#46 | currently on repeat in my car
Mika meets Elvis meets Elton John
A Note from Jenn: I wrote & scheduled this post prior to Election Day without taking into consideration the heightened emotions we’d be experiencing this week. This Substack is intended to be lighthearted & fun; if that type of content won’t support you in feeling your best right now, please feel free to skip over it.
Back in 2014 (Sunday, March 23rd at 8:00pm, to be exact) I went to one of my favorite live shows ever. It was a $16 ticket to see Betty Who at the Rock & Roll Hotel in DC — this was before she ever covered Donna Lewis’s iconic I Love You, Always Forever and even before she released her first album.
Now that I’m thinking back, I can’t even remember how I heard of her? But for $16 it was worth at shot, I guess. And she was good! I had fun! But her opener was a guy named Zak Waters & he was FANTASTIC. I immediately loved all of his songs. They’re fun & silly & very pop.
His 2013 album only has 8 songs on it, and I’m pretty sure I still know the words to every single one of them.
AND THEN HE STOPPED RELEASING NEW MUSIC.
He shifted directions & was in a band for a little while but it wasn’t the same & I’ve been sad about it ever since.
And then Spencer Sutherland entered my conscience. I don’t have the musical vocabulary to accurately describe his music, but if you love Mika you’ll probably love Spencer Sutherland.
His latest album, Drama, was just released on October 4th & it’s been in my regular rotation ever since then.
I’m not usually a music influencer but after hearing a clip on someone’s Instagram story, I went straight to Spotify to listen to more. Now I’ve got a ticket to his show at House of Blues in March & I’m committed to going through his backlog so I can sing along to every song.
If you also love this style of pop music, he’s going on tour & might be coming to a city near you! I’m determined to make sure he’s successful so I get new pop music & don’t have to mourn all of his unreleased future music (I still love you, Zak Waters!).