A New Single From Jak Fiddler Embodies The Old-Western
- BuzzSlayers
- 41 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A new single from Jak Fiddler is like the musical depiction of an old western about a nomadic cowboy, riding on and on, trying to escape his demons. The way it all gets laid out throughout the song is outstanding, because it's so descriptive, and the music and instrumentation of everything follow suit so perfectly well to nail the aesthetic of that sort of outcast cowboy tonality and ideal.
It's pretty amazing how the song tells the story of this man who just keeps writing on, running from whatever he's running from, dealing with his own personal demons, and never really seeing an end in sight. Sleeping under old oak trees out in the desert has the wind beckons his soul to follow it somewhere.
It's a really detailed track, and the lyrics are articulated perfectly, in terms of being able to let the story unravel and unfold the way it was meant to.
It's got that old school western vibe in terms of the country tone and approach musically, with twangy guitars and a sort of bopping, horse trot style rhythm, and there's this sort of vast undertone that exists just beneath the surface that lets things feel even more cinematic and sort of distanced.
I really like all these elements because you can tell they were well thought out. None of this is accidental. This whole track was like a vision, and it was able to come to fruition very well, simply because that aesthetic again, really comes across.
The song is called "So I Ride".
There are a couple of guitar parts going on throughout a lot of the song, one sort of follows the horse trot, while the other one rings out open cords and this is a classic aesthetic for what some would consider to be vintage spaghetti westerns. Those open cords that ring out, slightly distorted but not over the top, give a sort of tension, and this is a construct that allows a visual. That rung out open cord, especially in a song like this, gives you the sensation of a vast and open landscape.
It's really just completely perfected, and it also seems authentic. The artist really delved into the story behind everything.
It's like he's someone who's done some kind of wrong or been wrong, maybe he made a deal with the devil, and that's what he's running from.
It's a little bit open to interpretation in terms of the exact sentiment, like what he's trying to get away from, but you do know that he's running from something and that he's got his demons, and that there's no end in sight. There is no home for this person.
He rests out there and in random places and then keeps moving.
There's definitely something super classic about this, and I mean that outside of the vintage spaghetti western approach. It's got a bit of an old-school country feel, and he really portrays the whole rustic tone with ease.
I do have to say, one of my favorite aspects of this track is the ending. This is because there's some amazing lead guitar solo work that goes right through the end of the track.
You don't hear too much of it throughout the rest of the track, but it is in there in bits.
It's the end of the track that really showcases this soulful lead guitar approach, and it works amazingly because it adds a little bit of an edge to the song, and I also love that it ends the song as well. The song closes out with that guitar solo, and it was just such a cool idea.
This single happens to be part of a full album called Requiem. This is a record that you should listen to all the way through from start to finish because the songs also continuously tell stories.
There are all kinds of rock aspects throughout the album, but it does lean into that massive southern tonality a lot of the time, and it feels almost like the stories interconnect with each other, sort of like a concept record.
Even if I'm wrong about the whole concept album aspect, this is certainly a record worth going through all in one shot.
There are quite a few surprises around its corners, more amazing guitar work, loads of soul, again, more stories to tell, and it's all done with a certain sense of heart.
A lot of this record comes out as authentic as "So I Ride".
But it also branches out in different directions. There's a lot to chew on throughout this record, so definitely grab hold of this one and dig in.
Don't forget what you heard first.
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