Ball of Wax 39 Songs: Sean Kiely – This Might Be True

New Jersey’s Sean Kiely is a newcomer to Ball of Wax, making his first contribution with “This Might Be True.” “This Might Be True” begins with voice and acoustic guitar looping through a melodic figure which largely drives the song.  Gentle and folky, the song seems to capture one side of a romantic negotiation, enumerating reasons for doing something (that something revealed later in the song). After a few cycles, booming acoustic bass and drums fill in the sound  for dramatic effect before the settles into more mellow instrumentation. Brief stabs of brass appear before the song title appears in the line “I guess some of this might be true.”  A short, pretty bowed bass solo surfaces in the back half of the song before it builds to a crescendo with the refrain, “yeah, it looks like New York is a good idea for a few.” After blasts of horn and “oooh”s, “This Might Be True,” and the vague, romantic negotiation therein, resolves with “Seven: I can see how you might / take the train to Rockaway.” Sean Kiely’s introduction to Ball of Wax is subtle, well-constructed folk pop with tastefully regional subject matter. If you’re in the Tri-State Area (NY/NJ/CT – not PA/NJ/DE), track down Sean Kiely and his band.