Billie Eilish – Album Review

Posted on April 1, 2019April 3, 2019 Tagged album release, billie, billie eilish, eilish, indie, music, music blogLeave a comment

Give the album a listen while you’re checking out the blog post

Billie Eilish’s debut album ‘WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?’ was released three days ago and the seventeen year old is taking over the world. Currently, the album is set to reach number one on the billboard top 200 chart, proving the long perpetuated myth that young people are not interested in albums anymore.

Eilish herself has described the album as an ‘ambitious and immersive experience’ and she has definitely achieved that. The album is extremely experimental and each song offers something brand new and very different.

Normally with each weeks featured artist, I choose my top five favourite songs from the singer or band. For this one off special blog, dedicated to the brilliant album, I’m choosing my top five from the album! Check out the list below…

1. bad guy

The perfect introduction to the album. The song moves through so many different elements and is very fun. It perfectly summarises what will come next. The video, released the same day as the album, also truly encompasses the album as a whole, it moves through a range of different themes, introduces us to a whole range of characters and sides to Eilish herself. It also takes a dark turn at the end – reminding us of Eilish’s creepy brand.

2. when the party’s over

Taken from when the party’s over music video

when the party’s over is the seventh song on the album and is slower than the overs that come before it. It highlights Eilish’s talent and range more so than the over songs of the album too. It’s very raw and her vocals are beautiful. The song showcases Billie as an amazing singer, as well as the brilliant mind behind the experimental album.

3. 8

The eighth song on the title, aptly titled 8, is another slower song, with dreamy indie and Hawaiian vibes. The song starts of quite creepily due to the child-like vocals but the slowly moves into Billie’s normal style. The song is reminiscent of the interludes on Paramore’s 2013 self-titled album. The interludes on that album employ the slow, melodic ukulele to break up the heavy, high energy tracks that come before and after. Eilish does this in a similar way, placing the slow and calm song right in the middle of the album.

4. my strange addiction

The ninth song on the album is my strange addiction which uses samples from the US Office throughout the song. Many artists have chosen to take clips from film and TV and place them into songs. For instance Dan from Bastille uses clips from the film Psycho in his mix tapes, as well as Kanye West and Jay Z’s Ni**as in Paris, which is probably one of the most famous examples of this. Billie’s use of clips from the Office don’t necessarily make as much sense as the other examples (other than the fact that Michael Scott says Billie’s name at the start of the clip), but it fits really well.

5. i love you

The second to last song on the album, i love you, is slow and pretty. I reminds me of Wolf Alice and The Japanese House. It is a beautiful song with a deeper message than its pretty melody. It discusses loving someone you no longer want to love and the pain that comes with that. The perfect ending to such a brilliant album.

International Women’s Day 2019

Posted on March 8, 2019March 4, 2019 Tagged 2019, day, indie, international, international women's day, music blog, women'sLeave a comment

Empowered women, empower women

Happy International Women’s Day! This special, out of the ordinary blog post, is to celebrate today, as well as the amazing female artists we’ve seen so far and recap what they’re up to!

A balanced world is a better world. How can you help forge a more gender-balanced world?
– Celebrate women’s achievement. – Raise awareness against bias. – Take action for equality.
Taken from the International Women’s Day Website

The reason I have chosen to dedicate a blog post to International Women’s Day is because this years theme is #BalanceforBetter and I believe that this blog encapsulates the main points highlighted above. Each week a female artist is highlighted and her achievements are celebrated. I have achieved some backlash for focusing primarily of female artists and female fronted bands, but I believe what I am doing is important. There are no blogs out there highlighting specifically women in indie music, therefore I am raising awareness against this particular bias and, hopefully, taking action to move towards equality.

Nilüfer Yanya – my first ever featured artist’s debut album is being released in just 2 weeks from today and is currently on tour, playing at The Scholar (O2 Academy) in Leicester tonight.
Jade Bird – since the blog post on Jade was published 3 weeks ago, she has released the video for ‘I Get No Joy’ and is starting the US leg of her tour in 2 days. She is back in the UK on the 23rd of April playing Rock City, Nottingham. Her debut album is out on the 19th April.
Anteros – this London based four piece start touring on the 7th April by playing the Waterfront in Norwich. Their debut album ‘When We Land’ is out this month, and the official date has been announced as the 22nd!
SOAK – this weeks current featured artist. Her second album ‘Grim Town’ is out on the 26th April and her tour starts on the 3rd May running right up to the 31st. She’ll be touring the UK as well as hitting: Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Ireland, finishing off in her home town of Derry.

One last exciting thing to announce is the inclusion of a brand new playlist on the doyenne_music Spotify. The playlist, entitled ‘International Women’s Day’ (creative, I know) includes 50 of the best indie songs of the past and present from female artists and female fronted bands. From Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush, to Florence and the Machine and Lana Del Rey right up until today with Billie Eilish and Grimes. Make sure to check it out through the link below to find your perfect sound track for International Women’s Day this year!

Follow Doyenne on Twitter

International Women’s Day Playlist

Featured Artist’s Playlist

Up and Coming Playlist

SOAK

Posted on March 7, 2019March 4, 2019 Tagged female, indie, LGBTQ+, music, music blog, soakLeave a comment

‘Here’s the craic, it’s not cool, we should do something about it. The anti-equality shit that is going on is really fucked up”
SOAK cited in an interview for The Guardian in 2015

Bridie Monds-Watson, more commonly know by her stage name SOAK, is a 22 year old singer-song writer from Derry, Northern Ireland. She’s been likened to range of artists from Ben Howard and Laura Marling to Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Her music could be described as ethereal folk or dreamy lo-fi indie, but under the beautiful and misty aesthetic her songs have emotive and prominent meanings.

SOAK appeared on the BBC’s ‘Sound of 2015’ long list when she was just 18.

SOAK’s videos very much follow this dreamy, surreal vibe. My personal favourite is the music video for ‘Everybody Loves You’, the first single taken from her second album ‘Grim Town’. The video consists of SOAK meeting 2 groups, a boy group and then a girl group dressed head to toe in pale pink tracksuits. Each member of the group has a caterpillar in a drug bag attached to a chain around their neck.

The reason that I have chosen SOAK as my featured artist for this week in particular is because it is International Women’s Day tomorrow and as an artist, performer and individual she strives for changes to be made in terms of equality concerning a range of issues including women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance. Her song ‘Sea Creatures’ was written for a friend who was bullied for their sexuality and the video for ‘Reckless Behaviour’ deals with the sensitive topics of suicide, self-harm and mental illness.

The way that SOAK maturely and sensitively writes and provides awareness surrounding a range of topics that many artists wouldn’t dare to, is evidence enough why she should be the featured artist of the week over International Women’s Day. She is using her platform as a writer and performer in an important and meaningful way.

“Everybody Loves You retains that alchemy of old-soul wisdom and youthful positivity which are quintessentially SOAK’s own”.
Article published by XS Noize in 2018

SOAK’s second album, after the release of ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’ in 2015, is being released on the 26th April this year and is titled ‘Grim Town’. She is then touring for most of May, with her first date in Liverpool on the 3rd and her last day in her hometown of Derry on the 31st. She will be accompanied by Pillow Queens as her support.

Make sure to follow SOAK on her social media links below to stay up to date with news on the new album as well as the lead up to her tour. My top 5 favourite SOAK songs have also been added to the featured artist playlist so give that a follow to discover what they are!

Featured Artist’s Playlist

SOAK’s Twitter

SOAK’s Website

SOAK’s Instagram