Concise. Catchy. Anthemic. The John Whites’ new single, “When The Leaves Were Changing,” feels like vintage Tom Petty and Kings of Leon got together to tell a story of a love lost but not forgotten.
Over the last six or so years, John White has made a name for himself as one of the Reno area’s most prolific songwriters. But with this, the single off of his eighth album, there’s a sense of newness; a rebirth. And with Aaron Chiazza on drums and Alex Korostinsky on bass, he has a found the rhythm section to bolster his songwriting with the perfect balance of rock and roll grit and pop sensibility.
Although White has been performing the song for years, this is his first time presenting it to the world with a full rock arrangement. “I’m really excited for people to hear it,” he says “and not with just me on an acoustic guitar and a shitty mic but a nicely recorded version.”
“People really fucking love this song,” adds Korostinksy, who has been playing with White since 2010. He just recently slipped into a larger role by engineering and mixing “When The Leaves Were Changing,” as well as the rest of the forthcoming album “Beautiful Strangers,” to be released next week.
As he illustrated on Whatitdo.’s “Shit’s Dope” earlier this year, Korostinksy has proven to be just as formidable a recording engineer as he is a multi-instrumentalist. The tones are lush, lo-fi, and classic sounding.
The songwriting, production, and musicianship on “When The Leaves Were Changing” frame it as less of a single and more of a statement. I’m a sucker for well-arranged songs and this song builds itself into a frenzy as naturally as any I’ve heard. If you weren’t excited for “Beautiful Strangers” before, you undoubtedly will be by the time this tune’s last chord rings out.
