New Music I'm Listening To

It takes a real effort for me to find new music that I like. I listen to a station where I like the morning show and which plays music aimed at 30-somethings. A lot of the time it is easier to just listen to my old Who and Cars CDs. However, every once in a while, I come across new music which intrigues me. This posting is dedicated to three very different bands fronted by female lead singers.

Flyleaf

I heard about Flyleaf from my daughter. They were on her short list of bands to see at the Austin City Limits Festival. I didn't go, but I did watch live streaming video of the concert and was blown away. Flyleaf is very hard music, the kind I would have listened to in my teens and twenties, but is also very intelligent. The band's website explains it like this:

Heavy music and pained lyrics go together like cake and ice cream, and Belton, Texas quintet, Flyleaf, aren't about to break with tradition. But while many loud rockers reopen old wounds by singing about their broken homes and broken hearts, Flyleaf confront past traumas to heal old scars and prove in the process that hope shines brighter than despair.

While they are not a "Christian" band, they are a band made up of Christians who address religious themes in their music. Their most powerful song is "Cassie," a song about two girls who were asked whether they believed in God by the Columbine murderers. Both girls said yes and were killed for their answer. This song remembers these modern-day martyrs.

Nightwish

I heard about Nightwish from my trainer. After listening to their latest CD, I'm not sure whether I'm hooked yet, but I am definitely interested. For those who don't know, Nightwish is like the most popular band in Finland. They are classically influenced hard rock in the same tradition as Kansas, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Jethro Tull. The first song on their current CD "Dark Passion Play" is thirteen minutes long and shows a certain self-indulgent desire to make music without regard to commercial appeal. Their music alternates between heavy metal and strings. Like I said, they have my interest.

Katy Perry

I know that I shouldn't like Katy Perry. Her first single was very racy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's best that I not explain. Suffice it to say that when one of Kristen's friends had her Quinceanera she gave strict instructions not to play THAT song. However, her second single "Hot N Cold" is pretty irresistable. It has an infectious beat and clever lyrics. The opening line is "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes." This is an ironic choice of words for a song addressed to a guy and is a really great simile.