bd Gottfried has a lot on his mind in his single “Live, Fight & Die,” and although he’s an unknown among modern music circles, the narrative of his song translates as well as an epic ballad from a rock n’ roll legend would. He wastes no time attacking the verses with a candid, homespun lyrical style that lends to his already comforting voice enormously.
His words aren’t saturated in excessive reverb or any of the unnecessary bells and whistles that have become all too common in adult contemporary pop and alternative rock music lately. From beginning to end in “Live, Fight & Die,” bd Gottfried gives us a tangible, unfanciful performance that is worth its weight in gold if you dig relatable singer/songwriter-esque rock, and even if you aren’t the biggest fan of the genre, it’s still a single that I would describe as being one of the more erudite entries in the songbook of spring 2024 without question.
The production quality is rock-solid in this piece, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think that bd Gottfried needs a lot of assistance in making his music profoundly effective. With a casual peek at his socials, interested listeners will find videos of numerous exhibitions where his tone and talents are just as sharp as they are in this latest official studio track (if not a little more so). He’s not leaning on the luxury of a tech-savvy studio blueprint in “Live, Fight & Die,” and I hope that he sticks to this barebones style in the future.
When you’ve got a skillset as strong as his is, you not only have no use for the filler that a lot of artists require when developing new music, but you tend to do a lot better when there are no augmented interferences to come between your artistry and the audience that you’re trying to reach. bd Gottfried might be a new player in this game, but he’s already acquired a crucial tool that some musicians would spend a lifetime trying to capture.
There’s still plenty of room for growth and an evolved version of his present sound, but as of this moment deeming bd Gottfried’s work as anything other than splendid would be dismissive of his remarkably adept talents. “Live, Fight & Die” is a tremendous introduction to his music, not to mention prime fodder for the FM dial as well, and were he to stay on this present trajectory in the making of future works of all capacities, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to imagine him breaking into the mainstream a lot sooner than later.
He’s a one-of-a-kind character that doesn’t have to try all that hard to make a big impression on both critics and occasional listeners, and with just a bit more improvement he could certainly rise to prominence in his scene and abroad in the next couple of years. From the looks of what he’s already done here, I would have to say we’re in for quite a bit of magic as his career continues to blossom.
Gwen Waggoner
