Noah James Mass' rock song is one that's been lived through more than once. Misery Winter begins with a strong start, grabbing you by the shoulders and not letting go until you're in the groove.
Noah plays almost all of the instruments here, writes, produces and plays the guitar and keys, and drums and bass are added in to complete the picture. This type of control is not usually a random occurrence. It's from someone who's actually worked out what he wants his music to sound and feel like.
The verses are in a compact and well-managed pocket and the vocal lines are not fighting the music, but propping up in the pocket. The delivery is tired and worn and the voice sounds like it's not fake, it's like someone's singing about what they went through instead of what they wrote to sound like.
Then the chorus gets all in it. The melody rises and the arrangement swells behind it and the song picks up some lift, without losing the tension that was created by the rising. It never becomes too polished or too neat. The edges are not quite smooth, which is good.
The middle piece gives the song a breath before the last chorus is in full swing. It takes a lot of patience to know when to hold, and when to push, and that's part of the science of putting it together. No hurried or random actions.
The song has a distance to it, but it doesn't feel empty. There's feeling under that distance, someone struggling through and emerging the other side. It's this mix of suffering and the tender feeling that makes the song so captivating.
I returned to this one several times, and each time I heard it, I found something new that came up; a new guitar line, a new vocal change, etc. Misery Winter is a well-crafted song, and Noah James Mass is building momentum.
