"I've been meaning to tell you how I felt last night / I don't want to play along until you stay / darlin'..."
The cinematic twist, the Jack Daniels flamed, glitter dusted pop western iteration of "Baby, You Already Won" by song stylist-songwriter Cornelius Versa is stunningly beautiful and as vast as an Arizona desert even if the Arizona desert might be painted on a giant mural with foreground cacti meticulously cut out of wood. The enigmatic CV, an unknown mystery to me since yesterday, possesses a killer voice and doesn't only ride the rails but splits them between highly stylized pop walls of sound against country western motifs and does so in such a grand way, even operatic I guess you can say. And, I don't get the sense that there is one iota of parody here but a keen love for the way pop was orchestrated in the 70's and the way western noir invaded aspects of pulp fiction, was presented in the 60's, a romantic vision of the cowboy mystique deconstructed in detective stories, in the spiraling descent into all sorts of addictions.
About the track, CV expresses:
"This song was written about a relationship gone off the rails - One where I was emotionally ready to break free but somehow still pining for and dependent on the other person. I wrote the lyrics and music in my room one rainy afternoon a mood of which I brought through in the light piano scoring throughout.
I recorded the demo as I was writing and when I finished it, I immediately reached out to my friend Alex Weston who then worked with me to complete the orchestrations.
Throughout the song, there is meant to be a constant back and forth between instruments and even voicing styles. We have the defiant, baritone-forward verses where I felt strong and ready to stand on my own contrasting heavily with the soaring pop choruses where I'm essentially begging my way back into the other person's arms."
"Baby, You Already Won" cast in dark shadows, neon reflections, leather and lace is a heightened piece of sonic art and Cornelius Versa as the provocative troubadour collides time frames and genres with a vocal alchemy that feel like an amalgam of Kenny Chesney, The Righteous Brothers, Roy Orbison, Percy Sledge and George Michael. Your head is spinning now, isn't it?
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://www.instagram.com/corneliusversa/
In the vast expanse of the modern sonic frontier, where melodies shimmer like desert mirages, emerges the enigma known as The Crystal Cowboy. Saddle up as this troubadour embarks on a musical odyssey through the world of cinematic western pop music.
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/corneliusversa/
In the vast expanse of the modern sonic frontier, where melodies shimmer like desert mirages, emerges the enigma known as The Crystal Cowboy. Saddle up as this troubadour embarks on a musical odyssey through the world of cinematic western pop music.
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