It’s been awhile since I featured new music releases. In addition to Throwback Weekends, lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on artists of the 60s and 70s.
I had hoped to have a new Lana Del Rey album to sink my teeth into by now but that one keeps getting delayed. Instead, I’ll give a listen to recent releases by Lorde, Haim, Jason Isbell, and Lady Gaga, among others.
I started the week with a song by Daniel Gallup from his upcoming EP, and I thought it fitting to close the week out the same way.
‘Solid Ground’ is a beautiful song, and my favorite thing Daniel has recorded in his young career. It fires on all cylinders, both musically and lyrically, and in its back half achieves a moment of transcendence that takes it to another level. This is a first class effort, from writing to performance to production.
This week I’m going to feature some new releases that have crossed my radar over the past several weeks while I was busy diving into the catalog of The Rolling Stones.
I’m very excited to kick things off with a song by an exciting young artist who happens to be my nephew.
Almost exactly five years ago, I dedicated a week to the Daniel Gallup EP, a collection of songs by then-17-year-old Daniel Gallup. Now that young man is a college graduate with an acoustic album under his belt and a new EP on the way.
Today is my beloved mother’s 75th birthday, and my family is lucky (and COVID-free) enough to spend the weekend with her in a rented house to celebrate.
This tribute song and video was created by her very talented grandchildren, and is performed by one of them, my nephew Daniel Gallup, whose work I have featured here in the past. Daniel’s older sister Madison edited the video.
Closing things out on the excellent Daniel Gallup EP is a contemplative acoustic track, ‘Start of Something New.’
This song picks up where ‘Closing Time’ left off, with a little introspective soul searching. It features Gallup’s finest lyrics of the set, especially in the lovely final verse: ‘I think I’m most myself when I’m just acting like a child / And I’ve got time / I think I wanna drive a couple more miles / Yeah the truth is I’m in no hurry / My mind is ruthless, I always get so worried / But I’ll find serenity inside this beautiful blue / The kind of moments I want to pursue.”
What a powerful and wise statement, one that reads like a diary entry but sings like a lullaby.
Meet Me In Montauk 