Write on Music's Favorite Songs of 2014

Better late than never, here are Write on Music’s favorite songs from last year (in alphabetical order):

Amy LaVere – “Last Rock ‘N’ Roll Boy to Dance”: Inspired by her own adolescent exploits on the lam, this Memphis singer/songwriter and upright bassist turned out one of last year’s most imaginative, musically adventurous albums, Runaway’s Diary. Songs by Townes Van Zandt (“Where I Lead Me”) and John Lennon (“How”) help to tell its story, but its finest moments – like this scene-stealing selection – are of LaVere’s own making.

Angela Moyra – “Bubbalu”: From this Dutch singer/songwriter’s charming debut LP, Fickle Island, this little ditty about a crush is so adorable it’s easy to forget that it’s really a lovelorn lament. Hurts so good, indeed.

   

Bruce Springsteen – “Harry’s Place”: The Boss’ most recent LP, High Hopes, inspired generally mixed reviews among fans and critics – except for Rolling Stone, which deemed it better than every other album released in 2014 save for U2’s similarly polarizing Songs of Innocence. Still, the album has its moments, like an electrified version of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (featuring Tom Morello’s scorching guitar) and this song, which had been in the works for years and reflects an urban, edgier sonic perspective of Springsteen’s songwriting.

Cat Power and Coldplay – “Wish I Was Here”: This one (from the Zach Braff film of the same name) is so empathetic and universal it’s almost a wonder that it hadn’t been written before. “Every road that’s wrong feels like the road I’m on,” Chan Marshall sings like she knows the feeling all too well. Maybe you do, too. 

Coldplay – “Oceans”: For those who were perhaps disoriented by Coldplay’s more experimental efforts over the last six or seven years, Ghost Stories recalls some of the melodic, piano-rich balladry of earlier albums, Parachutes especially. This song in particular, enriched by an almost spectral intimacy and Chris Martin’s angular falsetto, is among its most intoxicating highlights.

Eilidh McKellar – “Home”: Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, this burgeoning guitar prodigy summons a mother lode of moxie and musicianship on her remarkable debut LP, Delta Devil Dreams. With this song in particular McKellar not only displays her rich, ribald guitar playing and honeyed vocals but also an endearing melodic disposition.

Jenny Lewis – “Love U Forever”: There has always been something irresistibly quirky about Jenny Lewis, a quixotic mix of understated musicality and narrative chops that at times includes fun bits of kink and blunt confession. Maybe this song is about a lifelong love affair, but you can dance to it even if it’s not.

Jessie Ware – “You & I (Forever)”: With her second album in two years, Tough Love, Ware has proved her debut (Devotion) was no fluke. This lovely song is among its highlights, and it features the most charming video you’ll see all day.

Johnny Marr – “Dynamo”: The former Smiths guitarist and all-around six-string wizard expanded his sonic canvas for his second solo LP, Playland, illustrated here by what Marr described to described to Write on Music as a love song originally written about a building. “But it was important to me that it felt like someone could sing it to a person who they love,” he added, “romantic love, family love, anything really.” Mission accomplished.

Kasey Chambers with Bernard Fanning – “Bittersweet”: The unflinching honesty expressed in this one is damn near chilling, and its video – shot in one take, ostensibly portrayed by children each representing Chambers and Fanning’s narrators – does little to break the tension or heal the heartache.

Leonard Cohen – “Slow”: Brandishing his old poet’s phonetic authority and a knowing, implicit nod to erotic metaphor, the world’s sharpest-dressed octogenarian heralds the virtues of taking one’s time.

Lera Lynn – “Lying in the Sun”: While the Nashville-based singer/songwriter’s recently released second LP (The Avenues) is currently earning rave reviews, the title track from her previous EP release is just too damn good to overlook. Lynn’s singing on it is breathtaking, her voice coming on as sultry as a slow Southern sunset.

Lily and the Tigers – “Just a Memory”: This aching, mournful gem is but one of the standout moments on the Atlanta, Georgia trio’s masterful LP, The Hand You Deal Yourself. “I definitely was listening to a lot of Otis Redding at the time,” lead singer and principal songwriter Casey Hood told Write on Music last year of the song’s conception. “I love soul and R&B music and Motown.” It certainly sounds that way.

Lucinda Williams – “West Memphis”: The alt.country icon shines a light on the case of the West Memphis Three while a raw, wicked groove sputters and snarls beneath her breath. Consider it a sort of conviction conniption, if you will.

Marissa Nadler – “Firecrackers”: There are artists who sing for you and ones who sing to you, touching a soft spot while your guard’s down to remind you you’re alive. Nadler is of the latter distinction. From her sublime LP, July, this song is utterly exquisite.

Nicole Atkins – “The Worst Hangover”: This stone-soul throwback appears on Atkins’ latest album, Slow Phaser, which is not only the culmination of a gifted artist coming into her own but also the best work of her career to date. 

Priscilla Ahn – “Diana”: With her third LP, This is Where We Are, Ahn signalled a shift, if not a complete departure, from the acoustic-informed aesthetic of her earliest recordings while this, the album’s sensuous opening track, sets the tone. 

Sharon Van Etten – “Nothing Will Change”: Van Etten summoned a tour de force with her 2014 LP, Are We There, translating often intense, personal introspections into universal revelations and, in songs like this one, delivering each lyric like a visceral, nerve-exposed soliloquy.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Forgotten Man”: Stinging with anger and resentment, this one starts off sounding a little like “American Girl” but soon imposes its own ornery indignance on Hypnotic Eye, easily Petty’s best album in years.

Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey – “I Keep it to Myself”: Literally knocking on Heaven’s door, the iconic Dr. Feelgood guitarist sought to make one last album, on which The Who’s indomitable frontman was more than happy to join together with the man. As Johnson told Write on Music last year, the chemistry between the two was immediate. “Everybody got on well,” he added. “We just started working ferociously.” And the resulting album, Going Home, is invigorating...almost as much as the miraculous twist of fate that ultimately saved this beloved legend’s life.

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Album Review: Priscilla Ahn - This is Where We Are

Priscilla Ahn sings with such gorgeous, unaffected grace that any extravagant or otherwise cluttered production would only undermine one of the loveliest voices to emerge in the past decade. That said, with her third and latest album, This is Where We Are (SQE Music), the winsome singer/songwriter builds upon the acoustic-rich distinctions of her prior LPs, A Good Day (2008) and When You Grow Up (2011), to incorporate judicious amounts of electronica. 

In moments like “Diana” and “In a Closet in the Middle of the Night,” for instance, Ahn conjures intoxicating, spectral soundscapes that actually reinforce her voice as well as her often contemplative lyrics. She doesn’t abandon her acoustic tendencies completely, as ballads “Remember When I Broke Your Heart” and “I Can't Fall Asleep” illustrate in enchanting, tender ways. Even on the most sonically progressive songs, the experimental embellishments are neither distracting nor obtrusive.

On the whole, Ahn has stepped forward as an artist with this work, forging rich new musical perspectives with her talent and imagination.

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Stream New Single 'Diana' From Priscilla Ahn

On “Diana,” singer/songwriter Priscilla Ahn’s silken and sultry voice plays off an exotic, trance-like rhythm to create something uniquely beguiling and immersive. Stream the track, which is the newest single from the artist’s forthcoming third album, This Is Where We Are, due February 25th.

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Priscilla Ahn Previews Third LP with Lead Single/Video

Among the scores of artists expected to release new music next year is singer/songwriter Priscilla Ahn, who with her third LP, This is Where We Are (due February 25 on SQE Music), looks to bring new dimensions to her already winsome music. 

Early impressions of the album suggest Ahn embracing a lo-fi electronica sound, signaling somewhat of a shift from the primarily acoustic-folk distinctions of her prior two albums, 2008’s A Good Day and 2011’s When You Grow Up. With the album’s lead single, “Leave It Open,” which was released on October 29 to digital outlets, Ahn’s evolution is not only evident but striking.

“For me, this album was about finally finding my voice again as a songwriter and a singer,” says Ahn in a recent press release. “This Is Where We Are portrays who I am now and another side of myself that I’d never really been able to show in other albums.”

Ahn is slated to tour North America in March and April of next year, including a stop at the perennial SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.

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An Interview with Meiko

Right about now, Meiko is on the road—literally—en route from a gig last night at the Majestic Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin to the one she’s playing tomorrow night at the Walnut Room in Denver, Colorado. It’s quite a haul, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “The tour is going awesome,” she says without any trace of artifice or fatigue. “A couple of long drives, but it’s cool.” It’s her first as a headliner, but if the gains she’s made in support of self-titled debut are a portent of what lay ahead, it certainly won’t be her last.

Meiko—who was raised in the small town of Roberta, Georgia and currently lives in Los Angeles—has been ambitiously on the rise for the past two years, having independently released her enchanting batch of folk-pop confections in 2007. She subsequently signed with the Myspace/Interscope label, re-issuing Meiko in 2008 with one additional song, “Boys With Girlfriends,” which soon topped the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart.

All the while, Meiko paid her dues, opening for the likes of Mat Kearney and Joshua Radin as well as partaking in the ever-popular Hotel Café tour with such artists as Rachael Yamagata, Erin McCarley, and Priscilla Ahn. Most recently, she collaborated with the Crystal Method on “Falling Hard,” the closing track of their latest album, Divided By Night.

“It’s been really, really good,” Meiko replies when asked how audiences are responding to her current live shows, but the same could also be said for how her career is progressing. In a conversation with music critic Donald Gibson, she discusses her ongoing evolution as an artist, including where (and from who) she finds inspiration to write as well as what she has planned for the future.

When you moved to Los Angeles, was it with the intention of having this career?

Not at all. I was in Georgia; I went to college for one semester and I was trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. And I decided to take a break and go hang out in Miami for a little bit with my sister. Then once I got there, she wanted to move to L.A. and I followed her.

Do you think living in Georgia, having come from such a small town, affected your songwriting or has an effect on your songwriting?

Probably [in] the simplicity of my lyrics. There’s a way I like to write, [of] things that people can relate to and things that I can relate to, usually. So yeah, I would say that probably has something to do with me coming up from a simple town, simple upbringing.

I’ve read where you’ve said your songs are autobiographical. When you’re performing them, do you have to revisit the circumstances in which you wrote them? Or can you sing them with conviction regardless?

I usually do think about how I felt when I was writing the song. That kind of helps it be not so contrived. But yeah, I do go back there. And I’m not bummed out or anything when I sing them. I’m just remembering how it felt when I was there. 

One song that really strikes me is “Hiding.” From what I gather in the lyrics, it seems like you’re writing about compensating your own sense of worth, your own sense of who you are, to be with someone else. Is that an accurate description?

Not really. I actually wrote that song about my mom. I’d had kind of a strange relationship with her where I really didn’t know how to get in touch with her at a certain point. Originally the lyrics were, “Oh, now, Mama, you…” and I was like, “Well that sounds weird.” So I changed it to “baby.” I’ve actually never told anybody that before.

“Under My Bed” seems to be about, after a breakup, all you’re left with are tangible souvenirs.

That’s exactly what it was. When I moved to L.A., I moved with my sister, but my boyfriend that I had in Georgia eventually moved to L.A. with us. I ended up breaking up with him, of course, because everybody does that. You go to L.A. with somebody and try to make it work and then break up. And I just remember moving all my stuff out and going through all these things that had kind of morphed into each other, mine and his. I just remember thinking, “Should I take this? Do I want these pictures of me and him?” Of course I took them. And I moved into [my] new place and didn’t really know what to do with them. I put them in a box, stuck them under my bed. Eventually I acquired a few more boxes from a few more relationships. And I haven’t gone through them since. I probably should throw them away at some point.

On “Piano Song,” where you sing, “I try so hard not to show this side of me,” are you saying you don’t want to reveal any vulnerability to someone who you may be attracted to?

It’s [about] not wanting to reveal to someone how much I miss [him]. I wrote that song when I was waiting for somebody to come back home and I didn’t know when… That’s where the “counting down the hours and counting up the days” [came from]. I didn’t have an exact date…and I didn’t want [him] to know how absolutely dorky I was about [him]. It was a new relationship where I was trying to be the cool one, but totally obsessing behind closed doors. And I wrote that song on piano. I was house sitting for friend[s] and they didn’t have any guitars. I was really inspired to write and I just sat at the piano. That was the first and last piano song that I ever wrote.

You haven’t written one since on a piano?

No, no. [Laughs] I don’t play piano at all, obviously, with those simple clanking of the keys.

But that’s what makes it so endearing. You don’t come off as Rachmaninoff; that’s what makes it appealing to people. Are you working on anything for a subsequent album?

I’ve been writing a lot lately. And when I’m not touring, I go back home and kind of get in my studio and record with my friend. We have about six or seven songs recorded. I hope that, by the end of this year, to get in for a good month or so and maybe try to finish up something, either an EP or a record. I’ve been playing a few new songs in my live shows and I’m excited to get them recorded. I think a lot of the true-blue fans are kind of ready for me to hurry up and put something out.

How do you measure your progress as a songwriter?

I look at the different topics that I write about. It’s not like I try to write about different things, but when I do write a song that’s not just about being pissed off at some guy or some guy’s girlfriend, I know that I’m kind of moving on to a different level.

And I also look at the way I play guitar. Because there’s a hole you can get stuck in, playing the same kind of rhythm or playing the same kind of chords. Expanding my knowledge and trying to learn—and trying to learn other ways of playing guitar—is another part of it.

When I was little, when I’d just started playing guitar, I would learn a couple of chords and I would just write. I would instantly write a song. And then I’d learn a new chord and I’d write with all those chords. And then I got to the point where I knew, pretty much, all the guitar chords that I felt like I needed to play. Now I try to learn something else because usually that inspires me to write something new.

So you’re still trying to expand your knowledge.

Oh, yeah. Even getting a new guitar will [inspire] me. I went to Spain for New Year’s and I got a Flamenco guitar. So then I started playing a lot, picking a lot, finding different picking styles.

How did the track you have on the new Crystal Method album come about?

It was really random. I was playing a show and the guys from the Crystal Method were just in the audience. They approached me afterward and asked if I’d be interested in writing a song with them and I was like, “Sure.”

You wrote the lyrics?

Yeah, they gave me a couple of songs without words or anything and I really liked that one; it was the slowest one.

You mentioned on your blog once that, while you were waiting in line at a store, a girl’s cell phone rang with your song, “Boys With Girlfriends,” as its ringtone. That had to have been surreal.

It was. A lot of weird emotions were happening. I was really excited and I wanted to be like, “That’s my song!” but then I was also totally embarrassed at the same time. I just kind of…giggled about it.

That’s a lot better than hearing your music in an elevator.

Yeah, totally. [Laughs] Or an Applebee’s. 

For more information, including upcoming tour dates, visit Meiko's Myspace page.

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An Interview with Priscilla Ahn

Priscilla Ahn is pleasantly surprised by how many people turn out for her performances, which not only speaks to her down-to-earth yet sunny disposition, but also to how much a burgeoning audience appreciates her music. 

It’s of little wonder, though, that her music appeals to people as it does. With her splendid debut album, A Good Day, the singer/songwriter imparts her serene folk/pop songs with a voice undeniably striking in its purity and allure. 

Presently on her first headlining tour, she’ll subsequently join an all-female lineup—along with such artists as Rachel Yamagata, Meiko, and Jenny Owens Young—for this fall’s installment of the Hotel Café tour. 

Graciously taking time to engage in an email interview, Ahn discusses topics including how she perceives success, how living in Los Angeles has fostered her songwriting, and what classic songs she wishes she’d written. 

You recently started your first headlining tour. How is it going so far? 

So far so good! I’m actually surprised at the turnout at the shows. I expected maybe 30 people to know me in each city, but around 100 – 200 people have been showing up, which is a really good feeling and a really nice surprise! 

A Good Day has such a serene vibe, reminiscent of records that came out of Laurel Canyon in the '70s. How has living in California affected your songwriting? 

Well, the reason I moved out to L.A. was because of its vibe. It’s a little mellower to me than living in New York City, and the weather is always pretty calm and nice. I've always sort of written mostly mellow songs. But I have done a lot of growing up since I’ve lived in L.A. and that definitely gives me a different point of view when I start writing a song. I have more confidence; I know what kind of music I really like, and how I like to sing it. 

The album's first single, “Dream,” seems quite an existential lyric for anyone to write, let alone someone so young. Was there anything in particular that inspired that song? 

I think [that’s] just me recalling childhood memories, thinking of myself back then, and then growing up and how I can look back on my life some time from now, hopefully. I like to daydream about my past and my present and future. 

What are a few of your favorite novels and/or books of poetry? 

I love e.e. cummings. Jack Kerouac was a huge inspiration; one of my favorites of his is The Town and The City. And I love reading David Sedaris. He always makes me smile, while keeping it real, even touching. 

Before you begin recording and mixing, how do you know when a song you're writing is complete? Do you run it by anyone before you consider it fully realized? 

I know when a song is complete when I stop adding things to it or feeling the need to change anything in it. I know when I keep singing it the same way over and over again [that] I like it. I’ll usually run it by my boyfriend. He’s a good listener because he gets my writing and offers kind support. 

On the album, you cover Willie Nelson’s “Opportunity To Cry.” Do you play any covers in your live show? 

Yes, [I play] that one, and “Masters In China,” which is a Benji Hughes song. 

A lot of songwriters wish they had written a song that someone else has written. Is there a song that, in a perfect world, you wish you’d written? 

Yes, [I wish I’d written] “Sugar Mountain” by Neil Young and "Look At Me" by John Lennon. 

You've mentioned in other interviews that Neil Young is one of your favorite musicians. If he could play any five songs for you in a command performance, which ones would you request? 

I’d request] “Rockin’ In The Free World,” “Harvest Moon,” “Ohio,” “The Needle And The Damage Done,” and “Sugar Mountain.” 

Are you always in search of your next song—jotting down words and phrases or playing melodies—or is songwriting something for which you set aside a certain allotment of time? 

Allotting writing time never really works out for me. It doesn’t feel very natural when I set aside time for it; it feels more like homework. So when something strikes me, I pick up the guitar and a pen and paper as fast as I can and see how far I can go with it. 

How do you measure your own success? 

Success for me is simply being able to make a happy living doing what I love to do, which right now is writing and performing. If I can do that—and be able to afford rent, food, and car payments—I’ll be pretty happy! 

Don’t miss Priscilla Ahn as part of the Hotel Café fall tour, which begins on October 8 in Los Angeles. A full itinerary will be posted at the tour’s official site on August 18 along with information regarding a ticket presale commencing the following day. 

In the meantime, catch Priscilla Ahn headlining the following dates and venues: 

August 15: Folks Festival – Lyons, COAugust 16: Twist & Shout (in-store appearance) – Denver, COAugust 16: Gothic Theatre – Englewood, COAugust 17: Belly Up – Aspen, COAugust 25: The Media Club – Vancouver, BCAugust 26: Triple Door – Seattle, WAAugust 27: Lola's – Portland, ORAugust 30: The Independent – San Francisco, CASeptember 1: Napa Valley Opera House – Napa, CASeptember 4: Mountain Winery – Saratoga, CASeptember 6: Santa Barbara Bowl – Santa Barbara, CA

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The Irresistible Enchantment of Priscilla Ahn

Sometimes you’ll hear a melody that’ll make you smile or a voice so gorgeous it’ll melt your heart. In the case of Priscilla Ahn, both scenarios apply and often at the same time. This formidable singer/songwriter renders an enchanting realm of folk-pop fare on her full-length debut on Blue Note Records, A Good Day.

Before signing to Blue Note, Ahn honed her craft at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles, in time hitting the road with fellow resident artist, Joshua Radin. In 2006, she released a promising self-titled EP, which—besides spawning early versions of two tracks featured on the current LP (“I Don’t Think So” and “Dream”)—served as a template from which she would further cultivate her talent.

The songs on A Good Day are like glittering trinkets, unique in their individual character yet reflective of an overall allure and aura. Ahn snuggles in the solace of “Leave The Light On,” for instance, while an acoustic guitar bends and creaks in accompaniment. On “Wallflower,” she wraps deceptively simple, whimsical music around a melancholy lyric. And, on the aforementioned track, “Dream,” she blends childlike reflections with an existential theme amid a bed of elegiac harmonies and strings.

Whether the tunes are meditative (“Masters of China”), adorably kooky (“Astronaut”), or romantically confessional (“Find My Way Back Home”), Ahn’s greatest attribute—the essential source of allure and aura—is her singing. In a voice strikingly pure and beguiling, she affects emotions with unassuming finesse, sounding like a timid ingénue one moment and full of feminine wiles the next.

Proving herself an artist of endearing distinction, Priscilla Ahn capitalizes on her earlier potential in ways equally remarkable and charming. Such is never more apparent than when the title track—the final track—echoes and fades toward a sweet abyss only to stop abrupt, jolting the listener back to a world that pales to the one created here. A Good Day, in short, is a great album.

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