Today's Pick

American country music group Love and Theft broke into the country music scene to scored a Top 10 hit, (the only new artist of 2009 to do so so far,) with their debut single "Runaway" off of their debut album "World Wide Open," and now the trio has moved on to a great follow-up single in "Dancing In Circles." Written by band member Stephen Barker Liles with producer Robert Ellis Orrall and songwriter Roger Springer, the song fits in well for both the softer fall/winter vibe at country radio while also featuring a message that is universal and questions why humanity does the things that we do to each other.
"Dancing In Circles" is the polar opposite of its predecessor "Runaway," and much more evenly secured within the traditional country vein with the deft usage of a beautiful mandolin, fiddle and banjo. It's a simple, organic song that leaves the band members trying to figure out through the verses why the men and women who share their lives on earth can never seem to find peace with one another and 'keep dancing in circles' to continuously avoid loving one another. The trio do not only prove themselves as talented musicians but singers as well with vocals that are rich, pleasant and produce a beautiful harmony. And while "Dancing In Circles" delivers a heavy message, the boys in Love and Theft present it in a fashion that is endearing instead of overbearing.
Love And Theft gathered on 5th Avenue in downtown Nashville in late November on a chilly Sunday afternoon to shoot the music video for their latest single, "Dancing in Circles." The clip is directed by award-winning Kristin Barlowe, who also helmed the trio's "Runaway." The reason the street was used, she says, was so that one side could "represent celebration and the joyful unity of humanity. The other side is destruction; war, riots, the sadder parts of our human existence." Love and Theft deliver an always timely message in this thought-provoking clip. The trio added "It's a reflection of people interacting with other people, Sometimes that's beautiful and other times it's troublesome. And we want to show that whole gamut of emotion and struggle and joy and victory. This song's about people loving each other. We just wanted to get a bunch of ethnicities and a lot of our friends are in it."
The thing I love about Love and Theft has to be their harmonies. They showed off their fantastic harmonies on their first single, and do so once again with "Dancing in Circles," which features a tinkling mandolin along with those great vocals. Their sound might not appeal to traditional country fans, but they're definitely a hit with the younger, TaylorSwiftish country crowd. Their soul-stirring harmony is icing on the cake. They have themselves a song that very well could be their first chart-topper.