The modern music industry is in a state of multiplicity. The contemporary age we live in has supplied budding musicians with the ability to pursue a diverse spread of genres and the recent social networking boom has made it easier than ever. The music scene in recent years has been fixed in a constant state of uncontrollable evolution – as society changes, so does its soundtrack. A vast amount of musical avenues are being explored and an audience for your style will always be there – you just need to find them, maintain their interest, and hold onto your appeal.
But has the music industry begun to stagnate? Recent statistics show that, since 2011, total revenue generated by music sales has decreased by 3% – are the public getting bored? We all like dance music and there’s always that gem that knocks everything else from the charts, but producers have noticed the current interest and run with it and are starting to churn out track after generic track. Music has always been a business, but it should never lose its passion – something needs to be done and what better means of rekindling the flame than a refreshing burst of originality from the hands of non-commercialism.
You probably won’t have ever heard anything quite the same as Listener before. Formed in 2007 in Arkansas, the experimental band is pioneering the spoken word ‘talk music’ scene. Consisting of friends Dan Smith and Christin Nelson, Listener builds on vocalist Dan’s College indie/hip-hop project ‘Deepspace5’ and the duo are storming a path through the industry with several albums already under their belts.
Listener’s work is a collaboration of powerful, hard-hitting poetic lyrics delivered by the strikingly-coarse accent of Dan Smith, tied in with bitterly relaxing guitar, weeping in the hands of Christin Nelson. When required, percussion is handled by drummer, Kris Rochelle. The South-American duo, who produce and mix releases themselves, sign with the disclaimer that they create ‘honest music from the heart’, stating that it isn’t tweaked and filtered to what the public want, it simply stands true to the emotions of those who wrote it.
“Sometimes you can’t stop me, I’ll write a song about something if I want” bleeds vocalist Dan Smith, mid-set in London at the head of a select crowd before playing 2012 single ‘Wooden Heart’.
He’s quite right. Listener’s often poignant lyrics, laden with vivid metaphors, hit home hard with strangely relatable connotations. Recommended to those who are fans of rock, indie, hip-hop and spoken poetry, Listener’s work will assist you in being able to look at life’s everyday occurrences in remarkably different ways.
With the first instalment of their wittily-named ‘Minotour’ (pronounced Mini-tour) ringing in as a huge success, Listener have big plans for 2013 with dates to be announced across Europe and new, reportedly heavier album pounding public ears later in the year. Check them out at http://iamlistener.com/.
