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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?

n80
n80 OP
2,134 posts
 

@stuartk Gave it a brief listen. I like what I’m hearing. Will dig deeper.

@acman3 I’ve listened to Jason Isbell a little bit and for some reason he just hasn’t hooked me in. Are their songs you particularly like? I'll give them a listen.

But that brings up another issue. There are several artists that I love and listen to all the time like Mark Knopfler and Neko Case who put out lots of albums some of which I can’t find a single song that I like and other albums that are all time favorites of mine. So with any artist with a body of work like that you might listen to two or even three albums, give up on them, and miss amazing stuff.

And I’ll admit, I’m an impatient listener. If a song doesn’t hook me in right away I tend to move on. That’s not always fair to the song.......but most of the time it is.

daledeee1's avatar
daledeee1
638 posts
 

Usually, in Qobuz, I can scroll to the bottom and find suggestions or similar artists.  This much better than letting them hand me a playlist. 

Meanwhile, if you like Americana or country, there are more male singers.  There have been several who have made it big.  Tyler Childress, Sturgill Simpson, Zack Bryan.  Heartfelt lyrics with good stories, or bad.  Sturgill especially has jumped around .  He is a dynamic emotional singer and good guitar player.  Good recordings.  Try Turtles All the Way Down you can continue the album if that hits ya.  Album: Meta Modern Sounds 

simao's avatar
simao
1,928 posts
 

Maybe because the whole Paradigm of the band of musicians with the alpha front male is fading away. Just as the big band paradigm with the 30 musicians fronted by the charismatic male instrumentalist has also faded away. Just as the doo-wop group morphed into boy bands which have also started to fade away. Yeah, I agree that a lot of the singers, especially the female ones, tend to sound like clones. But just about every '80s hair metal vocalist sounded exactly the same, just as every 90s grunge singer sounded pretty much the same. It's a formula and it's what the public wants at the moment.

stuartk
3,510 posts
 

@n80 

I hope you mean "watching", as that particular video shows the band at its best!

;o)

 

 

larsman's avatar
larsman
2,444 posts
 

@simao + 1, but I wouldn't say it IS fading away, I'd say it HAS faded away - still there, of course, but it's not been the predominant genre for decades. Time marches on, as do musical styles and trends. 

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