The Giant & The Tailor – “SYNTHETIC” [Song Review]

I spent four of the best years of my life living in Nashville, TN, so I was excited to check out the Nashville-based trio The Giant & The Tailor. In just a few days, the rock group will be going public with new single “SYNTHETIC,” and I gave it a listen.

On the positive side, lead singer Britain Miethe is one talented dude. You will savour the delicious ease with which his voice glides up to the high notes. Drummer Preston Hedin offers some unconventional percussion in the background that blends beautifully with Miethe’s voice and the simple guitar melody.

Unfortunately, however, I cannot say that I like this song. As an English major and huge fan of modern poetry, I was stoked when the first of two spoken word sections began. It’s a great idea… but very poorly executed. Apparently, on the verge of sobbing, the speaker is so overly dramatic that at first, I wondered if it was some kind of ironic joke. When I realised it wasn’t, all I could do was cringe. Among numerous clichéd touchstones (an identity crisis, water imagery, etc.), the speaker even mentions “Lying to myself as I lie in bed at night, telling myself it’s all gonna be alright.” Good lord. Even as someone who once did (and still does) enjoy music that could be considered “emo,” this is really too much. It just sounds forced and excruciatingly whiny.

The Giant & The Tailor definitely has some talent on their side, and I actually like the idea of incorporating spoken word into their performances. But in terms of both lyrical content and emotional approach, they’ve desperately got to make some changes.

Run Time: 3:29
Release Date: March 10, 2017

Check out the song “SYNTHETIC”