Portland songwriter Nick Arneson has had a busy year with the creation and release of his EP MidLifeCrisis. This highly impressive collection of songs showcases an artist whose significant asset is his way with words. He has an honest and fearless songwriting style which have a lot of personal elements included.
Each track from MidLifeCrisis does not fail to grab the listeners attention but “Once” and “Try” stand out the most. “Once” is an interesting story about him talking to himself while “Try” is a love story for his wife whom he describes as his rock.
Arneson does not seem to know how to stop creating, his momentum has resulted in a new track called “Ride with You”. He has described this as a “start in a new direction, both lyrically and metaphorically”.
As the song begins, the mood is set with a soft looping riff and drums. Arneson vocals then come in with the lines “I wanna ride with you / All night long / I wanna feel like I’m / Part of your favorite song / Sky so blue / Are times not long / I wanna ride with you / All night long”. The music continues with a similar groove with the addition of some great moments on the guitar. However, this song is all about the vocals and the lyrics that are shared.
Nick Arneson creates music that is captivating due to its honest and fearless nature
The story is about the trials of being in a relationship and not giving up even when things get tough. Arneson sets the stage when he sings “If you don’t care / Why should I / Exhausting to always have to try / You can’t keep hiding / And you can’t keep lying / Pretending to understand why”.
But as the song heads towards its finale, Arneson tells the subject of the story to sort themselves out. He does so with words that get straight to the point “Don’t take this shit so seriously / Get your shit together / Get your shit together”.
“Ride With You” is an impressive track that is a great way to cap his year. However, he is already looking to 2019 by planning more new releases. If this single is anything to go by, then we can expect a new and exciting chapter for his music.
