Dave Goddess is an artist that holds to a singular belief—that real music needs to express passion and truth. It doesn’t have to be lofty; it just has to be genuine.
“Making music is a voluntary act. Nobody’s put a gun to my head and said ‘write that song or else.’ I don’t even know why I do it other than to please myself, and that’s pretty hard to do. Hopefully an audience can connect with the things that matter to me and hear something that matters to them. And I never make musical choices in search of popularity. That might be a bad career move, but I don’t care.”
Those sensibilities inform Goddess’ upcoming album, Back in Business. Written during lockdown in his native New York City, he describes it as songs about “rebirth, religion, time, freedom, and gratitude with a healthy dose a fun thrown in.”
The music is both moving and memorable, occasionally frayed around the edges, while also remaining simple and straightforward. It’s anthemic and exhilarating one moment, intimate and vulnerable the next, and yet it remains raw, imperfect and determined throughout.
In crafting the record, Goddess has tapped into some pretty traditional sounds—acoustic guitars, fiddle, pedal steel, slide, accordion, and Hammond organ. Lyrically, the emphasis was placed on what Goddess describes as “open-ended storytelling.” “I put it out there, but it’s up to the listener to fill in the blanks and complete the story. Make it you own–hell, half the time I don’t know exactly what they’re about anyway.”
Today Glide is excited to premiere the standout track “Automatic Slim.” The twangy tune brings you back to 70s country-rockers like Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, Neil Young, and, naturally enough, Bob Dylan, all of whom Goddess cites as references. The poignant lyricism tells the kind of timeless tale of a down and out character who you could easily see inhabiting a song from one of those aforementioned acts. The presence of a pedal steel and the simple acoustic strumming give the song a mournful tone that fits the lyrics and gets accentuated by the vocal harmonies.
Goddess describes the inspiration behind the track:
“Automatic Slim is a song about a philosophical guy with poor impulse control. He’s just gotten out of jail and the world is wearing him down, but he won’t give in. I was working on the lyrics while walking around my neighborhood trying to figure out what his name might be when I saw a bar called Automatic Slim’s. Aha…”
LISTEN:
One Response
Killer song! Looking forward to hearing the rest of the album!