Sinatra, Perry Como, Englebert Humperdink (Can't write his name without giggling)...
I love those men!
Um, not in a prison way.
In a Viking way.
Where are the front men? (Rant)
I've been in a slump for a while trying to find new music. I use Qobuz and it does an abysmal job of suggesting music for me. So I browse their playlists.
Today I ran through their "Ones to Watch in 2025", mostly in the pop, rock, indie, Americana, R&B and soul categories. Probably listened to 50 or 60 songs....or parts of them.
I noticed across all the genres mentioned above that there was the absolute lack of male singers with good or interesting voices. This was for two reasons. The first is that the male singers I heard weren't interesting. The second is that of those 50-60 songs I'd say at least 75% had female lead singers.
I have nothing against female singers but amongst the ones I listened to most of them sounded identical. Its this sort of breathless, emo sounding, slightly slurred, slightly little girl inflection often with a touch of L.A. or Detroit ghetto affectation. Song after song after song across all those genres. (Jazz seems to be spared from this blight).
I don't know who started this trend among female singers. Courtney Burnett (who I find entertaining at times) maybe? Hannah Reid of London Grammar (not as bad as most of these but still)? Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) further back? I don't mind a smattering of it but it seems like its all you can hear from female vocalists these days.
So where are the front men? Where are the guys with big voices, great range and dynamics? Charisma, swagger, stage presence? A thing of the past maybe?
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I'm really into the crooners of the 50's, 60's, all the music I tried to hate in my youth. That was a time and place that can't be replicated, these are historical documents just as all music becomes with time. Male folk singers fit the bill as front man as well, again a time and place in the past. Contemporary rock certainly doesn't commonly have the strutting front men of the past.
I don't find myself seeking out front men in my contemporary music choices, more about the entire ensemble or band for me. |
@slaw Thanks. I will look into those. @bgross Leon Bridges blew me away with his first album. Just amazing. Have not enjoyed his follow up albums. I do love his work with Khruangbin. I have not listened to JJ Grey in a long time. Seems like he wasn't doing much for a while. I'll take a look and see what he's been up to because I really like his older stuff. I've got one of St. Paul and the Broken Bones CDs but I can only handle Janeway for a few songs at a time. Never given Bruno Mars a chance. Maybe I should. As far as the crooners, sure, I like them. Tom Jones, yep, grew up listening to him because my mom had his records. But, I'm not saying that there haven't been great front men. Plant, Mercury, Jagger, Daltry.....the list is endless. What I was referring to was new stuff. Last few years and up and coming stuff. There just seems like a vacuum. I've mentioned these before but if you want to see swagger and chops look into a band called The Struts. Luke Spiller is like a Mercury/Jagger mashup. Look at their first two albums escpecially the second. Third album is terrible. Fourth one is so-so. They been around for about 10 years. Got big about 5 years ago. Then there is MacSaturn. Lead singer Carson Mac channels Jagger but is smoother. They just released their first album last year the day before their brand new keyboard player got arrested for molesting a minor and they are currently in limbo. They are magic live. Check out their first album Hard to Sell. Great songs. Well produced. Hope they recover from their set back. |
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