Tag: music

Billie Eilish – Album Review

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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

Taken from the bad guy music video

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.

The Tuts

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From left to right: Harriet, Nadia and Beverley

The most diverse UK band since the Sugarbabes.

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The Tuts are a 3 tone DIY girl band consisting of front woman and guitarist Nadia Javed, drummer Beverley Ishmael and bassist Harriet Doverton. Nadia and Beverley started the band when they were teenagers and Harriet, from the band Colour Me Wednesday, joined in 2010. Their music has been described as punk-pop indie.

The band are overtly political with lyrics that focus on politics, class, race and sexism. Their strong political beliefs aren’t only represented through song. On social media, they can be seen discussing a range of issues, and generating a dialogue on topics that are often brushed under the carpet. In December 2018, the band joined forced with UK based #solidaritynotsilence to raise over £3,000 for survivors of abuse. They also sell merch with all profits going to solidarity not silence.

They’re not afraid of creating controversy either. At the beginning of 2019 the band declined the opportunity to represent the UK at the Eurovision song contest because this years host country is Israel. Boycotting Eurovision is a clear message that the band are showing their support for Palestine.

My favourite video is ‘Let Go of the Past’ which shows the band in sixties outfits and moves through a girls magazine similar to that of Jackie or Seventeen. The video is filled with sixties nostalgia and cleverly has the lyrics run throughout. It is a fun and smart, just like they are. The song is deeper than the brightly coloured video suggests, with lyrics about moving on and not letting past grievance’s hold you back from the future and ruin the present.

Their music is varied, from feminist anthems ‘What’s on the Radio’ and ‘Tut Tut Tut’ which details how the band will steal girl fans from misogynist boy bands to ‘1982’ which still has the classic punk feel expected from The Tuts but has dreamy indie vocals throughout the chorus. All the way through to slow and melancholic ‘You’re So Boring’ which is a lovely interlude on the ‘Update Your Brain’ album. The bands overall feel is very much punk. Not just musically but with their attitude and the way that they give a voice to issues surrounding sexism, racism and the powerful elite institutions running the country.

People powers knock down corporate towers.

Give Us Something Worth Voting For // The Tuts (2016)

My favourite song, ‘Give Us Something Worth Voting For’ is a UK punk anthem for the 21st century. Dealing with topical issues surrounding the government, liberal ideology and summarising how the corrupt system is influencing us at grass roots levels and how we can call for change. Even though the album the song features on ‘Update Your Brain’ was released almost 3 years ago, it is just as relevant now as it was then.

My top 5 favourite songs from the band have been added to the Featured Artist’s Playlist so make sure to give that a follow to discover those as well as ones from the 4 previous featured artists. All of The Tut’s social media links are below so check them out if you want to keep up to date with the bands music as well as help them topple the patriarchy!

The Tut’s Website
Featured Artist’s Playlist
The Tut’s Twitter
The Tut’s Instagram 

SOAK

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‘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
SOAK in a shoot for British Vogue

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

Anteros

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“Hailing from across the globe, and pulling influence from ‘70s new wave, ‘80s pop sensibilities, all the way through to the ‘00s grit-n-grind indie scene, Anteros spin it in a new and thrilling direction”

NME Article on the band

Anteros are a 4 piece band consisting of Josh Rumble on bass guitar, drummer Harry Balazs, Jackson Couzens on guitar and lead singer Laura Hayden. Residing in London now, originally the 3 boys are from all over the UK and Laura is from Barcelona.

From left to right: Harry, Laura, Jackson, Josh

Many of the bands songs revolve around the theme of being in your twenties, being young, making mistakes and attempting to grow from them. Lead singer Laura is also the main songwriter for the band and many of her songs touch on these subjects surrounding being young. One of the best, in my opinion, is ‘Call Your Mother’ which includes the lines ‘‘Call your mother she can’t make it better // Tell your father that you really fucked up’ which summaries how it feels making stupid mistakes and then having to relay these to your parents if you dare to.

Leading Lady Laura is the front woman and song writer for the band

Love, equality and Women Power: working together instead of against each other.

Laura talking about the Bonnie music video in an Interview for DIY

Many of the songs also focus on the typical aspects of your twenties too – falling in love, getting drunk, falling out of love. But the band also focus on a range of important political and social issues too. Last year they sold ‘Fiery Rose’ t-shirts (lyrics from the single Bonnie) and all proceeds went to Women’s Aid. The video for Bonnie, which Laura co-directed, also shows two women dancing together in a boxing ring – highlighting aspects like ‘love, equality and women power’.

As well as highlighting and providing a platform for women’s equality issues, the band are raising awareness around the harm that plastic is doing to the planet. They’ve explained in interviews that they are rallying for venues to cut down their use of of non-reusable plastics including plastic cups and straws. Their video for ‘Drive On’ – linked below – shows the band being consumed and suffocated by plastics, the perfect metaphor for the way we are heading if with do not drastically change our relationship with plastics.

The bands video for ‘Drive On’ carries an important environmental message about the dangers of polluting our oceans with non-reusable and non-biodegradable plastics

The band have supported the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, Blaenavon and White Lies and are heading out on their own UK tour starting on April 7th in Nottingham. The bands debut album is also being released this month! There is no official date as of yet but I can’t wait to hear more from this exciting up and coming band!

To find out when the album is released make sure to follow Anteros on their social media links below as well as following the Featured Artists playlist on Spotify which has been updated with my top 5 favourite Anteros songs.

Featured Artists Playlist
Anteros’ Twitter
Anteros’ Website
Anteros’ Instagram