With a chorus that makes us think of what could be, if only we found a way of coming together, Nicholas Altobelli’s new single, ‘Red, White, And Blues’ is out today. It’s the new single from his ‘Vertigo’ LP, which is set for release on August 2.
Thinking maybe that it ain’t supernatural
That someday we could love one another
I know sometimes it doesn’t seem very factual
We just got to find a way to live together with these red, white, and blues
Anyone who has been paying attention to US politics the past 3 years (and to be honest, the same could be said for UK, or Australian politics as well – all of whom have been suffering from the ‘Red, White, And Blues’) will immediately relate to this song. Upbeat even somewhat jaunty in its execution, the song is a very timely track reminding us that we are the ones who will make the change. References to rainbows that can’t be prayed away; noise “stacking up on the radio waves”, and things not being very factual; much of the song is confronting without fingerpointing, and the underlying message is there and oh so simple – lets just love everyone, despite differences. It’s not that hard.
A honky tonk jangly piano and some guitar, with a waltz rhythm held in place with a brush and snare drum, ‘Red, White, And Blues’ follows in the longstanding tradition of protest songs, with Altobelli’s vocals and style reminiscent of Woody Guthrie. ‘Red, White, And Blues’ could even work as a modern version of ‘This Land Is Your Land’.
Nicholas Altobelli is based in Texas, where he’d taken a short time off from releasing music following a divorce, and returning to college to study literature, taking up a position as a high school English teacher in 2016. ‘Vertigo’ is his first full length album since the critically acclaimed 2013 long player, ‘Without A Home’, his 2014 EP, ‘Mesocyclone’, and 2015s ‘Searching Through That Minor Key’.
The eleven tracks of ‘Vertigo’ take the current state of affairs in the world, particularly in the US, and infuses by way of Americana a feeling of hope and light.
The album hasn’t just been a quick fire thing – in effect it’s been a ten year project, with one track, ‘Don’t Let The World Get You Down’ originally written in 2009, and yet still very relevant today. Other songs, ‘Odd Numbers’, and ‘Thunderstorms’, came from the ‘Mesocyclone’ EP, while still more were songs which never found their way onto a record, such as ‘Runaway Trains’, and ‘Tell Me What I Got To Do’, which missed out on a spot on ‘Mesocyclone’.
‘Go To Sleep’ was from a planned but never realised children’s folk album, while ‘Everybody Knows The Truth’, and ‘Look Out The Window’ came about as the result of studio sessions, which never made it to a full album.
Check out more from Nicholas Altobelli online on his Official Website, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
https://soundcloud.com/nicholasaltobelli/red-white-and-blues/s-cfQEC
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