GOSHEN, Ind. – Each week, a Globe-pal (AKA a DJ at 91.1 the Globe) takes a song of their choosing, and dishes out a healthy review to be sent out and posted on globeradio.org/music.
The Globe Track of the Week is an excellent way to keep up with the new tunes presented weekly on 91.1 the Globe, the best college radio station in Indiana.
The best advice I can give when it comes to listening to Cotton Candy Clouds is to listen with your best pair of headphones on. Close your eyes and paint a nice four-minute mental picture in your head. Trust me on this one; some songs just need to be experienced like this!
Perhaps what makes the song so notable is its styling. Its naked opening guitar riff sounds as if it’s plucked directly from a late-60’s Beatles track. Need I say more?
The verses take a decidedly different direction tonally as Clayton strips it down to the acoustic with some light drum-work behind it; nothing crazy.
But the Beatle-connection makes a roaring return in the pre-chorus and chorus with some excellent low-volume guitar riffs and a bassline that sounds like it was taken directly from the White Album.
It’s these instrumental details that come through subtly that almost require the listener to use headphones in order to catch the important details.
If meshing a guitar tone that evokes memories of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” with Claytons agile vocals wasn’t enough, the rise of the chorus nicely incorporates an old-fashioned organ into the mix that perfectly helps fill things out.
“Cotton Candy Clouds” doesn’t try to throw the book away and blow people’s minds in terms of message; from a lyrical standpoint the song is on the simple side, but it works as well with such a Beatles-esque backdrop. The song is (in my own understanding of it) about a long-lost love that Clayton wishes he could be with once more.
He even admits to keeping that long-lost love in his mind: ‘Well, sometimes, I sit and think of you – do you still think of me too?’ and dreams of ‘Paintin’ circles in the sky’ on cotton candy clouds. Nothing mind-blowing, but effective with a clear message.
For even more proof that the Fab Four had EVERYTHING to do with this record, look no further than the 3:15 mark of the song when Clayton sneaks in a fakeout ending before giving his best Mccartney screech to bring it back to a full crescendo.
My biggest gripe with this song is how little attention it’s gotten! I highly recommend this one to any and all Clayton fans, but also anyone looking for a pinch of nostalgia in their new playlist.
