The day after tomorrow is Christmas. It only happens once a year, making it a very special time. Think of the 1 in 365 ratio, right?
The odds aren’t as long, but I don’t write song reviews with any degree of regularity. And so, it’s rather against the odds that here I am doing so for the second week in a row. Thus, the implication is that something was submitted to me that impressed me enough to be comfortable putting my name behind it.
As a quick side note, for anyone who has ever tried to submit a song to me for review and I’ve declined it, you know that often times I will say that in the note that I send back. Meaning, that I do consider that readers are going to go listen to the track and they’re going to say, “Wow, he actually thought this was good?” And thus, my credibility will be in question going forward. I can’t even be certain that people will give me as many as three strikes before deciding, “I’m not reading his weekly blog anymore; or, at least, his song reviews.”
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It’s kind of like people who are submitted to me as a potential guest for my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast. There are far too many other shows out there for people to go listen to instead of mine. So, if I string together a couple of below average guests, it’s that quickly that someone might jump ship and take their listening time elsewhere.
This week, however, I do recommend that you spend three minutes and nine seconds of your listening time with “Backseat,” a single released two months ago by Louise Goffin.
As the track begins, the temptation is to describe her voice as sweet. However, the pro that she is, Goffin finds just the right tone to match the mood of the song, singing “If you brake one more time I’m gonna grab the wheel and smash it I’m dramatic like that.” You don’t perform those lyrics ‘sweetly’ and the artist delivers the message in a way that will have the listener coming alongside her supportively, standing together.
And, after all, as countless guests have said on my podcast, the goal is to make the listener feel something. Goffin will no doubt have legions of followers borderline raising their first in a ‘hell yeah’ fashion, relating to not wanting to be in the backseat of their relationship.
The instrumental break halfway through is like coasting down the highway, perhaps taking a pause to look at where the relationship is on the road, before powering back in with a charging guitar that signals taking control. Or, as the lyrics in “Backseat” say, “Your control is profound, steering straight into madness.”
It’s a well-constructed track that, midtempo, finds its lane (no pun intended), not too ballad-y but also not over the top with shredding and/or over the top production. A nice job matching the mood with the style.
None of this should come as a surprise, given Goffin’s successful track record. Vocally she has been heard on the theme song for “Gilmore Girls.” More visibly, on stage, she has been known to tour as a hired gun for other artists, including Tears For Fears. And she even produced a GRAMMY-nominated album for none other than Carole King!
Goffin presently has over 10,600 monthly listeners on Spotify alone and with a solid release such as “Backseat” that number should only continue to increase.
When you’ve had enough of the holiday music and don’t want to go back to the same old songs on repeat, tap over to this track and brace yourself to go down the rabbit hole of checking out her other music.
Meanwhile, since the day after tomorrow is, in fact, Christmas, if you celebrate it, please receive my heartfelt wishes for a most enjoyable day, whatever that looks like for you and wherever you are. Please know that I cherish the time that you give to reading my blog (and listening to my podcast and watching my YouTube videos and reading my weekly e-newsletter). That is not taken for granted and is a gift I am grateful for year-round.
For twenty years I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more. What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to? Let’s get on a short call together so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.