Jake La Botz offers a trip through memory lane full of nostalgia, heavy hearts, and honest reflections in “Without the Weight,” a weary yet worthwhile reconnection.
Stream: “Without the Weight” – Jake La Botz
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/655950431?secret_token=s-l2XZq” params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=true&visual=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]If Jake La Botz sounds like he’s lived a life, that’s because has: The 50-year-old singer, songwriter, and actor began his story on Chicago streets, and while he’s now based in Nashville, La Botz returned to his first home to find inspiration for his latest album. The result is a trip through memory lane full of nostalgia, heavy hearts, and honest reflections – as we hear so clearly executed in “Without the Weight,” a bittersweet reconnection with a friend.
By the bed an ashtray black and red
Full of half burnt things we said
The dead don’t stay dead long… mm hmm
Outside take another subway ride
Feelings liquified
Make the face a mess
A confession… mm hmm
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Without the Weight,” the second single off of Jake La Botz’s forthcoming sophomore album They’re Coming for Me (out October 18, 2019). Following the title track’s release on September 4th, “Without the Weight” finds La Botz in a cool, lilting crossover space between country, blues, and rock. A song the likes of which Springsteen might once have sung – albeit with a certain high-octane, glamorous swagger – La Botz’s track transforms a moment of silent reverie into a revelrous, warm occasion.
“I wrote this song at night during our last recording session. In my opinion we were in need of another catchy ear-wormy song with emotional and lyrical depth,” La Botz tells Atwood Magazine. “I came up with part of a melody and excavated old lyrics until I found something I had scribbled on a page: “naming pretty girls that we thought we knew. naming dirty towns that we stumbled through,” and knew that had to be the chorus. The rest came quickly. It’s about someone longing for an old friend to recount the freedom they shared in together before they grew up and ‘knew what they were doing‘.”
Naming pretty girls that we thought we knew
Naming dirty towns that we stumbled through
Singing songs without
the weight of carrying a tune… mm hmm
A quaint concoction of piano, vocals, guitars, and drums creates a space where each note can breathe free, and where our focus remains on story and melody. Like a pair of weary bones settling into the armchair after a long day, La Botz executes his song to feel like a massive relief – a musical weight of sorts lifting off our chests.
However we connect with old faces from the past – be it remembering certain people and their associated stories, trips traveled, or something else entirely – listeners can appreciate the way in which La Botz digs into the realms of the past without making it all about him and his life. “Without the Weight” is a light, invitation to jaunt through the halls of our past lives – a means of reconnection not only with old friends, but also our old selves.
Stream Jake La Botz’s new single exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for new album They’re Coming for Me out October 18 via Hi-Style Records!
Stream: “Without the Weight” – Jake La Botz
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/655950431?secret_token=s-l2XZq” params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&visual=true&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]— — — —
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