Title: “It Looks Like Heaven Has Another Angel Now”Artist: Brandon Caulfield
Album: Some Roads Lead To Nowhere (2013)
Release Date: June 28, 2014
Length: 5:07
Format: CD Single, Digital Download, Weekly Airplay
Recorded: August – October 2013, Three Crow Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre: Alternative Rock, Country, Folk
Label: Ocean Records
Writer: Brandon Caulfield
Producer(s): Brandon Caulfield, Sarah Jade Harrison, JR Rhythm
“It Looks Like Heaven Has Another Angel Now” is a track written and recorded by American alternative-rock musician ‘Brandon Caulfield’. It is taken from his 2013 studio album ‘Some Roads Lead To Nowhere’ and will be the eleventh single to be released by the singer-songwriter since his breakthrough in 2011. The single will become the third to be released from his most recent full-length effort, following on from ‘Arizona’ and ‘Nightbirds Are Flyin’. His previous single was released back in August 2013, making it a little under a year between singles and the decision to release another single from the record after the album cycle appeared to be finished has come as somewhat of an unexpected surprise, the reasoning behind it makes the decision make a little more sense, but it is sadly for more corporate reasons.
In early 2013, Brandon Caulfield signed a recording contract with a label called ‘Ocean Records’ where he would agree to the release of his next studio album and three subsequent singles. Having released the album and two singles from it, it would appear that Caulfield is looking to cut ties with the label and in order to do so, would have to fulfil his contractual obligations. This explains why Caulfield has decided to release one final single from the record so long after the release of his previous single. However, where his future may lie would remain to be seen, whether there would be any major labels interested in signing the rather inconsistent musician is something that is still very much up in the air. Caulfield even spoke about changes at a recent concert, where he apparently hinted at this, somewhat indirectly, “We all need new horizons in this life, it’s what keeps us alive! See we’re all very much the same creatures. If things are running smoothly and steadily then we all tend to get a little bit bored and decide to screw it up. We’re masters at creating chaos from comfort. And so I suppose I’m in the midst of creating chaos from comfort myself. It’s terrifying but it makes me feel alive again.”
The track finds Caulfield exploring the folk and country elements of his music a little further, with its lyrics very much designed to tell the story of a man that has lost a friend/lover. The musical backdrop veers more towards the dreary style that Caulfield presented on his first two records rather than his most recent work which has seen him experiment further with electric guitars and slide-guitars. Instead this track is dominated by a voice, an instrument and his words and according to Rolling Stone magazine, while reviewing the entirety of his previous record, they labelled this track in particular as one of the real standouts, according to the magazine publication, “Caulfield shows us exactly why we fell I love with his art in the first place. Because at its core, its heartfelt like the majority of his work. It lacks pretention and assumes nothing on the part of the listener, but instead it says ‘this is a human emotion that we’ve all felt’ and it works for Caulfield and his fans to absolutely the greatest degree. Lyrically it’s certainly not earth-shattering stuff, the words are simple and direct and that is very much the songs charm. With Caulfield we already have an idea of what to expect and he delivers exactly that at. His work is never gonna be revolutionary but it is at least real, honest and raw”
Caulfield wrote the track back in June/July of 2013 while he was preparing to record his fourth studio album. The song was written entirely by Caulfield and was recorded at his own studios in Los Angeles, California called ‘Three Crow Studios’. The song was produced by Caulfield alongside regular collaborators ‘Sarah Jade Harrison’ and ‘JR Rhythm’ and was included on his previous album ‘Some Roads Lead To Nowhere’. This single will be released as a CD Single, Digital Download and will be made available to Airplay from 28 June, 2014.
SONG DESCRIPTIONThe song immediately highlights Brandon Caulfield’s original style, the opening twang of the strings of his acoustic guitar instantly bring to mind a lot of the songs from his first two albums. The opening verse begins to tell the story of two friends/lovers in a reminiscent style, sung from the point of view of the one that has lost someone they cherish and Caulfield sings fondly of his memories
“I walk along the river that we both used to go/Your reflection glimmers back at me as I skip some stones/And soon the clouds will be parting/The sun will turn to rain/But every drop that falls upon me/Won’t ever feel the same.” already from the opening verse, you can feel Caulfield spilling out his heartfelt emotions. Potentially there is an autobiographical side to the song, as he opened up once before in an interview about losing a close friend that was suffering and is no longer here. If you consider the story that Caulfield told while listening to the song, then there is potential that the song could take on an even more heartfelt and raw feeling of emotions.
Caulfield doesn’t take too long before diving straight into the songs chorus, instantly arriving after the opening verse, as the acoustic guitar strings are seemingly plucked with a little more aggressiveness, it comes through in the song as the music quickly picks up some more urgency, Caulfield bellows out in an emotive wail,
“It looks like heaven has another angel now/Taken from one world too soon/But you’ll find your place up in the clouds/Well it looks like heaven has another angel now/You’ve been taken and the world won’t ever be the same/Although you’re no longer here/We’ll always remember your name.” and the song finds its beauty in the simplicity of its lyrics. It’s been Caulfield’s biggest trait ever since making a name for himself in the music industry, where he puts down emotions that we all feel at some point in our life and he sings it with the sort of passion and heartfelt meaning that it so obviously requires.
As the song progresses through, the instrumentation remains at the same sort of pace throughout, it’s no doubt in order to keep the focus firmly on the song’s lyrics and general theme. Again though Caulfield paints simplistic imagery as he sings about how the nights are no longer the same and that there’s a space in his life that just won’t ever be occupied in the same manner now that he has lost this person that is so special to him. He finishes the song on a final note, finding the positives in the negative,
“It looks like heaven has another angel now/Keep on flying/I know I’ll meet you again, somehow.” and once again Caulfield produces a song that will no doubt keep his fanbase happy but also potentially bring in newer fans that are unfamiliar with his music, perhaps with a label shift and new album in the works, there could be more from him in the coming weeks and months, but for now, this track will certainly tie fans over.
LYRICS“I walk along the river that we both used to go
Your reflection glimmers back at me as I skip some stones
And soon the clouds will be parting
The sun will turn to rain
But every drop that falls upon me
Won’t ever feel the same
It looks like heaven has another angel now
Taken from one world too soon
But you’ll find your place up in the clouds
Well it looks like heaven has another angel now
You’ve been taken
And this world won’t ever be the same
Although you’re no longer here
We’ll always remember your name
The nights they get sorta lonely
I’ll admit that I miss you so
But that’s the way the world works sometimes
I guess it was your time to go
Maybe things will get better and I’ll find my smile again
When the clouds are parted
I’ll feel you in the rain
It looks like heaven
Has another angel now
From one world to another
I know that I’ll never understand how
But it’s one of life’s unanswerable questions
Just another mystery
They could have taken anybody
But they chose to take you away from me
There’s a space beside me
Where you used to lay
There’s a running commentary
Of the things that you’d always say
But I know I’ll never get to hear your voice
It’s tearing me apart inside
But I guess it’s better that I got to know you
Thanks for taking me along for the ride
It looks like heaven
Has another angel now
From one world to another
I know that I’ll never understand how
But it’s one of life’s unanswerable questions
Just another mystery
They could have taken anybody
But they chose to take you away from me
It looks like heaven
Has another angel now
Keep on flying
I know I’ll meet you again
Somehow”SOUND ALIKEWillie Nelson – Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground
PERSONNELBrandon Caulfield – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, lyrics, composition, production
Sarah Jade Harrison – backing vocals, production
JR Rhythm – production
Haley Caulfield – cover artwork
