Jonathan Bannon Maher “The Fallout of Love”
URL: https://www.jonathanmaher.com/
Jonathan Bannon Maher’s epic single, “The Fallout of Love” could be an end credits tune for a blockbuster romantic movie. It is no doubt that the singer/songwriter/author has taste and a knack for a good melody going in his favor. Artists that come to mind are the Goo Goo Dolls at their arena pleasing ballad-y best, Soul Asylum with the distortion turned off, James Blunt and John Mayer. This is music that’s meant to touch on the basic human emotions of love, sadness, joy and bewilderment. The young musician speaks from the heart, and his compositional prowess will be a treasure for the old and young alike.
Bombast and grandeur are two adjectives that come to mind when trying to get a handle on the qualities heard here. At heart, this is an acoustic weeper that showcases the sweltering heat of Maher’s tonally flawless and softly pitched voice as it ascends and descends every sort of terrain a singer should try to tackle. The guitar is softly strummed, plucking away at a melody that will get in your head and command you to sing along during the standing ovation chorus where every element falls into place. Synths wash over the insistent percussion with splashes of sparse bass chording, tasteful keyboards and a little bit of violin making for a very full, organic tune that is organized meticulously in terms of its attention to instrumental detail. As good as the song is, it does owe some of its dynamics and bares almost a little too much resemblance to the seminal work of The Goo Goo Dolls and recent songsmiths Mayer, Blunt or even the intensely melodic writing of Train’s monster single, “Drops of Jupiter.” The good thing is Maher has enough of his own style to shine through and a rousing texture to his voice that elevates his material to a point way above average. Still, it would be nice to hear him take a larger step outside of his influences on future recordings.
From a bird’s eye view the writing on this is great and could propel him to a larger audience and even a record deal. He is not only an impressive musician, but he also is an author, writer, a former Senate hopeful and an all-around powerful personality. Despite the small similarities to other famous tracks, “The Fallout of Love” is very well-done in its own right and illustrates that Maher has potential for widespread popularity in the future. Hopefully, this is the first of many magical songs we hear from this gifted player.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/jonathanbannonmaher
Jay Snyder
Rating: 8/10