The Ballroom Thieves - “Right on Time”
Boston, Massachusetts-based indie folk artists Calin Peters and Martin Earley, aka The Ballroom Thieves, have gifted unto this world their new single, “Right on Time.”
The band has toured with some big names, including Joshua Radin and Sarah Jarosz, so it is very likely that you’ve already had their sweet sounds in your ears. And if not, “Right on Time” is the perfect place to begin. The track opens with the wonderfully full strums of an acoustic guitar, thick and raw as though being performed right in front of you. Earley takes the vocal helm with his authentic tenor, imbuing a lovely rural vibe into the song, immediately captivating our interest as “Right on Time” falls snugly into our folksy niche.
The glorious tones of an organ fade into the arrangement, prompting the arrival of a vintage-tinged rhythm section. The sound is fascinating in the way that it appears to be void of any digital processing and we would not be surprised if they used a single mic to capture the whole thing on two-inch tape. “Right on Time” maintains a distinctly classic, analogue vibe that is oftentimes lacking in many modern-day folk recordings. And when the epically delicate harmony from Peters arrives, it is as if we’ve died and gone to indie folk heaven.
If you’ve ever read a single page of our blog, you’ll know that we often find it difficult to resist a good male + female duet, especially one that manages to avoid instilling an overly romantic subject matter. With “Right on Time,” listeners get the idea that these two artists know and treasure each other as human beings, without going overboard on sentimentality. The Ballroom Thieves, instead, effectively spoon feed us heaping portions of nostalgia by relying on a full-bodied production, all carefully crafted inside this irresistible gem of a song.
About the track, Earley adds: “My dad built a little woodshed in the front yard. My best friend and I decided it would be necessary to christen it by sleeping in a poorly constructed tarp tent on its roof. It was freezing at night and hot in the morning, and the combination of an angled roof and rough shingles made for a deeply uncomfortable bed. We slept out there for a whole week and I still remember our parents shaking their heads in confusion like it was yesterday. But it wasn’t yesterday. It was years and years ago and somehow life just keeps rolling by, and that’s what ‘Right on Time’ is about.”
-HD