Singled Out: Lips Turned Blue's Just Push

Keavin Wiggins | 03-26-2022

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Upstate New York rockers Lips Turn Blue just released their new single/video "Just Push" and to celebrate we asked guitarist Don Mancuso to tell us about the track (which he cowrote with late frontman Phil Naro). Here is the story:

The song "Just Push" came out of a crazy time in all of our lives in the midst of the pandemic. We had just gotten together the core of what would later become Lips Turn Blue (LTB) when a number of us from different bands came together to re-record one of our old songs to recognize the unbelievable work that doctors, nurses and health care providers were doing. That song "Pray for Tomorrow" went so well that we decided to craft some additional songs (and ultimately an entire LTB album).

As we usually did when Phil and I collaborated, Phil or I would bring in a riff/song that's not really finished and make the "Is it cool?" call. Phil and I always loved and learned from all that we did. You can hear it in many of the songs we wrote together for the past 30 years. Phil of course had the chorus and the hook "Just Push" finished. He was the ultimate at finding words with meaning. In a time where it was hard to be motivated and so many of us were sequestered at home the concept of "Just push" really resonated with the band. Phil often looked to me to finish the story and give the song direction. So I wrote the verses and the last parts of the choruses based on what was happening in the world during those crazy times. Our bass player Mike, came up with a driving bass line that's really tremendous (and danceable!), and our keyboard player Eric added in some cool synth lines to finish what would become our first release off the new album. We were fortunate that Mark Schulman, drummer extraordinaire was able to record such a great beat for the song. We are also thrilled that incredible musicians Roy Stein (drums) and Iggy Marino (vocals) have joined the band to allow us to perform this music live and keep writing new material.

In the crazy times that we live in, we thought of no better message for people (and the band) then to "Just Push".

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the band their upcoming album here