Hey, y’all, and welcome to another playlist update! April has been a very weird month for me on a personal level, but at least the soundtrack was fire!!! Here are the songs that have been added to part four since April 16th.
I always enjoy hearing artists’ takes on songs they love, and the most fun reimaginings to me are the ones that come from a completely different genre than the original. Over the past week, two such renditions have been released into the world. The third cover… Well, it was always a dark song, so an infamously dark artist sharing his version makes sense.
1.Priest: “Black Hole Sun”
Yes, that “Black Hole Sun.” It’s so Priest, but I think it’s a very respectful nod to Soundgarden and the original. And, let’s be honest, it takes balls to release a song and know everyone is going to be comparing your vocals to Chris Cornell’s.
2. Aesthetic Perfection: “Fade to Black”
Aesthetic Perfection is a self-proclaimed industrial pop act. Hearing them do a Metallica track was unexpected, but I dig it.
3. Marilyn Manson: “In the Air Tonight”
Manson prides himself on shocking people. His entire career is based on it, in fact. He has done odd covers before. However, I just never would have predicted a Phil Collins song. Lol. As stated above, it kinda makes sense. The subject matter of “In the Air Tonight” is rather dark. Who better to reimagine it than Marilyn Manson and Tyler Bates?
Here are the last of the March releases (at least the ones I’ve found). Tomorrow begins the fourth installment of The Mostly Music Playlist! Be sure to visit each part of the playlist, and remember: my top 50 will drop on New Year’s Eve!
Welcome to March! I hope daylight savings time didn’t ruin your week like it did mine. (If y’all don’t mess with that BS where you live, lucky you.)
Anyway, time change aside, this month seems to be moving ahead much more rapidly than January or February. On the bright side, we have a really killer soundtrack for the ride!
Here are the recent releases that have been added since February 28th! And don’t forget to visit parts one and two, if you haven’t already. You could just discover your new favorite song!
Robbie Ekblom, Jr., is a Finnish/American guitarist who focuses on lead and has influences ranging across the metal and metalcore landscapes. Philadelphia-based Hall of Lost is a hard rock/alt-metal project put together by singer and guitarist Jeff McAllister.
And when the two acts come together, listeners are gifted with a track like “Darkness Befalls.”
I had the chance to chat with Jeff and Robbie about their collaboration – how the artists met, how the song came to fruition, and what the odds are of them making more music together in the future.
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Mostly Music: Okay, so tell me how this came together. I’ve talked to artists who have worked on a track from different places, but I’m not sure they’ve ever been from different countries!
Robbie: Long story short, we were able to get acquainted on Instagram and combined our appreciations for artists like Breaking Benjamin, Tool, Seether, and create our own track using our studio setups from across the Atlantic. That’s how our collaboration came to be. I think this story could motivate people who want to work together but don’t live near one another. You really can come out with some pretty cool stuff, and you can get pretty creative these days when it comes to recording.
MM: How did you and Hall of Lost handle writing “Darkness Befalls”?
Robbie: I had come up with an instrumental track for “Darkness Befalls,” and Hall of Lost contacted me on Instagram after hearing some of my other music and said that they’d be interested in doing a collaboration. So then Jeff and I started messaging each other and he said one of your tracks is something that I really wanna work on and beef it out with some lyrics and his own instrumental additions.
For the recording itself, we both have our own setups. I have a home studio, and he has his setup over there in the U.S. So we just combined sounds and sent one another the music files and kept adding bits and pieces until the final version was fully edited.
It’s been a first for me working with somebody as talented as Hall of Lost. Jeff is a phenomenal musician and really has an incredible appetite for creating music and creative arts in general.
MM: That’s a great segue into Jeff’s side of the story. Ha ha! Jeff, what was your inspiration for “Darkness Befalls”?
Jeff: Sure thing, Melia. This track was a fun one to work with because Robbie had all of the instrumental completed, and most importantly, he had a title for the song. So many songwriters attempt to write a tune without first having a title, and there’s nothing wrong with it…I’ve done it myself, but what you typically find is that if you have a solid title, that drives the whole process forward. Needless to say, with a title like “Darkness Befalls”, I had a lot to work with!
Those riffs Robbie plays on the song emote plenty of feelings, so the inspiration came pretty naturally. I wanted to capture a sense of an alter ego, an anger hidden inside, being taken to a place you don’t want to go. When the anger takes over, that’s when darkness befalls.
MM: This question may sound almost naive, but how different is it writing and recording a song remotely as opposed to physically being in a room (or the studio) with those you are creating with? I imagine it requires a change to your normal approach?
Robbie: From my perspective, being in a studio or in a recording space together has the advantage of being able to adapt or change things on the fly because you’re all together and can discuss recording, or certain segments of a song, lyrical changes, whatever it might be, in person immediately. Whereas doing it remotely like this has sort of a time lag between making the changes, especially given the distance between Jeff and myself. We have a 6 hour time difference. That means anything we want to discuss has a one day, or at least one night, lag. But what is really nice about this is, because we both have our own studios and equipment, and are familiar with our own recording infrastructures, it – at least, for my part – has been very comfortable, because I know exactly how to use my stuff. There hasn’t been a need for any gear changes or adjustments to any of the actual tech we’re using. I do imagine, depending on how much we continue to work with Jeff, it would be cool to get into a room and just jam out and make music in person.
Jeff: I think Robbie said it well. This really worked out very smoothly, and I think what it came down to mostly was faith. I had complete faith in the musical track Robbie laid down. In fact, upon hearing what he crafted, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. It was such a big sound. Conversely, he allowed me a lot of creative freedom with his baby, allowing me to suggest a few arrangement suggestions and modifications to fit the lyrical delivery. From there, I would run the lyrical ideas by him and send him some samples, and we would go back and forth on any edits needed, volume changes, etc., but all in all, those were minimal. The fact that Robbie doesn’t seem to sleep also helped.
It would be great to eventually get in a room together. We’ve become great friends throughout the process, so beyond the creative chemistry, I’m sure he and I would down some beers together and come away with another great track.
Robbie: 100% on the downing of some amber lager and making magic happen! That day will come eventually, guaranteed! Haha!
As for the sleep; I had to get myself into somewhat of a routine of maximizing the time to keep in touch and to discuss music with the time difference. Now I’m in this loop where I stay up late, but it doesn’t bother me much because I’m so excited about the music and our project.
MM: So y’all are definitely working together again in the future? Can we expect another collab anytime soon? Because I would be 100% behind that.
Jeff: I can go on record saying that is definitely going to happen, especially if you’re making a request, Melia.
We have something in the works right now, actually. Schedules have been a bit tight, but the process has started, so it won’t be long. We really appreciate the support.
I imagine that won’t even be the last of it. Robbie is a riff machine. He has probably pumped out 2 songs before eating his morning Cheerios today.
MM: If I’m making a request? Okay! Consider this my request. And y’all are very welcome! I’m excited to hear what’s next!!!
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Y’all be sure to check out “Darkness Befalls,” and then do a deep dive into both artists! I’ve shared links to their socials below.
Also, this is not my only conversation with Jeff and Robbie. I will be back with a second interview in which we discuss their respective musical journeys, and maybe some off-the-wall topics as well, so please keep your eyes open for that!
The final update for February is upon us! 2025 started flying by once January finally ended. Be sure to check out the entire playlist – parts one and two – and prepare for whatever March has to offer.
Here are the songs that have been added since February 14th.
I hope everyone is having a good year so far, but however you’re feeling at the moment, I have the soundtrack to go with it. Check out these recent releases!
This is the second, and final, playlist update for January. I have already begun compiling my Top 50 of 2025 – I think this year is going to be difficult to narrow down… (I say that every year, but I already have 6 contenders and it’s not even February. If that happens every month, my life is going to be a challenge come December. Ha ha!)
Here are the tracks that have been added to the playlist since January 14th. You can view the list in its entirety here.
Mostly Music 