Sean Shiff – “Learn New Tricks”

Sean Shiff – “Learn New Tricks” – Single Review

Alrighty…let’s see where I’m at with this latest single from Sean Shiff…

I suppose the first thing that struck me was that it’s about the least recognizable of his tunes that I’ve personally heard to-date, and ultimately, after about four years of listening, that’s probably a good thing.  Identity is always a great thing to have in music, but you never want anything to come out sounding too much the same, and it’s a pitfall that songwriters tend to go through more than most.  By enlisting the right singer or artists or players, you can diversify the sound and spread things out a bit more in that regard, and Sean’s made a wise choice by having seasoned veteran of the game Mark Schirmacher at the helm to sing on his latest single “Learn New Tricks.”  Speaking of four years ago, that was the last time we actually had Mark up on our pages…way back in 2019…unless you count a super secretive project he was developing that I reviewed in April of 2021, but shhhhhh don’t tell anyone.

Anyhow.  As a result, this single becomes a bit more Mark than what we’ve heard in the past from Sean, and I’m cool with that.  “Learn New Tricks” is arguably more modern in its sound than what we typically have heard in Shiff’s music in the past, though it’s still rooted in throwback vibes from a couple decades ago.  All-in-all, “Learn New Tricks” basically incorporates a timeless style of sound that never really gets old, and there are plenty of people out there around the world that’ll dig how this track came out.  It’s kind of got like a late 80s to mid 90s style goin’ on…not so big band that you’d think it was something in rock like Huey Lewis or Joe Cocker, and not quite as straight-ahead and plain as something you’d find from The Gin Blossoms, or as happy as you’d find on the Dumb and Dumber Soundtrack.  It’s somewhere in the ether between all that.  I will certainly say that the trumpet is an essential part of what gives this song the personality it has in the music, and it’s a great pairing with the stylistic vibes Mark brings to the microphone.  The bass has a strong presence, the drums are crisp, and backup vocalist Katy Tessman does a great job in her supporting role…there are no discernable weak points, though I’ll definitely admit that it is very tough to outshine the contribution that the trumpet makes to “Learn New Tricks” overall.

As far as Shiff’s songwriting is concerned, there are some great things in here, and some stuff that I’m not quite as jazzed about.  You could say the best stuff in this song about evolution is surrounding the sentiment and intentions of it all – Sean means well.  Where it falters a bit is arguably in the main concept and whether or not it actually pairs in the right way.  Think of it this way…as a songwriter, it’s something to be conscious of…you’re going for a song that’s all about moving forward, yet the sound of the song really doesn’t reflect that aspect as much, drawing on the past from a couple days back in terms of what most folks would find a track like this comparable to.  Which is one thing.  The other thing is perhaps a bit more egregious to me…we’re talkin’ about evolution and movin’ forward, and yet we’re workin’ within the framework of a metaphor that is about as old as time itself…the whole “can an old dog learn new tricks” thing that we’ve all heard about a million times in our lives.  Strikes me that, when you’re dealing with evolution, you wanna reflect that in the words and in the sound…which is not really how this particular story goes when it comes to the effect of these things on the writing itself.  Make sense?  Echo?  It’s hard to catch everything all the time, and I get that…but consistency in a message is a fairly crucial thing to have; it’s hard to ask us all to move forward when the example is moving backward in the opposite direction.  None of this makes “Learn New Tricks” a bad song by any measure, but for Sean’s songwriting in the future to come, these are points that he might want to consider.  It’s a bit of a catch 22, and I’ll readily admit that…we all make important arguments for how to navigate the future by relying on precedent established in the past, and that tends to show up most in the metaphors we use & old sayings we’ve known by heart for years, because they’re entirely relatable & shared between us all.  “You can never be discouraged as long as you’re tryin’” – and Sean certainly is…that ain’t ever in doubt.

Is it catchy?  Yep!  The harmonies in the chorus are perfection too.  The trumpet, as I’ve already claimed, is awesome and a massive part of the allure in this particular single.  Mark does an exceptional job in the lead vocals and gives this track some much needed diversity within the Sean Shiff catalog through the performance he puts in and the spin he puts onto the natural cadence of the words.   It’s meant to be a positive encouragement of our evolution, whether or not the approach is something we’d universally agree with…his heart is in the right place, and to me, that counts for something.  Plus, I freakin’ love the line “if you evolved, then so can they, I think Jesus would agree” – that’s one of the most brilliant lyrical moments I’ve seen in any Shiff tune to-date, and a wonderfully controversial line he’s slipped right into a place where you actually wouldn’t expect to find it in a song like this one.  It’s a fast-paced world, and you’ve gotta “catch up, keep up, and quick” – or risk being left behind with the dinosaurs.  Piece by piece, and situation by situation, what we experience in life always moves us forward…so live it at your own speed I say, but understand the perils of not moving the needle of evolution quickly enough.  “Change is here to stay” as you’ll hear in this song, and that’s true as far as I’ve ever known…it’s the only constant that I can personally say I’ve experienced throughout my years.  Thought-provoking tune Sean…good job man.

Find out more about Sean Shiff at his official page at Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seanshiffmusic

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