Perhaps the biggest story in local music news has to do with Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to lift the statewide mask mandate and open Texas back up entirely while the pandemic is still very much going on and this state is ranked 48th in vaccine rollout.
The owners and operators of several
Dallas music venueshave responded to the governor by maintaining their mask policies for the sake of protecting their staff, and, well, all of us. Dallas musicians have also spoken out about their preference to continue performing at drive-in concerts and low-capacity crowds for their own and their fans’ protection.
St. Vincent released the new single “Pay Your Way in Pain” on Thursday. Reminiscent of
Young Americans-era David Bowie, the song mixes funk rock and soul with St. Vincent’s signature surreal songwriting style. The new video also brings to mind Bowie’s performance of “Fame” on
The Cher Show in 1975 with its low-budget cinematography and visuals. This is the first single from St. Vincent’s upcoming album
Daddy’s Home, out May 14.
One day, singer-songwriter Jonathan Hodges, who records and performs as
Bomethius, saw a terrible wreck on U.S. Highway 75 that left at least one passenger dead. The incident inspired the new single and video for “Traffic,” which came out last weekend. Drawing on inspirations spanning from Buddy Holly to Elliott Smith, Bomethius finds a deeper meaning in a horrific event without getting too morose.
In February 2020, singer-songwriter
Vanessa Peters was in Italy preparing for a European tour when the country went on a national lockdown. The tour was canceled and the recording sessions that had been scheduled in Texas after the tour were scrapped. Working instead in a farmhouse in Castiglion Fiorentino in Italy for 10 days, Peters and her Italian bandmates worked to finish some new songs for her upcoming album
Modern Age. Released Feb. 25, the video for the first of those songs, “Crazymaker,” was shot in Lucca, Italy.
The long-awaited collaboration album from Fort Worth psych-rock legend Johndavid Bartlett and modern psych-rock purists Acid Carousel is finally out on Feb. 26.
On Valentine’s Day, hip-hop artist
Flower Child released her video for “Love Will Save the Day.” Walking in front of the boarded-up businesses in Deep Ellum with portraits from the Black Lives Matter movement prominently displayed, Flower Child raps about the need for love not the love between romantic partners, but the most important love we have: self-love, love between friends and love of your community.
Also, in case you missed it on Valentine’s Day, Dallas-based online dating company Match.com released an exclusive playlist of 50 love songs by Texas artists, curated by the
National
Independent Venue Association. The playlist is made up of songs by acts such as Leon Bridges, Charley Crockett, Erykah Badu and Pantera representing North Texas.
House Parties is the latest woman-fronted punk band to emerge alongside acts like penny bored, Matchstick Ghost and Velvet Skyline. Their first, high-energy single “Hindsight” is available now on Spotify. A reflection on moving on from bad situations and bad people, the uplifting track is bolstered by emocore harmonies and exuberant riffs. House Parties will be featured on Palm Mute Records’ upcoming
Woah Oh! That s What I Call Pop Punk compilation doing a cover of “Jamie All Over” by Mayday Parade.
DAMOYEE and her friend and fellow Berklee College of Music student, multi-instrumentalist Timothy Stone. The two wrote, recorded and produced the lovingly nostalgic song about missing your friends, from their bedrooms in Texas and Connecticut during quarantine. Though they had never actually met on campus before, Stone and DAMOYEE connected via Discord to write the song together after they returned home from college to ride out the pandemic.