We Speak Music
The Here And Now Share New Song “Riptide”
Brixton’s The Here And Now have just released “Riptide”, and it’s worth talking about where this track sits in their trajectory. Having built their reputation through consistent gigging around London since 2020, there’s a sense they’re reaching for something more defined here.
The track wastes no time getting started. Jason Bond’s guitar comes in with immediate purpose, setting up the heavier framework that carries through the whole thing. Cherry Terzza’s vocals do interesting work here, moving between more vulnerable moments and full throttle intensity. It’s not groundbreaking as a technique, but there’s enough authenticity in the delivery that it doesn’t feel like a box being ticked.
Thematically, “Riptide” explores that familiar pull toward something you know isn’t good for you. The metaphor is pretty direct, which might feel a bit obvious on first listen, but sometimes that directness connects better than trying to be overly clever about it. Most people have experienced that feeling of being drawn into something destructive, so there’s relatability there even if the approach isn’t particularly subtle.
The rhythm section deserves mention. Rich Sackey Addo keeps the drums purposeful without overplaying, while Callum Lowe’s bass provides solid grounding that lets the other elements breathe when they need to. The production strikes a reasonable balance between polish and grit, though it leans slightly more toward the cleaner side than some might expect.
You’ll hear echoes of Paramore, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Royal Blood throughout, which the band isn’t really hiding. They’re pulling from those influences and trying to shape them into something that feels like their own. Whether they’ve fully arrived at a completely distinctive sound is debatable, but “Riptide” suggests they’re moving in that direction.
The track’s strength is its focus. It knows what it wants to be and commits to that vision. At the same time, it’s not reinventing the wheel. This feels like a band getting clearer on their identity rather than making a dramatic leap into new territory.
You can listen here.
We Speak Music
SCARECROW’s John Blaze Delivers a Career Milestone With “Twisted” and Earns Josie Music Awards Song of the Year Nomination
John Blaze has spent nearly four decades fronting SCARECROW, the New York hard-rock outfit he founded in 1989, and in 2026 he delivered one of the most ambitious releases of his career with “Twisted.” Now, the song has reached another major milestone: “Twisted” has been nominated for Song of the Year in the Metal/Alternative category at the Josie Music Awards.
The nomination places Blaze and SCARECROW among this year’s recognized independent artists and songwriters at the Josie Music Awards, with the awards ceremony set to take place at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. For an artist whose career has been built on persistence, independence and decades of hard-rock storytelling, the recognition gives “Twisted” an entirely new chapter.
Written by John Blaze and Chaffin, “Twisted” pulls together a lineup of guest players that reads like a rock family reunion, built around Blaze’s long-standing friendship with Dee Snider and the legacy of Twisted Sister, a band woven into SCARECROW’s story from its earliest days.
That connection goes all the way back to the beginning. SCARECROW’s original lineup featured guitarist Eddie Ojeda, best known for his work in Twisted Sister, and the two camps have remained connected ever since. “Twisted” makes that history explicit: Dee Snider appears on the record with guest vocals during the track’s climactic second verse and chorus, lending the song an instantly recognizable jolt of arena-rock power.
Snider isn’t the only marquee name in the credits. Mark Wood, founding violinist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, contributes electrifying violin work that gives “Twisted” a cinematic sweep uncommon in modern hard rock. Rounding out the track are TJ Jordan on lead guitar and Bobby Marks on drums, creating a powerful, road-tested foundation behind Blaze’s signature gritty vocal delivery.
The Josie Music Awards nomination feels particularly fitting because “Twisted” isn’t simply another SCARECROW release. It brings together different eras of Blaze’s musical life while pushing the band’s sound forward. There’s history in the recording, but there’s also urgency. It doesn’t sound like a band looking backward. It sounds like one with unfinished business.
For Blaze, the nomination also represents recognition of a career that has largely been built outside the traditional machinery of the mainstream music business. Independent rock artists rarely survive for decades without a fierce commitment to what they do, and SCARECROW’s longevity speaks for itself. From the band’s early years and its 1991 debut, through the Blood, Sweat and 20 Years retrospective and the theatrical production I Am SCARECROW, Blaze has continued developing a world around the music rather than simply releasing songs.
That makes the Song of the Year nomination especially meaningful. After nearly four decades of building SCARECROW, Blaze now heads to the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry with one of his most ambitious songs recognized in the Metal/Alternative category.
And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about the song that got him there.
“Twisted” connects SCARECROW’s beginnings to its present, reunites Blaze musically with figures tied to the band’s history, and demonstrates just how much fire remains in the project. With Snider and Wood contributing to the record and Blaze still driving the band he created from the ground up, the track feels less like a nostalgic reunion than a statement of survival.
Now it’s also an award-nominated song.
For John Blaze and SCARECROW, nearly four decades into the journey, “Twisted” has become more than another entry in the catalog. It’s a career milestone — and this September, that milestone is taking SCARECROW all the way to the Grand Ole Opry.
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