Review of “Somebody To Love”
by Randy Wayne Belt
Sept. 2019
With a distinctly mid western and southern charmed voice, not to mention a Dove Awards nomination and Josie Awards nominations, Karisa Kay brings and sings her song “Somebody To Love” to life by telling the story of two people who find love in each other for a lifetime.
You get that sense in this song and can feel an emotion in the singing voice that just can’t be pretended especially on the powerful chorus. And when you see the video (below) you’ll understand why: The song is about her own grandparents. You’ll see the pictures and images and know they were from what we call “The Great Generation”, a generation that understood love for country, each other, and commitment. You can’t help but get a sense of longing for the same kind of thing by the artist when you hear the heartfelt singing.
Originally from Iowa, Karisa Kay is a country singer and songwriter strongly influenced by Gospel and her roots come from traditional country having been brought up listening to Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynnete, Crystal Gayle, Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. Those influences come out in her writing and singing and you can hear that she has a heart and soul of old country.
I like to start at the beginning and this song from the 2016 album is a good starting point. Appropriately fixed as the album title, the song “Somebody To Love” strikes me as the big hit of the same titled album. The song begins with what I call “the Americana beat” – you know, that shuffly country beat you might hear in a Tim McGraw song?
The body of the song is then accented by a bit of slightly crunchy guitar riffs, steel guitars or pedal steel, with a piano giving the under rhythm and at times a bit of accenting counter melody that you don’t notice unless you pick it apart (like a reviewer might do) with the beat. The song is like a revival of when country music was more traditional but with a slight contemporary twist.
Even if you are not a fan of country you’ll have to admit this song has a compelling and crossover chorus.
The chorus is very powerful and strong and grabs you and makes you feel like it is familiar and you want to hear it again and again. The harmonies are carefully placed to fatten up the sound. The key change at the end of the song gives the chorus an extra push without making it feel overdone, as choruses often do, by the end of the song. The lyrics at the end of the story perfectly lead into the last chorus with the line “all because two people found…somebody to love” making the chorus flow right off the last verse/pre chorus.
The songwriting sticks to traditional country theme but does it in a way that shows the song is well crafted, structured, and ready for radio. The sense of melody is apparent and the song will hook you in by the chorus and keep you coming back.
Karisa Kay web page: https://www.karisakaymusic.biz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarisaKay76/
Listen on Spotify:
Watch the video:
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