John Hickman “That’s Life”
John Hickman “That’s Life”
YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7Lw5WkDo_s
Eclectic rock singer John Hickman returns with a riveting follow up to his critically acclaimed debut album Remnants, “That’s Life,” an easy-listening pop single guaranteed to add a new shade of colorful harmony to your summer. Anyone who enjoyed the positive, brimming vibes of Remnants will find that Hickman was just getting started on his debut and his sound has continued to evolve to get to the stage of maturity it has reached today. I had the privilege of listening to “That’s Life” just after it was released last week and this track does a fine job of cementing its songwriter’s status as an exciting independent artist to watch in 2018.
Lyrically, “That’s Life” is a somewhat reflective track that examines how the little adjustments that we make to our lives end up shaping our larger sense of identity, and despite any illusions we may have about ourselves and the way others perceive us, it’s ultimately our actions that make up who we truly are and what our persona is. It’s an introspective and somewhat contemplative narrative that challenges us as listeners to look at ourselves from an alternate, third person perspective. In this modern age where everything we do is fodder for headline news on any number of social networking sites, and the consensus in pop culture is that attention is the most important attribute to a social résumé, we often get lost in our own egos more than we should. While it might be human nature to care a little bit about what other people think of you, it’s completely unhealthy to obsess over whether or not they approve of you. Hickman poetically relates the struggle to hold on to the core of our beings to life’s overwhelming unpredictability, and his words encourage us to shed our concerns and simply be who we are, instead of who we think we should be. Can you think of a more important message to our society right now?
“That’s Life” might not pack the punch of the classic riff rock of the 70’s that inspired John Hickman to pick up a guitar in the first place, but nevertheless there’s a plethora of energy and adrenaline in his delivery that are uniquely rock n’ roll in the truest sense of the term. We’ve had a lot of interesting sonic developments in popular music in the last 25 years, and for a lot of music fans it feels like the FM dial has been neglecting old school rock and the raw, visceral energy that made it the most popular style of music in the world for almost half a century. But thanks to artists like Hickman, this required slice of the American songbook is staying very much alive and well just left of the dial, and if things keep going in the direction that they have been for his career thus far, it won’t be long before he’s conquering mainstream radio as well.
CD BABY: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/johnhickman11
Mindy McCall