If I had a boat I would sail to you

Maybe it's the build up in the chorus of James Vincent McMorrow's ravishing voice, or the subtle banjo obscured in the background that makes me stop in my tracks whenever I hear this song. It made me think of the summer captured in this picture, before everything started to unravel, when I spent a lot of time on paddle boats at sunset with nothing but the company of friends and bottles of wine and it simultaneously made me feel a familiar pang of sadness for a time, a feeling, and a person that I will never be able to replace.

"If I had a boat, I would sail to you / hold you in my arms, ask you to be true/ Once I had a dream, it died long before/ now I'm pointing north, hoping for the shore"

His voice is a cross between Sean Carey's of Bon Iver and Jose Gonzalez and it might make you want to cry when you hear him sing these lyrics about a love that can't work. I've listened to a lot of this LP titled Early in the Morning on soundcloud, and his other songs are a bit on the happier side but his affecting voice always shines through. I know I will be buying this when it is released on January 25th, there are some seriously good tracks that will keep you coming back. Keep your eye out for this Dubliner. 

James Vincent McMorrow - If I Had a Boat

official | stream/buy

A huge thanks to Kyle at Music Savage for this find.

Delta Spirit - Bushwick Blues

I am so excited for Delta Spirit's new album, History from Below, coming out June 8th. So far a few songs have been (unintentionally?) leaked on the internet and you can get "Bushwick Blues" and "911" if you want to search for them, but I'm pretty sure they are there illegally so you can listen to "Bushwick Blues" on their myspace. While you are there you can check out their tour dates for this summer, it's pretty extensive. They will make an appearance at the Middle East (Cambridge, MA) on June 28th, I will be there. It's going to be a really fantastic summer album, you can tell just by looking at the cover art. That is assuming you judge things by their covers like I do. It screams "awesome summer album for driving to the beach with the windows down and volume up" right? Right.

I loved their last album, "People C'mon", is a song from it that we have mentioned before. They do guitar and drum driven rock with a very classic sound, no computer stuff, the way rock & roll should be. It's nice to know that music like this still exists, thank you Delta Spirit.

"911" is a perfect song about the current times with lyrics, "the folks back east they say the market's fine/ I heard that before in 1929" and other politically charged bits and pieces. "Bushwick Blues" gets played on repeat a lot because it has a fast tempo and well written hooks about a love that's hard to get over. I give this band one of my highest recommendations. I like it so much that I took the time to transcribe the lyrics of my favorite verses just for you (sorry if I botched them). Plus that way I got to play it on repeat some more. During SXSW, Delta Spirit did an acoustic recording of Bushwick Blues that you can watch in the video below. For the more upbeat album version listen on myspace. Hope you like it!

Hold on to my hand 

Never let go, never let go,

We were just two kids, acting tough, 

Well then we grew up, me not so much

All the other guys, that you see, 

are nothing compared  to me, 

because my love is strong and my heart is weak after all. 

(skipped a verse)

To the other side of the states return,

I met a young girl, well I couldn't manage her, 

Because I think of you in every girl I meet, 

It's no relief, it sounds to me, just as sweet,

So maybe I'm a fool for feeling used,

But the way we kiss at night I thought you knew,

Cause my love is strong, and my heart is weak afterall