A rollicking groove and a swanky guitar riff are waiting to whisk us away to a dreamy harmony in the new single “Firefly” from Ethan Gold, and while I half-expected to be enamored with the compositional backbone of this track, just based on my experience with this artist’s content, I didn’t think the beat would be nearly as gripping as it is here. Gold’s other single out right now, “Storm Coming,” is a bit more ominous in stylization, but the acerbic attitude he takes to both arrangements is stunning all by itself. These are two singles showing us both sides of his personality, and together, they make for a perfect one-two punch this spring.
“Storm Coming” lacks the buoyancy of its sibling song, but this doesn’t prevent Gold from breaking off a sterling harmony in the middle of the mix just the same. He’s at the mercy of the plodding string play in this latter track, unlike the springy groove-oriented framing of “Firefly,” and still he sounds more comfortable with his surroundings than you’d think. This player thrives off of a challenge, and he proves in both of these singles that he doesn’t need a specific formula to drive home the same passionate delivery.
There’s still more within Ethan Gold’s artistry that I want him to explore, but for what he’s already accomplished I think it’s pretty obvious that both “Firefly” and “Storm Coming” pass the status quo for his discography and the scene that spawned him. With the internationalization of the underground, you can’t be a successful indie singer/songwriter without being somewhat of a global citizen, which is precisely what Gold is – and he’ll be the first one to tell you as much. The diversity of his sound was made for 2022, and he doesn’t mind cashing in on that here.
Kim Muncie