, demanding fast-fingered repetition and surefire radio call-ins from fans itchy to hear it just one more time. With a voice which keeps me flashing back to Pam Tillis and Patty Loveless at the start of their respective careers, and a hook which plays into the more traditional country feel of the Dixie Chicks’ stronger moments, “Blue Tattoo” is a fresh take on pop country, introducing a songwriter you’ll surely hear more from on a national scale. Fire it up and see if you don’t agree that feeling blue never felt so good!
“HEAR! HEAR!” EXCLUSIVE: The Winter Sounds’ “The Sun Also Rises” Video and MP3
The Winter Sounds (credit: Laura Meek)
The brightest spot in New Orleans’ pop music scene has to be The Winter Sounds, a band which brings the best of Arcade Fire, Mumford and Sons and Snow Patrol together into one meaty sound worthy of repeat listens. The band’s latest, Runner, comes out November 27. Today we have an exclusive on their brand new video for single “The Sun Also Rises,” a shiny pop nugget with the pop hooks of Snow Patrol merged with the sonic heft of “Intervention”-era Arcade Fire. You can watch the video below, and download the mp3 for free here!
“HEAR! HEAR!” EXCLUSIVE: From Mumbai to Los Angeles, Natania’s “Cherry Love” will tie your heart in knots
Stream and Download Natania’s single “Cherry Love,” exclusively here at “Hear! Hear!”
- – -
Two years ago Natania left her home in Mumbai for Los Angeles, with a guitar and a dream. She’d always thought of her music as a hobby, but arriving in the US, she took a leap of faith, enrolled herself in Berklee College of Music’s five-week summer program, then followed that with Musician’s Institute’s vocal program. From there, a hobby became her way of life.
Now she’s ready to take the indie-pop world by storm with her ear-catching blend of Ingrid Michaelson and Sarah Bareilles. “My cherry love / you taste like chapstick on my tongue / when you tie a stem I come undone,” she sings over a melody crafted of acoustic guitar, tasteful keyboards and slightly off-kilter percussive riffing. It’s just the kind of pop confection to give you a perfect pre-Thanksgiving sweet tooth, with a singable hook you won’t easily extract from your head … or your tongue.
Download the song through the SoundCloud app above, and sound off below in the comments — what do you think of Natania’s first single?
Devil That I Know: Jason Karaban gets a little help from his friends on new album
We all trust the music we know, and from where Jason Karaban’s coming from on his new album Shift, it’s not a hard bet that this music’s soon to be permanently implanted in your heads. Trust me.
When you bring this much talent together, it’s hard not to craft a melodic alt-pop gem — or at least you wouldn’t think it’d be. Written jointly with Glen Phillips and featuring Counting Crows’ David Immergluck and Charlie Gillingham, as well as Lucy Schwartz, the song has everything working in its favor on paper. Still, it’s refreshing to hear “Devil That I Know,” the latest from Jason Karaban, off his upcoming album Shift, actually delivers on all that promise! This is a twisty hook of epic pop proportions, easily living up to the reputations of all involved.
Karaban, based in LA, got his start fronting the band Dragstrip Courage in ’97, which explains at least some of the depth of alt-rock nineties love you’ll feel when playing this new track. It’s a cross between early Counting Crows and more modern alternative in the vein of Only Son, and if the rest of the album is this good I suspect you’ll be hearing a lot more about it … from me and any of your musical friends with taste.
FEATURED SONG: Andrew Estes – “Business As Usual”
Andrew Estes
I’ve been looking for a narrative
To put some words into
To appear to be moving the way I want
Without revealing any truths to you
I’m going to have to make it a regular mission to dig through music by local talent, because this is the second time I’ve had my mind blown in as many days. Since featuring Lonely Patrol’s “Bittermint,” which I still say is a wickedly sharp hook worthy of wider airplay, I’ve been hearing from people around the tri-State (Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois) about other local talent deserving of wider notice, and Andrew Estes rose quickly to the top with this incisive acoustic song released to YouTube in March and (at the time of publication) only having been heard 14 times.
That’s unforgivable, considering how fully realized this song is. It’s almost a cross between the lyricism of the Mountain Goats with the jangle-pop hooks of R.E.M., giving the song both a retro and modern flair which lends itself to repeat listening. I’m told he’s working on professional studio recordings in Owensboro, Kentucky, and if the result is as good as this — and “Business As Usual” is a perfectly workable single candidate! — I’d expect to hear a great deal more from Estes in the future.
Listen for yourself below and sound off in the comments with your opinions!
