Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere sponsored by Density Studios connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
Milwaukee singer-songwriter Gabriel Harris is one of those artists with a very cool dichotomy. He lives up to the listener’s expectations — in his case, high-impact vocals and finger-twisting guitarwork — while also finding creative ways to knock them off-kilter.
Some of that stems from his preference to swerve between genre lanes and often ride two or three at the same time. As he describes it, blues and rock get the most love but wind up intertwined with soul, funk and alternative sounds. To these ears, today’s Milwaukee Music Premiere from Harris, “Can’t Go On With This,” falls more into the soulfully funky camp.
Those powerful vocals and a bouncy bassline set the genre tone, which quickly receives reinforcement from full-bore horn blasts (and, later on, an always-appreciated saxophone solo). The bluesier aspect of Harris’ music also gets a moment to shine courtesy of a midpoint guitar solo — one of several elements he balanced with help from Kyle White at Wire & Vice.
As Harris reported, their collaboration extended over several long sessions, but it was time well spent considering the final product. A well-produced track like this has an audible shine, although its brightness doesn’t wash out the raw frustration in Harris’ voice as he sings about increasingly frayed communication that takes all the luster out of a relationship:
Are we liars for what we don’t say?
Filled this canvas with only one shade
I miss the colors from the honeymoon phase
Can’t go on like this
Can’t go on like this
The metaphor of hues and tones carries over to the project that will eventually house this single, a soon-to-drop EP titled Past Colors. Harris enlisted the talents of Milwaukee artist Julia Bradfish for its cover — an abstract painting that transmits the EP’s central theme of change, particularly as it’s reflected in art. As Harris noted, “colors slowly change over time and become a reflection of our experiences, some of which remain imprinted on us and continue to influence our lives, decisions and creations for years to come.”
More immediately, you can listen to “Can’t Go On Like This” anytime using the player on this page and catch it on air throughout today on 88Nine (6:30 and 10:30 a.m; 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.). Past Colors will be out later this spring, and Harris will play live with bandmates Tori Yocum (bass) and David Purpura (drums) at Anodyne in Walker’s Point on May 30. To keep up with everything he has going on, following Harris on Instagram.
