Genre: Profile

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Jonathan David Bellion was born in Lake Grove, New York to parents William and Judy Bellion. He developed a passion for creating music through his creating of beats on his brothers Triton keyboard. A talented basketball player, he decided to pursue his Junior year of High School. He eventually was offered a publishing deal after working on his craft and managing jobs to help continue to fund his passion. This lead to him leading production on many popular hits such as Eminem and Rihanna’s The Monster and Jason Derulo’s Trumpets. With funds coming in from these major successes, Jon was able to pursue his own work and released his own work The Separation, soon after.

I discovered Jon Bellion for the first time a long time ago, around 6th or 7th grade by listening to Pandora on my parents TV. With the music platforms nature of only shuffling “radios” of certain artists, there were many artists and songs which I discovered throughout these little music journey’s. I initially remember Jon Bellion’s cover art for The Human Condition due to it’s unique art style, and with songs which stuck with me for a while: 80s Films, He is the Same, and most of all Guillotine.Years later, in 2022, I heard Guillotine again and was instantly brought back to listening in my basement. Exploring his whole discography, I was able to truly experience all the elements which make Jon Bellion so impressive. Talent in his lyrics, talent in his production and talent in his intonation and performance stood out as I heard each song. Jon Bellion also creates documentaries for how he produces a lot of his songs and watching the whole process when I discovered this element of his craft really helped to drive home my love for his music, especially watching how some of my favorite songs of all time were crafted with so much love and passion. (If you are interested, here is one of my favorites, with his crafting of Stupid Deep).

Even now, I am still discovering new songs by Jon Bellion, such as unreleased tracks like 1990 and Two Car Garage, or even versions of songs he wrote and gave to another artist, such as Justin Beiber’s Holy. While a part of me is pained that so many people are unaware of his talents and resume, it makes it even more special when I find someone else who knows of him or even better is aware of his craft. While Jon has been limited to producing for others in recent years, (such as Jimin, Jung Kook and Tori Kelly), I am pleased to know he is now able to release his own music with his old contract ending, and an album is hopefully soon on the horizon!

Just for fun, here are some other popular songs he wrote/produced:

Memories-Maroon Five

Who-Jimin

Seven-Jung Kook and Latto

Waffle House and Walls-The Jonas Brothers

Midnight Sky-Miley Cyrus

My Mind and Me-Selena Gomez

Girls-The Kid LAROI

and plenty more…

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Genre: List Entry

For this week, I will be diving into Teddy Swim’s 2023 album titled I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1). I will be going track by track and ranking them in order of personal preference with reasons why. (After completing this ranking, I can say confidently this was incredibly difficult, as each song in my opinion is extremely impressive musically and sonically). This collection of 10 tracks offers numerous examples of Teddy Swims unique talent. Without further ado lets get into it!

1. Lose Control. The most popular song on the album and there is a reason for that. If you asked me whether or not Teddy Swims could sing, I would simply reply can a bird fly? His effortless flows throughout the song and riffs as he rides his emotions down arpeggios really helps to drive his emotional messaging through strongly.

2. Flame. A song I discovered reviewed this album, Teddy remains in check (in comparison to his normal vocal expressions), and the smooth comforting messaging and tone he holds throughout helps to show the love and patience he holds for his partner. Combined with some great trumpet that fits right into the vibe of the song, this is quite a tune.

3. The Door. The only other song I knew before reviewing this album, and within it Teddy returns more to the vibes of Lose Control, as he croons about how he needs to leave his partner in his past.

4. What More Can I Say. With a funky feel and great backing vocals, Teddy crafts a clever hook with a catchy chorus, and when I was listening to this track specifically, all I asked myself was what can he not do?

5. Goodbye’s Been Good to You. With a similar vibe to some other tracks on the project, the only knock on this track is how it has a few similar elements to other higher ranked songs, but is lacking some of the similar juice. Still incredible, because there is a reason his niche was so successful, he is really damn good at it.

6. Suitcase. Slower, with a controlled vocal pattern, Teddy creates a pleasing, but in comparison underwhelming track.

7. Evergreen. We are now in the collection of 5 tracks that are slower and focus on a piano backing track and vocals. They are all impressive and overall quality listens, just in comparison, to some of the other tracks on the project, they just don’t hit the same.

8. You Still Get to Me. Another slower song that would fit a slowly swaying couple rotating around a dance floor. If you are in a more sentimental (or crying) mood, this song would be perfect.

9. Some Things I’ll Never Know. A beautiful ballad, and similar to other songs lower on this ranking, it serves a strong time and place, and fits within it’s role, however in terms of general listening, there are other songs I prefer.

10. Last Communion. Throughout this song, Teddy follows the similar pattern of a slower song with a nice piano backing track, but in this one he distorted his vocals, making it seem as if he is trying to sing this through one of those telephones you find at children playgrounds, throwing off the vibe a bit.