First Impressions: Coyote Cry
- Sara Pierson
- Mar 10, 2021
- 3 min read
If you’re anything like me you hadn’t heard about Ian Munsick until recently and I must say I didn’t know what to expect going into Coyote Cry. Being unfamiliar with him I didn’t want to listen to anything he had previously released so I could listen with fresh ears to the artist he is now as opposed to the artist he was a few years ago. After listening to the album a few times I was so curious about his background and how he got to this point releasing Coyote Cry. Ian Munsick is a Rocky Mountain artist, born and raised in Wyoming. His upbringing exposed him to “everything from blue-grass to the Beatles”, according to his website bio and it shows in his progressive sound that blends multiple genres.
This album panders to my soft spot for American rock boyband type of pop and mixes it with western country music. Imagine The Cab meets Morgan Wallen. That’s what this album is. Out the gate, the first track gives the strong pop country vibes, however, I didn’t crinkle my nose like I typically do when a pop-country song comes on. I can imagine driving around with my best friend singing along and really breaking it down at red lights. He’s got some clever lyrical ideas throughout the whole project. In the first track ‘Solo’ there’s a line in the bridge that goes “Went from so high to solo”, which I thought was a fun little play on words. Also! Ian can really get into his falsetto and maintain it. I was very impressed. I found it to be an overall fun album that had easy listening written all over it.
Stand Out Tracks
Solo
This, I would consider the singliest single of the album. It is upbeat and has some clever lyrics that roll off the tongue with the singable melody. There is a hint of fiddle that does warm my country-loving heart. If you are into impressive falsetto work and catchy melodic lines you will like it as much as I do.
Mountain Time
In Ian’s description of this song, he describes his time spent in the Swiss and Appalachian mountains. I come from a similar background growing up in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. As a new resident of Tennessee, I definitely relate to the sentiment of the song which is wanting to go back home to the mountains. Aside from the message that resonates with me personally, the song has a catchy vocal hook that, to me, reminds me of a coyote cry and rounds back around to the title of this project nicely.
Humble
If you’re looking for a song to move to this is definitely the one I would pick. The song is basically about a cowboy that has lived a long tough life and has learned a lot about being a man which has resulted in him becoming a humble man. This type of story is typically set into a slower ballad type arrangement with soaring melodies but this is a refreshing take on this very country tale. The electric guitar parts are super memorable and lively. Perfect for playing air guitar.
Like It Ain’t
This song stood out to me solely based on the chorus. It’s one of those singable lines that breaks into another impressive falsetto statement that caught my attention the first time I heard it and it continues to be stuck in my head. The lyrical material is strong in a cutesy kind of way. It has a lot of cute imagery that has a lot of word play similar to 'Solo'.
Must Listen
Mountain Time
Coyote Cry surprised me. I think of myself as a country music purist and I’m not a fan of blending genres, however, I think that Ian Munsick did a really great job not making a pop album with a little country twang in the vocals. He makes a point to add strong fiddle parts and a traditional western country feel to go with more modern pop production and I think it works.
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