Singles Roundup: Halestorm & I Prevail, Kissin' Dynamite, Blues Pills, & Neal Morse

In the grab-bag this week:

Halestorm & I Prevail - Can U See Me In The Dark?

With the two bands heading out on tour this summer, the kick things off with a collaboration. I am not attuned to I Prevail, but if what they bring to this song is what I think, I will be avoiding them in the future. This song is a bit of an odd duck. There are the obvious Halestorm parts in Lzzy's vocal lines, and then there is a breakdown with screaming and electronic bits. That part doesn't fit at all to my ears, and most definitely drags down what was otherwise a fine song. It wouldn't be one of my favorites anyway, but there are most certainly times when two artist's voices don't work together, and I feel like that is what is happening here. The clash of styles in the writing doesn't get tied together in a way that fully makes sense to me, and while it might make for a fun tour (like I said, I don't know), I'm not going to say it works as a song.

Kissin' Dynamite - The Devil Is A Woman

I wasn't going to say anything about this song, since it didn't really move me in any direction, but the more I thought about it, the more there was one thing I wanted to mention. The lyrical conceit of this song is that, obviously, the devil is a woman. Ok, but why is that important? The framing of the song is that a beautiful woman tempted the narrator to sleep with her, which sends him to hell. Boring story, dude. What would be far more interesting is not blaming the woman for your lust, but to be introspective and ask how you couldn't see the devil in that disguise, or why you would go through with it anyway if you did. The way the song is written could be looked at as 'women are evil', when there is actually a way of writing an interesting song here... if anyone in rock was capable of nuance.

Blues Pills - Top Of The Sky

Have you ever had one of those, "Oh shit!" moments. I had one when I started listening to this song, because for the first time it struck me that Elin Larsson could be a near dead-ringer of Adele. This song plays with the same toned-down adult contemporary style, a ballad giving her voice all the room in the world to shine. It sure does, as her tone is maybe the closest thing I've heard to Adele's voice. It's always been true, but I never made the connection before. With the realization, I wish I was able to say the song is more gripping than it is. Ever since their first album, Blues Pills has been making good music, but the kind that for whatever reason often fails to keep its hold on me. They're a band I want to love, but keep seeing as unable to get out of the shadow of that debut album, which remains an amazing millstone around their neck.

Neal Morse - Already There

I've seen a lot of decisions over the years musicians have made that I find rather confusing, and Neal Morse is engaged in one of those right now. He has his own streaming service where you can listen to his full catalog, and I'm not here to talk about whether or not that is a good deal, as opposed to buying the records you like. On that service, he is releasing a new singer-songwriter album that will apparently be exclusive to those who are paying him a monthly fee. I don't like what that says about his attitude toward those of us who have purchased multiple albums of his, but who either don't want or don't need to stream his music. We apparently are no longer good enough fans to warrant all of the new music he makes. Noted.

Fortunately, he released this one single to preview the album, and that tells me enough to think his streak of making music I'm not engaged with is continuing. It's easier not to feel so bad when you don't think you're missing out. But still...