Euphoric, warm, and satisfying, Jon Tyler Wiley & His Virginia Choir’s latest single has the kind of energy to get listeners both up and dancing and pondering what really matters.
Released today, “Mission” opens with an endearing piano and fiddle, laying a strong foundation for Wiley’s raw, powerful voice, which maintains effortless command over the track’s weaving sentiments.
“Mission” begins with Wiley singing of his grandfather and the swiftly passing life he lived, and his longing to be with him just one more time. It builds to the point of what’s important in this world and what’s not, as he smoothly transitions into the chorus: “Throw away your television / It’s only talkin’, it don’t listen / “Put away the mobile phone / Sometimes it’s fine to be alone.” With a sentimental and nostalgic sound with a moral of living in the moment and not always through screens, “Mission” takes listeners back to simpler times, and offers a reminder we all could use.
The smooth groovin’ country-fueled beat of the drums and piano continues to build with a story about a homeless man who maintains optimism despite his downtrodden life. Wiley sings, “This world bites hard as a jaguar / Stings like a scorpion / Burns like kerosene / It always has, it always will / Ain’t nothing gonna change that / But I’ll say what always works for me.” The song then flows back into the pleading chorus to “Get yourself a brand new mission / And throw away your television,” rooting the song in sensations of presence and enjoyment of life’s simple if not fleeting pleasures.
“My wife and I have always lamented our individual addictions to our phones and other devices, and that’s how this song saw its lyrical genesis,” Wiley says. “I wanted to provide commentary on where we are now in screen culture. We’re in this information age, and we have all this data at our fingertips all the time, and I wanted to present the counter argument that maybe that’s not necessarily a good thing. Maybe there are repercussions.”
While a long time artist both solo and with other groups, Jon Tyler Wiley fatefully assembled His Virginia Choir on March 7th of 2020. They had a whole tour booked, only for it to be in the can mere weeks later due to the pandemic. Perhaps a positive twist of fate, the band then honed in to flesh out new material, recording in their homes and sending GarageBand sessions back and forth to one another. This would eventually result in a string of singles, starting with their barn burnin’ debut track, “Laura Lee.”
With the moniker ‘The Virginia Choir’ chosen, Wiley’s goal was always to harness different musical elements from the state of Virginia and combine them into one sound: rock from the cities, bluegrass and country from the rural communities, and Americana/singer-songwriter sounds from the college towns.
“Mission” is the final single released from the band’s upcoming album Pictures in the Dark, set to drop March 28th. Their January single, “Song of Moving On,” is similar to “Mission” in its being a track of hope composed of rising and falling tempos, hinting at themes for the upcoming album.
With their vibrant, cathartic new singles and album a month away, it’s clear Jon Tyler Wiley & His Virginia Choir is on a mission to help us reconnect with humanity, take it easy, and enjoy life for its ups and downs.
