Spare and stark, awash in late Autumn rainy-day melancholy and with a soulful vocal at the center of it all. Vancouver’s Royal (neé Jodi Pederson), lays it bare on this solo acoustic version of a track off of her most recent record, Heart of Shadows, released last week.
The song explores a familiar theme of losing oneself in longing for another, a thread that runs through many of the songs on the record.
Here’s the studio version, which puts a distinct downtempo electronica spin on the song. Yet, that melancholy remains.
R&B with a kind of epic orchestral feel. But, there’s no orchestra in the conventional sense. Through a series of loops as a backdrop and with a soaring voice on top complete with jazzy colouring, your ears and your imagination will fill in the aural picture.
Vancouver-based folk pop duo and actual real-life family unit Winsome Kind released “We Call It Home” on June 22, a teaser and title track for their upcoming album set to appear August 24, 2018. It’s their second, following up This Much is True, their debut.
Here’s the heartwarming video that was shot in Mundy Park in Coquitlam BC, not too far from the luxurious offices of Radio Free Lightning Bug, as it happens. It stars the duo but also their kids, one of which is wearing a bee costume!
The duo, Scott Perrie and Leora Joy, met as actors in a production of The Buddy Holly Story in 2012. Love blossomed, and so did a musical partnership. In traveling across Canada by train (a recommended trip if you get a chance, BTW), the two artists solidified their collaboration by playing live venues of all kinds including festivals, train stations and living rooms.
Their most recent adventure was writing, arranging, and recording the new album, We Call It Home while also being attentive parents. The video and indeed this single is certainly a reflection of that, with the song being a paean to family and the sense of connection we treasure while nurturing and being a part of one. The close harmony singing between the two leads sounds like an aural symbol for all of that.
Living in this era where children and families are actively being torn apart in the name of national security, this song isn’t just a feelgood tune of contentment. In our current context, it becomes downright political. But in the another sense, it really is a gentle reframing of the things that most people value, and that often become momentarily forgotten in the middle of busy lives; the vital importance of connection, acceptance, and security that is so sought after in families, and in general.
This week’s feature centers on singer-songwriter Savannah Wellman, known professionally as Savvie. This new song, “Creature of Habit”, is something of a return to the spotlight for the Vancouver-based artist, following up 2015’s full length Night Eyes.
More recently, Savvie worked with producer John Raham, with “Creature of Habit” as the very welcome result of their work together.
This song is a reflection of the drive to be what one is. For Savvie, it’s about putting music out there.
Noisy and crunchy rock music with loads of hooks to latch onto in particular is a part of the songwriter’s habit, and providing a tune that may otherwise be habit-forming for you, too.
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