“Having sold more than 150 million records, Billy Joel ranks as one of most popular recording artists and respected entertainers in the world,” says billyjoel.com. “Throughout the years, Joel’s songs have acted as personal and cultural touchstones for millions of people, mirroring his own goal of writing songs that ‘meant something during the time in which [he] lived … and transcended that time.’”
“Turn the Lights Back On” is Joel’s newest release after 17 years of not releasing anything, according to variety.com. In an interview with the Audacy Check-In podcast, he said he stopped releasing music for a while because, “I have this high bar that I set for myself. If I don’t reach that bar, I beat myself up and I punch myself and I hate myself. So I stopped doing [music] because I got tired of feeling like that.” He added that the song writing process was “lonely.”
History teacher Mr. Chuck Selfe comments, “I haven’t listened to it; he’s somebody in my brain that I have put into the ‘has-been’ category, which is totally unfair. I get that even though he’s old, he’s still being creative.”
He continues that he feels that most older artists that release a song/album years later seem to go “unnoticed” because people “lock in on what they did 20 to 30 years ago.”
Another more contemporary artist getting attention for re-releasing music is folk-pop artist Noah Kahan, who re-released the album Stick Season (Forever). The album consists of one new song called Forever, songs he has already released, and songs on which he has collaborated with other artists.
The collaborated songs are Call Your Mom with Lizzy McAlpine, She Calls Me Back with Kacey Musgraves, Northern Attitude with Hozier, Everywhere, Everything with Gracie Abrams, Homesick with Sem Fender, You’re Gonna Go Far with Brandi Carlile, and Paul Revere with Gregory Alan Isakov.
Kahan stated in an interview that, “Forever is a long time. This album cycle has felt like forever, and I’ve loved every second of it. I have loved living in this world.”
He continues, “I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin, more proud of what I was representing in my songwriting, and more vindicated by the response to a record that was really an extension of my soul.”
Senior Tony Fugitti says that he was excited about Kahan releasing the album because he feels like Kahan is going to go much further with his career since his “songwriting is already so great.”
He believes the album was “great” and the new song is “one of his best songs.”
