Music Is Ageless
Why We Love to Listen to New Artists
Obviously, the music industry has an age bias. Young people are the most avid music consumers and tend to be drawn to artists not much older than themselves. The typical musician is young and pretty, and the songs are about falling in love, heartbreak, party, and somehow finding a place in the world.
At glamglare, we often write about artists younger than half our age. It does not matter that much, though. Everybody was young once in their lives, so most topics still resonate, if only in a nostalgic way. Also, looking at young acts and seeing their enthusiasm to create and – against the odds – working hard to find their viable audience is an excellent way to become excited about the future.
In 2016, we attended an SXSW fireside chat of veteran music journalists Bob Boilen and Jim Fusili called “The Recording Industry Hates Grownups.” Both born in 1953, made the case that new music is at least as good as what they listened to when they were young. They encouraged people to leave the comfort zone of the music of their youth and let them be surprised by the quality of many new artists.
I can only wholeheartedly second this sentiment. Elke and I never stopped listening to new music, but “new music” in the 90s and 2000s was different than it is today. Back then, you still needed to rely on labels, radio stations, or big media to discover new artists, so a certain level of mass appeal was guaranteed. These days, the internet grants everybody access to the music market. If you dig deep enough, you can join fan communities of only a handful of people.
So we encourage you to enjoy your old favorites (I’m listening to my favorite The Cure album, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, right now) and give new artists a chance. Do you have any new favorites we should know about? Tell us!
Of course, an excellent place to start is our seven Song Picks of the Day below.
Song Pick of The Day
Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube and Spotify for the 50 latest Song Picks of the Day.
This week’s playlist opens with Canadian quartet Dizzy and their super-catchy new song “Open Wide,” which was more or less a by-product of the recording sessions for their third album. “It’s a tongue in cheek ode to a music industry we’ve never understood all that well,” they recall. Next, NYC indie rockers Big Bliss are back with “A Seat On The Table” about those big experiences that are shared by a generation.
Inez and Ella Johansson are twin sisters from Malmö, Sweden, who record under the name 7ebra. “I’m Done for The Day” is “about being exhausted- mentally, emotionally and physically, not wanting to go out into the world, not wanting to do anything or see anyone.” It will be on the sisters’ debut album Bird Hour, out on May 5.
In “True Love Is Freedom,” LA-based musician Jimmy Whispers reveals his ideal love: “How love doesn’t control, how true love naturally has absolutely no means of controlling anything,” he says. He is followed by the London-based singer/songwriter Eden Rain, who knows how to write lyrics that make you listen. Her latest offering is about “Crumbs.” She reveals: “I’ve always had a strong link to crumbs.”
“Open Up,” is a catchy pop song on ferna’s otherwise more quiet debut album understudy. For this work, the Belfast musician refreshed her songwriting by collaborating with producer Stu Reid. We close out the playlist with singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Yulia Bizyukova, who records as Everything By Electricity. Her new song “Goodbye” was in in the making for a long time: “it’s the same damn song i keep writing for ages and thought i might as well just write it for the third time,” she writes.
Albums of the Week
Last Friday was a big release day, and we have been listening to six new albums over the weekend. On a particularly heavy rotation has been Big Picture, the third album by UK artist Fenne Lily. It is a record that sounds welcoming and familiar from the first bar on but still offers a lot of depth, so you can discover something new on every spin. Fenne is on tour in Europe and the US, and we will see her on June 2 in Brooklyn.
Other notable releases:
Montreal dream-pop duo Bodywash with their second album I Held the Shape While I Could.
Emm Gryner’s beautiful yacht rock indulgence Business & Pleasure.
A Place You Grew Up In, the second, easier accessible album by New York band Laveda.
The debut album understudy by Belfast artist ferna, including our Song Pick of the Day, “Open Up”.
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