As a music blogger, I feel that fundamentally, my job is to shed light on artists that are not massively well-known and to help give them the recognition they deserve.
As you can see from the title, this blog post will shed some light on Tori Kelly, the Californian beauty with an equally beautiful voice.
She recently came onto my radar, after listening to Professor Green's newest musical offering 'Lullaby' (released today) in which Tori features. Tori's vocals on the chorus, divide the track, providing the perfect contrast to Professor Green's, monotone yet surprisingly raw rapping. Professor Green has released many collaborative tracks, 'Just Be Good To Green' ft Lily Allen; 'Monster' ft Example and 'Remedy' ft Ruth-Anne Cunningham, each showing a more light-hearted and humorous side to Professor Green. However, 'Read All About It' ft Emeli Sande, saw a much more heartfelt and emotional side to his album, which in reward, gave him his most notable collaboration to date. 'Lullaby' parallels 'Read All About In' in numerous ways, which is why I am predicting the same success for this track, and also for Tori Kelly.
In terms of her solo career, it definitely hasn't been a smooth ride! Despite auditioning for numerous musical talent shows, such as: 'Star Search', 'America's Most Talented Kids' and the infamous 'American Idol," it was her Youtube channel which finally gained her the recognition that she deserved. Ironically it was actually her collaborative cover with fellow Youtuber 'AngieGirl', of Frank Ocean's 'Thinkin Bout You' which has an impressive 20, 732,401 views (and counting!), that led me to discover some of her newer work. (i.e. the obsession began.)
After only half an hour of scouring her Youtube channel, I had decided upon my top 5 favourite songs.
The number 5 spot belongs to another of her Youtube covers, the faultless acoustic cover of Justin Timerlake's 'Suit & Tie' with it's effortless high notes and run's, sees Kelly perform a cover, that unlike many others, is worthy of the original.
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Paper Hearts' taken from her EP, 'Foreword', is in at number 4. Personally, I found the meaning of this song, quite hard to describe so I scoured the internet and voila! I found this quote from Tori herself on 'http://www.musicinsideu.com/2014/02/paper-hearts-tori-kelly.html' : "When you're searching and hoping for love, the right person isn't always the first one you come across... That's why you don't fall head over heels right away. You wait, you see. Because the hate only comes if you have to take back things you should never have given away in the first place. Hopefully, if it wasn't meant to be, you'll be able to part ways as friends. The memories will be bittersweet, but still worth hanging on to." Meaning suitably covered, both the melodies and harmonies are beautifully arranged throughout the track and the accompanying musically video has been cleverly directed. Taking an almost split-stage approach, Tori is seen reminiscing over photos and her previous relationship, whilst her love interest is seen miming (incredibly, I hasten to add!) to the lyrics of the song, similarly to Ed Sheeran's- You Need Me, I Don't Need You video.
As if her beautiful voice and looks weren't enough, she is also an exceedingly charitable person. Teaming up with ConAgra Foods and Feeding America, Tori released a single called 'Fill a Heart' which she wrote for the "Child Hunger Ends Here" Performing at 8 different venues across the U.S for her 'Fill A Heart Tour', she also helped out at food banks during the day. This song most definitely secures the number 3 spot, a beautifully written song, executed completely faultlessly for a worthy cause. In addition, the lower vocals and harmonies at the end of the first verse, leading up to the first chorus, are those which are very pleasing on the ear. Is it just me that gets that? There are some notes that artists hit that make you just think Y E S.
Runner-up goes to 'All In My Head' a track off of her 2012 EP: 'Handmade Songs by Tori Kelly'. The Youtube video linked above, is as you will see, the live acoustic version of the track. Now personally, I believe that this version trumps the original. The simplicity of just Tori's vocals and her acoustic guitar, really put the focus on both, the rawness of Tori's voice and the lyrics of the song, rather than the production behind it. The meaning behind the song is another one of those 'self-explanatory title' ones. The reason that this song is a favourite of mine, is simply down to the fact that like Sam Smith lyrics, they are so scarily accurate and relatable!
It's one of those songs where you're just like, "Omg THIS." (preaching hands emoji.. I know you know the one.)
And taking the crown, is the PHENOMENAL 'Dear No-One'. To give y'all some meaning behind the song, it's very much about being okay with just being by yourself, and not being in a relationship/relying on someone else. However it's also about the acceptance that the right person is out there somewhere and eventually you'll come together. Simply put- soulmates. Similarly to 'Paper Hearts' this song was taken off of her EP 'Foreword'. Accompanied by her acoustic guitar, she effortlessly moves from the high notes in the verse to the lower notes of the chorus. However unlike most of her other tracks, there is a underlying beat which gives this song more of a urban/pop feel.
Tuesday 16 September 2014
Wednesday 27 August 2014
V FESTIVAL 2014 (The Saturday Edition)
I'm going to take you back to August 2013, my Facebook feed was full of 'V FEST 2K13' albums containing pictures of Olly Murs, Jessie J, a blurry Niall Horan and of course Queen B. Jealousy kicked in, so I made sure that this year, I would tread the exceedingly muddy fields of Chelmsford's very own, Hylands Park.
So, after strategically planning our itinerary for the weekend, we set off towards the Arena Stage for our first performance of the weekend courtesy of Britsh/Ghanian rapper Fuse ODG. Starting with 'Azonto' where we were taught how to 'Azonto' (I was unaware that this was a dance move so this was an enlightening experience for me,) or rather a simplified version, which involved shaking our hands up towards the sky and then down towards our feet.. Next up was 'Million Pound Girl (Badder Than Bad)' and 'T.I.N.A' (ft Angel) both involved a lot of call and response shouting between Fuse and the audience and if I remember correctly, ALOT of clapping along, especially to T.I.N.A (which if you didn't know, stands for This Is New Africa.) These 3 songs were just the warm up to ODG's last, and obviously best known tracks. Freshly released 'Dangerous Love' featuring the one and only Sean Paul, who much to my disappointment, didn't make a surprise entrance and global hit 'Antenna', saw every girl unleash their inner African woman with lots of gyrating hips and booty shaking (guilty.) This topped off his 25 minute set in an increasingly crammed and consequently, sweaty tent!
Next up was John Newman on the MTV Stage. Personally, I always associate John Newman with Sam Smith because John broke through onto the music scene in 2012 with Rudimental and their smash hit 'Feel The Love,' as did Sam and Disclosure with 'Latch'. Now as you may or may not know, I am completely and utterly obsessed with Sam Smith so of course I followed Sam and his career whilst John took a bit of a back seat. However, there is no denying that this man can put on a S H O W, as a bit of a Newman 'newbie' I could only properly sing along to Rudimental's 'Feel The Love' and 'Not Giving In' which he featured on, and also his solo tracks: 'Losing Sleep', 'Cheating' and the obvious crowd pleaser 'Love Me Again'. John looked quite the gentleman in a cream suit as he whipped out the infamous Charleston step and gave the audience numerous hair flicks from that unmistakeable blonde-streaked quiff of his. The raw, almost gravely tone is his voice is just as amazing live, as it is on his album.
Finally we trekked over to the main stage for the final 6 hours of our Saturday, V Festival experience. First on the agenda were Bastille, once again I wouldn't label myself as a massive fan but I'd been told by numerous friends and also by the random bunch of lads that we made friends with in the crowd, that Bastille are amazing live. To be completely honest, because we were so far away from the stage I couldn't really hear their voices that clearly, but the instrumentation and the atmosphere during their set was incredible. Even though I didn't know the words to many of the songs, the atmosphere during 'Pompeii' was almost tangible and obviously I belted out the lyrics at the top of my lungs.
Example took to the stage next and he was one of the acts that I was most excited to see live, Example is one of those artists who hasn't really released a song that I haven't liked. When I was reeling off all of the songs that his set would comprise of, I realised just how many hits he has actually had! Now Example himself, said during an interview at Radio 1's Big Weekend this year, that when people come to see him perform live he doesn't expect them to go away saying how amazing his voice is or how good looking he is, he just wants people to come away feeling like they've had a great time. And that's what I had, kind of.. Apart from being leant on, crushed and grinded on by some sweaty and rather large boy behind me in the crowd, Example's set was just like one massive party. Compiling songs such as my personal favourite, ' One More Day (Stay With Me)' and crowd favourite 'All The Wrong Places' from his new album Live Life Living, and also some of his old bangers such as 'Kickstarts', 'Won't Go Quietly' and 'Changed The Way You Kiss Me' he definitely catered to the huge audience that looked on at him and didn't let me down.
Moving onto the man of the moment, Mr Ed Sheeran. Now I was expecting big, big things from this young man and he did not disappoint whatsoever. The simplicity of his set was as expected, just one man and his guitar. (Oh and his infamous loop pedal). In contrast to Example and most of the artists across the weekend, Ed decided to begin his set with old ('+') album favourites, 'Give Me Love', 'Lego House' and of course the 'white lips, pale face" favourite, 'The A Team'. A notable mention goes to Ed's absolutely insane freestyle rapping in the middle of 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' this was the only moment, that for the minute or so that he just let the lyrics run off of his tongue, that the main stage was awe-struck into silence, only broken by thunderous applause and a rather excessive amount of hooting.. The hooting and call and response sequences of 'ohhh-ohhh-oh' that left me with no voice for the following day, came courtesy of 'Sing' 'Don't' and 'I See Fire' (The one from The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug). One of the highlights of V for me, was when I sat on my friends shoulders during the beautiful 'Thinking Out Loud' (which I have reviewed here) and saw a sea of hands waving from side to side and seeing people embracing one another (soppy moment over but it was an amazing sight.) I would definitely recommend going to see Ed Sheeran if you ever get the chance, well worth the perseverance of being crushed and leant on by the rather large boy behind me during Example, (hi if you're reading this.)
And last but by no means least, the one man that most people had solely come to V Fest to see, you guessed it, Justin Timberlake. Now I hate to disappoint, but in terms of the set and setlist, it was simply a shortened version of what I saw at the O2 during his 'The 20/20 Experience Tour' so if you want to read my review, you may do so to your hearts content just here. The only differences at V were that: Firstly, I was a whole lot closer to the stage (which was obviously amazing.) Secondly, everyone was extremely intoxicated by this point so the singing and dancing was non-stop during his hour and a half set. Thirdly, he stopped to take a selfie with some girls on the front row who were holding an "It's my birthday" sign (can you sense the jealousy?) And lastly, 'Señorita' has never, ever sounded so good.
Oh also I forgot to mention, during Justin's set I turned to my left and Dan Smith (lead singer of Bastille) was just casually standing next to me! I didn't want to pester him for a photo, however I did get a hello so at least that's something right?
(Excuse the bad quality photo's, expensive camera + festival = no)
Moving onto the man of the moment, Mr Ed Sheeran. Now I was expecting big, big things from this young man and he did not disappoint whatsoever. The simplicity of his set was as expected, just one man and his guitar. (Oh and his infamous loop pedal). In contrast to Example and most of the artists across the weekend, Ed decided to begin his set with old ('+') album favourites, 'Give Me Love', 'Lego House' and of course the 'white lips, pale face" favourite, 'The A Team'. A notable mention goes to Ed's absolutely insane freestyle rapping in the middle of 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You' this was the only moment, that for the minute or so that he just let the lyrics run off of his tongue, that the main stage was awe-struck into silence, only broken by thunderous applause and a rather excessive amount of hooting.. The hooting and call and response sequences of 'ohhh-ohhh-oh' that left me with no voice for the following day, came courtesy of 'Sing' 'Don't' and 'I See Fire' (The one from The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug). One of the highlights of V for me, was when I sat on my friends shoulders during the beautiful 'Thinking Out Loud' (which I have reviewed here) and saw a sea of hands waving from side to side and seeing people embracing one another (soppy moment over but it was an amazing sight.) I would definitely recommend going to see Ed Sheeran if you ever get the chance, well worth the perseverance of being crushed and leant on by the rather large boy behind me during Example, (hi if you're reading this.)
And last but by no means least, the one man that most people had solely come to V Fest to see, you guessed it, Justin Timberlake. Now I hate to disappoint, but in terms of the set and setlist, it was simply a shortened version of what I saw at the O2 during his 'The 20/20 Experience Tour' so if you want to read my review, you may do so to your hearts content just here. The only differences at V were that: Firstly, I was a whole lot closer to the stage (which was obviously amazing.) Secondly, everyone was extremely intoxicated by this point so the singing and dancing was non-stop during his hour and a half set. Thirdly, he stopped to take a selfie with some girls on the front row who were holding an "It's my birthday" sign (can you sense the jealousy?) And lastly, 'Señorita' has never, ever sounded so good.
Oh also I forgot to mention, during Justin's set I turned to my left and Dan Smith (lead singer of Bastille) was just casually standing next to me! I didn't want to pester him for a photo, however I did get a hello so at least that's something right?
(Excuse the bad quality photo's, expensive camera + festival = no)
Saturday 9 August 2014
My Summer Song (The 2014 Edition)
During the build up to summer, (this usually starts in September for me) there is always that one song that you and your friends reminisce over, that one song that transports you back to the (surprisingly) hot UK weather, those holidays abroad sipping cocktails by the pool, or on the other hand, getting absolutely sh*tfaced on the strip in Shagaluf with the "lads" or the "gals".
In previous summers, this prestigious title has been won by The Wanted in 2011 with Glad You Came, Lawson in 2012 with Taking Over Me and 2013 saw Calvin Harris and Ayah Marar take the crown with their smash hit Thinking About You.
Now those of you who know those songs well as I'm sure many of you do, you may recognise a recurring theme within those 3 tracks. Now, when it comes to my favourite summer song, the criteria is as follows: a song with a bloody good beat, that makes me want to dance and listen to it non-stop, from the very beginning to the very end. So with this exceedingly demanding criteria to live up to, this years runner's up are Shift K3Y- Touch, and Example- One More Day (Stay With Me). Both tick the "bloody good beat box" but Shift K3Y faltered at the "listen to non-stop" hurdle, as after about 3 times through, that "I just wanna feel your touch, I never wanna give it up" line, is just a little bit too repetitive. Example also falls victim to receptive lyrics with those 3 words "Stay with me" being repeated 8 times during every chorus. Now I know it's the name of the song, but 8 times is a bit excessive and often results in me shouting, "I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" at my computer screen.
Exceedingly long intro aside, with it's jazzy beat and vocals reminiscent to the king of pop himself, my summer 2014 song title is awarded to Chris Malinchak and Mikky Ekko with their phenomenal hit, Stranger. Chris Malinchak also gave us another summer smash last year, with the track So Good To Me which I'm sure many of you are familiar with, but never but two and two together! This song, unlike the others has, as I have said, more of a jazzy beat. Interestingly, when I was planning this blog post a few months ago, Oliver Helden ft Becky Hill- Gecko (Overdrive) was on course for the top spot. But, as I listened to Pete Tong's essential new tune on Radio 1, and this little gem played out, I knew this was the deal breaker. I like it because it's jazzy beat and chilled/effortless vocals from Mikky Ekko, make it unlike any of my previous favourites. Furthermore, this song cleverly still ticks the "bloody good beat box" but without being too heavy or repetitive, which makes this song a firm favourite for the old repeat button on my iPhone.
In previous summers, this prestigious title has been won by The Wanted in 2011 with Glad You Came, Lawson in 2012 with Taking Over Me and 2013 saw Calvin Harris and Ayah Marar take the crown with their smash hit Thinking About You.
Now those of you who know those songs well as I'm sure many of you do, you may recognise a recurring theme within those 3 tracks. Now, when it comes to my favourite summer song, the criteria is as follows: a song with a bloody good beat, that makes me want to dance and listen to it non-stop, from the very beginning to the very end. So with this exceedingly demanding criteria to live up to, this years runner's up are Shift K3Y- Touch, and Example- One More Day (Stay With Me). Both tick the "bloody good beat box" but Shift K3Y faltered at the "listen to non-stop" hurdle, as after about 3 times through, that "I just wanna feel your touch, I never wanna give it up" line, is just a little bit too repetitive. Example also falls victim to receptive lyrics with those 3 words "Stay with me" being repeated 8 times during every chorus. Now I know it's the name of the song, but 8 times is a bit excessive and often results in me shouting, "I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" at my computer screen.
Exceedingly long intro aside, with it's jazzy beat and vocals reminiscent to the king of pop himself, my summer 2014 song title is awarded to Chris Malinchak and Mikky Ekko with their phenomenal hit, Stranger. Chris Malinchak also gave us another summer smash last year, with the track So Good To Me which I'm sure many of you are familiar with, but never but two and two together! This song, unlike the others has, as I have said, more of a jazzy beat. Interestingly, when I was planning this blog post a few months ago, Oliver Helden ft Becky Hill- Gecko (Overdrive) was on course for the top spot. But, as I listened to Pete Tong's essential new tune on Radio 1, and this little gem played out, I knew this was the deal breaker. I like it because it's jazzy beat and chilled/effortless vocals from Mikky Ekko, make it unlike any of my previous favourites. Furthermore, this song cleverly still ticks the "bloody good beat box" but without being too heavy or repetitive, which makes this song a firm favourite for the old repeat button on my iPhone.
Friday 1 August 2014
Sam Smith- 'In The Lonely Hour' Album Review
This week has been very much the same as the last in terms of my top 5 songs of the week.. so as a substitute post I thought I would write a, rather lengthy, review about one of my top 5 albums of all-time. Yep, you guessed it from the title, it's the incredible Sam Smith with his debut album In The Lonely Hour. Now I know it's been a couple of months since it was released but I have been listening to it non-stop ever since, in an attempt to immerse myself in the music, because I really wanted to be able to write a review worthy of this phenomenal album!
Sam Smith, boldly emerged onto the music scene when he featured on Disclosure's worldwide smash hit, Latch and similarly Naughty Boy's- La La La which are both featured on the album, but are tracks that I am not going to go into great detail about as I'm sure you are very familiar with them. His debut album, released on the 26th May 2014 is very much a microcosm for the, now 22 year old's, seemingly lonely life during the previous year.
As shown by songs such as Leave Your Lover and Not In That Way, Sam creates empathetic tracks for those stuck in the same situation that he faced, loving someone who doesn't love you back.
Album opener Money On My Mind was the first single that Sam released as a well know and well-established artist in the music industry. The meaning behind the song, was very much about Sam getting something off of his chest after a run in with someone in the industry, as shown by lyrics such as, "You say could you write a song for me, I say, I'm sorry I won't do that happily." This song is probably the anomaly, in terms of sound, on the album. Whilst the others have quite a soulful sound, this track is seemingly more, pop-influenced and electronic sounding. This debut single seems to have worked wonders on us Brits, as it gave Sam his first solo, UK number 1.
According to Sam himself, Good Thing is the most personal song on the album for him. In an interview with Google Play, Sam talks about how he wrote the song two days after he decided that he had to cut the strings with this mysterious person who didn't love him back. He opens the song with the abnormally truthful lyric, "I had a dream I was mugged outside your house." Now I don't know about you, but Sam Smith is probably one very few people that I can think of who can make that line sound remotely heartfelt and beautiful, without sounding like Phil Mitchell? Just me? Anyway, just listening to his voice, you can hear how exhausted and numb, this unreciprocated relationship has made him sound and feel, the raw truthfulness of the lyrics throughout, is backed up by a beautiful string section which opens the very beginning of the track and makes a very apt and slightly extended reoccurrence, three quarters of the way through.
Keeping with the theme of truthful and quite frankly abrupt, opening lyrics, Stay With Me sees Sam whip out a corker, "I guess it's true I'm not good at a one night stand." Now if there's one thing that you simply cannot say about Sam Smith, it's that he's not truthful. This man has just admitted something that most people wouldn't admit to their friends let alone the whole world! In my opinion, that is the sole reason that this song is adored and screamed by millions, this song, along with Lay Me Down encapsulates wanting to be with someone but never being able to articulate it in a face to face situation. These truthful lyrics, and in fact this whole album in general is one of, if not the most relatable album since Adele's '19' and '21'. The backing vocals in the chorus, sound as if they are those of a gospel choir, when in fact, it's Sam's own voice layered over the top of itself multiple times, as he sang in different areas of the recording studio. Bet you didn't know that!
Leave Your Lover is one of my personal favourites on the album, the meaning behind this song is pretty self explanatory from the title. Based on wanting to be with someone who is already married or in a relationship, this song sees a softer side to Sam both vocally and instrumentally and features his effortless breathy voice (and yes breathy is a real word, I've even searched it here.) To my delight, Sam released a video to accompany this track which you can see here, the video features his good friend Daisy Lowe and the city of love itself. Sam mentions that the strings in this track, have Parisian connotations, which explains the very apt choice of video setting.
I'm Not The Only One is very much the song of the moment for me as Sam has literally just today, released the video for this track, which voila! You can see here. Again, the title is pretty self-explanatory in regards to the meaning behind the song, however the steady, droning drumbeat throughout makes this song slightly more anthemic sounding in comparison to others on the album.
The sheer resilience and matter-of-fact chorus, secures I've Told You Now as another firm favourite of mine. Very much about accidentally letting your feelings slip out to the person that you have admired from afar, this song is structured in a seemingly narrative way. The beginning of the song depicts the admiration from a far, with lyrics such as "still I refrain, from talking at you." Then in the chorus, the hard-hitting, verging on argumentative, lyrics, show the frustration at the lack of realisation and hint taking! The intensity and volume of the strings increases in direct correlation with the lyrics, a very fitting choice of instrumentation.
Keeping with the theme of resilience and unfazed honesty, Like I Can ticks all the boxes, this is a song, very much like 'Mr Brightside' in Bridget Jones, that I can see many women (and men!) drunkenly screaming at the top of their lungs, in a flailing attempt to increase their alluring qualities. An anthemic pop song with an underlying tone of jealously. Sam sums up this song perfectly: "You're looking at someone you love and they're getting with everyone except you. And you're jut thinking why? why are you doing that? Because no-one will love you the way that I will." Sam also mentions taking inspiration for this song from Oleta Adams' Get Here (If You Can) where she lists all of the ways that her love could reach her, similarly with this song, Sam lists all of the people that his lover has been with.
Next up is Life Support, honestly, this is my least favourite song on the album. Sam has mentioned that when he wrote this song, it was like an experiment and that he tried a lot of new things out whilst in that writing and recording process. Now I admire Sam for trying things out from a different angle, but for me personally the instrumentation just seems a bit too disjointed and the track as a whole doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the tracks. Nevertheless, the lyrics are beautiful as expected, but let me know what you think? Is it just me?
Personally, Not In That Way is hands down the most relatable song on the album for me. Starting with the instrumentation, the simplicity of the single guitar, allows for the impeccably accurate lyrics to do all the talking. There isn't really much to say about the lyrics in writing, except from the fact that on paper, they hit the nail straight on the head when it comes to those "I only see you as a friend" situations. My best piece of advice is simply to listen to the song and really consciously absorb the lyrics, (if you're in a sad/feeling sorry for yourself mood, I guarantee that you will cry.) To lighten the mood, this song is perfect for everyone out there who has ever been 'friend zoned'. Do with that what you will!
If Not In That Way didn't make you teary eyed, Lay Me Down definitely will! This song was actually the first song that Sam ever released, however as he was still very much an emerging artist, the song was released on the 15th February 2013 but charted at a throughly undeserved number 134 (due to the fact that he was a new artist.) However it re-entered the charts on 23rd February at number 46 (still a thoroughly low position in my eyes!) after being mentioned by James Corden at the 2014 Brit Awards. Simply put, this song is utterly, beautiful, spellbinding even. The versatility of this song is shown first hand, because personally I listened to this song and immediately drew connotations of love. However when Sam wrote this song with Jimmy Napes (a key gentleman in this album process) Jimmy and himself were thinking about the deaths of their own grandparents or the grandparents of those close to them.
There are numerous covers of this on Youtube for you to feast your eyes, (and more importantly your ears) upon. However Sam's performance on Saturday Night Live is flawless. The sole and steady accompaniment of the piano, allows Sam to effortlessly project the famous "can I lay by your side" line on the chorus, completely silencing and captivating the audience throughout.
Now coming onto to possibly my new favourite song of all time (huge claim I know) I present Restart. A mix between Alexander O'Neal's Criticize, and Luther Vandross' Never Too Much, this song is the epitome of feel-good. The instrumentation and production of this track is incredible. Numerous layers of Sam's faultless harmonies, various electronic loops and of course the recurring piano, categorise this song in to the pop/dance genre, alongside Vandross, O'Neal and Benson. This song also stands out from the rest, as it is clearly the anomaly on the album (in the best sense possible). Sam describes this song as his release from loneliness, whilst the other tracks are quite intense and meaningful, this song is so upbeat and carefree, which he says, reflects the direction of his next album (woo!). Just trust me on this one, if you're getting ready to go out now (you must be trying to pass time if you're reading this..) then whack this on, and you will be dancing around your bedroom and singing into your hairbrushes (I'm talking about males here too.)
Written with the infamous Jimmy Napes, and the Howard Lawrence, from the equally infamous duo Disclosure, Make It To Me is a more simplistic but nevertheless beautiful and seemingly hopeful, love song. The concept? Speaking to your soulmate, even though in most people's cases, you don't know who they are, it's basically a hopeful command of "make it to me" (shock horror). In my opinion, I prefer this live version, featuring the handsome Mr Lawrence on piano. (My preference is not solely due to my crush on Howard... I do think that Sam's live performances are a lot more soulful and meaningful as you can see the emotion on his face, which makes the song a lot more personal in my eyes.
I don't think it will come to any surprise to you to know that I've given this album a thoroughly deserved 5/5.
P.S: If you're reading this, thank you for making it this far. Gold star for you!
Sam Smith, boldly emerged onto the music scene when he featured on Disclosure's worldwide smash hit, Latch and similarly Naughty Boy's- La La La which are both featured on the album, but are tracks that I am not going to go into great detail about as I'm sure you are very familiar with them. His debut album, released on the 26th May 2014 is very much a microcosm for the, now 22 year old's, seemingly lonely life during the previous year.
As shown by songs such as Leave Your Lover and Not In That Way, Sam creates empathetic tracks for those stuck in the same situation that he faced, loving someone who doesn't love you back.
Album opener Money On My Mind was the first single that Sam released as a well know and well-established artist in the music industry. The meaning behind the song, was very much about Sam getting something off of his chest after a run in with someone in the industry, as shown by lyrics such as, "You say could you write a song for me, I say, I'm sorry I won't do that happily." This song is probably the anomaly, in terms of sound, on the album. Whilst the others have quite a soulful sound, this track is seemingly more, pop-influenced and electronic sounding. This debut single seems to have worked wonders on us Brits, as it gave Sam his first solo, UK number 1.
According to Sam himself, Good Thing is the most personal song on the album for him. In an interview with Google Play, Sam talks about how he wrote the song two days after he decided that he had to cut the strings with this mysterious person who didn't love him back. He opens the song with the abnormally truthful lyric, "I had a dream I was mugged outside your house." Now I don't know about you, but Sam Smith is probably one very few people that I can think of who can make that line sound remotely heartfelt and beautiful, without sounding like Phil Mitchell? Just me? Anyway, just listening to his voice, you can hear how exhausted and numb, this unreciprocated relationship has made him sound and feel, the raw truthfulness of the lyrics throughout, is backed up by a beautiful string section which opens the very beginning of the track and makes a very apt and slightly extended reoccurrence, three quarters of the way through.
Keeping with the theme of truthful and quite frankly abrupt, opening lyrics, Stay With Me sees Sam whip out a corker, "I guess it's true I'm not good at a one night stand." Now if there's one thing that you simply cannot say about Sam Smith, it's that he's not truthful. This man has just admitted something that most people wouldn't admit to their friends let alone the whole world! In my opinion, that is the sole reason that this song is adored and screamed by millions, this song, along with Lay Me Down encapsulates wanting to be with someone but never being able to articulate it in a face to face situation. These truthful lyrics, and in fact this whole album in general is one of, if not the most relatable album since Adele's '19' and '21'. The backing vocals in the chorus, sound as if they are those of a gospel choir, when in fact, it's Sam's own voice layered over the top of itself multiple times, as he sang in different areas of the recording studio. Bet you didn't know that!
Leave Your Lover is one of my personal favourites on the album, the meaning behind this song is pretty self explanatory from the title. Based on wanting to be with someone who is already married or in a relationship, this song sees a softer side to Sam both vocally and instrumentally and features his effortless breathy voice (and yes breathy is a real word, I've even searched it here.) To my delight, Sam released a video to accompany this track which you can see here, the video features his good friend Daisy Lowe and the city of love itself. Sam mentions that the strings in this track, have Parisian connotations, which explains the very apt choice of video setting.
I'm Not The Only One is very much the song of the moment for me as Sam has literally just today, released the video for this track, which voila! You can see here. Again, the title is pretty self-explanatory in regards to the meaning behind the song, however the steady, droning drumbeat throughout makes this song slightly more anthemic sounding in comparison to others on the album.
The sheer resilience and matter-of-fact chorus, secures I've Told You Now as another firm favourite of mine. Very much about accidentally letting your feelings slip out to the person that you have admired from afar, this song is structured in a seemingly narrative way. The beginning of the song depicts the admiration from a far, with lyrics such as "still I refrain, from talking at you." Then in the chorus, the hard-hitting, verging on argumentative, lyrics, show the frustration at the lack of realisation and hint taking! The intensity and volume of the strings increases in direct correlation with the lyrics, a very fitting choice of instrumentation.
Keeping with the theme of resilience and unfazed honesty, Like I Can ticks all the boxes, this is a song, very much like 'Mr Brightside' in Bridget Jones, that I can see many women (and men!) drunkenly screaming at the top of their lungs, in a flailing attempt to increase their alluring qualities. An anthemic pop song with an underlying tone of jealously. Sam sums up this song perfectly: "You're looking at someone you love and they're getting with everyone except you. And you're jut thinking why? why are you doing that? Because no-one will love you the way that I will." Sam also mentions taking inspiration for this song from Oleta Adams' Get Here (If You Can) where she lists all of the ways that her love could reach her, similarly with this song, Sam lists all of the people that his lover has been with.
Next up is Life Support, honestly, this is my least favourite song on the album. Sam has mentioned that when he wrote this song, it was like an experiment and that he tried a lot of new things out whilst in that writing and recording process. Now I admire Sam for trying things out from a different angle, but for me personally the instrumentation just seems a bit too disjointed and the track as a whole doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the tracks. Nevertheless, the lyrics are beautiful as expected, but let me know what you think? Is it just me?
Personally, Not In That Way is hands down the most relatable song on the album for me. Starting with the instrumentation, the simplicity of the single guitar, allows for the impeccably accurate lyrics to do all the talking. There isn't really much to say about the lyrics in writing, except from the fact that on paper, they hit the nail straight on the head when it comes to those "I only see you as a friend" situations. My best piece of advice is simply to listen to the song and really consciously absorb the lyrics, (if you're in a sad/feeling sorry for yourself mood, I guarantee that you will cry.) To lighten the mood, this song is perfect for everyone out there who has ever been 'friend zoned'. Do with that what you will!
If Not In That Way didn't make you teary eyed, Lay Me Down definitely will! This song was actually the first song that Sam ever released, however as he was still very much an emerging artist, the song was released on the 15th February 2013 but charted at a throughly undeserved number 134 (due to the fact that he was a new artist.) However it re-entered the charts on 23rd February at number 46 (still a thoroughly low position in my eyes!) after being mentioned by James Corden at the 2014 Brit Awards. Simply put, this song is utterly, beautiful, spellbinding even. The versatility of this song is shown first hand, because personally I listened to this song and immediately drew connotations of love. However when Sam wrote this song with Jimmy Napes (a key gentleman in this album process) Jimmy and himself were thinking about the deaths of their own grandparents or the grandparents of those close to them.
There are numerous covers of this on Youtube for you to feast your eyes, (and more importantly your ears) upon. However Sam's performance on Saturday Night Live is flawless. The sole and steady accompaniment of the piano, allows Sam to effortlessly project the famous "can I lay by your side" line on the chorus, completely silencing and captivating the audience throughout.
Now coming onto to possibly my new favourite song of all time (huge claim I know) I present Restart. A mix between Alexander O'Neal's Criticize, and Luther Vandross' Never Too Much, this song is the epitome of feel-good. The instrumentation and production of this track is incredible. Numerous layers of Sam's faultless harmonies, various electronic loops and of course the recurring piano, categorise this song in to the pop/dance genre, alongside Vandross, O'Neal and Benson. This song also stands out from the rest, as it is clearly the anomaly on the album (in the best sense possible). Sam describes this song as his release from loneliness, whilst the other tracks are quite intense and meaningful, this song is so upbeat and carefree, which he says, reflects the direction of his next album (woo!). Just trust me on this one, if you're getting ready to go out now (you must be trying to pass time if you're reading this..) then whack this on, and you will be dancing around your bedroom and singing into your hairbrushes (I'm talking about males here too.)
Written with the infamous Jimmy Napes, and the Howard Lawrence, from the equally infamous duo Disclosure, Make It To Me is a more simplistic but nevertheless beautiful and seemingly hopeful, love song. The concept? Speaking to your soulmate, even though in most people's cases, you don't know who they are, it's basically a hopeful command of "make it to me" (shock horror). In my opinion, I prefer this live version, featuring the handsome Mr Lawrence on piano. (My preference is not solely due to my crush on Howard... I do think that Sam's live performances are a lot more soulful and meaningful as you can see the emotion on his face, which makes the song a lot more personal in my eyes.
I don't think it will come to any surprise to you to know that I've given this album a thoroughly deserved 5/5.
P.S: If you're reading this, thank you for making it this far. Gold star for you!
Tuesday 22 July 2014
Top 5 songs of the week (14/7/14-21/7/14)
Firstly, I apologise for the late (and lack of) blog posts this week, I have been rehearsing and performing in a few dance shows which is where 2 of this week's top 5 have come from!
So to get straight to it, in at number 5 is a rediscovery of mine whilst I was scouring the Topshop sale (a regular occurrence), my friends and I were just about to walk out when the unmistakeable opening of Two Door Cinema Club- What You Know blared out across the store. We all turned to each other and did the 'ohhhhh what a tuuuune' face (I know you know the one I mean) and started bopping and nodding our heads to the exceedingly catchy rhythm. I don't think the sales assistant standing by the entrance was as enthusiastic as this was most likely, the tenth time he had heard that track that day..
4th position is taken by the incredible James Bay with his James Morrison doppleganger track If You Ever Want To Be In Love, a song that is so uplifting and consequently great to sing along to during your morning shower (this has been tried and tested by yours truly, much to both my family's and the neighbours' delight.)
Third position has also been awarded to James Bay, with his beautiful track Let It Go. I won't say too much about both of these tracks as you can read about them in my previous blog post on the man himself, here. However I have had them on repeat ever since I discovered them last week, so I just had to include them in this week's top 5. To those of you wondering why Let It Go is placed higher than If You Ever Want To Be In Love, it is simply due to the unprecedented tone that he carries when performing this song. His voice is one of very few that I can listen to with complete ease, repetitively, without getting the slightest bit sick of it, so congrats James!
Getting to the nitty gritty of this world renowned top 5.. falling just short of the top spot, is Paolo Nutini and the truly beautiful Autumn. Written in dedication to his grandfather, Paolo has written a song that is so lyrically and emotionally, on point, that it seems it can be applied to almost any situation or person and will never fall short of reducing them to tears. I discovered this song, during the dress rehearsal of my dance show and I immediately recognised Paolo's distinctive voice, but I 'Shazam'ed' it so that I could find out the name of the song and more importantly, so that I could include it in this blog post. (I strongly recommend the Shazam app, it has saved me on numerous occasions from nameless songs on adverts or on the radio) Just a truly, truly, beautiful song.
And finally, in at number 1, another song that I discovered during the dress run of the show and consequently via Shazam is the breathtaking Jamie Woon- Spirits. I have been infatuated, encapsulated even, with this track. In the live version of this track, his loop pedal, beatboxing and harmonising is exceedingly reminiscent of an Ed Sheeran track, however the voice that is to follow, is just f**king amazing! This song was released over 2 years ago, and how I haven't discovered his voice before now, is completely beyond me! In my opinion, the harmonies are on par with those of the harmony king himself, Craig David. I can't seem to pin point what exactly it is about his voice, maybe it's the simplicity, there are no complicated riff's or run's, just beautiful harmonies and layered instrumentation in support. I kid you not when I say that, since I first discovered this song on Friday, it has been played over 50 times on Youtube.. Like James Bay, I don't see how anyone could ever get sick of listening to his voice because it has totally mesmerised me.
Look out for a Jamie Woon review very soon (probably later on today knowing me) as I'm sure I will become hooked on the rest of his music.
As usual, I don't own the rights to any of the videos or songs that I have linked in this post. The rights are completely those of the artist.
So to get straight to it, in at number 5 is a rediscovery of mine whilst I was scouring the Topshop sale (a regular occurrence), my friends and I were just about to walk out when the unmistakeable opening of Two Door Cinema Club- What You Know blared out across the store. We all turned to each other and did the 'ohhhhh what a tuuuune' face (I know you know the one I mean) and started bopping and nodding our heads to the exceedingly catchy rhythm. I don't think the sales assistant standing by the entrance was as enthusiastic as this was most likely, the tenth time he had heard that track that day..
4th position is taken by the incredible James Bay with his James Morrison doppleganger track If You Ever Want To Be In Love, a song that is so uplifting and consequently great to sing along to during your morning shower (this has been tried and tested by yours truly, much to both my family's and the neighbours' delight.)
Third position has also been awarded to James Bay, with his beautiful track Let It Go. I won't say too much about both of these tracks as you can read about them in my previous blog post on the man himself, here. However I have had them on repeat ever since I discovered them last week, so I just had to include them in this week's top 5. To those of you wondering why Let It Go is placed higher than If You Ever Want To Be In Love, it is simply due to the unprecedented tone that he carries when performing this song. His voice is one of very few that I can listen to with complete ease, repetitively, without getting the slightest bit sick of it, so congrats James!
Getting to the nitty gritty of this world renowned top 5.. falling just short of the top spot, is Paolo Nutini and the truly beautiful Autumn. Written in dedication to his grandfather, Paolo has written a song that is so lyrically and emotionally, on point, that it seems it can be applied to almost any situation or person and will never fall short of reducing them to tears. I discovered this song, during the dress rehearsal of my dance show and I immediately recognised Paolo's distinctive voice, but I 'Shazam'ed' it so that I could find out the name of the song and more importantly, so that I could include it in this blog post. (I strongly recommend the Shazam app, it has saved me on numerous occasions from nameless songs on adverts or on the radio) Just a truly, truly, beautiful song.
And finally, in at number 1, another song that I discovered during the dress run of the show and consequently via Shazam is the breathtaking Jamie Woon- Spirits. I have been infatuated, encapsulated even, with this track. In the live version of this track, his loop pedal, beatboxing and harmonising is exceedingly reminiscent of an Ed Sheeran track, however the voice that is to follow, is just f**king amazing! This song was released over 2 years ago, and how I haven't discovered his voice before now, is completely beyond me! In my opinion, the harmonies are on par with those of the harmony king himself, Craig David. I can't seem to pin point what exactly it is about his voice, maybe it's the simplicity, there are no complicated riff's or run's, just beautiful harmonies and layered instrumentation in support. I kid you not when I say that, since I first discovered this song on Friday, it has been played over 50 times on Youtube.. Like James Bay, I don't see how anyone could ever get sick of listening to his voice because it has totally mesmerised me.
Look out for a Jamie Woon review very soon (probably later on today knowing me) as I'm sure I will become hooked on the rest of his music.
As usual, I don't own the rights to any of the videos or songs that I have linked in this post. The rights are completely those of the artist.
Wednesday 16 July 2014
James Bay
Normally when I do a blog post, I give myself some time to really listen to the artist and mentally critique the music that fills my ears, before I type it up for your viewing. But this morning at about 8:30am, like every teenager in the morning I was in bed, mid-way through my 20 minute social media scroll-through/update before heaving myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Just as I was about to move from Twitter to Instagram, I saw James McVey from The Vamps tweet someone saying "I wonder who showed you this sweety" to a certain female, (spelling error or under the radar nickname?! Who knows?!) Anyway, I clicked on the Youtube URL, to be greeted by 'James Bay-Let It Go.' Honestly, I thought this was going to be a cover of Let It Go from Frozen, but it was to be the complete opposite.
Now as you may have gathered, I do love a boy band, but when it comes to music I love finding new, up and coming, musical gems. Personally, I categorise artists such as Mike Dignam, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, James Morrison and now James Bay (I think your first name basically has to begin with J, to have a chance of making it into this category), as my 'chilled acoustic musical gems."
Now much like Mike Dignam, James Bay begins this track with his acoustic guitar, but in complete contrast to Mike's low, husky voice, we are greeted with a higher pitched vocal which is effortlessly followed by a beautifully controlled tone and what I call "barely there high notes." Furthermore, towards the end, Bay displays a much more growling and seemingly 'raw' tone which personally, I absolutely love. Because to me, it's like the artist is trying to depict to the audience, their raw passion and emotion towards the meaning or person behind the song. (For example, the later half of Ed Sheeran's- Give Me Love)
So using my detective ways (clicking on the video's links), I found his Soundcloud which then led me to all of his other social media platforms, including his Website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.
To my delight, I immediately found his EP on his Soundcloud which includes,
Now as you may have gathered, I do love a boy band, but when it comes to music I love finding new, up and coming, musical gems. Personally, I categorise artists such as Mike Dignam, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, James Morrison and now James Bay (I think your first name basically has to begin with J, to have a chance of making it into this category), as my 'chilled acoustic musical gems."
Now much like Mike Dignam, James Bay begins this track with his acoustic guitar, but in complete contrast to Mike's low, husky voice, we are greeted with a higher pitched vocal which is effortlessly followed by a beautifully controlled tone and what I call "barely there high notes." Furthermore, towards the end, Bay displays a much more growling and seemingly 'raw' tone which personally, I absolutely love. Because to me, it's like the artist is trying to depict to the audience, their raw passion and emotion towards the meaning or person behind the song. (For example, the later half of Ed Sheeran's- Give Me Love)
So using my detective ways (clicking on the video's links), I found his Soundcloud which then led me to all of his other social media platforms, including his Website, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.
To my delight, I immediately found his EP on his Soundcloud which includes,
- Let It Go,
- If You Ever Want To Be In Love,
- Heavy Handed,
- Hear Your Heart
- Running
My 3 favourites are Let It Go, If You Ever Want To Be In Love and Running.
To me, James' voice in If You Ever Want To Be In Love sounds identical to that of Mr James Morrison, however instrumentally different to Let It Go in the way that the piano and drums are predominantly the main instruments. This gives the EP some refreshing variation, which is seemingly hard to find these days, as most artists just churn out supposed "hits" that all sound the same.
Running, is one of the slower songs in comparison to the previous tracks, with beautiful lyrics, reminiscent of Mike Dignam's When You Coming Home with the paralleling theme of having someone you love, helping you to rediscover yourself when you feel lost or out of place (soppy I know.)
Further down, his feed, you will also find numerous covers including HAIM's- Forever and his first EP, The Dark Of Morning
I'm predicting a big big future for James, he was recently played on Radio 1 review thanks to the beautiful Ella Eyre's recommendation, so I believe 2014/2015 are going to see James' fan base increase expansively and deservedly so!
I'm predicting a big big future for James, he was recently played on Radio 1 review thanks to the beautiful Ella Eyre's recommendation, so I believe 2014/2015 are going to see James' fan base increase expansively and deservedly so!
Just one final note, if any of you, like me, are going to V-Festival this summer and like James' music, you'll be delighted to know that he will be playing on the Futures Stage on Saturday 16th August at Weston Park in Shropshire and on Sunday 17th August at Hylands Park in Chelmsford.
If you can't make it to V-Festival, he has just announced that he is doing a gig on September 10th at St Stephen's Church in London, so be ready at 9am tomorrow when tickets go on sale.
If you can't make it to V-Festival, he has just announced that he is doing a gig on September 10th at St Stephen's Church in London, so be ready at 9am tomorrow when tickets go on sale.
Sunday 13 July 2014
Top 5 songs of the week (7/7/14- 13/7/14)
I have been having a little think about what sort of content I could put up on here that would allow me to be more regular with my posts. So consequently, I deleved into the dusty corners of my (rather frazzled) brain and came up with the simple idea, of my "top 5" songs of the week (as you can obviously see by the title of the post, duh.)
So without further ado, at number 5 are The Vamps and their cover of The Neighbourhood's-Sweater Weather. Although, frustratingly, we have only be presented with a 2 minute teaser, the accompanying video of the adorable Bradley Simpson, lip-syncing in the middle of a bustling Times Sqaure (as you do), in his cute little fedora hat and circular sunnies, TOATLLY makes up for it. This version is basically a stripped back, acoustic version of the original with the added twist of Brad's cheeky and thankfully, British accent. (I say thankfully as there is nothing more annoying to me personally, when a British singer sings in an American accent is it just me?!) Rant over.
A very chilled/relaxing track that seamlessly repeats over and over as I get on with the mountain of homework that I have left until the last minute.
Here's the link to the video featuring Brad in his fedora/sunnies xoxoxo
(Lets all pray for the full version to be released VERY soon.)
Next in at number 4 is one of my newer discoveries this week and thank goodness I did find this little gem. It's Ed Sheeran and the indescribably beautiful Thinking Out Loud. Never did I think that I would find a replacement so soon for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Releasing his globally-renowned hit All Of Me , John Legend took the top spot in August 2013 with this lyrical and visual masterpiece, his inspiration for this power ballad and also, the love interest in the video, comes in the shape of his beautiful wife (back then fiancée) Chrissy Teigen. However Ed's lyrically gifted mind, has yet again churned out another tear-triggering hit. He has optimised the 21st century love song, so consequently (and most importantly of course) he is in pole position for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Undoubtedly worth a listen.
Number 3: A song from a genre that has yet to be featured on my blog! Hoorah! Personally I would class Example as an Electro/Dance/House artist, but I'll let you decide for yourselves! Getting an honourable mention, is his new tune One More Day (Stay With Me). Simply put, the ultimate feel-good banger for this summer. Killer beat throughout and very reminiscent of what I would imagine a DJ in Ibiza to put on in the midst of their set.
Coming a very close 2nd are my new little secret obsession, also known as up and coming boy band Rixton. I vividly remember where I was the first time I heard their debut single (and my 2nd placed song) Me And My Broken Heart, I was slouched on the sofa flicking through the Virgin Media Music on Demand's playlists as the repeating advertisements for new releases and monthly favourite artists droned on in the background. Then suddenly, I heard what I immediately thought was Maroon 5's lead man, Adam Levine's voice. How surprised I was when I looked up to find that my judgement had failed me and instead I caught a glimpse of the cute little faces of a nameless boy band that were supposedly part of the new releases folder. In a desperate attempt to put a name to this Levine-esque voice I scoured the new releases folder (unsuccessfully), waited for the cycle of adverts to come back around (I gave up after 15 minutes of impatiently waiting), and I even tweeted Virgin Media to see if they could help me, but no such luck. After some strained recollection, I remembered hearing the lyrics, "It seems like we've been losing control" so in a very savvy and professional way, I typed those lyrics into Google.. (I know I'm not the only one, c'mon now we've all done it before) and there it was 'Rixton-Me and My Broken Heart'. An exceedingly catchy song with beautiful instrumentation throughout and a uniquely effortless tone in lead singer Jake Roche's voice. But irritatingly for me, this track very hard to sing along too, as some of the notes that he hits are just that bit too high for me, *cries* but attempts nevertheless.
AND FINALLY (thank you for making it this far) IN AT NUMBER ONE: Magic!- Rude. This song just screams, a chilled out, Jamaican jam (yes you did just read the word jam). It is just such a great song! I really don't know what else to say about it, it is ultimately a feel-good song that will definitely make you get up and start moving those hips!
These words do not do this song any justice, just click on the link up there and give it a listen, I mean it would be RUDE not to.
Get it?
Yeah.. I'll just end the post here.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the video's linked in this post, all rights are those of the artist.
So without further ado, at number 5 are The Vamps and their cover of The Neighbourhood's-Sweater Weather. Although, frustratingly, we have only be presented with a 2 minute teaser, the accompanying video of the adorable Bradley Simpson, lip-syncing in the middle of a bustling Times Sqaure (as you do), in his cute little fedora hat and circular sunnies, TOATLLY makes up for it. This version is basically a stripped back, acoustic version of the original with the added twist of Brad's cheeky and thankfully, British accent. (I say thankfully as there is nothing more annoying to me personally, when a British singer sings in an American accent is it just me?!) Rant over.
A very chilled/relaxing track that seamlessly repeats over and over as I get on with the mountain of homework that I have left until the last minute.
Here's the link to the video featuring Brad in his fedora/sunnies xoxoxo
(Lets all pray for the full version to be released VERY soon.)
Next in at number 4 is one of my newer discoveries this week and thank goodness I did find this little gem. It's Ed Sheeran and the indescribably beautiful Thinking Out Loud. Never did I think that I would find a replacement so soon for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Releasing his globally-renowned hit All Of Me , John Legend took the top spot in August 2013 with this lyrical and visual masterpiece, his inspiration for this power ballad and also, the love interest in the video, comes in the shape of his beautiful wife (back then fiancée) Chrissy Teigen. However Ed's lyrically gifted mind, has yet again churned out another tear-triggering hit. He has optimised the 21st century love song, so consequently (and most importantly of course) he is in pole position for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Undoubtedly worth a listen.
Number 3: A song from a genre that has yet to be featured on my blog! Hoorah! Personally I would class Example as an Electro/Dance/House artist, but I'll let you decide for yourselves! Getting an honourable mention, is his new tune One More Day (Stay With Me). Simply put, the ultimate feel-good banger for this summer. Killer beat throughout and very reminiscent of what I would imagine a DJ in Ibiza to put on in the midst of their set.
Coming a very close 2nd are my new little secret obsession, also known as up and coming boy band Rixton. I vividly remember where I was the first time I heard their debut single (and my 2nd placed song) Me And My Broken Heart, I was slouched on the sofa flicking through the Virgin Media Music on Demand's playlists as the repeating advertisements for new releases and monthly favourite artists droned on in the background. Then suddenly, I heard what I immediately thought was Maroon 5's lead man, Adam Levine's voice. How surprised I was when I looked up to find that my judgement had failed me and instead I caught a glimpse of the cute little faces of a nameless boy band that were supposedly part of the new releases folder. In a desperate attempt to put a name to this Levine-esque voice I scoured the new releases folder (unsuccessfully), waited for the cycle of adverts to come back around (I gave up after 15 minutes of impatiently waiting), and I even tweeted Virgin Media to see if they could help me, but no such luck. After some strained recollection, I remembered hearing the lyrics, "It seems like we've been losing control" so in a very savvy and professional way, I typed those lyrics into Google.. (I know I'm not the only one, c'mon now we've all done it before) and there it was 'Rixton-Me and My Broken Heart'. An exceedingly catchy song with beautiful instrumentation throughout and a uniquely effortless tone in lead singer Jake Roche's voice. But irritatingly for me, this track very hard to sing along too, as some of the notes that he hits are just that bit too high for me, *cries* but attempts nevertheless.
AND FINALLY (thank you for making it this far) IN AT NUMBER ONE: Magic!- Rude. This song just screams, a chilled out, Jamaican jam (yes you did just read the word jam). It is just such a great song! I really don't know what else to say about it, it is ultimately a feel-good song that will definitely make you get up and start moving those hips!
These words do not do this song any justice, just click on the link up there and give it a listen, I mean it would be RUDE not to.
Get it?
Yeah.. I'll just end the post here.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the video's linked in this post, all rights are those of the artist.
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