Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen
(October 29, 2020) Aaron Frazer knows how to bring a contemporary vision to some old school soul and funk. If you are familiar with the band Durand Jones and the Indications, then you know that Frazer is that band’s drummer and that he also shares lead vocals duty, adding a sweet and soulful falsetto to Jones’ power packed and gravelly baritone. Frazer steps into the spotlight alone on his new single “Bad News,” which is featured in an artsy video in this First Listen.
With a funky, slow walking bass line serving as the foundation around which an electric organ, flute and soul inspired guitars work their magic, “Bad News” is a song that has a timely message at a time when people willfully ignore the warnings about everything from climate change to systematic racism to the virus that has claimed more than a quarter million lives and counting.
(October 29, 2020) Aaron Frazer knows how to bring a contemporary vision to some old school soul and funk. If you are familiar with the band Durand Jones and the Indications, then you know that Frazer is that band’s drummer and that he also shares lead vocals duty, adding a sweet and soulful falsetto to Jones’ power packed and gravelly baritone. Frazer steps into the spotlight alone on his new single “Bad News,” which is featured in an artsy video in this First Listen.
With a funky, slow walking bass line serving as the foundation around which an electric organ, flute and soul inspired guitars work their magic, “Bad News” is a song that has a timely message at a time when people willfully ignore the warnings about everything from climate change to systematic racism to the virus that has claimed more than a quarter million lives and counting.
Frazer said that he wrote “Bad News” about a year ago in relation to one of the aforementioned crises: “I wrote ‘Bad News’ last November, originally as a song about climate change - a threat that feels so big, so existential, that sometimes it's easier for us to just look away. But today, I think it's taken on a new meaning. It's become a song that gives voice to the things everybody is experiencing right now: isolation, and figuring out how to get through our daily life in the face of relentless bad news.”
Frazer recorded the tune in Nashville and he brought together a bevy of talented musicians, including members of The Memphis Boys, who backed Dusty Springfield on “Son of a Preacher Man” and Aretha Franklin on “Natural Woman, symphony percussionist Sam Bacco and musicians from the Daptone/Big Crown Records. Oh, and he tapped
Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys to produce the track, so the quality is not at all surprising. Check out the video for “Bad News” here.
By Howard Dukes
Aaron Frazer - "Bad News"