The Singles Bar: Common Jack eases his mind in ‘Viñales’
The traveling folk man takes in the scenery of a small Cuban town with his new single.
Welcome to The Singles Bar, a review series focused on new single and song releases.
The majesty of nature can never be replicated, and in the world’s current destructive state, it’s evident the implications of the human race and bloodlust for money has sent the once monumentally beauteous landscape spiraling out of control. That’s not to say there isn’t still crystalline pillars and statuettes lingering in pockets of mountain crags, well-forested oceans of greenery and the rose-pink expanse of water-parched deserts and pastel portraits of peoples and cultures. Folk tunesmith Common Jack reminds us of the unshakable presence of Mother Nature, who simply won’t go down without a fight, on his vigorously lush and creamy new song “Viñales.”
Through stunning shimmers of musicianship, hiking along towering mountain ridges and feeling the salt water kiss, Common Jack (real name John Gardner) gives a mesmerizing performance in his chill celebration of traveling and criss-crossing the globe’s breathtaking view. “Driving west down the mountain range / Well, I never could quite get its name right / ‘Cause you’re catching my eye under an open sky,” he mutters in spirts, drawing the brilliance of the dirt unto himself. “In the backseat of an old sedan that ran along the seaside / To ease our lonely minds, oh honey.”
It was during a life-confirming trip to Cuba that instilled within him the chance to replenish his spirit. After meandering around Havana for a few days with his girlfriend, he soon became suffocated by the city’s tentacles. “The intense heat and constant crush of tourism vultures gave us the idea to get out of town and head west to a small farming town,” he says, citing Viñales as the destination of a lifetime. The concrete jungle melted as butter in the sun, and when the close-knit community opened up their senses, unlocking a child-like wander, Gardner quickly realized what a transformative moment in which he was basking.
“Viñales” samples Common Jack’s forthcoming new EP, Canyons in the Dark, out later this year.
Listen below:
Photo Credit: Jessica Leslie
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