Chris Pellnat - We Are Not Robots (2024)

I've written about singer-songwriter Chris Pellnat  a few times before. He's released several folk-rock albums while playing a wide range of instruments, but his new single, "We Are Not Robots," is a bit different. It's a true rock record blending multiple influences. You'll hear grungy guitars and new wave keyboards along with the star's always pleasing, idiosyncratic singing and his inclination for writing pop hooks.

Thematically, "Robots" is Pellnat's emotional reaction to unfortunate, major news stories of the past year. In the first verse, a female friend says to him, "please don't expect me to act my age"  and later she defends her actions by saying,"I'm trying to escape reality."

Pellnat explains that he's "horrified" by our current state of affairs and how they've affected his "overall outlook and mental health"  forcing him to seriously cut back on his news consumption. He told Bloggerhythms that "I need to lighten up! Easier said than done of course, but the idea has helped my mood and I think I am more prone to being silly now and laughing at the absurdity of it all. The woman mentioned in the song "is a friend who was way ahead of me on giving herself license to act ridiculous and childish."  He adds, "...... sometimes you need to step out of character and have silly, even obnoxious fun. So, the song also applauds her for reinforcing to me I was on the right path."  Pellnat also says there's a bit of mid-life crisis in the song too. 
I'm not a lyrics first kind of guy, but when a catchy, singable tune and arrangement - like this one - grabs my attention I'll always listen to what the artist has to say.

Speaking of current events, "We Are Not Robots" won't eat your brain, but it'll worm its way into your head with the best of intentions and take up residence there for a very long time.

A lot of originality has gone into the cool video. It's too bad it wasn't around for the heyday of MTV.

The song is available digitally on Bandcamp.

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