Lyons & Co has released their new single titled ‘Look Like Now’ from their upcoming album ‘Southern Rock & Nicotine’. What if you took the edge of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” mixed it with Martina McBride’s honesty, and then added an anthemic feel with a rockabilly delivery?
You’d probably get something along the lines of “Looks Like Now”.
Meet Lyons & Co: AKA singer-songwriter Bridget Lyons.
Lyons is known for making original Americana songs with a new twist. Sometimes, her tunes are mixed with R&B and other times, they’re infused with blues or Southern rock.
As for this release? It has some tasty twangs to it. But “Look Like Now” isn’t only a song, it’s a story. In this single, Lyons harkens back to country tunes of old with its long-form style tale of heartbreak and independence.
As the bright-timbre electric guitar makes its first statement and the tambourine crescendos into vocals and a bold beat, we get the sense that we are phasing into a dramatic scene…
Only two lines in and we feel swathes of feminine rage, omnipresence… The gruff edges of the rock-country sound mix with Lyon’s saccharine, warm voice. It’s like a sweet orange wedge squeezed into whiskey and two dashes of bitters.
After Lyons paints the backdrop, she begins to ask:
He’s begging, but all she has to say is: “It doesn’t look like much to me!”
The song continues with this self-assured and sassy Southern vibe. A blaring organ makes its cameo and trades a solo seamless with the lead electric guitar.
By the time we reach the double chorus, the melody becomes an earworm we’ll be left with for days.
At last, the song decrescendos out with the tongue-in-cheek line…“I’m still smokin’ my weed…”
“Looks Like Now” is a pre-release from Lyons & Co’s upcoming album Southern Rock & Nicotine.
Q&A
Is “Looks Like Now” based on a real/lived experience?
Yes, every song is a true story. This album tells, loudly, the stories usually told in hushed voices covering heavy subjects like adultery, addiction but also the gorgeous counterparts like redemption and emancipation.
What is the key to coming up with such a catchy melody?
I never intend to come up with anything catchy, but I have a joy in storytelling that luckily makes it way to the song.
What other sonic flavors are inside Southern Rock & Nicotine?
I think of this album as gumbo of sounds each holding their own. Definitely elements of southern rock, folk, and gospel.
Do you tend to start with the story or the music in your songwriting?
Typically they unfold together as one, and if I am fast enough I can get my phone when it happens and record the initial creations of a song so I have something to reference when I finally have a guitar in my hand.
Your harmonies in “Looks Like Now” feel very locked in and natural- how do you think about vocal harmony when you are multitracking?
The harmonies are there from inception. Growing up singing in choir and with my sister, harmonies live in every song I write as a to-be-expected element. They are as much an instrument as any other and can often times be the most powerful part of the song instrumentally.
If you ever wrote a part 2 to this song, what would happen to both of the characters in it next?
Since my songs are true stories it would be hard to say but I am a believer in Karma and eventually the self righteous and the sinners all eat crow at the same table.