CACTUS MUSIC GROUP HOW TO

(Which is about as timely as вЂњFinger on the Button,вЂќ now that I think about it that way.) Maybe I prefer вЂњStranger AgainвЂќ because itвЂ™s the more hopeful of the two, about a couple who can still recapture the magic: вЂњDonвЂ™t it feel like the first time with you holding my heart?вЂќ In вЂњCome Clean,вЂќ by contrast, the relationship is past salvaging and StewartвЂ™s long past giving up: вЂњEvery manвЂ™s heart is made for breaking, and now I done the damage too.вЂќ (On the albumвЂ™s rocking third single, вЂњRebel,вЂќ Arnez takes the lead with a similar lyric вЂ“ вЂњAnd I know I canвЂ™t go back the way it wasвЂќ вЂ“ but here the sentiment is a bit more optimistic.

CACTUS MUSIC GROUP HOW TO

Personally, I go back and forth between the title track, вЂњStranger Again,вЂќ and the lead single, вЂњCome CleanвЂќ вЂ“ great companion pieces, both about characters who realize theyвЂ™ve gone astray in their relationships and their lives, who want to hit rewind and go back to the days before things went awry, but arenвЂ™t sure how to do it. What actually is the highlight, then? There are several strong candidates different people will have different favorites. Here, itвЂ™s not even one of the albumвЂ™s four singles. A couple years later, Stewart and Mario Arnez broke away and rebranded as Blue Cactus, and itвЂ™s been all uphill ever since вЂ“ first with a self-titled debut album in 2017 that drew great buzz, then blowing up last year with a wildly popular anti-Trump single, вЂњFinger on the Button.вЂќДЄnd then in May, Stewart and Arnez put out their best record yet, maybe the best thing our local music scene has gotten all year: their second album, вЂњStranger Again.вЂќД«lending classic Americana with dreamy psychedelia, вЂњStranger AgainвЂќ opens with a bang, or rather a twang: a slide-guitar riff followed by StewartвЂ™s plaintive voice delivering the most archetypically country of opening lines, вЂњToday was the day he left you.вЂќ That opening track, вЂњBlue As The Day,вЂќ is great in itself on most albums IвЂ™ve heard this year, itвЂ™d easily be the highlight. They were a larger band, Steph Stewart and the Boyfriends, playing Festifall 2013 in support of their debut album вЂњOver the World Below.вЂќ Even then, in those early days, the spark was there their song вЂњWake Me CarolinaвЂќ still blows me away today.Д«ut that was just the beginning. The first time I heard Blue Cactus, they werenвЂ™t Blue Cactus yet. WeвЂ™ve got a terrific music scene here in Chapel Hill-Carrboro - to quote the Yardarm, вЂњThereвЂ™s too many bands in this town!вЂќ - and with all that talent around, it can be hard to stand out. As the host of Live & Local on 97.9 The Hill, I get the chance to meet lots of great local musicians and bands that IвЂ™d otherwise never have encountered.

Cactus music group