Willow Smith and Travis Barker’s bombastic “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” stays on top of my Weekly Top 30 for a second week, with Lord Huron’s gorgeous “Mine Forever” knocking on the back door. Cold War Kids enter the top 10 with their rousing “What You Say”, and British band The Zangwills anthemic “Never Looked Back” continues it’s climb up the chart to #11. Glass Animals leap eight spots to #22 with their delightful “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)”, while Billy Idol’s “Bitter Taste” jumps five spots to #23. It’s taken me a while to get into Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats’ latest single “Survivor”, which debuts at #30.
One of my very favorite indie bands is Los Angeles-based duo Ships Have Sailed. The brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Will Carpenter, who originally formed the band in 2012 with a few other musicians who’ve come and gone over the succeeding years, Ships Have Sailed has for the past five years or so consisted of just him and drummer Art Andranikyan. They play a pleasing style of alternative pop-rock characterized by beautiful melodies, intelligent, uplifting lyrics, and sublime arrangements and instrumentation. I love their music, and have written about several of their songs on this blog over the past three years. Two of them – “Escape” in 2019 and “Breathe” earlier this year – have reached #1 on my Weekly Top 30, with “Escape ranking #19 on my Top 100 Songs of 2019 list. And their last single “Take My Money” is currently enjoying an extended run on my Weekly Top 30. On September 30th, they dropped a brand new single “Love in October“, which is so special, I’ve chosen it as my New Song of the Week.
Will told me the song and its accompanying video were born out of both a long daydream of his, and their 2020 tour that was abruptly cut short by the Covid pandemic. He elaborates: “A lot of my songs come from a real, personal experience, [but] that actually isn’t the case here. This loss I’m describing in ‘Love In October’ didn’t happen in real life, it happened in a long and involved daydream (kind of a waking nightmare if you will) that prevented me from making a series of decisions that would have led straight to the actual situation. I’m grateful for that and for the fact that such a beautiful song came out of it.”
One of the many things I like about Ships Have Sailed is that every song of theirs sounds uniquely different. Some of them, like “Escape” and “Breathe”, are uplifting ballads, while “Skin” has a laid-back folk vibe, and “Take My Money” is fun, bouncy pop. “Love in October” is one of their most musically complex songs yet, with a dramatic blend of cinematic and alternative rock elements that make it particularly compelling.
The song begins with a gorgeous orchestral instrumental intro that slowly builds into an almost religious experience. At about 55 seconds in, a rather haunting guitar note enters as the song transitions to a mid-tempo beat, accompanied by the introduction of bass, percussion and more guitar. Will’s beautiful vocals are heartfelt and vulnerable as he gently sings to a loved one, admitting he’s made mistakes and asking her to not abandon their relationship “Don’t walk away, I want you back. It seems I’ve stumbled in the wrong direction, on the train but off the track again. Ooh, I’d do anything to keep the leaves from falling. You know I’m all in.” When the chorus arrives, the song explodes into a full-fledged rock track, with blazing guitars, driving bass and Art’s aggressive drumbeats. Will’s vocals rise with emotion along with the more intense instrumentals as he fervently implores “How did we get here, love in October. Same old sun is so cold. But I don’t wanna let go.”
“Love in October” is a stunning track from start to finish. The gorgeous instrumentation and vocals, dramatic arrangement and flawless production make it one of their best songs yet.
With regard to the video, in March 2020, after much planning and preparation, Ships Have Sailed embarked on what was to be a 10-show tour across the Southwestern U.S. with fellow L.A. band Quitting Whitney. After playing only the first show in Las Vegas, their tour came to an abrupt halt the next day as Covid suddenly began spiraling out of control. Will explained “When we realized (in Denver) that our tour was going to completely fall apart, we had a choice to make: turn around and slump back to LA, or follow our non-refundable tour route and create as much content as possible along the way…really telling our story. We were sharing a van and all gear with another duo (Quitting Whitney) and we all agreed to find a silver lining and create some content and art along the way. We outlined two music video treatments on our way from Denver to Albuquerque, one for them and one for us, and I had Danny (my co-producer on ‘Love In October’) print me the rough production of the song (which wasn’t even totally finished yet) so we could have playback.”
Each band shot video of the other playing their instruments at the AirBnB where they were staying, while the owner, who was staying in an adjacent guest house, thankfully didn’t mind the noise. They captured film footage from the road, and managed to turn a ‘ruined’ tour into something of an adventure, making two new friends in Matt and Ryan of Quitting Whitney along the way, and Will and Art becoming closer through the experience as well. Will also said that this is their first video that his wife Payal (via their wedding photos) has ever been willing to appear in.
I just love “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l”, wherein 20-year-old WILLOW (the daughter of actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, for those who don’t already know) goes off on fake and duplicitous people with scathing lyrics, raging guitars and the pummeling drumbeats of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. The lead single from her fourth solo studio album Lately I Feel Everything, it’s my new #1 song this week, displacing twenty øne piløts’ “Saturday”, which falls to #2. Entering the top 10 is “Take the L” by Texas alt-rock band Roadkeeper, one of my favorite indie bands who’ve become regulars on my Weekly Top 30. “Take the L” is their fourth song to appear on my list, all of which have made the top 10. Two songs make their debut this week: “Colorado” by German alternative pop-rock band Milky Chance, and the delightful “I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)” by British electro psych-pop band Glass Animals.
Not a lot of changes on this week’s Top 30. twenty øne piløts hold the top spot for a second week with “Saturday”, while Willow Smith’s rousing kiss-off anthem “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l”, closes in at #2 and Lord Huron’s “Mine Forever” climbs two spots to #3. Two songs enter the top 10: “Gang of Youth’s “the angel of 8th ave.” and Cannons’ “Bad Dream”. The lone debut track this week is “Bitter Taste”, a comeback of sorts for 65-year-old Billy Idol. It’s good to have him back on one of my music lists after a long absence. The autobiographical song addresses his near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1990, in which he nearly lost his right leg.
twenty øne piløts have been my favorite band since around 2015, and though I’m not quite as enamored with their latest album Scaled And Icy as I am with their previous offerings Trench, Blurryface and Vessel (all masterpieces in my not so humble opinion) I do love two of its tracks: “Shy Away” (which spent 3 weeks at #1 on my Weekly Top 30 this past May), and “Saturday”. Though much more pop-oriented than a lot of their previous music, “Saturday” is a sweet tune with an irresistible dance groove, and my new #1 song this week, dislodging The Neighbourhood’s “Stargazing” after a two-week run. Otherwise, no other significant changes to this week’s list. Possible future #1’s are Willow Smith’s bombastic gem “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l”, which climbs a spot to #4 and Lord Huron’s gorgeous “Mine Forever”, which climbs two spots to #5. Debuting this week are three songs: “Talk to Me” by Canadian alt-rock band Bealby Point, the trippy “Pigs in the Sky” by electronic artist Grabbitz, and “How Not to Start a Fight” by Welsh singer-songwriter Caitlin Lavagna.
L.A. band The Neighbourhood hold the top spot for a second week with their beautiful single “Stargazing”. Moving up to #2 is “Missing Piece” by Vance Joy. Though I’ve liked the Australian singer-songwriter ever since hearing his 2014 hit “Riptide”, it took a while for “Missing Piece” to grow on me. But it’s such a sweet love song, it’s hard not to like it. A band I’ve really come to love is Lord Huron, and their song “Mine Forever” leaps 14 spots to #7. Imagine Dragon’s poignant “Wrecked” jumps 10 spots to #9. Debuting this week are “Freak” by L.A. band Surf Curse and “Never Looked Back” by British alt-rock band The Zangwills.
I’m going to try something different for my Weekly Top 30 posts. Because they get little engagement, I’ll start providing a brief narrative introduction at the beginning to hopefully generate a bit more interest.
After Two Feet’s four-week-long reign at the top with his darkly smoldering “Devil”, Los Angeles alternative rock band The Neighbourhood take over the top spot with their dreamy love song “Stargazing”. Ever since the release of their gorgeous monster hit “Sweater Weather” in 2013 (which ranks at #4 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s), The Neighbourhood have been one of my favorite bands. I love just about every song they’ve released, and I’m happy to see them still flourishing after eight years. The sweet video shows the band as their alter-egos Chip Chrome & The Mono-Tones, and features cameos by Lana Del Rey, Blake Griffin, Jaden Smith, Benny Blanco, Devon Carlson, Mac DeMarco and Alexa Demie.
Debuting on this week’s list are “NDA” by Billie Eilish and “Hush” by The Marías.
STARGAZING – The Neighbourhood (2)
DEVIL – Two Feet (1)
MISSING PIECE – Vance Joy (4)
SATURDAY – twenty øne piløts (5)
LIKE I USED TO – Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen (3)
