New Year’s 2022 mood is determination to twist a hostile world into a place of kindness and decency. I’ve seen it in post after post: hope hammered into being, an act of pounding back to avoid being pounded down. This first week of January starts with two musical projects featuring Promethean efforts.

“Promethean,” an instrumental single by Bobo and the Unusuals, starts with an upbeat, jazzy feel [Bandcamp link]. The veer into experimental sound juxtapositions develops from a discord here, a spring coming loose there. A strong beat holds the pieces together as sound quests for resolution, comes apart, pokes in another direction. It feels like Conway’s Game of Life, the one where you set the cells moving and they surge around, forming patterns. (That’d be a Promethean thing to do.)

Another Promethean act is Mercy Choir’s “The Resolution Song” [Bandcamp link]. Not a single song, it’s a project of writing and posting a song a day as long as songwriter Paul Belbusti can stand to. This promises to be a fascinating dig into a songwriter’s indie-rock toolbox. I love this kind of project because its raw determination takes off the brakes of   seeking polish and album-length unity. (And I might be earwormed on the subject of blood.)

If you’re into weekly or daily songwriter challenges, check out my interview with The Real Michael Lee on how his went.