Photo by Nicole Nelson
With Golden Girl, the singer/songwriter tackles the nuances of love at its best and worst.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, UNITED STATES, June 21, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — On lawyer-turned-novelist-turned-songwriter Mary Strand’s debut album, Golden Girl, she explores different musical rock eras and styles within an overall theme of love: new and old, for better and for worse, and above all: complicated.
Her five previously released singles have including 1960s power pop, 1970s rock, and 1980s post-punk as well as the Americana of Rodney Crowell and the surfer sounds of the Beach Boys.
According to Strand, the mix of sounds is no accident. She simply loves rock and roll. All of it.
Although she thinks of her style as “just me,” as she puts it, and rarely has a particular band or sound in mind when she’s first writing a song, Strand admits that she’s a huge fan of Joan Jett’s music and would love to say that she’s emulating that renowned rocker. “But my songs often have other ideas,” she says.
Golden Girl features Strand on guitar and lead vocals; Ryan Smith (of Soul Asylum and The Melismatics) on guitar, a treasure trove of other instruments, and vocals; Mark Wade (of The Melismatics and The Mood Swings) on bass and vocals along with brief stints on guitar and a gong; and Jack Strand – Mary’s son – on drums. Strand wrote all of the songs on the album, except that she co-wrote “I Don’t Want to Be Your Yesterday” with Minnesota artist Sarah Morris, who also adds harmony vocals to the track.
In the recording studio, Strand and her co-producers on the album, Smith and Wade, worked together to envision and create a specific sound for each song. In addition to Joan Jett and the Beach Boys, Golden Girl pays homage to bands including the Cars, the Ramones, Three Dog Night, the La’s, the Muffs, and the Replacements of Minnesota fame. One song, “Acabé,” even offers a nod to Colombian rock star Juanes.
All of the songs on the Golden Girl album explore themes of love: beginning and ending, wished-for, unrequited, unspoken but mutual, and everything in between. As with the novels that Strand also writes, she thinks of her songs as being ultimately hopeful, but she laughingly agrees that hope might be a matter of perspective.
Golden Girl will release on all platforms on June 23, 2023. Strand will celebrate by playing an album release show with Smith, Wade, and Jack Strand in August. Her band, Dodging Potholes, will also play several of her album songs at various Minneapolis gigs this summer.
For more information and music downloads, check out the electronic press kit for Golden Girl.
Ryan Smith
Hygh Tension Records
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Originally published at https://www.einpresswire.com/article/640756919/mary-strand-s-debut-album-rocks-a-tangled-theme-of-love
