Singles Roundup: Two Lzzy Hale Collabs, Cold Years, & Blues Pills

We reach into the singles bin today, and we come away with...

The Native Howl ft Lzzy Hale - Mercy
White Panda ft Lzzy Hale - What's Up?

I'm going to pair these up, because they both feature Lzzy Hale as a guest, and because they continue a narrative I think I've been hearing for a few years now. When I made my list of favorite singers of all time, Lzzy placed in the top five. I absolutely adore her voice, and you would think I would listen to her sing absolutely anything, and yet I can't help but listen to some of her recent collaborations and wonder if there isn't something going on here.

The song with The Native Howl builds from an acoustic base, while the White Panda cover is electronic and clean, and yet in both instances Lzzy is singing with more grit (and is it phlegm?) than I would expect. In the former case, it's way more than sounds appropriate for the song, and makes it a bit too awkward to love. But what is nagging at me is the sense it might not entirely be a choice.

On "Back From The Dead", Lzzy didn't do much completely 'clean' singing, and when I see footage from their live shows, she spends much of them in her gritty shout. I fear the years of doing that have either started to impact the clarity of her voice, or have made aggression the default setting in her muscle memory. In either case, it leaves me feeling that Lzzy sounds most comfortable singing her own songs, and collaborations like these often aren't as special as I would hope them to be.

Cold Years - Choke

Single number two goes further to make me think the upcoming record is indeed going to be a bit brighter and more upbeat than "Goodbye To Misery". Like the previous single, that approach (along with the thinner production) is leaving the tracks feeling a bit flimsy by comparison. There isn't enough bite to the guitars, there isn't enough power to the vocals to really hit me hard in the chest. If "Goodbye To Misery" was a pointed elbow catching me between breaths, these songs sound more like the playful fist between two friends. It's still enjoyable, but that doesn't quite compare to a viceral reaction.

Blues Pills - Birthday

I'm well aware that Blues Pills will probably never be able to match the way their debut album made me feel. That bit of vintage blues-rock was the right album at the right time, and was the perfect foil for Elin's voice. It was powerful, but with great melodies. It was timeless, but also immediate. They tried their hand at being more soulful, then trying to return to their roots, but something is missing. The first single from their upcoming record continues that trend, as it has all the right pieces, but I don't feel the right spark from it. The gutiar tone is just fuzzy enough, Elin's voice is wonderful, but the song itself doesn't lock into a groove or a hook. It sounds right, but the echo fades rather quickly. I won't judge the record from the one song, but I'm wondering why these connections for me seem to be so short-lived. It's a shame.