Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day, whether you celebrate or not.
I am now more convinced than ever that the men of VoicePlay do in fact possess some sort of magical powers. Today's video is their most recent. Part of their Partwork series, this video features everyone but the Tony. One of the best perks of being a VoicePlay patron is that we get to see their videos a day or two sooner than everyone else. On the day that this video was released, I was chatting with a fellow VoicePlaya and friend about how ballads aren't really their thing. Then, later that day, an email arrived from their Patreon. Sidenote: their messages to their patrons are the greatest. They have a way of giving me the feels. Warm and fuzzy feels, to be specific. The one that accompanied this email legitimately made me "aw".
A new video - this video - was posted. I couldn't tell you what song I may have been anticipating, but seeing that it was "O Little Town of Bethlehem" came as a surprise. Leave it to them to release a slow Christmas carol on the same day we would be talking about them not doing slower songs. Their timing is quite impeccable, I must say.
As is always the case when they do a song that I'm already familar with, I was curious about what they did with it. Because if you've paid them any attention at all, you know that they're ones to reinvent a song to make it their own. I talked about this in my video spotlight on their version of "The First Noel", if you missed it. So I knew that they would do the same with this song.
What I didn't know was that this was going to be quite the departure for them as well. It's funny. Usually it seems like artists go the other direction when they try something new. As in, doing something that's more out there. Not always. Not with VoicePlay. In this case, a departure for them meant going back to the basics, in a sense. No vocal percussion; just some beautiful four part harmony. It means doing something more classic and understated and beautiful. We've never seen this side of VoicePlay and I love it.
This is my third VoicePlay post in 8 days. All three of them were Christmas related video spotlights. I linked the last one above and you can find the first one here. I decided instead to start with the silliest. From there, it was their upbeat take on a classic with almost no silliness - the little silliness that was there was at the very end. Now we have this. They have traded silliness for solemnity and they wear it well. Versatility, thy name is VoicePlay. Every time I think I finally know how incredibly talented they are, I'm wrong. And you know what? In this case? It's great to be wrong.
I want to paraphrase something my dad said when he shared this video with his friends. All of the men of VoicePlay are great lead singers who are also great at harmonizing and who sing great arrangements. That's it. That's them in a nutshell.
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is another Geoff arrangement and I think it might just be his prettiest. The perfect thing to listen to on what is hopefully a terrific Christmas day for all of you.
Watch. Listen. Enjoy.
Told you it was different. I'm not going to lie: there's a tiny part of me that was a little disappointed that this was a Partwork. I miss Tony being there, just like I would miss any of the others if it'd been any of the others. I wasn't going to mention that, but I felt like I had to. Because it seems like there's people who are unhappy about Tony missing and letting that get in the way of their enjoyment of what is truly a special piece of music.
I know. People miss Tony because they love Tony. I love him too. Is it a little sad that he's not in the video? Yes. Do I wish he was? Yes. Does that mean the video's not good because of it? No, it does not. Do I still love this? Yes! You know why? We might not have Tony, but we do have double the Geoff. Layne? He's not just present, he's actually singing. As far as I'm concerned, any time we get to hear him sing is a gift. You know who else is here? Eli's here. Earl too. Remember that VoicePlay is not made up of one man; it's made up of five. They're all so talented and wonderful. I'll happily take 4/5 of VoicePlay over no VoicePlay at all.
I've been talking a lot this past week about why I love these guys so much. Here's another reason for you. With any group I love, the group as a whole always comes first for me. But with most of them, I've had a definite favorite. That's not to say that I didn't/don't love and appreciate the other members by any means. It's just that that person stood/stands out, for whatever reason. With VoicePlay, however, I love them all pretty equally. They all take their turns as the slight favorite, but they're all great. Which is why it bugs me that there's people who will complain about Tony instead of thanking them for giving us something so beautiful. It's okay to miss him - like I said, I do too - but how about not taking that out on the others? Or him, for that matter. Pestering them about the situation will not change the situation. How about we just love them all instead?
Lecture done.
Now I want to talk about the bass dude. I don't think we've ever heard him sing like this! Oh, we hear the solid bass lines. Geoff is more than capable of producing the ridiculously low bass notes that'll make your headphones vibrate. I've had them blasting in my car and the windows will actually rattle sometimes. It's pretty fantastic, albeit slightly disconcerting when that happens. What's great about Geoff is that he never overuses those either. I've said before that he's the most musical bass I've ever heard and I'm sticking with that. But in this, we get to hear a soft and tender side of his voice that I kind of adore. It's so soothing and comforting and lovely. I mean lovely in the bassiest sense of the word. His vocal range is something else too. This is easily one of my favorite Geoff vocals ever. I'd love to hear him sing some more ballads in the future.
One of the reasons I love getting to hear him sing like this is because it's reflective of what I think is one of the best parts of his personality. He's such a good guy, you guys. He has such a good heart; you can tell from the things that he says and writes. It's not unusual for him to be a bright spot in the sea of negativity that so often clouds social media. Seriously, if you don't follow him on Twitter, you should. You can find his Twitter linked in the group Twitter account, which will be linked below. Don't get me wrong: I think all the guys are good dudes with good hearts. It's just that Geoff is pretty much their main social media guy - I think the others will get on the group accounts from time to time, but he does most of it. That's not counting what you might see him post on his own account. You take all that and factor in his voice and arranging ability and it should be easy to understand why he's my favorite bass dude.
It'd be wrong of me not to mention how beautiful Eli's voice sounds in this too. We don't generally hear him sing quite like this either and I'm all for it. Some very nice vocal runs from him too. Not a surprise; this is the King of the Vocal Run we're talking about, after all. The harmonies in this, meanwhile, are gorgeous. I love how Earl's soaring tenor cuts through. And then there's Layne! I don't know if he's aware of it or not, but there's a whole lot of us who'd love to hear him on lead for a song. Not just a line or two. Not just beautiful harmonies in a song, but an entire song. If not a whole song, maybe a verse? If we ask really nicely, you know with sprinkles and Twinkies on top?
You know what else I would absolutely love? Along with a bunch of other people, I think? A Partwork featuring our incredibly talented rhythm section. That's right, a Geoff and Layne Partwork. Yes. I want one. I have no idea if there's any chance of that ever actually happening, but dream with me, people. I know that it'd be wonderful, no matter what song they chose. Because they're wonderful and talented. Wonderfully talented, at that. Maybe if we say pretty please and throw in some Starbucks with those sprinkly Twinkies?
Hey, it can't hurt to ask. With the complete understanding that it may never happen and we'll all still love them either way. Because they're Geoff and Layne and there's no way we could ever stop loving Geoff and Layne. And because I don't want them to feel left out and also because it's true: we also love Eli and Earl. And yes, Tony too. We love all of our guys. Said love does not depend on whether they were in a given video or not. We love them simply for being them.
To them, I'll say this. Thank you. Thank you for this beautiful Partwork and for all of the great music that all of you have given us this year. And the previous years, for that matter. Thank you for all of the things that you give us. I know I've said it to you all before, but it's worth repeating. You guys have a wonderful way of making things better and I am so proud to be a fan of yours. Love y'all.
If I'm being completely honest, there's probably a chance that I'll end up writing about these guys again before the year comes to an end. We shall see. In the meantime, if you'd like to stay in touch with these fine fellas, check out their links below.
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