Easing us in with enigmatic and poetic electric guitar, fused with electric bass and polished brass, John Engel opens his latest release, How Cool Is Cool with the lyrics “Used to be feared, used to be respected and so cool, in those hot days when you were big and known in school…”

The narrative of the song tells the story of a high school jock and how perception can change over time.

Speaking on the track, John says “There once was a high school quarterback… He was the star on the field, the guy every girl wanted, the guitarist in the band. And then school was over, and he was never cool again. I knew a guy like that. I wrote this song about him.”

The vibe of the track is upbeat and cerebral touching upon deep themes of self-reflection such as relevancy, suicide, mental health and is laced with wisdom. He questions, “how cool is cool when you’re freezing by forty?”

Speaking on his creative intention, John says, “We wanted to channel a classic vibe with this track, with a groove and thrust that reminded us of Muscle Shoals.”

We love the instrumentation, the musical interludes are refined and we particularly love the backup vocals from Chantal Kashala who really dimensionalises the track with her harmonies and responses, giving us lots of depth.

John’s influences span the gamut of 20th century popular music, from jazz and blues to folk and surf. Some of the references one might glean from listening to his songs are James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, early Chicago, Paul McCartney, Carole King, among others.

How Cool Is Cool has been added to our New Music Spotlight playlist and are also streaming Without A Voice, unplugged!

The post John Engel releases dimensional and cerebral debut single, How Cool Is Cool appeared first on KIMU.