It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Spark’s music expert and iconic L.A. radio DJ Nic Harcourt to weigh in on what new music he’s got on repeat at the moment.
John-Robert: Damn Bean
One of the things I’ve never understood is how many people have their musical tastes and favorite artists decided and pretty much set in stone by around age 30. It’s a generational thing, I get it. Boomers stopped with what is now classic rock, Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Hendrix, etc. Generation X got Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and Alanis, and Millennials got Amy Winehouse, Rhianna, Drake and Panic at the Disco.
As someone who’s experienced all these musical moments (plus the ones in between) and made a career in music discovery, I’ve often pondered – what exactly is that line a previous generation crosses towards irrelevance when they tell their kids their music sucks. My dad did it with me too, when I was listening to Bowie, Roxy Music and Patti Smith! The point is, that every generation gets its songwriters and poets, artists that reflect and speak the language of the moment. For Gen Z, 20-year-old John- Robert is a case in point.
Hailing from a small town (Edinburg) in Virginia, John-Robert grew up playing early shows in cafes and country fairs and as he says, “I only had an acoustic guitar and no backing tracks, it really made me focus on my story telling and songwriting.” He makes bedroom-pop, perfect for a generation raised in their bedrooms, non? His songs are poignant and reflective, weaving between short-stories of growing up in the Shenandoah Valley (heartbreak, love, and being carefree) and since moving to Los Angeles, his current state of being (anxiety about living up to the expectations of himself, friends and family, longing for community and reflecting on what he’s sacrificed to bring his dreams to life).
As all good pop music goes, heartbreak is the inspiration behind his latest track, “Damn Bean:”
“Damn Bean is about the consequences of biting your tongue and the misery of feeling lesser than. I was extremely excited to date somebody, but was unfortunately led on. Our communication became less and less frequent, there was always a reason as to why she couldn’t see me, and I was later told she had found somebody else. I felt expendable and disposable. And wouldn’t you know it, this jolly little tune popped out of me.”
“Damn Bean” is already up to 500,000 plays on Tik Tok, ‘cos that where the kids are discovering new music today, and new music to them is anything they haven’t heard before. Who do you think put Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams back on the charts in 2020?
I just added “Damn Bean” to my playlist today, give it a play in my list above.
(By the way, John-Robert is also obsessed with Swedish Fish, pretty sure every generation can agree with that one.)
For fans of: Kathleen, The Backseat Lovers, Claud, Isaac Dunbar
Crowded House: To The Island
Neil Finn is, in my opinion, one of the greatest and most prolific songwriters of the last 40 years. From his early days as the younger Finn brother (with the elder Tim) in Kiwi new-wave band Split Enz and songs like “History Never Repeats,” “I Got You,” and “Message to My Girl” to his own band Crowded House and early hits such as “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “World Where You Live,” “When You Come,” “Fall At Your Feet,” and It’s Only Natural,” Neil has consistently turned out great records including a couple of side projects (Finn Brothers, Alt) and four solo albums. I told you he was prolific.
The most recent incarnation of Crowded House with founding bass player Nick Seymour, Neil’s sons Liam and Elroy, and producer Mitchell Froom, reformed for a world tour in 2020 that had to be postponed, but the band didn’t sit around. They had recorded basic tracks before lockdown for a new album and as Neil says “We then spent our strangest year, 2020, at distance from each other but connecting daily, swapping files and making those tracks complete. In the fall they released their first Crowded House single in a decade “Whatever You Want.” Now comes “To The Island.” The full album, Dreamers Are Waiting, is expected in June and as soon as the band can schedule around Neil’s other band commitments (he joined Fleetwood Mac in 2018) and the pandemic, expect them to head out on that world tour. Take a listen to “The Island” on the playlist or watch the video, filmed in New Zealand, Los Angeles, and Ireland. The footage features each bandmate in different locations before they meet up at a gig. They drive, canoe, and rappel their way to a mysterious club, where fairies appear and a psychedelic dance party breaks out. Well, 2020 was a long year for everybody.
For fans of: Hunters & Collectors, Bernard Fanning, Midnight Oil, Squeeze, Michael Penn.
