Taste Test: Stephen Artemis Jr. tosses ‘Cinders in the Breeze’
The folksy singer-songwriter laments the Rust Belt of the North in a new song.
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The Rust Belt lines a wide swath of the northern states. What was once a great industrial metropolis of steel production has devolved into poor living, lost wages and absolute decay. Singer-songwriter Stephen Artemis Jr. calls to his upbringing in upstart New York for a four-minute portrait that stitches muddy melancholy, which seems relentless and severe, with the gritty optimism bubbling up right below the surface. “Cinders in the Breeze” is a lonesome piece, at first glance, and Artemis Jr.’s voice quickly crunches and collapse underneath the stinging weight of such a reality. But once he claws his way out, he soars overhead into an acrobatic display. “There’s many miles I still got left to go,” he barks.
“Cinders in the Breeze” comes on the heels of his murder ballad, “Cold Rain and Snow,” from earlier this fall.
Listen below:
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