When the creative tools of today unexpectedly shine light on the true joys of our humanity and hearts, it’s easy to see that something is working. Amidst the noise of the music realm, sparks of hope and gratitude are unmistakable, and the music that has really ignited something special in people, is clear to detect.
On that note, from the openly AI-assisted corner of all things Chip Altholz – founder of huge dance-funk anthems under FunkTheAI – we’re introduced to a uniquely intimate, evocative new album.
For Everyone I Ever Loved is a collection of soulful acoustic ballads and folk-country anthems, all built around thoughtful sentiments, appreciative scenes, memories, poems, and deeply stirring melodies. In his own words, “This one took me 77 years to find. ‘For Everyone I Ever Loved’ is what I needed to say, before I move on to the next adventure.”
Purpose For Today is gorgeous as an opener, immediately unlike anything else you’ll have heard from FunkTheAI – a stripped-back single of wonder and warmth. After this, the soul-rock sway and passion of Nothing Left To Prove seems brilliantly contrasted – still emotive but gritty and energising. The move is subtle but effective, the story continuing to bridge the gap between self-reflection and outrospective appreciation. And this dynamic is gifted further reach, as we enter the strings and piano-led uncertainty and confronting realism of If You Had Not Shown Up.
I Know Who You Are is outstanding, a soul-kissed and raspy anthem that naturally connects, breaks heats and uplifts all at once, with soaring electric guitar slides and a perfect juxtaposition between quiet verses and immense hooks. Then suddenly, everything falls away, for the gently finger-picked and whispered folk gem I Came To Spend an Hour With You. ‘I thought I was passing through’ resounds beautifully within this song, another heartfelt arrangement, with male and female vocals adding versatility along the way.
For the title-track, For Everyone I Ever Loved, male and female vocals meet again, within a literal exploration of this conceptual album – the moments and celebrations, the memories and connections, that inspired such a devoted creative outlet. This is a theatrical and warming country-pop single, and it captures the essence of the album well.
Next we get a twist of funky folk-punk acoustic and electric guitars providing a colourful dance, throughout the highs and lows of Demons & Dawn – an impressively unpredictable song, with unique structuring, stops and starts, personal revelations and vulnerability.
Afterwards, a personal favourite from this album, the enchanting and impassioned, powerful Ascending Into You. Both deeply personal and broadly accessible, the human ache and connection at the heart of the instrumental and vocal style, and the lyrical story, is undeniable. A definite highlight.
“I only want to say, I’m grateful everyday, and while I still have breath, I love you all to death.”
Arrangement matters, and the drop back to a subtle sway of an acoustic jam for Everyone I Love, as well as its fearless lyrical honesty, makes for the perfect next step. Then for the penultimate song, the softness and united euphoria of a blissful and gospel-like What If Loving Brings Us Love feels seamless within the journey and transition towards the end.
Finally, as if the album in full wasn’t enough to get you thinking of all the people and things that truly matter in life, Good Enough (Coda) will almost certainly tip you over the tearful edge – especially if you’re a parent. Less than one minute in full, a spoken vocal, almost whispered, hopeful piano, and statements and scenes directed at you personally – simple, childlike reflections on just being together, enjoying the present moment. This audio story, as it were, is so pure and peaceful, so innocent and vivid, that it calmly urges you to listen more than a couple of times in a row, to really feel the depth of its sentiment, and to consider your own relationships and daily experiences, under a new perspective.
“I like it when you sit with me, and don’t look at your phone… and you hugged me. I liked today.”
Power ballads, the softness of folk, the ambient passion of soul rock and singer-songwriter purity. For Everyone I Ever Loved is quite perfectly titled, and exemplifies the loyalty of its producer to both the limitless expression of modern AI music, and to the real-life people and relationships that meant the world to him before now.
The immeasurable feelings and experiences that most people struggle to find words or artistic tools for, can suddenly be brought to life now, and there’s something quite magical about that.
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