It seems like everyone nowadays wants a little taste of the country music revenue. Occasionally, you'll get moments where the interest in the genre seems completely sincere. Post Malone seems like a spitting image of such a phenomenon. He knows his history well and he doesn't keep a distnace between himself and country music. However, oftentimes, there are artists who are only in Nashville for a cup of coffee. Oftentimes, you can tell they don't really have an interest, it's mostly just a means to try something new, or worse, make a quick dollar. Superstar pop producer Calvin Harris' latest snippet seems to suggest the latter.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Recently, Harris posted a snippet of his latest song "Smoke the Pain Away" on his social media. In the video, he arms himself with an acoustic guitar and sings with a deep, hazy, twangy voice. It sounds like he's been chain smoking a pack of Marlboros everyday and washing it down with whiskey. Calvin adds to this more grizzly nature with unkempt hair and a scraggly beard. "Too late I've been up for days," Harris croons. "I can't even see straight, no I can't smoke the pain away." Check out the snippet below.
Calvin Harris Teases New Country Direction With New Snippet
Admittedly, this sounds pretty lousy. Blending dance drums with a distinctly country sounding guitar makes both genres seem tacky and lame. I know Calvin is supposed to seem serious and intimate but it really just registers as cosplay to me.
This extends to artists that staunchly identify themselves as country too, not just Calvin Harris. Guys like Jason Aldean with their worst set of raps still tried to identify as firmly Nashville. Maybe that's just the nature of this industry, flagrant compromise versus actual, tangible growth stylistically. At what point does country reach some sort of epiphany rather than blatantly go for the cash grabs?
