Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends' music is a smile on its face, the truth in its heart. Sing-Along Songs (Album Version) has that quality starting from its first seconds. It's loud, bright and slightly cheeky and it's like it's going to draw you in before you realise you want to stay with it.
The guitars come in real quick and start to ring out, and the drums push everything along like a friend tugging your sleeve. Then the voice comes quietly and clearly, as if it has a lot to say, but not so much that it has to shout. Long before the first chorus, I was nodding my head. It has a bounce in its step throughout.
I love the people who are playing inside of it. There are additional voices in the later choruses, and all of a sudden it's not just one man singing, it's a roomful of them. Co-producer David Myhr contributes his own vocals that you'll be hearing for days to come. You're in the mood to sing along, and the song is definitely asking you to sing along.
It's a lot of fun but there's some serious weight under it. The song appears to know that bad times call for something to shout together. It's difficult to hold both at the same time, but here it feels natural to do so. Never lectures or sulks. The newer version is more in line with the song's original intent - each instrument is given its own space, no instrument is competing for that space.
Alien Friend was previously a member of the band Redmoon, playing guitar and singing. You can hear that experience in the relaxed tone he communicates in. He's borrowing from old records without dwelling in the past, and he's chasing his curiosity from album to album, the way an independent artist should do it. He's playing free.
This is music that is created by a person who is in love with what they does and has faith in the listener to feel the same. Place on high, call over a friend and let it do its job. I remember why I loved guitars in the first place with songs like these. It was generous, full of life and it made me smile for a long time after it was done.
