This week’s “Single Play” is one where the artists featured love good hooks, push aside dissonant chords, and mix in quirky elements with the right balance. The result are four stylistically different, but incredibly strong songs that will make great additions to your music collection.
Eskobar, “To the Rescue”
Sometimes a band can really force the material to the point where they are trying too hard, leaving the listener cold. That’s not the case with Eskobar. This Swedish band are masters in their ability to craft a well-rounded pop song that allows the music and lyrics to wash over you like a warm shower. This is abundantly evident in the wonderfully catchy “To the Rescue.” Daniel Bellqvist and Frederik ZÁ¤ll are the primary members of Eskobar, and they make “To the Rescue” come alive with a combination of solid songwriting, tasteful studio production, and an innate understanding of how to let a song breathe.
Chaos Emeralds, “Too Gone”
Another duo making very solid music is Daniel Ellsworth and Kyle Andrews — who go by the name Chaos Emeralds. The band’s bio says that they make electronic pop music for love and parties, and “Too Gone” is a song Ellsworth and Andrews crafted “to make dreamy, sexy, sad, evocative pop music that sounded like it was dipped in gold.” I think this Nashville duo has done just that with “Too Gone” — though with the group’s name being Chaos Emeralds, one would think their music would be dipped in a certain shade of green…
Matthew Logan Vasquez, “Personal”
If you’re a fan of San Diego’s Delta Spirit, then you’ll know who Matthew Vasquez is. If not, then let me just bring you up to speed and highlight that Vasquez is the lead vocalist for the band. He’s going solo for a bit with the release of his new single “Personal” — a song that really channels a kind of “four on the floor” no fills rock sound that’s stripped down and elemental. Vasquez is hitting the road soon to promote the new record, and if “Personal” is any indication of what the album will be like, it’s going to be hard to get a ticket to see him live.
Galactic, “Right On (Into the Deep)”
Charm Taylor is really sounding fantastic on Galactic’s latest single “Right On (Into the Deep).” This New Orleans band has been together for two decades and, by their own admission, were looking to work with unknown talent for their current album. The certainly found the talent they were looking for in Charm — whose soulful, yet quirky, vocal style inspired the band the write “Right On” specifically for her. While this song has been out since the summer, it’s now gaining traction on Triple A radio formats — where you’ll undoubtedly hear this tune in high rotation as the year progresses.
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