Led by songwriter, guitarist, and arranger William Hayden, the Timeseven ensemble returns with “Without You” – another immaculate sounding, emotionally moving piece of music skipping subtly between light rock, grazing country, and adult contemporary pop.
Tell me more…
Per Hayden, “Without You” is “a very raw, emotional song about love and loss.” And I hear that pain, that dire emotionality here, but also a hint of…triumph? Let’s listen…and talk about it.
Wait. Who does what?
You know ‘em, and you love what they’re puttin’ down:
Words, Music, Arrangement, Production, Acoustic and Electric Guitars by William Hayden (Timeseven Productions)
Vocal by Brad Williams (a major label country music artist)
Keyboards by Scotty Willbanks (from Third Day)
Drums by Daniel Sadownick (Steely Dan, Taylor Swift, Norah Jones)
Bass by Alison Prestwood (Blake Shelton, Faith Hill, Brooks and Dunn)
Guitar by Noah Needleman (Brett Young, Dann Huff)
And let’s not forget another incredible mix by 10 x Grammy-winning mixing engineer, Darrell Thorp (Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Beck), and superb mastering by Buck Snow (7 x Grammy-winning mix/mastering engineer).
Listening, and talking about it.
“Without You” begins with a sustained, bouncing organ, a kick drum heartbeat, and a sparkling string granting the piece vast physical space with audible reverberation. Brad Williams sings, as always, with such a composed but obviously breaking heart; he emotes fantastically, reserved as one suffering in silence, but emboldened as the pain rears and kicks. And after his initial, quietly sung introduction, the song suddenly doubles in energy and purpose.
With drums, strumming acoustic, and echoing electric guitar accents, “Without You” leans into assertive rock, into the raw, still bleeding cuts of a thousand emotional knife strikes. The song’s storyteller lies wounded, and the pain turns to longing – a longing to fill the shape of a well-deep wound carved by the careless shift of another’s ambling feelings. But this buildup, this agitation, is like a beaten boxer staggering from his corner; regardless of deep cuts and overgrown bruises, he continues to fight, to wildly swing (and yep, there’s that hint of “triumph” I mentioned earlier).
And when the song ends, when it returns to the quieter deliverance of ever-stinging angst, it presents a final refrain of “I can’t live without you,” and the waning patter of a kick drum heart. Superb.
But is it good?
It’s AMAZING. And there’s some real pain-triggered aggression emanating from this one; an effectively emotive piece that takes us all the way to the wounded bottom of our often too vulnerable hearts. This one has teeth; it bares them after being torn asunder by them. This is a real feeling; this is pain; and this is expressed so beautifully, so truthfully, from a band fully capable of wringing every dissolving shade and hue from an often colorless and breaking heart. HIGHLY recommended.
—-
BELOW: Follow and support Timeseven on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram, and listen to/ download/ purchase their music on Soundcloud and Apple Music. Want to offer more support? Visit their website, and sign up for any and all news, updates, and forthcoming releases. And as always, thank you for listening to real music.
(Want to have your music reviewed on The Ark of Music? Click HERE.)
Follow, stream, download & connect with TIMESEVEN online:
Listen to WITHOUT YOU by TIMESEVEN:
Without You Premiers on 12/12/2024