Deathcruiser - Night On Fire

When I first came across Deathcruiser, I didn’t quite know what to do with the moniker, having just returned from a funeral in Germany and contemplating death a good deal. Turns out, behind Deathcruiser isn’t a heavy metal band or a sulky emo crooner but Nashville-based singer/songwriter Adam Roth aka Deathcruiser, who creates effortlessly enjoyable music in the vein of Tom Petty and with the panache of Bruce Springsteen. Heck, there even is a real Heartbreaker on board, with Steve Ferrone on drums!

“Night On Fire,” the focus track on the self-titled Deathcruiser, might very well be the EP’s most dazzling song, yet all five tracks are alluring and just absolutely enjoyable.

But what’s with the moniker? While working on his debut solo album, Roth was sitting in the studio staring at an image of a Calavera (a decorative skull often used in the annual Mexican celebration of the day of the dead), reflecting on what music has meant to him during difficult times. He recalls:

A lot of this music was written during a time when I was grieving. Music’s always been a vehicle to help me get through the hard times and struggles, and it’s always sort of been a salvation, away from pain and suffering, whether it was a breakup when I was younger, or whether it’s death. Music has literally been my Deathcruiser.

And just like that, it all makes sense and becomes beautiful and life-affirming. I might just as well take this as a personal prompt to revisit my own take on skulls (which I had quite a fascination with) and death. As for “Night On Fire,” essentially an American protest song, Roth says:

It’s a call to arms, to keep the fires of personal liberty burning despite who you are, where you are, or what you stand for. Just stand for something. Everybody’s got a reason to fight.

I wholeheartedly support the idea that we cannot allow ourselves to be indifferent to topics that affect all of us, individually and globally. “Night On Fire” is a glorious anthem that reminds us to keep on working on what’s truly important.

Listen to “Night On Fire,” our Song Pick of the Day:

Connect with Deathcruiser and add “Night On Fire” to your playlist as we add it to our #glamglarepick playlist on Spotify and AppleMusic:

Photo credit: Jessica Leigh