Emma Swift recently released Blonde on the Tracks, an eight song LP of various Bob Dylan covers spanning his varied career. In early August she released the official video for “You’re a Big Girl Now,” which pays some serious homage to famed graphic designer Milton Glaser. It’s a fitting stylistic choice given that Glaser designed this iconic Dylan poster included in thee 1967 Greatest Hits package. Swift is paying double Dylan homage, quite cleverly.

My familiarity with Dylan’s catalog is woefully inept. I’m either the worst person to review a Dylan cover or the best, as I come with nearly no context, no baggage and no conceptions about what the song should sound like. If you’re a massive Dylan fan, you may have severe musical criticisms to make here as Swift deviates from the original but I’m blissfully ignorant to all of that.

What I can tell you is that the track is a richly layered undertaking that evokes a warm, self-reflective feeling that opens up into an optimistic bliss. A slow burner that carries you from a melancholy mood to a hopeful place. Lyrically, it’s a love song lamenting time apart but with Swift’s version, that distance resolves in a sweet smirk.

The Blam Blams will release Opening Night on August 28th, 2020. It’s a concept album that, according to this No Country for New Nashville post, will tell the story of Sydney Fable who is “a bisexual actor/ artist in 1970’s London that is stepping out onto the stage both literally and figuratively as he begins to discover his own agency amidst starring in a production with the Galactic Theater company.” That’s a high concept for any band but given the naturally theatrical style of The Blam Blams, it’s less of a stretch here.

The latest single, video and title track, “Opening Night”, portrays the protagonist preparing to take the stage. Quite literally, it shows the band adorning themselves with their signature makeup styles backstage before heading out. It’s a ballad of a song with a straightforward, simple and highly effective premise that manages to keep things interesting with top notch vocal harmonies and a bit of Brian May-esque searing guitar.

We’ve been covering the various singles from Opening Night as far back as March. “Isabella“, “Throwaway Lines” and “Arc Light City all preceded “Opening Night” and paint a picture of an album that will be heavily steeped in glam rock styles. August 28th is just a short ten days away and we’re ready for the curtain to open.