Last week I wrote about predicting Gotye would be a one-hit wonder much to Madison’s dismay, and then seeing a Gotye song on her list of all-time favorites.
Today, history repeats itself. I left Vance Joy out of that first group of posts about future one-hit wonders, but mentioned him a few weeks later as a name I forgot to include. Madison didn’t chime in then, but she named a song by the Australian singer-songwriter on her Top 25.
‘From Afar’ was the debut single from Vance Joy’s 2014 album Dream Your Life Away. It’s a pining portrait of unrequited love that kicks into another gear during its yearning outro.
The song was eclipsed by the success of second single ‘Riptide,’ which became the longest-charting single in Joy’s home country of Australia and enjoyed worldwide success.
I’m not sure why Vance Joy dodn’t come to mind when I wrote about future one-hit wonders a few weeks back. His ‘Riptide’ didn’t make a huge splash in the U.S. (it peaked at #30 on the Hot 100) but it got a lot of airplay and struck the same indie-pop nerve as ‘Somebody That You Used To Know’ and ‘Take Me To Church.’
Two songs in my top ten found me not through the Billboard charts but another mainstream musical source — The Voice.
Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ had enjoyed moderate success since its release on an EP but a performance by Team Gwen on the popular vocal competition brought it wide exposure.
Meet Me In Montauk 