The Prickly Pair – It Takes Two To Cry (2024)
You know those couples that come together, and everything seems to click? Don’t you just hate that; then again, the click-ness of The Prickly Pair is something hard to envy, it is to be admired. In 2016, Mason Summit (vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards) and Irene Greene (vocals) crossed paths and in 2017 they became a couple. In 2021, The Prickly Pair was formed and…well, the rest is history. Alright, I don’t know the pair personally so I’m not one to judge whether it’s been easy or tumultuous. What I am certain of is the natural chemistry Summit and Greene express with intimate creativity.
Following the critically acclaimed ‘Wilderness’, ‘It Takes Two To Cry’ engages failed romance in a more interesting manner. After becoming engaged in May, Summit and Greene discovered they didn’t have any betrayal, break-up-related tracks in their portfolio; hence, and this makes complete sense, they bucked up with a song about infidelity – ‘It Takes Two To Cry’. The duo explain:
“Even though we’ve been happily together as a couple for years, we wanted to write a classic “cheating” song in the tradition of great country songs about infidelity… In this song, Mason plays the part of a married man while Irene voices the “other woman” … so we used our imagination and wrote one!”
Embracing the traditional honky-tonk sound of vintage country ballads, ‘It Takes Two To Cry’ is a kaleidoscopic blend of banjo, mandolin, piano, organ, drums, percussion and typical twang lead guitar. Joined by Wilco’s Ken Coomer on drums and percussion, then mixed by Oliver Roman and mastered by Bibbi Giel, there is a sophisticated polish to the track. Then again, just as the song has maturity, a raw vulnerability and painfulness linger particularly in the lyricism.
For me, the protagonists singing about feeling love just once before they do was the clincher; a perspective from the other side of infidelity where everyone just wants to be loved. Sincere, sentimental and insightful, The Prickly Pair capture all aspects of infidelity in ‘It Takes Two To Cry’.
Find out more about The Prickly Pair on their Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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