The Swon Brothers - "Pray For You"

[Deleted]

The Swon Brothers were on KNIX Phoenix earlier today and Colton announced this as their new single (I believe it was posted in the upcoming singles thread as well, but now we have some more confirmation), and then KNIX played it already. I am sure that Arista will give it an adds date soon.

Audio:

[Markus Meyer]

I like this, fair bit better than "Later On" IMO. I expect it to do similar to follow ups from fellow Voice contestants Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery chart wise unfortunately.

[dm2081]

Neither of their first two singles are bad, but they just aren't very memorable IMO. The production sounds very generic, and I'd even say it sounds slightly outdated. And you would think with them having previous exposure on The Voice they'd be selling better, but that has not been the case.

[countryfan4life]

I love this song and the whole album! I'm still surprised they didn't release Pretty Beautiful, but Pray For You is really good too. I hope it does well for them because they seem like great guys and they put on a fun show.

[josephmorgan]

Writers: Jessi Alexander, Tommy Lee James and Eric Paslay.

[sabre14]

Add date is November 3rd according to All Access

[rsmatto]

They make music that's very similar to Blake Shelton, obviously they've learned from their mentor.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ The problem is they don't have Blake's pipes. Seriously, I think these guys have some of the weakest voices I've ever heard on country radio.

[sapphire]

Right now, I like Later On more than this one. Probably a grower but I think on first listen it is quite forgettable.

[sabre14]

Officially released to country radio today according to Play MPE.

[countrygirl918]

I actually like this one, though I definitely understand where the "forgettable" comments come in. Most of their debut album sounds like I've already heard it before - these boys definitely have their work cut out for them in carving out their own identity. But I do enjoy their harmonies on many of the songs, and I'm glad they chose this one as a single. This is kind of like a conservative version of "Follow Your Arrow," in that it's encouraging prayer and love instead of judgement when you don't agree with someone's choices.

Anyway, it's a good sign they went with this one as a single over some of the other album cuts. I'd rather they release songs like "Pray For You" than their Florida Georgia Line-wannabe "95".

[Kentucky25]

I like this song quite a bit, probably one of (if not) the best song on their album. Hope this does well, mainly because the duos of country music have been lacking since Brooks & Dunn retired and Montgomery Gentry/Sugarland fell out of the mainstream. Since that time, FGL has dominated the scene and I'd like to see some kind of competition for them. I mean when the awards show come around, does anybody actually think anyone nominated against FGL has a chance of winning?

Bands like Dan + Shay, Maddie & Tae, and The Swon Brothers (and Big & Rich appear to be making a move back towards the top) getting more exposure and success is only good for the industry imo.

[countryfan4life]

I am not a vocal expert, but I would not say their vocals are weak. Yeah, they might not be as strong as others, but I think they make up for it with their strong harmonies. To me they sound like a mix of The Eagles and Brad Paisley. I think the only problem I can see with them is finding their identity and standing out. I think that's where Dan+Shay have them beat at the moment, but once they hit their stride I see them being very competitive. I agree Kentucky25 , I'm so happy to see more duos because this has been a category that has been lacking for a while now. Somebody has to give FGL some competition.

[phil1996]

Oct 18, 2014 14:51:57 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

^ The problem is they don't have Blake's pipes. Seriously, I think these guys have some of the weakest voices I've ever heard on country radio.

I agree. Remember "The Singing Bee" on CMT? It sounds like these guys were 2 of the karaoke singers from that show. There's some good material on their debut, and this song isn't bad at all, but the I can't help but notice how weak their voices are.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I slightly retract what I've said about their voices. I still think they sounded like absolute crap on Later On, but their voices sound a LOT stronger on this song. Thumbs up.

[sabre14]

This went for adds on November 3rd and so far it hasn't done much of anything other than being able to reach the 40's purely on momentum and their label. "Pray For You" is down 71k in audience on MB since Sunday and it's fallen to #48 on the rolling chart. The big thing is the sales - as in they're nowhere. This isn't even in the top 1000 on the iTunes all-genre chart. This might be a worse sales to spin ratio than 'Later On" and that one had no business being a top 15 single. There was talk in that thread that if it was 2004 or 2005, "Later On" probably would have flamed out after 15 weeks or so and only reached the top 25, but Arista fought hard to get that one so high.

I don't think anymore singles will be from this project once this one falters (which it will IMO). After that, I don't know where Arista and Sony go from here with them with their atrocious sales and fan response.

[.indulgecountry]

Feb 12, 2015 13:39:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

I don't think anymore singles will be from this project once this one falters (which it will IMO). After that, I don't know where Arista and Sony go from here with them with their atrocious sales and fan response.

Probably nowhere. I seem to recall seeing someone say something about them not surviving with Arista after this era, but I can't find it in this thread, so idk where I read that. But I basically agree with whoever made that statement -- after their reception here, I find it hard to imagine their label going forward with them after this single. They'll probably be shown the door.

[sabre14]

Feb 12, 2015 15:40:30 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Feb 12, 2015 13:39:07 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

I don't think anymore singles will be from this project once this one falters (which it will IMO). After that, I don't know where Arista and Sony go from here with them with their atrocious sales and fan response.

Probably nowhere. I seem to recall seeing someone say something about them not surviving with Arista after this era, but I can't find it in this thread, so idk where I read that. But I basically agree with whoever made that statement -- after their reception here, I find it hard to imagine their label going forward with them after this single. They'll probably be shown the door.

jhomes87 was the one who made that post you're thinking about (in the Country iTunes thread). :) She mentioned how she'll bet on the Swon Brothers not surviving after this album.

pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/141498/country-itunes-thread

I wouldn't go so far to say I would bank on it but I'm sure Arista will strongly consider it with zero buzz from fans and horrid sales.

[Deleted]

The label has probably lost a ton of money on these guys. They went on a huge radio tour and lots of radio folks jumped on "Later On", but then it barely sold anything at all, and I'm sure that the label spent a TON of money pushing it into the top 15 (they tried to get it top 10 and beyond but the writing was on the wall). Basically they got very little return on their investment there, and I'm sure it was a big net loss.

The album hasn't sold hardly anything at all, and now "Pray For You" doesn't even look likely to go top 40 despite extensive promotion by Arista. I doubt they've spent a ton of money on this one but they have clearly been pushing it at radio as evidenced by all the ads in Country Aircheck.

[Kanenrá:ke]

Which is all too bad as the album actually turned out to be above average and I could see them developing nicely into a reliable b-list duo if Arista sticks with them. I do agree that I think they'll be dropped by the end of the year. I'd wager that this single will die out soon and they'll take a small break and release a new lead single in the summer that won't take off and they'll be gone before the end of the year. If this were the 90's I'd have given them a higher chance because it seemed back then an artist could flop on two albums and still get a chance at another album. (Examples: Ronna Reeves, Chalee Tennison, Lisa Brokop, Marty Brown, Joy Lynn White, etc.)

[sabre14]

Arista (and RCA for that matter) have been trying to break out a brand new artist for some time now. Jerrod Niemann had success but he was around for some time before that and The Henningsens had a top 15 single with low sales and a disappointing follow up (sound familiar, lol), and they haven't released anything (other than a Christmas album) since. Their really crossing their fingers with the launches of Logan Mize and Cam next month I'm sure, and I do think Logan's song will be a hit and will sell much better than the Swon Brothers' debut single did.


They obviously have tried like heck to make the Swon Brothers into a hot new act since they already had exposure on The Voice. I think they didn't imagine their sales would be this bad. It's almost like the listeners had never heard of them before they launched "Later On". I'm think they'll drop them too since it would be another investment to have them record some new material and send out another lead single. The landscape of the industry has changed dramatically with digital sales as a strong indicator of interest. I agree they would have a much better shot at getting another album if this were 10-15 years ago.

[.indulgecountry]

These guys came in third on The Voice and "Later On" peaked higher on the airplay charts than RaeLynn's debut single did, and she only made it to the Quarterfinals (she placed in the equivalent of 15th or 16th place -- much less TV exposure) and still "God Made Girls" sold twice as much. The Swon Brothers have just completely bombed.

Also, I just listened to this tune for the first time since it was at the forefront of my mind given this discussion, and man was I not missing anything. This song is terrible. I liked "Later On" more than this, and that one got old fast. They really do seem to have some pretty awful voices judging by their first two singles, and everything else about this song was just boring and the melody was kinda dreadful, honestly.

[wilbur]

Great video for this out today!

[onebuffalo]

Feb 19, 2015 13:58:18 GMT -5 wilbur said:

Great video for this out today!

Great to have you back. After not posting for six months, this is your third post this year!

[sabre14]

Feb 19, 2015 13:58:18 GMT -5 wilbur said:

Great video for this out today!

:)

[wilbur]

thanks buffalocountry. yea I really hope "same ol highway" gets released next.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I still think they aren't great singers. But at least this song gives the impression that their balls have dropped, and the lyric cuts a bit deeper than their debut.

[.indulgecountry]

Feb 21, 2015 0:36:55 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I still think they aren't great singers. But at least this song gives the impression that their balls have dropped, and the lyric cuts a bit deeper than their debut.

I don't get why you try so hard to find the smallest of silver linings for certain songs but then you completely pick some apart (most recently Maddie & Tae's "Fly"). But at least you can admit they suck as vocalists.

[Markus Meyer]

I must admit, this has really grown on me. It does have it's issues sonically, but I do very much enjoy it, and their entire album was excellent IMO.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Feb 21, 2015 1:28:52 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Feb 21, 2015 0:36:55 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I still think they aren't great singers. But at least this song gives the impression that their balls have dropped, and the lyric cuts a bit deeper than their debut.

I don't get why you try so hard to find the smallest of silver linings for certain songs but then you completely pick some apart (most recently Maddie & Tae's "Fly"). But at least you can admit they suck as vocalists.

It depends on how deep an analysis the song merits in my opinion. This song covers no new ground, but I feel that it covers it well enough for me not to pick it apart lyrically. Note that at no point did I say this was a bad song.

"Fly" I went more in-depth on because it wasn't doing anything for me at all on the first listen, and on the second listen, so many lyrical faults jumped out at me that I felt I had to comment on them.