Saturday, April 22, 2023

Nick Piunti - "Heart Stops Beating"


I will be honest: most times when a band or artist goes back to re-record an old song, my untrained ears don't hear a lick of a difference. When I first heard that Nick Piunti was going back into the studio to better his 2015 album track "Heart Stops Beating," I figured he was just being a perfectionist (you know how those talented people can be sometimes....ha ha). Wouldn't almost any pop-rock songwriter out there wish they could have recorded a song as good as "Heart Stops Beating"? But let me tell you: the 2023 version of "Heart Stops Beating" (out now on JEM Records) absolutely does top the original. This, my friends, is a hit. Why settle for a nine-out-of-ten song when you know you've got a full ten in you? 

"Heart Stops Beating" was originally released on Piunti's magnificent 2015 album Beyond the Static. Piunti tracked it with Donny Brown on drums, Andy Reed on bass, and Ryan Allen on harmony vocals. Piunti always loved the band track but long felt that the vocal could have been better. It turns out he was onto something! He went back to Big Sky Recording earlier this year with his longtime producer Geoff Michael to cut a new lead vocal. For good measure, he added some harmony vocals and some new rhythm guitar tracks. While fundamentally the same song as ever, "Heart Stops Beating" has been perfected. There's undeniably more "oomph" in the vocal, and that chorus absolutely explodes. No wonder Little Steven has been touting this track! 

If you're a fan of Nick Piunti and JEM Records, you can look forward to a double-LP compilation of Piunti's pre-JEM releases 13 In My Head and Beyond the Static due out later this year. For now, enjoy the timeless power pop perfection of "Heart Stops Beating" 2023!

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