A couple of 2020 slices of Jesse Lopez, one from the start of the year and one hot off the press. Described as "A matador at heart with the soul of a romantic, Jesse Lopez's songwriting is in his Mexican-Italian charm", his latest single "Way Past Words" finds him strangely inarticulate when it comes to matters of the heart preferring more demonstrable ways of showing how he feels!
The problem is laid out from the very start over a gently strumming guitar
"I got to get something off my chest it's on the tip of my tongue, well some things just ain't easier said than done" preferring "let my kiss do the talking for me". in fact Jesse and his partner much prefer talking through the medium of touching
"Between our lips and our fingertips and own kind of chemistry we speak in our own language and we don't even got to say a thing". it does give him a chance to say "I love you, just don't say it like I can" over the chorus and that might be enough to resonate with the listening public, as Jesse does deliver the chorus with some of that charm that he's famed for.
At the start of the year though things were not going so well as "Country Road" relays, the tale of being dumped on the biggest day of his life. It's a strangely honest song that some performers might find is a bit closer to the truth than they'd like, as it portrays the fierce selfishness, the dogged determination required to make to to the top.
There's a neat little counterpoint of ying and yang in Jesse's life, for while on one hand he's "almost ready, this could be the night that all of my work is finally coming to the light" he has another problem to deal with, "I know I've never learned how to put you first" and that particular issue has come home to roost in a most unfortunate way with his partner walking out on the big day.
The old show business adage is that the show must go on, so after bemoaning the fact that she could have waited a day before leaving "it's not like one more night would have killed you!", he soon moves into performer mode "I'm on my way to a show and it MUST go on play another chord keep a smile alone", the emphasis very much on the word "MUST".
The rest of the song finds him in something of a dilemma, on one hand he knows "I can't let it get to me" while on the other his "heart is in pieces, it's scattered on the floor". Played out to a cracking singalong country chorus, the delicate balance between fame and personal life is played out over a great three minutes and Jesse sings both sides of the argument convincingly well.
These are two very different sides to Jesse and he sells both well which should bode well for getting his work out there in the light.
Way Past Words is Released August 28th on all Digital Platforms.