If you’re looking for the perfect blend of pop and rap, Mallrat is your girl.
The young Australian musician releases her debut EP Uninvited to introduce us to her world and her great talent. After a listen, we can’t wait to keep hearing from her and see her grow.
Tokyo Drift is the perfect example of what a pop and rap infusion sounds like. Her vibrant voice raps over the top of the sweet electro sound; she has a great flow as her strong accent glides smoothly through the track. Its upbeat sound and lyrics bring an uplifting attitude. “Laughing for a long time // think it’s gonna be alright,” she sings.
The album is well-produced overall; the cool sounds will flood your earphones over and over again. Her latest single Inside Voices shows this off with the beating percussion and great dance beat. Her singing voice is as good as her flow, it shines with a sweet tone and lightness. This was the first song I heard of hers and was immediately intrigued. If you’re unsure, I suggest you do the same before you check out the whole album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0sD0Tm7aCk
The title track’s strong beat echoes that of a nightclub soundtrack. As we listen to the lyrics, we realise she is likening an unwanted relationship to a club she doesn’t want to be in. “Get me off the list // I’ve got nothing on my wrist.” It’s a great track to play when you’re getting ready to take on the town as the night grows dark, the perfect song to get you in the party mood.
Sunglasses switches the subject to a bad habit many people in society take on at some point in their lives. It’s often difficult to tell whether people are being genuine now that we have screens to hide behind and aid them as they manipulate the way they are viewed by others. “Classic, plastic// everyone around you wears the same sunglasses.” She provides an upbeat, interesting way to tackle the idea, as well as a catchy tune to sing along to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJCEPE0IJ8Y
The marriage of percussion and synths never seems to fail as we hear in Suicide Blonde. Mallrat shows off her versatility, rapping and singing throughout. The slow beat picks up when she raps to emphasise the different methods that help her tell the dark story of a girl who commits suicide after dealing with addiction problems. “Michael Hutchence could never save you, I’ll never hate you // you just let me run away// we’ll put the rum away.”
The final song For Real sums up the joy of being with someone who makes to feel good about yourself. “Didn’t want to die once this week// and when you’re around you make me feel like less of a freak.” The clicking sound combined with the piano creates a mellow, yet upbeat sound that leaves us with some good vibes.
Although it’s short, the EP is filled with some great tracks that will remind you why we listen to music when we’re down. Let it lift you up after a bad week and take you into a great weekend.
Uninvited is now available.
Image: Tone Deaf
We’ve waited for four years for Bat For Lashes’ follow-up album to The Haunted Man. When we saw the mysterious video for I Do, I couldn’t hold my excitement. Now, it’s finally here. The Bride’s beautiful melodies combined with Natasha Khan’s powerful voice was certainly worth the wait. It’s pure magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thDACGLOPIs
I Do starts us off by introducing us to the melodic, beautiful sound that travels throughout the album. Its lightness provides the perfect appetiser for the lyrical feast that’s to come. It leads into Joe’s Dream, which is the perfect example of her incredible storytelling skills. She creates vivid images in our heads through her powerful descriptions. “There’s a tear in my lover’s eyes // he’s at my window // it’s a gloomy night // said he dreamt of God’s searchlight// it remembered his name.”
Honeymooning Alone presents another chapter to the heartbreaking story that we heard in In God’s House. The tail begins with car crash sound, which connects to sinister melody. The chorus sends chills down your spine as the meaning of the haunting harmonies of “honeymooning alone” set in your mind. The pace quickens as Sunday Love starts. Her stunning voice is still the star of the show as she breaks our hearts while singing about an unfaithful partner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBfZooPrmfo
Widow’s Peak is the reason why I love Khan. She doesn’t sing in this one, just speaks. Her voice is clear and strong, while the music is light and hypnotic. It suddenly grows creepy as she says the words “the widow is on my trail”. It’s the description of a nightmare, but I can’t stop listening to it.
In If I Knew, the light piano leads us to a story about someone saying goodbye to an easy relationship that ended without any bad blood. When she sings “if I knew what I know now”, you brace yourself for the worst. To everyone’s surprise, she finishes her sentence with “I would never turn it back around”. It’s such a gentle way to move on from someone you once loved. Don’t you wish every relationship was like this?
I wish I Will Love Again had been moved to the end of the album. It would have been the perfect message to finish with. The beating drum acts as a beating heart. It’s slow, yet uplifting. She reminds herself that she “will love again” with some beautiful harmonies, creating a hopeful atmosphere.
The final two songs come all too soon, but they leave us on a high. In Your Bed reminds us about the joy of the simple things. The clapping sound is intertwined with the music to create the rawness that embodies the honesty and realness of the track. Clouds keeps the slow yet moving melody as she sings of the white and fluffy things that float above, but once again, the music changes to a heavier sound as the clouds fill with water. It will make you want to stare up at the clouds as you take a moment to reflect on the sheer beauty of the album you just listened to.
The whole album is a dream in itself. Have a break and find a quiet space to properly appreciate the moving storyteller’s handy work.
The Bride is available now.
Image: i-d
The music created when two talented artists find themselves on the same wavelength is always pure magic. This time it’s Devon electronic veterans Metronomy and Stockholm pop queen Robyn’s new collaboration Hang Me Out To Dry, which has been released just days before Metronomy’s new album Summer 08 arrives.
Metronomy frontman Joseph Mount spoke about what the collaboration means to him when the song premiered on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1. “I love her voice and to have it on my music just feels good,” he said before the song kicked in.
When it did it was electric, a beating drum humming underneath the glow of Robyn’s unmistakeably vibrant voice. The beat all but screams at you to dance as it invades your auditory senses. When Mount’s voice takes over, the music slows down to a sensual medley. “It means that we’re in love and that’s enough now/buckle up and windows down now,” he croons.
The synth takes to the percussion like a fish to water and the amazing sound created here parallels the chemistry between the voices to create the perfect example of a modern pop hit. Treat your ears to this wonderful blend of artists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1YZOWvBzAA
In our recent interview with Mount, he spoke about the significance the upcoming album has for him, stating, “All the songs on this album are very specifically attached to last year. It’s the first Metronomy album where my oldest child knows all the songs. I think for me, forever, this album will remind me of the time my son started to sing along to Metronomy, so it still does place it firmly in the now.”
Summer 08 will be released this Friday on Because Music.
Image: The AU Review
What do you think a conversation between one of the most influential pop stars in the world and one of its wisest spiritual leaders would sound like?
There’s no need to guess any longer, Facebook Live having broadcasted a 20-minute discussion between pop superstar Lady Gaga and The Dalai Lama himself, during which they focused on mental health issues among a variety of other important topics.
At the start of their meeting, Gaga tells His Holiness that the questions she is about to ask him were asked by a number of people on social media in order to hear his thoughts.
“How do you help young people address issues of poor self-esteem, managing eating disorders, addiction, self-harm and suicide,” Gaga starts with a question that will cut to the core for many.
While His Holiness acknowledges that everyone’s situation is different, in terms of their mental health he said the key is to show compassion and kindness in tackling the issue. “Your mental attitude is sound with self-confidence and foresightedness,” he says. He also believes it is up to the younger generation to create a healthier world to live in and a way for future generations to find their inner peace. “Future depends on our younger generations… Past, nobody can change. Future, yet to come. So there is possibility to change,” the Dalai Lama says.
He explains that once we start to show compassion to others, we can start to feel better about ourselves. “You also get the feeling, ‘oh, I am something useful to others.’” He continues, “That brings more self-confidence and a meaningful life.”
Gaga for her part takes it all in with the reverence the Dalai Lama commands whenever he speaks but also with understanding. “So what you’re saying is, caring for others and having compassion, it gives you a sense of purpose, so it helps you to feel less alone and alienated so you know we all belong together,” she responds.
All of this occurred in just the first six-and-a-half minutes of the conversation alone. I won’t ruin the rest for you, just watch the video below if you need a whole lot of inspiration for your day. This kind of dialogue is so vitally important in a world where the discussion surrounding mental health issues is becoming increasingly more acceptable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKfPM1jqdnc
Image: Billboard
Every highly-anticipated motion picture needs a powerful ballad sung by a pop star, right? Rihanna has stepped up to the plate today with a huge new single titled Sledgehammer, the theme song for upcoming film Star Trek Beyond.
If Sledgehammer has been designed to get you excited for the film, it totally succeeds. Below, watch the trailer, soundtracked by the star’s new song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MBXBMkcUNo
The high piano notes make for a gripping intro, perhaps emulating a racing heart. Her gorgeous voice enters on a stunning, lush melody and powerful lyrics – it’s completely difference to what we’ve heard from her recently, and it might not be your typical song, but it sure as hell makes for one killer film soundtrack.
The imagery is on point throughout the emotional track, as she talks about rising up in spite of deep sadness, climbing over the obstacles and living through life’s troubles. The positive affirmations run strong throughout, encouraging the listener to keep going, even if they “hit a wall.”
She repeats the phrase, “you’re just a brick and I’m a sledgehammer,” to show the listener the best way to think about a tough situation. You are strong enough to destroy whatever is bringing you down.
Listen to the full track below:
Image: Billboard
With the release for their second album Conscious, brother-sister duo BROODS bring us a running tale, exploring themes of coping with a lost love, communicated via sweet electro-pop beats and strong lyrics.
The opening song Free sounds exactly like the title. The first thing we hear is the beauty of Georgia Nott’s voice as it sings a cappella, drawing us in and holding our attention. The upbeat track gives you the ability to dance like no one’s watching as the music washes over you like an avalanche, with lyrics dripping in strength and determination, as if they were written to empower us when we’re at our weakest. “I’d lose everything so I can sing, ‘Hallelujah I’m free, I’m free, I’m free, I’m free, I’m free’.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDsxtBVLyss
Moving on to their duet with Tove Lo, Freak of Nature gives us something a little different from the other tracks in the album. As it began with a pretty little intro, it immediately became a standout track for me. The piano and synth combination was not one that I would have thought would sound as good as it does. The addition of the percussion provides another layer to what can only be described as an organic rawness mixed with a modern twist. The girls’ voices compliment each other so well, as the gorgeous sounds of these storytellers rise above the explosion of music.
This follows on to All Your Glory, which shines with a backing track that sounds like an organ. The slow song allows you to focus on the beautiful words and the emotion intertwined through the beautiful harmonies. It shows the difficult of letting someone you care so much about go, even after they’ve done the wrong thing. It focuses on the idea of allowing yourself to forget what they’ve done and forgive them to allow your relationship to go back to the way it was. “Don’t need an apology to make it right, I want you in all your glory.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUkUp6Yb5Go
The light harmonies between the siblings are back for Worth The Fight, following on from Couldn’t Believe. Worth The Fight’s heavy percussion creates a really strong beat that immediately inspires a sing and dance; unlike All Your Glory, however, the tables are turned and the protagonist is the one asking for forgiveness. Whether we have been the one at fault in a relationship or we have decided to blame ourselves for the relationship we are determined to recover, the lyrics portray a feeling many of us have felt in the past. “I pray, I pray, I pray I might, still be somebody worth the fight.”
Admittedly, the album does feel repetitive in some parts, making it a little bit difficult to figure out what to say about some of the tracks. Conscious, however, was a different story. When you realise all the other songs focus on longing for someone you’ve lost, this track seems like she’s begging for a wake up call; something to free her from these self-destructive feelings. She gathers strength as she sings through her pain. Although “all [her] nightmares feel like real life,” she begs someone to “wake [her] up and keep [her] conscious”. It’s such a strong way to finish off the album.
If you want to start your weekend with some high-energy, feel-good sounds, I suggest you give this album a go. While you’re at it, check out the duet between Nott and Jarryd James 1000x.
Image: The AU Review
Jarryd James and BROODS have come together for this brand new single 1000x. If you liked James’ duet with Julia Stone, I suggest you check this one out.
This one between James and BROODS’ Georgia Nott has a sweet calming vibe, blending Nott’s soft vocals with James’ signature soulful sound. You can see how perfect the slow song is for winter as you imagine yourself walking as you listen to it on a cold day while the wind dances around the trees. Their voices create perfect chemistry as they tell this intimate story together.
James said this was “an older song” that he “was never 100 per cent sure of” until Nott, who he connected with through mutual friend producer Joel Little, heard and enjoyed it. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we get her to sing on it too’, make it a duet kind of thing. So she went and recorded some vocals, and when I heard it, I was like ‘Shit, this is so awesome!’.”
Upon its release, James described their friendship and the meaning of the song in a Facebook post. “I am so proud to have one of the best people in the world singing on this track with me. It’s a song about how strong love can be when it is real.”
The ARIA award winning artist has been super busy. While he is now preparing to play at Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival on July 30th, he also mentioned that he has written and recorded five songs.
“It’s been pretty crazy – like I landed home in Brisbane from a gig in New York, then four days later, I was back on a plane to L.A. for these sessions. But that’s the way it goes man – you know, you’ve just gotta jump on that and go with it,” he said.
While James released his debut album last year, BROODS’ second album Conscious will be available at the end of this week.
Let the music take you away by tuning in to 1000x below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3FV7pnTNeo
Image: YouTube
The fight between musicians and services that provide music for free has been a long one. Last year, Taylor Swift penned an open letter to Apple Music, asking them to reconsider the three month period during which artists go unpaid while their music is being streamed. As a result, Apple Music changed their minds.
She now joins 180 artists including Paul McCartney, Vince Staples, Carole King, Kings Of Leon and more, along with 19 companies, in signing a petition that is set out to change the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The petition alleges that the Act gives YouTube too much power when copyrighted music is posted on their website and “has allowed major tech companies to grow and generate huge profits by creating ease of use for consumers to carry almost every recorded song in history in their pocket via a smartphone, while songwriters’ and artists’ earnings continue to diminish.”
They sign the petition to ensure that they are given power when it comes to the protection of their work by encouraging the creation of a “sensible reform that balances the interests of creators with the interests of the companies who exploit music for their financial enrichment.”
Trent Rezor recently had spoken out about YouTube and their ability to allow people to listen to music free of charge. He received this response from the platform:
“The overwhelming majority of labels and publishers have licensing agreements in place with YouTube to leave fan videos up on the platform and earn revenue from them. Today the revenue from fan uploaded content accounts for roughly 50 percent of the music industry’s YouTube revenue. Any assertion that this content is largely unlicensed is false. To date, we have paid out over $3 billion to the music industry–and that number is growing year on year.”
Last week, we wrote an investigative feature asking whether the music industry is abandoning the platform that gives them exposure and a place to upcoming artists share their voices with the world. This petition sheds more of a light on the other side of the debate, which is just as important.
Will anything change? We shall find out.
Image: Pitchfork
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six years since the tragic death of pop legend Michael Jackson. On June 21st, a book based on his final days written by Tavis Smiley and David Ritz will be released. Further to that announcement was another huge one that cinematic heavyweight J.J. Abrams has been working with Smiley to produce a television series based on that book, both titled Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson’s Last Days.
Judging from the very straightforward title, the book and series are set to follow Jackson through the days leading up to his tragic death, as he continued to fight for privacy from the public eye while dealing with the pressures of super-stardom.
Over the course of his writing career, Smiley has written a variety of memoirs and novels based on historical events, including one that is currently being written on his friend and poet Maya Angelou. Abrams has been equally as busy, developing the new HBO series Westworld and finishing the long-running crime series Person Of Interest.
The director and author are certainly no strangers to each other and are even already experienced in playing out the final days of history’s largest characters on the small screen, Abrams and Smiley currently adapting Smiley’s 2014 novel Death of a King: The Real Story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year into a series. It seems to be a partnership working tremendously given they’ve already got more work pencilled in.
As far as posthumous cinematic releases already, in the months following Michael Jackson’s death a feature-length documentary that showcased footage of the preparation and rehearsals of his cancelled This Is It tour, including behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, was released in his honour. His final album of the same name was released in October of 2009 and the title track, which can be heard below, won Jackson a posthumous Grammy award for Best Male Pop Performance in 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SLU3m6uCA
The end result will be the subject of pure speculation until further details are released, with the network, cast and release date for Before You Judge Me still to be confirmed, but it will be more than intriguing to see the kind of take Abrams and Smiley are able to give to Jackson’s last days, whether controversial or not, and whether they will add any new wrinkles to the Michael Jackson story.
Image: Rolling Stone
Sick of the fast pace of the world we live in? Want a break from it all to travel to a far away place of beauty and wonder?
If the answer is an affirmative ‘yes!’, then take some time out and tune in to Sigur Rós’ stunning 24-hour live stream showcasing their beautiful home of Iceland. In what is called One Route, we’re treated to some of the breathtaking Scandinavian nation’s landmarks as we travel along the Icelandic coastal ring road. Some of these include natural wonders such as the Fjords of Eastern Iceland; Möðrudalur, which is Iceland’s highest farm settlement; Europe’s largest ice cap known as Vatnajökull and Jökulsárlón, which is a glacial lagoon in Southern Iceland.
To add to the calming effect of the virtual journey, a gorgeous soundtrack plays in the background. The music has been created by generative music software and uses elements of the band’s newest track Óveður, meaning the sounds are constantly changing as the images do. You can also commiserate about how you’re presently anywhere but Iceland with the many other viewers from across the world in the stream of comments beside the video.
You may be asking, why are Sigur Rós doing this?
“In a day and age of instant gratification and everything moving so fast, we wanted to do the exact opposite,” says Sigur Rós’s vocalist and guitarist Jónsi Birgisson. He continues, explaining, “Slow TV is counter-active to the world we live in, in that it happens in real time and real slow.”
In other Sigur Rós-related news, they are slotted in to participate in a refugee benefit compilation Oxfam Presents: Stand As One – Glastonbury Live 2016, following the murder of British MP Jo Cox. The digital release of Stand As One will be up for grabs on July 11th in an effort to raise money to help refugees, which is a cause Cox was incredibly passionate about. Chvrches, Foals, Muse and many other artists are also involved with the project.
So if you’re looking to simply chill out and treat your eyes and ears for a bit (or ’round the clock), Route One is playing right now on YouTube as well as Iceland’s RÚV 2 channel, on the 20th and 21st of June. Tune in below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU3TYFSNybg
Image: Supplied