Every March Drop A Warm New Single
I've recently come across a new single from Every March that feels so warm in its tone and heartfelt in its approach that I got pulled into it almost straight away.
The band's new track, "To Stay Above Ground" gives you this almost filmic sense of the open road. It just feels freeing because of coming not just the tones of the instruments but the way that everything is performed and the overall soundscape it delivers.
This is a song that manages to blend together some of the best elements of folk, Southern-tinged Americana, pop rock, and more, all rolled into this one track that comes through with its own atmosphere.
The whole thing opens up with an acoustic guitar plucking single notes, and it's a brilliant intro because it feels close. It feels up close and personal.
This is their way of delivering the backbone of the melody to you before all the rest of the instruments come in.
It is very full-bodied once all the other instruments do come in, because it's composed of a lot of great stuff. It's got more guitars, a piano which really ends up becoming this heavy-handed root note kind of element to the song, and electric guitars to go along with live drumming and more.
I just love the way it grows. I like songs that start in one place and grow into something different.
Of course, this isn't a slow or gradual growth; after the acoustic guitar plays that first progression, everything comes in all at once, and it feels a bit explosive but in a good, colorful way.
Everything is so natural. It's all 100% natural instrumentation, but it still feels sort of cinematic and spacious at the same time.
As the drums come in and give you that wonderfully performed backbone, the electric guitars overlay acoustic chords strumming, and everything is layered in such a brilliant way.
The song goes through some great changes; it's a bit progressive, and I dig that, and it really has a lot of heart attached to it.
Now, not only does that heart come from the instrumental performances, but also from the vocals.
The singing is right in your face, and he's got such a classic kind of approach to his performance as well.
There's something that makes me think of Talking Heads when it comes to the singing on this track, and I really got caught up in that because there's a level of intensity that he performs with.
The energy is unbelievable here. That's not what I mean. They feed, and you hear this synergy happening almost as if it's a live show.
The electric guitars do some amazing sort of slide work, keeping their fingers down on the neck as they slide up to certain notes, and this also helps that southern twang as well.
As I said before, it's a damn near perfect blend of genres. The Americana is certainly there, but so is the pop rock and that underlying folk tonality as well.
It's certainly inspired by a lot of different elements and styles of music, but I think that the way everything is performed really lets the song stand out.
The pianos are beautifully played. There's this dynamic balance between the instruments that really gives the song its warmth.
Even the tone of the vocal lines up with that sort of tube-warmth kind of feel.
Different parts of the song also showcase harder guitar tones that still display massive twang and are performed with that southern heart, but everyone really fed into this, and we're on the same page.
This is a brilliant track, and it was very inviting, memorable, and captures this particular aesthetic that you sort of want to hold on to.
It's intelligent and experienced, but it also has a youthful underbelly.
This is definitely the kind of track that you want to hear, especially if you love great, twanging guitar tones, elements of that heartland kind of approach, and a vivacious kind of energy that lets the song really thrive.
The whole project was started by songwriter Barry Shields, who's actually a multi-instrumentalist, and created Every March as a sort of solo project before it grew into a full five-piece band.
So, it's pretty incredible to hear and understand how certain projects come to life and what may be beyond certain doors for songwriters like Barry.
I think he's found his crew, and this release is definitely proof.
Dig into this right now, and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Every March - To Stay Above Ground (Spotify Link)
