I love it when two, up until now, separate threads of your musical experience suddenly entwine. It is a reminder of just how small the creative world is, and perhaps also vindication, if it were needed, that the things that draw you to your favorite artists and bands are also what others find appealing, and other music makers at that.
In this case, it comes in the form of Jody and the Jerms, a band that I have come to love in a very short time, hooking up with Erica Nockalls, violinist with The Wonderstuff, a band I have been listening to and watching since their brilliantly entitled debut album, The Eight Legged Groove Machine entered my life, all those years ago.
But that was then; this is now. And now it is about “Winter Heart,” a lovely slice of jangling, joyous, and unashamedly pop music. I have made no bones about the fact that it is, in part, the echo of cool eighties bands such as The Darling Buds that I find so endearing about the band, a sound that brought deftness and maturity to the pop scene without losing any of the requisite fun and infectiousness.
All of that is present here, but with the added sweep and sophistication of Nockalls’ violin, weaving its way through the jangle of guitar and the drive of the drums.
There is nothing particularly nostalgic about the sound of “Winter Heart,” but it does make me crave those days when pop music was more than just digital dexterity and identikit record label templates, more than just guest rappers and dance routines, more than just likes and followers. I long for a day when songs like “Winter Heart” are clogging up the upper echelons of the pop charts! Wouldn’t that be something?
Winter Heart single
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Different Skies EP
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