1. Make It Better by Anderson .Paak, Smokey Robinson
Make It Better is one of those extremely rare songs that I never get tired of hearing. The second single off of Anderson .Paak’s 2019 album Ventura, this track skips the puppy love trope so often exalted in music and instead looks at the real experience of keeping a relationship going once the honeymoon phase is over.
Paak sings both earnestly (“When you take somebody for your own / it can’t survive on history alone”) and with a playfulness that keeps the song lighthearted and flirty (“Go to a place that we don’t know so well / It be nice, add a lil’ spice”). The lyrics are so sweet and genuine.
But beyond that appeal, Make It Better is also just one hell of a groove. With the help of Smokey Robinson’s vocals, Paak captures the soulful energy of old school Motown and mixes it with the fresh, funky style that he’s known for.
2. Hearts and Bones by Paul Simon
Picking one from the past, I heard Paul Simon’s Hearts and Bones for the first time recently thanks to LÉON sharing the classic track to her insta story. (God bless people who do so.)
The title track of his sixth solo album in 1983, Hearts and Bones is the soft folk goodness for which Simon can always be counted on. It's one of several songs that he wrote autobiographically about his relationship with Carrie Fisher --- and she seems to have been quite a happy muse, later writing in her memoir: “If you can get Paul Simon to write a song about you, do it, because he is so brilliant at it.”
Over the course of Hearts and Bones he sings about “the arc of a love affair”, beginning with two people being married. Over time, they lose touch with one another (“Why won’t you love me / for who I am where I am?”) and “return to their natural coasts” – go their separate ways.
Now apart, their story waits to be continued – “the arc of a love affair waiting to be restored” --- until the final lines brilliantly tie everything together, as Simon reveals that the lives of two people in love will always remain entwined, even after their parting: “You take two bodies and you twirl them into one / Their hearts and their bones / And they won’t come undone.”
I get shivers every time I listen. It’s no wonder that the song is one of Simon’s own favourites.
3. Thinking ’Bout Love by Wild Rivers
For transparency's sake I'll start here by admitting a major bias for Wild Rivers: the band was formed at Queen’s University (my now-alma mater) and is based in Toronto (my hometown). But I have no doubt that beyond my personal obsession, they’re an incredibly talented foursome and can always be depended on for classic, feel-good folk.
Thinking ‘Bout Love was one of the first singles released this year before their recent EP Songs to Break Up To – a lousy title for an EP, yes, but not reflective of its quality.
This song is infectious as hell. It effortlessly overlaps folk and pop, with the voices of main singers Khalid and Devan playing off each other perfectly, and they even experiment with some gospel harmonies for a final culmination of energy towards the end.
Khalid once explained that the band didn’t look far for backup singers: “On the last day of recording, everyone involved in the project – the bad, co-writers, our producers – all gathered around a mic and sang this part together. It felt fitting with the tone of the song to wrap up this record singing with the people we love.”
It's actually very fitting that Thinking 'Bout Love and Make It Better end up (unplanned) on the same SotW: both songs root for sticking it out in a relationship, even when the “light goes off."
4. Girl in Calico by Tow’rs
A hidden gem of a band, Tow’rs are melody masters of strings-assisted folk. First teaming up as strangers, the band’s now-married front couple Kyle and Gretta Miller were brought together purely by their mutual “deep love for music and storytelling”. Since their music debut a few years back, they’ve picked up a devoted following of listeners (among which I count myself).
Girl in Calico shows how much songwriting talent they bring to the table. They create a soundscape that is grand and celestial through the vocals and strings while also keeping to a certain quietude. It’s rare that cello plays such a defining role in a folk rhythm, but the consistent cello riff is actually one of the most beautiful features of the song.
Tow’rs doesn’t write music looking for fame or arena-filled festivals – that much is clear --- but for any calm or introspective mood, their sound is reliably good.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the Week' here.
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