"Today is Today" by King Pine
Listen to this soft, beautiful song opener. Excited to share the first song from King Pine. It's the lead single "Today is The Day," from Hudson Valley songwriter James Hearne who has quickly become one of my favorite east coast singers.
Today is Today is a Bon Iver-like exit from reality. Transported and lifted away as on a cloud, I'm a child looking out the window of a moving car, my eyes squint as the sun bathes my face in warm light. The guitar work here is exquisite, the song tight and fast. This is a fleeting moment on a glorious day and the start of something pretty wonderful.
World Premiere:
A journeyman of the Philadelphia music scene (he jokingly refers to it as "a bare-knuckle indie rock scene") Hearne has made his way up and down the Atlantic,into upstate NY and through New England for shows over the last year. The results for audiences and his songwriting have been pretty inspired.
LYRICS
Raise the sails batten down the hatch
Set the table kill the fatted calf
Sweep the galleys swab the floors
Sing the songs from some forgotten war
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
Trim the trees deck the halls
Fill the holes we put into the walls
Turn down the lights turn down the bed
Make believe we didn't say the things we said
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
Everything is change
You're in and out of range
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
Raise the sails batten down the hatch
Set the table kill the fatted calf
Sweep the galleys swab the floors
Sing the songs from some forgotten war
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
Trim the trees deck the halls
Fill the holes we put into the walls
Turn down the lights turn down the bed
Make believe we didn't say the things we said
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
Everything is change
You're in and out of range
Prepare ye the way
Today is today
Coming home to stay
“None Use Swear Words” is performed entirely by Hearne and co-producer Dave Drago (Sean Barna, Tallahassee) at Drago’s 1809 Studios in Macedon, NY. It was tracked in just under twelve hours, Hearne handling all the guitars and most of the vocals and keys, Drago playing all the rest, a rapid-fire barrage of idea and execution that Hearne calls “the most gratifying studio experience I can recall.”
photo by James Orr
Hearne is a serious songwriter but he's possesses a comedian's mind, underscored by the functional (if not funny) album title, "None Use Swear Words." The functional name reflects the lack of curses used, sure, but it's also a simple way to relay the survival mode struggle creators operate in. Attention of one's audience is a desperate struggle with all that inputs and noises in this fast-paced world. The EP title effortless lends itself to copious listens from music festival producers, radio station programmers and prudish soccer Moms alike.
Short story is this is an excellent artist debut on an album with soaring singles and a funny little name. An A debut and we're certainly hoping for more of the same really soon. (Prebuy the digital-only album for just four bucks.)
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