Hayley Williams has delivered us her lockdown baby FLOWERS for VASES / descansos only 9 months after Petals For Armor. Having had her tours cancelled, it was a relief for fans to hear there was a new album coming out instead. Like a lot of artists, Hayley Williams has taken advantage of the time off touring to be able to sit down and write music. She sees her second album as a prequel to her first, a more simplistic laidback affair.
Having come out more than a month ago now, it has taken me a while to get into. Unlike the excitement of the first album release, the second album comes with a slow peaking of intrigue. Beginning with ‘First Thing To Go’, this concept album recounts a journey of loss and coming to terms with absence, which is very relevant to our current climate. Unlike the bitterness seen in ‘Leave it Alone’ on Petals For Armor, this album is more of an open wound, an ode to the process of heartbreak and an exploration of tough themes. The album regains some of its missing groove with ‘Over Those Hills’ that has both a catchy hook and lyrical melody.
However, for me the album peaks at ‘Inordinary’ with spine-tingling lyrics about escaping her parents’ domestic situation and being able to start afresh. This song presents the relief that she may not have known she needed. There is a sense of beauty in the simplistic as showcased through the stripped back sound of the strumming of the guitar and bare piano chords in the chorus. For me it depicts how the cumulation of all these negative experiences expressed throughout the album have made Hayley Williams who she is now. In a twisted way, we have to be grateful for everything Hayley Williams has been through. As a consequence, she has been able to produce meaningful honest music that manages to appeal to her audience in such a moving way.
Moreover, further momentum is gained with ‘Just A Lover’ and it may well become my next favourite. I cannot stop thinking about the line ‘one more ugly stillborn cry’. The harsh truth of this album will continue to hit me the more times I listen to it. I think it will continue to grow to the point where we will look back at this album with fond nostalgia. If only there were a CD version, how will the pretentious old-timey people like myself cope?
As is often the case, the second album will never live up to the debut. Yet, this does not mean I am ungrateful for FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. It is undeniably worth a listen and I implore you to. You never know how soon a tour will be announced and you’ll need to belt all the lyrics out. I’m sure Hayley Williams would be grateful.
Martin Rodrigues (left), 20, Dylan Wiggins, 23, and Jaden Wiggins, 20, of the punk band Hello Yellow, pose for a portrait in West Oakland, Calif., on Friday, March 29, 2019.
Very recently I was shown a live video session of Hello Yello and immediately I was hooked. If you ask me what music I’ve been addicted to this month it’s just been Hello Yello. Well, them and Harry Styles’ solo albums but that’s a story for another time. Now I’ll be honest right off the bat, I barely know anything about this band, and I’ve been looking online to find out more about them but as of right now I’m at a loss, so I’m going to let the music speak for itself here, and start you off with the track that got me addicted.
Like wow? Like not just really good songwriting, but a completely rounded and well-polished live performance. That was Sins off their 2019 EP Love Wins which is just banger after banger. It’s also a very refreshing sound because you can hear just how much inspiration has gone into making their identity, to the point where it’s not entirely obvious what Hello Yello’s favourite bands are, which again today is a real rarity. Sure you can guess and hear some genre-specific influences, but it’s still all left ambiguous, with a driving force that teases you to listen to more and more.
So attempting to box up their sound somehow, whether you’re a fan of Lil Peep, Steve Lacy, Weston Estate or any of the emo bands you loved back in the ’00s, Hello Yello is an identity that should just automatically be familiar with you. The way they combine evocative vocals, glistening guitar parts, these thicc bass lines and warm drums, it’s almost like each band member wants the music to do different things, and the way it ties together creates this wonderous sound that’s genuinely fresh like I cannot stress how new this sound feels for some reason. It’s really throwing old school rock with modern-day indie to the forefront in the best way possible.
The same year Hello Yello dropped My Life As A Teenage Robot, a double single that just delivers more of what they set out to offer with their first EP. There’s some real talent here, you could pair these tunes with anything from artists such as The Garden or Blac Rabbit and they’d fit in snug.
There’s a toxic trait rock music advocates have these days which can be summed up by, none o’ yall know what you want. It either sounds too much like one band or doesn’t sound enough like the greats of the past (it’s deeper than that but that’s me simplifying it drastically). The idea to save rock music is this backwards idea that started because rock music suddenly left the mainstream. But that has never meant that rock music was dead? (cough Adam Levine cough) Artists now more than ever are fusing the quintessential sounds of rock music with other genres they’ve been brought up on, or that they’re surrounded and inspired by, and Hello Yello is one band that is completely renovating the very DNA of rock music for the 21st century. It’s a genuine blend.
Rock/Indie lovers, eat your hearts out because Hello Yello are here to play loud and proud, and you’re going to absolutely love it.
10 years ago, Alex Turner’s ‘Submarine’ EP released, featuring songs written for the film of the same name. If you’ve seen Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, then you’ll know how perfect a match Turner’s songwriting was for that film, the jaded atmosphere of Oliver Tate’s empty and almost stunted world, as he goes through the struggles of his parents dwindling marriage and his own love spell with a girl at school.
The matched reverb riddled and stripped-back approach to Turner’s songwriting makes for such an interesting experience with the context of the Arctic Monkeys’ albums that sandwich the EP. Relinquished from the deep desert production of Humbug, and far from the polished production of Suck It And See, Submarine acts as a transition period between the two like a palette cleanse. In fact track ‘Piledriver Waltz’ getting a rework on Suck It And See, with even lyrical references spilled over the album, it’s clear the intrinsic connection between the two records.
Is it any coincidence that Turner’s songs here make you feel desolate and floaty? Like you’re drifting through the sea in a Submarine? I don’t think so. Whether you’re entranced by the opener, ‘Stuck On The Puzzle – Intro’, or whipped away by the deeper cuts of ‘It’s Hard To Get Around In The Wind’, ‘Hiding Tonight’ or ‘Glass In The Park’, you immediately get a feel for what this story is about.
Turner set out to write songs for Oliver Tate, love songs, and how the simple bliss of those feelings especially as a teenager can feel so strong, where tunnel vision makes the rest of the world seem irrelevant for the time being. Submarine really enhances those feelings and makes for such an intimate listening experience, in an almost bittersweet way depending on how you the listener perceive his words.
Although the whole EP is filled with magic through its 6 songs, it’s clear to all that its two ‘singles’ are the ones most favoured and listened to. Of course, I’m talking about the previously mentioned ‘Piledriver Waltz’ and ‘Stuck On The Puzzle’.
“I’m not the kind of fool who’s gonna sit and sing to you about stars, girl / but last night I looked up into the dark half of the blue, and they’d gone backwards”
Turner really pours his heart out here. And I don’t think it matters whether he’s talking from his heart, or through the character of Oliver Tate. He clearly understood Tate to the point where he could construct such a symphonic tone to serenade the film’s story so perfectly, and 10 years later that film and that soundtrack, are still being spoken about today.
If you haven’t come across the film Submarine yet then you really absolutely must, it’s a brilliant motion picture and the best way to experience Turner’s music for the first time. Trust me when I say it’s an experience you really won’t forget.
Irish singer-songwriter Orla Gartland gained traction through her YouTube channel and supporting Dodie on tour. Alongside relatable lyrical content, her songs emphasise her passion for music production and perfecting her style.
Orla Gartland’s YouTube channel has content dating back to 8 years ago although she has been active since 2007. Starting out with covers, she has worked her way up to original content. Although her folk roots have been her primary influence, we have seen a shift towards indie-pop. There has been a transition from more acoustically based songs to synthesised instrumentation. Songs like ‘Why Am I Like This?’ and ‘Overthinking’ explore her struggles with mental health and are compellingly honest and raw. Other themes in her music include falling out of love, which is what her latest EP, Freckle Seasons is centred around, and struggling to come to terms with sexuality which can be heard in her song ‘oh God’.
Most intriguing, Orla Gartland is an entirely independent artist using her Patreon to fund her musical developments. This Patreon gives fans extra demos, updates on what is going on in her life and when to expect new releases and competitions. It creates a basis for fans to be able to interact and make friends. It is also a platform for them to share their own experiences with music amongst themselves and with Orla Gartland directly. Patreon, being one of her favourite parts of the internet, has become somewhere she can openly share the progression of her songs and thoughts and ideas. It is fascinating to see lyrics from drafts falling into new songs that become released for everyone to hear. In her latest song ‘Pretending’, the lyrics “I learnt it from a woman on the internet” have been recycled from one of the demos she released on her Patreon.
During lockdown, musicians took to performing on live streaming platforms to replicate the community feeling of going to concerts. Orla Gartland hosted what she called “covers-a-thon” raising £3454 for NHS charities helping frontline workers with hot meals, transport, accommodation and counselling. There is no divide between herself and her music; she uses it to express herself, for escapism and to help people.
It isn’t always easy to come across with such authenticity in the music industry. Still, the transparency between Orla Gartland and her fans makes it easy to believe that it is possible.
Long-awaited has new music by The Vaccines been since their latest album Combat Sports was released back in 2018, but you may soon be in luck…
If you didn’t think this year could get any better after the announcement of the new Wolf Alice album, The Vaccines have gone even further with the promise of a new album and a brand-spanking-new EP to listen to while you wait.
Frontman Justin Hayward-Young announced in December that the band’s official fifth album was complete and would follow up the new EP ‘Cosy Karaoke’, a compilation of six brilliant covers.
Today we were treated to that very EP, an assortment of brilliant renditions of fantastic tunes which have been given that timeless vaccines treatment.
It takes a great band to cover an already excellent song and make it truly their own, but The Vaccines have sure pulled it off on every track.
Tracklist:
Funnel of Love – (Wanda Jackson)
No One Knows – (Queens of the Stone Age)
High Horse – (Kacey Musgraves)
Telstar – (The Tornados)
For What It’s Worth – (Buffalo Springfield)
Fire – (Waxahatchee)
They announced the EP on their Instagram with the promise of more videos to come:
Five years ago The 1975 dropped their monumental album I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, or as I’ll be referring to it (because effort gah) as ILIWYS. If you thought the 80s vibes couldn’t be topped after their self-titled debut, “aha, you are dead wrong”. The 1975 are a band with so much more to offer than your typical indie-pop band, delivering an entire era defined by it’s words and art, to the point of their live shows encapsulating the entirety of their songs personalities, The 1975 are a statement to the word ‘Artist’. I think it’s an underappreciated art to produce an album, make it go in various musical directions but seamlessly tie it all together and create a genuine universe for all its songs to coexist. But here proves that its all possible, and is utterly majestic when that happens. So as a brief inquiry (aha – nice right?) into the realm of ILIWYS, I hope you can look back on this album with me and appreciate the ingenuity that makes this record so bloody great.
After two years of so much identity with a black and white aesthetic, what better way to revitalise your sonic vision than with the bombastic colour of pink and the intro that is Love Me. A song that takes your hands and dances with your bones like a piss up that snogs you when you sit back down. Leading straight into the 80s drooling UGH! which delves into the topics of addiction, something frontman Matty Healy has been more than open about over the years. The music video based upon the incredible live show set, designed by Tobias Rylander which just has to be mentioned because it is enriched in beauty.
Then changing the pace the album goes into A Change Of Heart, a slow ballad that swoons you to sway during the comedown of a party. A pretty coloured song that blinds the facade of a story about two people falling out of love with each other. The 1975 have a knack for writing tear-jerking relatable hits, curse you Matty with your big words giving me the biggest feels. She’s American blasts in next, a personal highlight of 80s pop perfection, the synth bassline, the Johnny Marr / shoegaze-like hybrid guitars that caress you into a dream, goodness me that song makes me feel things on an inhuman level.
If I Believe You is a fan favourite that takes off next (although I have no idea why I say fan favourite as if other tracks aren’t faves also) a waltz that opens up a conversation between Healy and God, begging the question; “And if I believe you will that make it stop”, questioning Healy’s lack of faith and desire to have something to believe in, during a period of uncertainty, proclaiming “I’ll be your child if you insist, I mean if it was you that made my body you probably shouldn’t have made me atheist” Please Be Naked accompanies us next, an instrumental track that whispers in your ear so much with so little. A piano-led track that drowns you in the sweet sorrow of this little album I love.
Lostmyhead and The Ballad Of Me And My Brain drift into your ears, starting with a track with a lyric that quotes back to a song off the band’s debut EP. “Then he said I lost my head / Can you see it?” With that calmic haze being stripped away for a loud angry tantrum about the disconnection between Healy and his mind. It’s the subtle transition between the frail state of mind (ha reference) Healy has to deal with that makes this pairing so devastatingly divine.
Somebody Else, arguably the bands most popular tune is a slow ballad about the pain of moving on after a relationship and it’s hauntingly sad. The line “I don’t want your body but I hate to think about you with somebody else” is so simple yet so resoundingly relevant within so many of our lives. Somebody Else creates an involuntary emotional attachment to you and because of that makes it one that you can’t get out of your head.
It disapparates into Loving Someone, which has become an LGBTQ anthem. Delving in the topics of how disenfranchised the population is and the systematic homophobia within that.
“It’s better if we keep them perplexed,
It’s better if we make them want the opposite sex”
Which all leads to a Healy delivering a spoken-word piece to end the song that just pauses for thought but demands to be heard. With the backing music continuing with thumping bass and twinkling synths, drummer and producer George Daniels is a genius and the talent he shreds throughout this album is nothing shy of blessing upon the music scene. The almost instrumental ambient synth-scape title track of (okay I’ll do it just this once – deep breath) I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it injects a pure sense of vulnerability here, and if the work of Daniels and co haven’t impressed you yet then this surely shall, and the standalone lyric of “Before you go, turn the big light off” just gives me chills it’s beautiful… yET sO uNAWARE oF iT!!
Jokes aside, the albums biggest radio hit comes on in the form of The Sound that really bops with you no matter where you are. That hook of “I know when you’re around cause I know the sound of your heart” being tattooed on people all over, reposted all over Tumblr and such, covered to death but purely because it’s such a danceable and sing-a-long track. It’s music video flashes on screen with quotes of harsh remarks on the band from critics and such, many of whom now absolutely love the band so I don’t know what that says about media pandering.. But it’s a great song with a great video, check it out if you haven’t. The 1975 is a band that’s very self aware, it knows when to take itself seriously and when not to and I think this video is a brilliant example of that.
My favourite track on the album succeeds that one, This Must Be My Dream being this 80s pop powerhouse that screams in your face, god I just love it so much. Although it doesn’t get played very often, Healy once stating he didn’t like the song because it was so hard to sing. But I mean this was before the days of Love It If We Made It and People, so what gives Matty? But the cute Paris succeeds my favourite track, and this is another one of my faves, another fan fave and recently (well as recent as the last time they were on tour – yikes) revealed to be Healy’s favourite of the album, which is a very valid statement as the song is wonderful.
I give you that acoustic rendition because one, it’s stunning, two, it doesn’t get enough recognition and three, the next 2 tracks on the album take a more acoustic approach, completely bookending the last part of the album. Nana and She Lays Down close the album on possibly some of the most personal lyrics Healy has penned down. Nana about the way Healy deals with the then-recent passing of his Grandmother, and She Lays Down about the postnatal depression his mother had just after having Healy. Two incredibly personal tracks that expose the innards of Healy’s brain even more so than some of the other deeper cuts of this album. I shan’t quote from either as I think it’s best to listen to those songs fully to respect and appreciate the messages of each, but trust my they are witheringly pulchritudinous.
ILIWYS ends there, going through various sounds and heaps of emotion and is just such a phenomenal album. One of my favourite records of all time that I know I’ll cherish till the day I die, as will so many others. ILIWYS defines a generation of woe, lust, highs and downfalls that embedded within the DNA of Healy and The 1975, manages to enchant their audience in such a way that has never really been done before. The 1975’s fanbase is something different let me tell you that, but it’s a wonderful community I’m proud to be a part of. There’s a quality of emotional imperfection that ILIWYS narrates which touches a generation of music fans. From only 5 years, the impact it’s had is immeasurable, and I really believe will keep inspiring kids for years to come.
Wolf Alice return with their highly anticipated single ‘The Last Man on Earth’
The tune sets the pace for what seems to be a turn towards the band’s roots, with the recent single giving off a similar vibe to some of their earlier songs Silk and Blush.
Although die-hard fans of the band will know a Wolf Alice album can go from breaking your heart to pure punk rock. One thing’s for sure, Wolf Alice have done it again and never cease to amaze. They really are one of those bands who just can’t write a bad song if they tried.
The band announced on Instagram the title of their upcoming third album ‘Blue Weekend’, due for release on the 11th of June. This years about to get a lot brighter, pre-order while you still can.
On Vocals: Raff Law, Bass: Kelvin Bueno, Drums: Rudy Albarn, Keyboard: Amin El Makkawi
Director: Eric Anderson, Sound: Graham Potter, Camera Operators: Aimee Clarke, Jamie Pitt, James George Potter, Producers: Eric Anderson, James George Potter
Lucia Fairfull, the frontwoman of Glaswegian indie pop sensations Lucia and the Best Boys, is an ‘80s haute couture fever dream.
Her constantly evolving sartorial presence keeps the group’s image in a state of constant flux, refreshing and revitalizing, but it’s her voice that’s the real star. I’ve never met anyone who’s found it directly comparable to another artist’s; it’s uniquely moving, sometimes vigorous, bright and soothing, sometimes edged with the purring rasp of a femme fatale in a noir film.
The band’s recent EP The State of Things (released in 2020), features four tracks, Perfectly Untrue, Somewhere in Heaven, Forever Forget, and Let Go.
Perfectly Untrue is the smash hit of the EP, with nearly 700,000 Spotify streams thus far, an impressive feat indeed.
(Two intriguing remixes have been made from the EP, a Forever Forget remix by Dream Wife and a Let Go remix by synth sensation Jessica Winter. Both are guaranteed to be the high point of any two a.m. solo dance party, something we’ve all gotten very used to during the series of lockdowns.)
On Let Go, Lucia’s powerful, resonant voice soars and dips into deeply satisfying husky notes. It’s a delicate, touching ballad, and the subject matter is surely content that all of us can empathize with.
Overall, they’re break-up tunes that are just as satisfying to listen to when you’re happy as when you’re heartbroken. The Best Boys manage to keep up a level of emotional relevance few bands achieve.
It’s going to be very exciting to see what this powerhouse group will accomplish next… I wait with bated breath.
