As Im driving around in the rain, I have a further thought about a lot of the new music I heard today and why it was mostly uninspiring to me. While most of the songs I heard had a commendable sense of mood and an appealing earnestness, my sense of the thrust of the music was that It was honest and central to the singers own emotional internal world, and that alone was sufficient. I didnt sense any connection to larger issues, or hitching that emotional truth to a wider human experience. Both musically and lyrically, the songs seemed to metaphorically portray a narrow, inward looking world. Though nearly every song had an appealing sense of mood, They didnt convey mysterious worlds and rainy days to me so much as a dark room with four clearly defined corners. This is not inherently a bad thing. However, I found Paul McCartneys New thrilling simply because it reminded me of how music could transcend itself and connect you to a world of wider possibilities. That sense of there always being something new to be found is central to my being and what stirs me creatively. I definitely feel that most of the artists I was listening to are searching for something new, however, it feels like they are searching for an inner world known only to them, and theyre not necessarily taking us on a road trip, but inviting us into a very cloistered place that, while creative, is about them and not necessarily about us . I dont know if this makes any sense. I acknowledge that this is a subjective reaction. But I remember as a child being thrilled with how music could conjure up the idea of places, people and things I had never seen but wanted to explore. I know I am older and more jaded now but I need that feeling more than ever, and I think we all do. I used to get that from music and now I dont - except when I suddenly do, and I realize it isnt just me. There is something missing.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:53:06 +0000