Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda: Marika Hackman
Have you ever listened to a song and thought "Great song but man, I think somebody could have done this better."? Well this thought has popped into my mind so frequently recently that I thought I'd better articulate it in words.
The first time I remember having this thought in recent months was after listening back to Marika Hackman's most recent album I'm Not Your Man. One of my favourite albums from 2017 and also the album that cemented marika as one of my favourite UK songwriters in the game at the moment. And so, when I was listening to the song "Majesty" and this thought popped into my head I was shocked but also excited at the possibility.
The last song on the album and not necessarily my favourite. Still "Majesty" is a very solid song and an easy going closer. However, it's almost too easy for this song to fade into the background of the rest of the album. Around the 1:54 mark the name that sprung to mind for me was Queens of the Stone Age. It took me back to Lullabies To Paralyze and "I Never Came" to be specific or even the slight and delicate harmonies on ...Like Clockwork's "Kalopsia". Josh Homme's gritty falsetto croon would give "Majesty" the bite that I think it needs to close such a lyrically sharp record. I'd also love to hear Jon Theodore do some magical things to the drums on this track, because there is so much from for expansion. In an ideal world, the QOTSA version of "Majesty" would also feature Alex Turner's subtle harmonies towards the last 30 seconds of the song.
