Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Grey DeLisle’s pipes are already quite an iconic element in contemporary pop culture, having been present for a lot of our childhoods via her work in voice acting, but in her new collaboration with Eddie Clendening, a band called The Roughhousers, she’s using her melodic skillset to spellbind a new generation of children. The Roughhousers’ new singles “Azucar” and “Princess Mike” present us with two different kinds of aesthetical brilliance, but both are equally worth taking a peek at if your music taste has remained young at heart. Through Clendening’s instrumental framework, DeLisle gives us some of her best harmonies yet in these tantalizing new tracks.
The music videos for “Princess Mike” and “Azucar” grasp the identities of their source material as opposed to simply projecting the surface themes of the lyrics onto the screen, which is more or less what I’ve come to expect out of these types of releases. There’s nothing here that lives by the standard alone – truth be told, The Roughhousers come across as intent on having a little more panache than the average act creating children’s music does. None of it is rooted in camp, either; this is jubilant but still light listening for all ears.
I never anticipate tracks like “Princess Mike” or “Azucar” being this engaging, but then again, most artists like Grey DeLisle and Eddie Clendening rarely lend their talents to this genre of music (which is a shame without question). The Roughhousers are a treasure amidst a blasé collection of players making children’s music in 2022, and if we can count on their contribution to this scene remaining consistent and as charismatic as it is in these two singles and their videos, they’re going to keep making headlines for their reverence, humble tone, and overall likability as an indie musical duo.
Ryan Parish
