SONG REVIEW: Jamie Stoffa - "Try To Forget"
Jamie Stoffa’s song, “Try To Forget” is the perfect mood music for moody people
by Jesse Smith
To be honest with you, I could just say this next sentence and 90% of you will immediately get what I mean. Jamie Stoffa’s “Try To Forget” sounds like how Fall weather feels. For the rest of you; just picture yourself walking down the street on a late October’s day. It’s just the right amount of cloudy, you have your favorite boots on, a nice jacket, maybe a scarf & beanie combo (the classic). There are leaves all around you, the wind to cold ratio doesn’t hurt your face yet and you have your favorite coffee. We all know what that feels like and that is the vibe I get when I listen to this song… over and over again.
Genre-bending, multi-instrumentalist Jamie Stoffa is fairly new in his endeavors as a solo artist. As the majority of solo projects do, he has been experimenting across the spectrum with being heavier, more pop-ish, and everywhere in between. But with his sixth song release “Try To Forget”, I personally think he has nailed this particular sound. The song starts stripped to the bare bones of guitar and vocals for the first chorus. Awesome move from the start, as the song progresses more and more elements are added which keeps your attention the whole length of the song. The drums are the next to kick in keeping it simple and adding an upbeat vibe in the change in tempo followed by some ambient guitar in the background. The main thing that stands out is the emotion behind Jamie’s voice. While the music is upbeat, his voice is kind of sullen and somber. You can really feel his frustration, especially at the end of the song when he is borderline screaming. But not like metal screaming, more like screaming in your car after work to your favorite emo ballad. Finishing the song off with the coolest little touch, that I won’t spoil for you. All I’ll say is you can tell he wanted to experiment and it worked out to be a pretty sick ending
Try To Forget is the perfect mood music for moody people, and by that I mean this is the song you go to when you just had enough of the world. When you’re on the school bus or on the train back home and you blankly stare at the world around you pretending to be in those 2008 emo music videos. Try To Forget should be up there in the standings of awesome emo ballads. Giving a very Real Friends vibe, Jamie has taken a step in a different direction but I hope he continues to make songs like this.