Taste Test: Stonestreet nearly drowns in a mental swamp with new song, ‘Blue Soldier’
The indie singer-songwriter chronicles his journey with mental health through a jazz/hip-hop hybrid.
Welcome to Taste Test, a song/video review series of SubmitHub-only gemstones
The shifting conversation around mental health certainly gives more power to the sufferers. Even with the severe stigma decline, and the general public coming to greater understanding of various illnesses and conditions, mental health remains a heavy cross to bear. Indie singer-songwriter Stonestreet witnesses a dark shade of depression and his bipolar disorder descend around his skull, and he could very well suffocate from it all. He wisely communicates his ongoing journey with “Blue Solider,” a bluesy number complete with a cool-minted rasp ringing out clear and strong across a languid arrangement, guitar-hooked and dull. “I can’t help but feel so blue,” he confides to the listener. It’s as if he’s invited us all down into the smokey jazz lounge, red velvet lining the stage and a gathering crowd hanging onto his every syllable. The later hip-hop breakdown rises from his chest and never feels jolting as you might expect.
Listen below:
