5 new songs you need to listen to

With festival season upon us, it will soon be the time for new album releases. On this run up, artists like to tease us with tidbits to keep us going. Here’s five you should listen to now.

1. Panic! at the Disco – Hallelujah

OK, so Hallelujah isn’t all that new, but the album is (apparently) due out sometime this year. According to wikipedia. Really, everyone knows very little about it.

2. Chvrches – Leave a Trace

New album Every Open Eye is due for release 25 September. If this track is anything to go by, we should all be excited.

3. Nothing But Thieves – Honey Whiskey

Honey Whiskey dropped the same day Nothing But Thieves finally announced the release of their self-titles debut, due out 16 October.

4. Halsey – New Americana

It’s not long now until the release of Halsey’s debut full-length, Badlands. In fact, just 23 days! I got so excited I pre-ordered a copy – it’s going to be badass.

5. Cassadee Pope – I Am Invincible

OK, so in all honesty I have no clue when Cassadee’s second album is coming. All I know is, it’s coming.

Review: Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors

Three years on, and to say Imagine Dragons have moved on from Night Visions would be a colossal understatement.

When Imagine Dragons announced their UK arena tour all those months ago before Smoke + Mirrors was released, I’ll admit I was a little dubious. I saw them on their last UK tour performing at the O2 Academy in Birmingham – somewhere with a capacity of only 3,000. I’m pretty sure they sold out that night, but there’s a difference between the Academy and an arena 10 times its size. After all, the electronic vibes on Night Visions were fun, but were they big enough for arenas? I didn’t think so.

Then I listened to Smoke + Mirrors. How horrifically wrong I was. Where the ‘heaviest’ song on their previous album was ‘Radioactive’, Imagine Dragons have stripped back some of the tinkling electronic sounds that made Night Visions more of a fun album and instead focused on the raw sounds they can make with their instruments and front man Dan Reynolds’ amazingly versatile voice. The guitars are heavier, and even though there are still some synth-y vibes, Smoke + Mirrors takes the band to whole new place compared to its predecessor. I suppose this is what some people might call a ‘darker’ album than the last, but it’s still balanced out by the more upbeat jams such as ‘Shots’ and ‘Polaroid’. Either way, every song is near perfection. Favourite track: It’s a tie between I’m So Sorry and Friction.

“It’s like Christmas has come early”

For what seems like weeks (I know it was only a few days, but still) Taylor Swift has been teasing the release of the Bad Blood music video, and now it’s finally here.

This is possibly the most excited I have been to see a music video ever. Normally I’m more excited to hear a new single than see a new video, but Bad Blood was hyped up so much I think even the biggest T-Swift cynic has been dying to see it.

After drip feeding fans Sin City style character posters – along with the huge revelation that it will now feature Kendrick Lamar (not on the album version) – Bad Blood finally graced our computers/TVs/phones after its premiere before the BMAs. All the hype? Massively worth it. Everyone featured looks amazing, Taylor Swift can definitely pull of red hair, and is it just me or does anyone else have the urge to buy a badass dress and wear heavy eye makeup all the time?

And if that wasn’t enough…

Music fans got another gift this evening in the form of Muse’s new track Mercy from upcoming album Drones. The track seems to take a more subdued tone compared to Psycho and Dead Inside, but is by no means less…. Muse-y. True to form, the track (according to Matt Bellamy) follows the protagonist being overcome by the dark forces in Psycho. Drones may well be an album with a story line. Listen below:

Photos: You Me at Six/All Time Low, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena

Not exactly a review, but last month You Me at Six and All Time Low did a huge co-headline UK tour. It was all kinds of amazing, even though Josh Franceschi had a broken ankle (props to him for seeing the tour through!). Check out some photos (including a bit of the bad ass background visuals courtesy of You Me at Six) below.

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Music News!

It’s been a busy few weeks, but yesterday I’m pretty sure the world of music just exploded everywhere.

So, aside from the continuing Blink-182 drama, here’s whats gone on recently:

1. Muse have done a load of good things. Not only did they announce a tour (which annoyingly sold out super quick and the website crashed) where they’re playing a load of tiny venues (well, tiny for them) but they also announced that new album Drones is due to be released in June, which you can pre-order now. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also released new single Psycho:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqLRqzTp6Rk
2. Josh Franceschi (You Me at Six) did guest vocals on a dance song. Well, no-one can accuse them of not being diverse, and Josh completely nails the vocals.
   
3. Ryan Ross has resurfaced. Admittedly, with demos from like a year ago, but I suppose this means new music from him headed our way soon? Either way, it’s worth giving his stuff a listen – he’s changed a lot since Panic!
   
4. Walk the Moon have hinted at a UK tour. I know nothing more than this and the fact that it could not come soon enough!

   

   Screenshot from Walk the Moon’s official facebook

5. Against the Current signed to Fueled by Ramen. The Poughkeepsie trio are due to appear the Glamour Kills tour, and recently release EP Gravity. For those who haven’t listened to them, they’re pop-rock with a bit more grit. Keep an eye out because they’re set to make it big.
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S34KpOAgyTg

Review: Nothing But Thieves, Clwb Ifor Bach 7/03/15

On the 13th show of their giant 15 show UK tour, Nothing But Thieves hit Cardiff for a night of lights, loud music and the odd spot of drama.

Supporting Nothing But Thieves on this tour were Twin Wild, a London-based quartet. They kicked off the evening with good music and a bit of drama (note: don’t tell the audience you dedicate a giant F U to your ex who is in the audience…), warming up the crowd for Nothing But Thieves.

In a no barrier or stage setting, both bands got up close and personal with the audience. For NBT came the realisation that their band are all pretty small (physically), but for the audience came the experience of an intimate gig. Having seen the band supporting Twin Atlantic playing at Y Plas before Christmas, it was interesting to see them in such a small setting.

They kicked off with Itch off their EP Graveyard Whistling as the room filled out. The five of them coped surprisingly well on the tiny stage area, and got the audience hooked almost immediately. Throughout their set, there wasn’t one still person – something I’ve seen bands at arenas struggle to maintain, but they made it look easy.

Part way through the set, they did a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. Normally, I condone anyone trying to cover Led Zep, but they handled it incredibly. Front-man Conor’s seamless falsetto suits the song perfectly, and they put their own, slower spin on it at the beginning.

After dropping in some as yet unreleased songs, Nothing But Thieves ended the night on their most recent single Ban All the Music. Never has a room moved so much or gotten so sweaty in such a short space of time.

Throughout the show, the band was lively and engaging – whilst thanking the audience for selling out the venue. If anyone’s going to be playing arenas in the future and selling them out, it’s Nothing But Thieves.

Nothing But Thieves playing sold out show in Cardiff

 

Favourite Albums of 2014

Like Delayed Gratification, I’m a little slow on the uptake of this, but let’s pretend it’s deliberate.

It’s all going on lately; Tonight Alive have announced they’re going back to the studio to record their next album, Muse have been recording Drones, so I’m going to take a look back at last year instead of talking about that (even though it is super exciting, I just don’t know a lot about it).

So, in order of release, I present my completely biased opinion of what I think were the best albums last year.

1. The Black Keys – Turn Blue

The Black Keys never fail to please me. The cover art on this album accurately reflects what it sounds like: colourful with an electric buzz. Electronic vibes seem to creep into tracks throughout the album whilst still keeping an alt-rock sound overall. Favourite track: Gotta Get Away.

2. Lights – Little Machines

If you’ve read this blog before, you’ll have seen my review of Little Machines. It is an amazing album – like The Listening but with the progression of Siberia. It’s electro-pop fun all in one album. Favourite track: Muscle Memory.

3. Taylor Swift – 1989

T-Swift’s first delve into the land of pop brought us ‘Shake it Off’ back in August, and its all been uphill from there. EVERY song on this album is catchy and a potential chart topper. Taylor has managed to keep everything that makes her music fabulous, with an added pop injection that moves this album far away from the days of Fearless. Favourite track: Wildest Dreams.

4. Pvris – White Noise

Pvris have taken a complete u-turn in their sound, and it really works for them. Their amazing talent combined with direction from Versa’s Blake Harnage has resulted in an album that you can put on repeat for days and never get bored of. Favourite track: Mirrors.

5. Walk The Moon – Talking Is Hard

I honestly wondered whether they could top their self-titled album, but somehow they managed it. Walk the Moon have once again delivered a brilliant, electro-pop/rock, energetic album that’ll have you dancing in spite of yourself. No two songs sound the same, yet they’re all unmistakably Walk the Moon. Favourite track: Up 2 U.

New Music, and Musics News!

Admittedly, its been a while since my last post, but during that time I’ve been launching my other project Unsigned Cardiff so please do give it a follow if you’re a fan of unsigned/independent music.

A lot has happened on my music radar this week, so I’ll start with some new songs:

Walk the Moon – Different Colors

Walk the Moon made their comeback in September with Shut Up + Dance, along with a new album announcement. Now, they’ve released a second song. Gloriously upbeat and insanely catchy, Different Colors strengthens the path Shut Up + Dance has set up – if you’re not excited for the release of Talking is Hard, then there is something wrong.

Charli XCX – Gold Coins

After pushing back the release of her second album, Sucker, Charli isn’t leaving her fans completely high and dry and is instead dripping the album to us slowly. It’s certainly a different direction to True Romance, less synth pop, but no less catchy.

Taylor Swift – Blank Space

So not as recently as the other tracks, but in Taylor’s most recent release she gets, well, a bit crazy – and everyone loves it. Taylor’s venture into pop music really suits her. Even crying mascara face suits her. Some people are just fortunate (and good musicians).

 

Now moving on to music news:

• Band Aid 30 got released in aid of ebola. It’s not terrible, but perhaps a new song should have been written. Some of the lyric swaps are questionable to say the least.
• Paramore announced they’ll be re-releasing Paramore as a deluxe album, which will include a collab with Joy Williams (Civil Wars). I was hoping for a new album, but I’ll happily take what I’m given…
• and finally, Muse are set to headline Download Fest. Bit weird – I expected to see them at somewhere like Reading and Leeds, but there you go

Review: Lights – Little Machines

After months of teasing, Lights has finally released her third full length, Little Machines. It’s been three years since Siberia and a lot has happened to Lights, so this album is a whole leap forward.

It opens with three tracks already released online: the slower ‘Portal’, ‘Running With the Boys’ and ‘Up We Go’. ‘Running With the Boys’ seems like the flip side of the coin ‘Pretend’ started in The Listening. It’s much more upbeat than the 2009 release, though, and the lyrics take a more positive angle.

As the album progresses, it’s clear that it’s lost the almost dub-step edge of Siberia, but by no means the electro pop Lights is known for. ‘Muscle Memory’ strongly echoes Lights’s sound from The Listening with an almost haunting edge. In fact, Little Machines is musically much more like The Listening, but it remains clear that she has come a long way since then – the lyrics have taken on a new edge, accentuating the positive in songs such as ‘Meteorites’, blasting the chorus ‘we are gonna see greater heights/ They’ll put our names up in neon lights’.

After marriage and the birth of her first child, Rocket, it’s no wonder Lights is positive in Little Machines – she has a lot to be positive about. Closing track ‘Don’t Go Home Without Me’ (for those without the deluxe version) seems like a perfect way to end the album. It’s tempo is slower than previous songs, bringing the album full circle from ‘Portal’, and talks about the future. Dispelling loneliness even in her later years, this track peaks at the bridge really showing the diversity of Lights’s voice as she flows seamlessly from belting into a gentle falsetto on the line ‘and we’ll go out in style’. This draws the album to a close beautifully.

Every track of Little Machines fits in with the overall sound of the album, like its predecessors, and although it sounds like The Listening it has the maturity of Siberia and then some. Lights’s sound has evolved through each album, and the current product is a strong sound that still leaves room for her to spread her musical wings. Every track on the album is different, and every one fantastic. Whatever Lights does next, it’ll be hard pushed to top Little Machines, but as we know a lot could happen in the next three years.

Catch Lights on tour in the UK next January.

Review: The Cape Race – Home, Truths

I first heard of The Cape Race three years ago after happening across out their twitter and, shortly after, buying their self-released EP Now, Voyager. Recently, they released their first full length with label Ten Letters and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

The Manchester quintet have done a lot towards this album in the last three years. The album, Home, Truths opens with ‘Digging For Gold’, a slower track that builds up as it progresses and definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album. The instruments in the verses seem restrained, really letting loose for the chorus in a way that compliments David Moloney’s strong vocals.

Aside from being an all-round great band, it’s Moloney’s voice that really sets The Cape Race apart from similar bands and puts the album on another level. Thankfully keeping his Manchester accent, no track ever runs the risk of instruments drowning out vocals, but Moloney also demonstrates his beautiful falsetto in the chorus of ‘The 77’. Each track gels together, from more familiar tracks to arguably more experimental ones, without jarring or stopping the album’s general flow; ‘Vines’ seems to me like it was written to be a live track, just waiting for an eager crowd to sing it back.

The Cape Race have by no means left Now, Voyager behind in their debut full-length, however, merely built on it. In fact, the album has four of the six tracks from the band’s EP, and personally I’m thrilled. ‘The Reprieve’ was my absolute favourite track – it’s the right amount of catchy without becoming annoying, and the guitars are just as fantastic as the clever lyrics – so to see it made the album was perfect. This way, anyone who buys the album that might not have also bought the EP get the pleasure of it anyway.

The album closes the same way as the EP, with ‘Now, Voyager’. This certainly doesn’t mean The Cape Race haven’t come far, though. Although more lyrically mellow than other tracks, the closing track takes away none of the albums bite. After a calmer bridge that signs off the build up from ‘Digging For Gold’ perfectly, the latter half of the track is more raw and energetic, and seals Now, Voyager and Home, Truths together. To say that this is a solid album would be an understatement; The Cape Race have come above and beyond since their first EP without distancing themselves from it, producing a consistent sound that they can call their own.