Sometimes your calling really isn’t your calling. It may take some time to realize that you should be doing something else. That’s what Commodities Trader-turned-musician Bob Pressner discovered and is now on his way to making a name for himself in the music industry.
The musical path that Bob Pressner has taken led him to create music that incorporates a lot of styles and genres into his style. It is this style of Americana that Pressner has included on his new release called King of Nothing.
Bob Pressner begins his new release King of Nothing with the song “iGirl”. A song about trying to find real love in a world of information where you have no contact with anyone real (“We found the future but forgot each other”), the singer sings about a woman who would be great to know if he could actually meet her. The song has a very catchy rock sound that will definitely have you singing along.
The pace slows down on the title track of Bob Pressner’s new release. “King of Nothing” is a pop song that features a beautiful instrumental background complete with strings. The pop/folk feel to the music works well when paired up with lyrics about a man who feels that he has nothing to show for himself and cannot even stake claim to anything of importance. The sad lyrics and the beautiful music combine to make a very moving song.
One of the best tracks on the album is probably the most infectious, as well. “Next Summer Never Came” is one of those well-written pop songs that have an unbelievably catchy hook as well as lyrics that will, once again, tear at your heart with their powerful feeling of sadness. The mostly acoustic song is very strong in its music. This song about unfulfilled love is strangely beautiful, give the meaning of the lyrics. It is also one track that will have you reaching for “repeat”.
And then, for the first time on the King of Nothing release, Bob Pressner releases his rock side. With the song “Renaissance Man,” Pressner creates a song that brings to mind the music of bands like The White Stripes or The Black Stripes. The guitar and drums of the song create the main part of the music to the track. If you are a fan of bands like The White Stripes, The Black Keys or even Mr. Gnome, this song would really feed your hunger for that type of rock music.
The pace slows down once again with the next track called “The Blue Has Left your Eyes”. In a song that sounds more like Alt-Country than Rock music, the words of this song sound as if Pressner is channeling songwriters like James Taylor or even Jim Croce. The meaning behind the lyrics to this song has greater depth than the vast majority of the songs being written by today’s artists or songwriters.
“Thinking Man” seems to find Pressner taking on the role of singer-songwriter. With words that seem to be more important to the song than creating a hard-rockin’ track, Bob Pressner seems to, once again, channel the likes of James Taylor. The relaxed feel of the track even has Taylor’s style to it.
The twang of the guitar on “Water Water” along with Bob Pressner’s smoky vocals brings to mind the music from Bob Dylan. The roots rock base to the music mixed with a more modern and soulful approach to the song make for a song that could find an audience almost anywhere.
The King of Nothing release from Bob Pressner features a lot of twists and turns throughout the length of the album: The Alternate Rock style of the song “Renaissance Man” mixed with the Alt-Country sound of “The Blue Has Left Your Eyes” and the Pop feel of the song “Next Summer Never Came” along with the “pop culture” references found in the song “iGirl” all help to shape the new album. Each song on the King of Nothing release gives the listener a different take on the talent of Bob Pressner; and each song on the new release from Bob Pressner gives the listener plenty of variety in the music.
Click the song title for the video to “King of Nothing“.
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