“Living Wage” by Will Overman is the kind of subtle bluesy country song that hearkens back to the core elements that make country music so beloved. “Living Wage” is devoid of red pickup trucks and beer, and is thankfully lacking that obnoxious country twang that seems to exist in every mainstream country song. Its country roots are more subtle, and all the better for that, hiding in the blues chords and fills and the hollow twang on the guitar which couples with Overman’s voice; one of those pur

There is something about peaceful, gentle, folksy acoustic music that seems to be a part of nature. It’s not something that I can readily explain, but oftentimes, there is nothing more appealing than a long walk through the woods, muddying your shoes and crunching through the undergrowth, all while listening to the gentle harmonies and acoustic melodies of songs like “Meet Me in Seattle,” by Josh Fudge. Before I get into the lyrics, I have to mention the instrumental melodies. The acoustic melo

Some of the most powerful songs are the ones whose meaning is purposefully obscure, songs whose lyrics paint a partial story, a story that each listener can fill in as they listen to a song, over and over again, trying to understand where this piece of art fits into the jigsaw puzzle that is life. “Dream” by Nautics is one of those songs. It does not tell a cohesive story, and it does not always make perfect sense. But the point is not that the song makes sense, the point is not that the song i

One of the greatest problems that plagues all human interaction and all kinds of relationships is a simple issue of communication. Often, it is a lack of communication that creates problems between two people. But within that common issue of communication is this tendency for people to change for someone else. Sometimes these changes are subtle and not easily noticeable, but over time, someone can lose the essence of who they are in the name of a relationship. And when you lose the part of you t

“Downtime” by Significant Other is a song that tells a story in a subtle manner, disguised by strange phrasing and tonality. If you remove the lyrics and listen simply to the music, it serves as a sort of soundscape. The guitar is strangely pitched and almost watery, and the piano that subsists beneath it is soft and consistent, which paints a steady sort of sidewalk upon which the music moves. There is just enough of a trace of synth that it adds an extra, almost supernatural element to the mu