What’s up, fellow Earthlings! Who says there needs to be a theme for everything? I feel like that can limit my work sometimes. This week, I’ll be blogging about The Clubhouse, Nicole Atkins, and Walker & Royce. There will be no theme involved like all my other posts.

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse is a local jazz and rock band from Denton, Texas. With Daniel Ward playing bass, Roger Hunt playing guitar, Carlos Pacheco playing tenor saxophone and Mitch Albers playing drums, magic is bound to be made in addition to the magic they have already made for a band that has only been together for a year and a half. The Clubhouse describes their music as “loud, jazzy, and eclectic”. They dropped their first album earlier this month, entitled “Elefant”. Releasing an album for the first time is already an accomplishment for any band, but this band has the potential to go far if they keep making music as great as the songs on “Elefant”. The Clubhouse described this album as a collection of different tunes with a variety of influences like indie rock, R & B, jazz, blues, metal, and electronic. Artist influences of theirs include Led Zeppelin, Wayne Shorter, Grizzly Bears, Snarky Puppy, Frank Zappa, and Donny McCaslin.  I can hear more jazz on this album than anything else, but I can also hear elements from other types of music. For example, “DS-444” gives a rock feel, especially in the guitar and drum beat. Also, “Velvet Face Doll” sounds like a jazz song with a pinch of R & B in it. When you hear that this band comes up with songs by switching instruments, jamming together, and seeing what they come up with, it’s no surprise how creative they can be with their music! This kind of creativity is something to make note of and appreciate!

Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins is an American theatrical pop singer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her main influences are soul, crooner, and psychedelic. She just had a new album, “Goodnight Ronda Lee”, come out. It’s her fourth studio album. This album is very emotional. I know that can be said about a lot of music these days, but “Goodnight Ronda Lee” provides a distinctive kind of dramatic effect that’s not seen or heard often. The songs depict real-life personal struggle. However, Atkins doesn’t treat them as somber, as Jewly Hight pointed out on NPR Music. “Colors” is about her drinking too much, and relying on others for safety. As we all know, anything can happen in that kind of situation. That kind of suspense is depicted by the minor key, piano sound, and the vibrato in the strings sound. Also, the title track has a bit of irony because it has a little bit of a Latin/country sound, and it’s in a major key. These come from a simple Latin drum beat, electric guitar lines that you would typically hear in country music, and a driving bass line. I say that it’s ironic because the song is about bad behavior. According to Hight on NPR Music, the plot of the song is that Atkins is trying to drag an unbalanced friend away from a party. The way Atkins put this album together puts the “bold” in “bold”.

Walker & Royce

Walker & Royce are an American tech house duo. Samuel Walker and Gavin Royce are the names of these two promising artists. They have a hot new single out named “Take Me To Your Leader.” To be honest, this song makes me want to do something that I’m not very good at, which is dance! It has a typical electronic drumbeat, a heavy bass sound, and varying synth sounds. Along with these, this song has minimal vocals, which consist of rapping in the chorus. I like how Walker & Royce incorporated the constant changes in the synths because it gives off an orchestral vibe. When I say this, I mean that you hear different instrument groups playing different patterns constantly. It’s like the different synth sounds are taking on that kind of form in “Take Me To Your Leader.” Classical music is the foundation of all the modern music that we love and appreciate today. Bravo to Walker & Royce for remembering where they came from by incorporating this characteristic!

There you have it! Another analysis of different modern music that y’all may or may not have heard! I hope this stimulates your musical brains, and stick around for the next Skinner Music Blog Post!