Mike Bon Jorno is an experimental multi-instrumentalist rock artist living in Germany; Kevin Hutchings is a folk-pop lyricist, vocalist and author living in western Canada. They met about three years ago and released Truth to Power which they explain contains seven “protest” songs. Furthermore they sing about relevant issues but it’s also important to mention they don’t want these songs to come off as anti-American.
They open with “I Wanna Go To America” which is an extremely political song that overtly leans left. The song is narrowly focused on people on the right and all the cliches and stereotypes that go along with that. He is basically saying he will visit once again once he feels these problems are figured out. I have a lot of thoughts about this which I’m not going to get into. “Remember The Good Times” is much less politically fueled. I felt it was much more easy to appreciate. The melodies were great and so was the general message. They continue to have success with “Terrible Tuesday.” This song has a very straightforward narrative about family and anger. “Cancel My Trip” is where he re-visits the themes of the first songs. Up next is “Lies, Damned Lies” which is an acoustic song that kind of just glosses over political subjects you hear about on the Internet. “The Great American Reality Show” has a bit of an old Led Zeppelin vibe. The melodic “Hello Paris” has some of the catchiest melodies. I also loved “Banned At The Border” while “Fool's Paradise” is a warm song. They close on “No More War” which is the perfect song to end on and had a great message. I currently live in Chicago. I talk to people everyday and I’m out there in the field making real connections. It’s important to realize that the Internet and social media in particular are amplifying our differences, not mitigating them. The case seems to be that the extremes on both sides are the ones who are most highlighted by the media. I will say I know a lot of people on the left and the right and they are just normal people, who want to go to work, be happy and be loved. There is a world where we can coexist and the reality is that when we talk to people face to face (and not through screens) this is more likely to happen. And even if there are notable differences we are more likely to empathize with someone when we are within their physical space. I think that’s why I really liked that the album ended with “No More War.“ It’s an important message.
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