Originality is recycled. It’s all a delusion, and a stroke of genius is a melody, chord progression, and guitar riff reworked, reapplied, and repackaged in new shiny wrapping paper. Everything from a song to a TV show to a high-scale marketing campaign – it’s all been done before. Nashville multi-instrumentalist Kellen Wenrich, known professionally as Kellen of Troy, trims his disappointment with and acceptance of reality and pins the emotional strands to a cork board of ’70s classic pop, strings working overtime to evoke timeless rapture. He’s firmly planted then and now, allowing his voice to twist and shout between stylistic lines.
“Some Tune We All Already Know,” premiering today, anchors Wenrich’s forthcoming album called Vanity Project, expected everywhere March 13. “Please don’t listen too closely / And don’t try to discern / Any original meaning from these recycled words / I’m going to pull on your heartstrings / And make you think about home,” he pokes at classic songwriting themes. He intentionally buries broad-brushed lyrics inside a hazy vortex of guitars, drums, strings, and even a glockenspiel. Each puzzle piece is meant as a distraction, and that’s exactly the point: commercializing of art is grinding meat for mass consumption.