Final verdict: 6/10 ★★★☆☆
Well, here’s another narrative hole fer ye, fresh out the oven. I am generally a fan of fleshed-out americana – maybe because mentally, I am but a little boy from Texas, the world capital of American exotica. For reference, please consult my brand-spankin’-new review of the brand-spankin’-new Christmas choon that is El Drifte’s “Here the Holidays Is” – I like this stuff, okay? I can appreciate joy and whimsy! And for this article, peep Alias Wayne’s new single, “Manifest Destiny” – it for sure is alright, now wouldn’t you agree? It’s a little country-rock moment, technically coherent, and complete with a set of lyrics flocking the most-coveted “American dream.” It truly doesn’t get any more American than this – which is great, because it totally fits the bill for what it aspires to be. “You can become anything you set your sights upon,” your parents probably told you if they loved you enough to attempt to console you with such bullshit. Well, maybe you wanted to be a country number about free will as a wee little fella, and who am I to stop you? Fulfilling one’s purpose in life is important, and besides, I’m an occasional country-rock enjoyer and a supporter of free will. I stand for this song.
But you see, with good songs, the complaint usually is “why does this song have to be so short? Why does it have to end? I need this song to last 50 bazillion hours, and even that wouldn’t be enough”… well, let’s just say that such commentary would apply to “Manifest Destiny” if the track was like, 2 minutes long. Only it is not – boy oh boy, this song just keeps going, and going, and going, long overstaying its welcome. It’s like acoustic guitar purgatory – oh my. 6 minutes and some change for what could have easily been a 3- or 4-minute song is plain audacious; preposterous, even. Again, the song itself is fine, I quite enjoy the female backing vocals and the acoustic setting, but man, this ain’t even a marathon. It builds up to absolutely nothing, comes and goes like nobody’s business – which, to repeat myself and for lack of a more apt descriptor, is audacious. And preposterous.
Would I give this a 5/10? Sure, why the hell not. It’s an okay release, it didn’t blow me away, and its runtime does drag it down by a lot. That said, I am going to have to bump it up to a 6/10 merely because it takes true courage on the artist’s end to develop a song to such temporal extremes without much to show for it. Acceptable tune, and most certainly a masterclass in staleness and stagnancy, which is an impressive virtue – or should I say vice – in its own right. So, 6/10 it is.
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Silia 
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