Runaway Dancer available for purchase on itunes

[SinisterSmile]

I tried again, but I find it so forgettable.

It doesn't jump out in anyway, it feels more like a songwriting exercise than an actual song.

I'd rather listen to smart girls, not even joking.

[Wirestone]

Sebu co-wrote the song, so I'm pretty sure the chorus (and possibly some of the production) is his.

Brian and Joe would not attempt a song like this on their own. It seems clear to me that Brian wrote some of the melody for the verses and did a touch of vocal arranging here and there. Also, because he's an old man, he may have insisted on all the sax. I would credit Joe for a chunk of the lyrics and Sebu for the chorus and beats.

This is all speculation, of course.

[18thofMay]

I tried again, but I find it so forgettable.

It doesn't jump out in anyway, it feels more like a songwriting exercise than an actual song.

I'd rather listen to smart girls, not even joking.

That is just laughable.

[SinisterSmile]

I tried again, but I find it so forgettable.

It doesn't jump out in anyway, it feels more like a songwriting exercise than an actual song.

I'd rather listen to smart girls, not even joking.

That is just laughable.

I'd rather watch Plan 9 From Outer Space than a middle-of-the-road drama.

[HeyJude]

Sebu co-wrote the song, so I'm pretty sure the chorus (and possibly some of the production) is his.

Brian and Joe would not attempt a song like this on their own. It seems clear to me that Brian wrote some of the melody for the verses and did a touch of vocal arranging here and there. Also, because he's an old man, he may have insisted on all the sax. I would credit Joe for a chunk of the lyrics and Sebu for the chorus and beats.

This is all speculation, of course.

This sounds like a good guess on the songwriting. The only other thing I could think of is the possibility that it was largely a Brian song to start, and had a far different arrangement, perhaps just banged out on a piano, and then Sebu gave it the synthetic/beat arrangement.

The parts I like that sounds a bit more Brian-ish are the sort of jazzy chord changes that bridge the verses and choruses. I like those bits the most anyway, whoever wrote them.

The other parts do sound like the “Capital Cities” stuff I sampled on YouTube, production and arrangement-wise. I can see why the Capital Cities stuff would be popular with the current trend/taste in pop music. It’s pretty fingers-on-the-chalkboard to me, at least that “Safe and Sound” which indeed I hadn’t even known was the song I hear seemingly every time I walk through a mall.

[pixletwin]

Confirmed my suspicion upon hearing the Google play preview: definitely my least favorite song on the album.

Having listened to this song a couple more times my opinion has improved about 3%.

(At least it's an improvement.) 

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Sebu co-wrote the song, so I'm pretty sure the chorus (and possibly some of the production) is his.

Brian and Joe would not attempt a song like this on their own. It seems clear to me that Brian wrote some of the melody for the verses and did a touch of vocal arranging here and there. Also, because he's an old man, he may have insisted on all the sax. I would credit Joe for a chunk of the lyrics and Sebu for the chorus and beats.

This is all speculation, of course.

I was thinking the same think, Wirestone. The verses and transitions sound like jacked-up BW, and the chorus has a more modern feel to it. However, I feel the vocal arrangement must have made big, BW impact on the final sound.

[runnersdialzero]

this doesn't sound anything like "pet sounds 2: more pet sounds" and i got so mad about it that i hit my parole officer with a 2x4 this morning

[HeyJude]

I never trust it when fans or the actual people making the music compare it to something else. It almost *never* sounds “just like” whatever it is they say it does. We all clearly hear different things. Whether someone says TWGMTR sounds “just like Today or Summer Days” or claims Brian’s new album is like “Pet Sounds” or “So Tough” or whatever, I never assume it will, because it almost never does, stylistically or musically. It just sounds like Brian cutting stuff now, and usually has little musical bits that are reminiscent (or lifted) from old stuff. 

[Fro]

Pretty good stuff.  Love hearing something new and more modern from Brian.

I think a remix could be a hit in da club because the hooks are really strong, but the production doesn't make it all the way there to a modern song.  Crank up the bass, a bit less 80s sax.  I like the live version better.

[Cliff1000uk]

After about 5 listens I really really like this but by God, I wish I could stop singing Easy Lover by Phil Collins over the chorus.

I doubt it will be a tune that holds the test of time but you have to give Brian credit for trying something different.
How many comments have there been about Brian's band trying to continually recreate his 'classic 60s sound'?

It's certainly not a classic but it's definitely a breath of fresh air and cheered me up this morning.

 

[brother john]

I tried again, but I find it so forgettable.

It doesn't jump out in anyway, it feels more like a songwriting exercise than an actual song.

I'd rather listen to smart girls, not even joking.

That is just laughable.

Yes, but probably not in the way you meant. At least Smart Girls tried and failed. This new song just doesn't try at all.

[runnersdialzero]

How many comments have there been about Brian's band trying to continually recreate his 'classic 60s sound'?

502,268

[Cliff1000uk]

How many comments have there been about Brian's band trying to continually recreate his 'classic 60s sound'?

502,268

Well, at least we all agree on something!

[HeyJude]

One could argue that “Runaway Dancer” is either purposely or inadvertently a case of trying to pander to modern tastes/trends in music. But I’d say “Smart Girls” was a far more obvious, and awkward, attempt to pander, and it lacked any humility to boot (“I write hit songs with the wave of a hand!”).

The only thing I’d say “Smart Girls” has going for it is that it has become part of the “Accidentally Funny” Beach Boys collection along with the “Summer Dreams” movie and the lyrics to “Hey Little Tomboy.”

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

JESUS, ever heard a song you really love and then you look and like TONS of people hate it? That seems like this for me. SMART GIRLS?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I feel like most people here just wanted more music like they were getting.
I love, and I mean like, talked a bunch with many of, Brian's backing group, but many of them did such more interesting stuff before Brian. And this feels like they all, including Brian, are FINALLY mixing it up.


Couldn't possibly dig it more, actually, I think the chorus is my least favorite part...

[guitarfool2002]

One could argue that “Runaway Dancer” is either purposely or inadvertently a case of trying to pander to modern tastes/trends in music. But I’d say “Smart Girls” was a far more obvious, and awkward, attempt to pander, and it lacked any humility to boot (“I write hit songs with the wave of a hand!”).

The only thing I’d say “Smart Girls” has going for it is that it has become part of the “Accidentally Funny” Beach Boys collection along with the “Summer Dreams” movie and the lyrics to “Hey Little Tomboy.”

Isn't pandering too strong of a negative connotation to apply, and if not, how far would the charge of pandering go across the board to include most if not all collaborations where musicians from different genres and generations decide they'd like to make music together out of a mutual interest to explore the possibilities? Musicians collaborate, musicians also listen to whats going on around them, and musicians most of all like to explore the possibilities of what exists outside of their own comfort zones or even what they're "expected" to do or sound like. I can give one or one thousand examples of musicians breaking out of their own reputation to work with other artists, and in some cases it was as simple as hearing another's work and wanting to join forces creatively to see what could develop.

On an even more basic level, it discounts the notion of the collaborators hearing each other's work, connecting with it, and having a situation come available where they could make music together, so they did it. And in a lot of ways, having heard each other's music even if it's one great song that catches your ear, you have some idea what that other musician will be bringing to the table and you'd like to see how that would influence what you play or write in return when the forces are joined.

Pandering is a loaded word that again I think could be used in almost any collaboration in pop music if you wanted to travel down that road.

[HeyJude]

I wasn’t trying to apply “pandering” too strongly. We would never know how “calculated” such things could be. I was just looking for a word that indicates picking a style or guest artist or genre out of something other than solely artistic inspiration. It’s usually never pure pandering. Is the following scenario pandering on the part of anybody involved:

Capitol or Joe Thomas introduces Brian and Sebu, and they tackle a song from scratch or Sebu applies his “style” to some previously partially-written song. That sounds like a relatively organic collaboration. But was the motivation behind introducing Brian to Sebu partially to put something on Brian’s album that sounds more current? I think so. Is that pandering? At least one of the many definitions of the word includes “appeal to” or “cater to.” I don’t think it’s out of line to suggest a collaboration with younger artists with rather different styles from Brian’s is a case of trying to appeal to some other audience/demographic, etc. I don’t think they intend anything grandiose, which is what I find potentially appealing about these collaborations; all they do is simply raise Brian’s “cred” or visibility a bit. He isn’t going to score a hit single with this stuff. He didn’t do a whole album of autotune techno music.

Pandering can be a loaded word, and could be applied to many pieces of music. Lennon and McCartney were, by their own admission, pandering to their audience by putting all those pronouns in their early songs, “From Me to You”, “She Loves You”, etc. McCartney has said literally that part of what they were doing was writing lyrics with the underlying thought of “please buy this record.” Playing your hits in concert, that is pandering too. Writing a song like “Beaches in Mind”, that’s pandering too. Doing “Stars and Stripes”, that was certainly pandering to an audience (and failing at doing so largely).

Putting young, hip artists on Brian’s album is pandering. The pandering may result in good music, so if that happens, that’s fine. I should clarify that *someone* is to some degree pandering in making the decision to put such collaborations in gear. I think Brian is so musical and so not attuned to modern tastes and trends (wasn’t he asked around 2012 to name a modern song he liked, and he named the mid-80s song “Take My Breath Away”?) , that his participation in such collaborations probably isn’t pandering. 

It looks like they may have struck a good balance on this album, with some Brian-centric stuff where he’s following his own muse, some retro-ish stuff done with old pals, and some new stuff.

[Summertime Blooz]

In the broadest sense of the world Brian Wilson panders to the audience. He always has, he most probably always will and there's nothing wrong with that. Trying to make music that they hope people will like is how musicians can afford fancy cars and mansions.

[Wirestone]

Interesting, too, that Capitol likes the song so much that they've essentially put it out as the second single.

[joshferrell]

The Jazzy Part sounds VERY Brian to me, in fact it sounds like it may have been influenced by "Heavenly Bodies" it's actually quite similar, also that bassline during the Jazzy Part is incredible ,so My guess is that Brian wrote that part,  the synths do sound like a modern day "Love You", very quirky so he may had something to do with them..but yeah it's a simple, but catchy tune, I'm already getting it stuck in my head,,,lol,,,so that's a good thing for them.. it reminds me of Steely Dan or "Baker Street" or something like that..(Beach Boys version of "Sunshine" comes to mind with the synths) also you gotta love the Beard, he looks like the OTHER Brian Wilson...lol

[guitarfool2002]

It's dependent on how someone reads the meaning of the word pandering, where it can just as easily be taken as suggesting something was done specifically to target or latch onto a specific goal, removing the notion of that artist doing exactly what they wanted to do with whomever they chose to work with. Of course musicians who work in the music business always have an eye toward reaching a bigger audience, and those that claim they do not in terms of "art" or "integrity" could ostensibly stage a show where they appear on stage and press play on a Mac laptop and begin destroying a guitar with a hammer, and call the results the performance. I guess that could be valid too if they get people to pay to see such a thing happen on stage repeatedly. But realistically, at some point even those performance artists would probably feel the need to mix things up a bit to attract more attention to their art, and might try smashing a trombone with a mallet to "mix things up" and attract a wider audience.  

Getting back to this collaboration in particular, I detect hints of some of the sentiments from last summer when some of the news of the collaborators started to leak out, and there were some claims that went so far as to suggest these collaborations were somehow "forced" onto Brian or onto both parties free of choice.

What if - just consider - Brian himself had heard something one of the future collaborators who will appear on the new album had recorded, really liked it or connected with it, and took the lead in reaching out to that musician with an eye toward a collaboration? There were ridiculous claims about him not being aware of some of the artists, then it came out from Brian directly that his children had a hand in suggesting he work with some current artists...don't you think through them he would have heard something, and possibly liked it enough to suggest trying to arrange a working session with that artist?

Since so much is assumed already without knowing the exact way things went down, let's consider Capital Cities. When Brian was deep in the process of writing, demo'ing, planning, etc some tracks for the upcoming album, "Safe And Sound" was getting massive airplay on commercial radio and was a pretty ubiquitous hit song that you'd hear regularly. Let's assume there was a possibility that on a random drive somewhere with the family, or on a random weekend afternoon when the kids were home and listening to music, he heard that record and simply dug the sounds and the groove? "Hey, who's that?" "Oh, that's Capital Cities, Dad!".  Maybe the trumpet hook caught Brian's attention, maybe it was the analog synth rhythm bed of that track, or maybe it had nothing to do with anything like that, but it's a possibility.

So Brian being a musician of note starts asking around and getting more info, getting the ball rolling, and it turns out there is a chance to meet up with Sebu from Capital Cities. Sebu may also have been a personal fan of Brian's work, maybe even as far as considering the way Brian used analog synths and Mini-Moogs and ARP's in the 70's to create Love You and others. So they connected, and what Brian was curious about as a producer and musician was what he heard in Sebu's work and wanted to see what it was all about, like the experienced magician getting a few new tricks from the next generation. And Sebu in return gets to do what many, many musicians have wanted to experience firsthand by working on a recording in the studio with Brian Wilson, to try to catch a glimpse of what it is that creates some of that magic that many have tried to analyze and experience from afar.

Isn't that scenario as a possibility just as valid as suggesting the two artists were crammed together to sell records and appeal to other demographics and fan bases? It's not discounting at all wanting to sell records and reach bigger audiences, but it's a different angle to view how it all came together and what could have happened to lead up to a collaboration being released as a single.

At some point, the most simple explanation - whether some want to believe it or not - of an artist like Brian hearing something new that he likes through whatever means (his family, a friend sharing a link, randomly hearing something on TV, etc)  then reaching out to the artist who created that work might have been what led to some of these collaborations.

It's just a different spin on it rather than suggesting something or anything was "forced" into happening for reasons other than choice or wanting to work with someone where there is mutual admiration for their works.

[18thofMay]

There is possibly 3 or 4 new members with under 100 posts and the vast majority of the content and or context of said posts is anti everything Brian or at least new Brian stuff.

[SinisterSmile]

There is possibly 3 or 4 new members with under 100 posts and the vast majority of the content and or context of said posts is anti everything Brian or at least new Brian stuff.

Hope that doesn't include me 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

JESUS, ever heard a song you really love and then you look and like TONS of people hate it? That seems like this for me. SMART GIRLS?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I feel like most people here just wanted more music like they were getting.
I love, and I mean like, talked a bunch with many of, Brian's backing group, but many of them did such more interesting stuff before Brian. And this feels like they all, including Brian, are FINALLY mixing it up.


Couldn't possibly dig it more, actually, I think the chorus is my least favorite part...

Agreed.