Hello everyone! Today is a very special day for me, hopefully if I planned this out correctly this post will go out on the day of my wedding! I am very excited for this new chapter in my life and to be spending it with an amazing man, Jacob. This week’s post is dedicated to Jacob, thank you for always supporting me in everything I do and loving me no matter what.
For this week’s blog post I have decided to do The Wild Reeds. The Wild Reeds was first created in 2010 by Sharon Silva, Kinsey Lee, and Mackenzie Howe. Later on bassist and drummer Nick Phakpiseth and Nicholas Jones joined the band. As of right now there isn’t a lot of information on the band, but I will give you all that I have. The Wild Reeds is an indie folk band from Los Angeles, California. In 2016 they were signed to a Nashville, TN record label, Dualtones. They have three albums that are: Blind and Brave (2014) that was self-released, The World We Built (2017), and Cheers (2019). They also have several singles and EPs including live performances and cover songs. The Wild Reeds have gone on tour with some amazing artists including: Lord Huron, Langhorne Slim, Wild Child, Shakey Graves, and The Lone Bellow.
As we all know I am a lover of vocal harmonies, which is why I chose the song Fix You Up. This song came up on my Spotify Discover Weekly and I knew that it would be a great addition to Lydia’s Girls. I also think they are a great band that deserves more attention. Sharon, Kinsey, and Mackenzie sound amazing! Their voices blend so well together that it’s hard to pick out which part they are each singing. Something that I think is really cool about the song is that the vocal pitches correspond with the lyrics, also known as prosody. It is a rising and falling melodic structure that helps connect the music to the lyrics. For example, during the choruses the notes go up in pitch when they sing: “Let my love fix you up” and then goes down at: “When you’re coming undone.” After the intro chorus there is an instrumental section and a steel guitar is played; it makes the song sound dreamy. The melody for the verses descends and that also makes the song feel dreamy. During the pre-chorus the rhythm changes which helps the song move forward but also mixes it up so it sounds different from the rest of the song. The lyrics are so unique: “‘Cause the silver strings from my heart from yours sends signals back and forth. And when we’re apart if you listen close they play our favorite chord.” I think that is such a good line! It is so creative and nobody has ever put it like that before. The song also picks up more during the bridge and the instrumentation becomes more groovy. This leads perfectly back to the pre-chorus. At the final chorus I love how the song builds up and gets more energy. Then the instruments fade away to how the intro sounded in the beginning.
I hope you all have a lovely rest of your week, and if you have time make sure to check out more music by The Wild Reeds. They are definitely a band you want on your music radar.
Author: Lydia MacDavid
Chief Editor: Jacob Tomeny