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‘Brividi’ – A ballad on people who don’t know how to love

Genre: Pop ballad 

Long-time Eurovision fans are probably familiar with the name Alessandro Mahmoud, or more specifically his stage name Mahmood, who was a contestant of the famous Song Contest back in 2019, and even landed on the second place with his kick-ass song titled ‘Soldi’. Well, good news is that our favorite Italian fella is back on the track to represent his home country this year with ‘Brividi’, a song he made in collaboration with singer and rapper BLANCO. Will they be able to keep the trophy in Italy after Måneskin’s overwhelming success? We are yet to find out, but I think it is safe to say that they certainly won’t finish on the last place.

For the ones who don’t speak Italian, including myself, brividi means shivers, and by knowing this fact one could easily assume the song is about love or the general state of being in love. Well, it kind of is, except that it’s more about being in love but not quite knowing how to properly love. Being such a fine artist, lyricist and performer, Mahmood is able to piece together a variety of feelings one could feel while being head over heels for someone, yet always letting them down because of their own insecurities, fears, and emotional unavailability. 

“E ti vorrei amare, ma sbaglio sempre”
(And I’d like to love you but I’m always wrong)

The charisma of Mahmood is something one cannot simply walk by; however, I have to emphasize just how well his whole vibe works with the iconic presence of BLANCO. At just 19 years old, Riccardo Fabbriconi is a mesmerizing artist with a powerful voice and a playful personality, and the chemistry between him and Mahmood, their voices as well as their stage performance, takes the listener and the watcher to an atmosphere where they can understand, re-live or indulge into the painful, disappointing, and bittersweet sensation of a person constantly torn between falling in and out of love and hurting his or her significant other in the process. 

In my view, this ballad is a dedication to all the people who fell victim to emotional unavailability or found themselves to be the ones in the position of being unable to let their feelings run free, an undeniable understanding of the complexity of human emotions and the fact that sometimes our feelings are complicated and need time to unfold and heal.

Listen to ‘Brividi’ on Spotify:

  

Follow Mahmood and BLANCO on Instagram:

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Composition
5/5
Production
4.5/5
Lyrics
4/5
Performance
5/5
Album cover
4/5
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Fine dine with Elephant Castle after living in isolation for a year

Genre: Indie rock

Elephant Castle is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Phil Danyew, former member of Foster the people. He left the band in 2020 to pursue a solo career and released the first single “Cool To Be Unhappy” to a very pleased audience. His latest song “French Food” is a reflection filled with relief due to the loosening of restrictions during lockdown and coming back to normality.

Vast rhythmic guitars over a funky drum sound topped by luscious airy vocals support his daydreaming about post-lockdown activities and fine dining. Psych-rock and pop merge in this refreshing 3 minute 8 seconds long tune and contrary to what you might think, it is not about french food…. Or at least not exactly. The past year and a half has changed the entire world, our habits, our routines, our priorities, everything. This summer, however, with the arrival of the vaccine, the road back to the old “normal” has begun, and our daydreams about finally being able to have dinner with someone other than ourselves in an actual restaurant. 

I can see it when I close my eyes
Long overdue
A table for two
I’m honestly about to lose my mind
I miss the views I miss the French food… cuisine française

I have a feeling that a lot of people will relate to this song as the lyrics are far from being cryptic, the melody is catchy and the theme… well the theme can apply to the vast majority of earthlings…and the bass line is cool. I definitely miss pretending to be fancy from time to time, especially after being in my pyjamas for a year and a half.

Listen to the song here:

 

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Composition
3.4/5
Production
4.5/5
Lyrics
3.7/5
Performance
3.5/5
Album cover
4.7/5
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Mar Malade will make you want to travel to Mexico

Genre: Indie/Pop/Folk

Woke up early this morning. Went directly to the bathroom and got into the shower, but not without starting my Discover Weekly playlist. Some decent songs were recommended to me but one particularly caught my attention. It had unusual lyrics like “spice my love/ I wanna chop you into bites” and “make a sandwich outta you/ put some ham on, make me chew”. I am a sucker for compelling lyrics so as soon as I got out of the shower I had to save and revisit the song.

The lyrics wasn’t the only thing that got me interested. “Mexico” is just the perfect feel-good song, I wanted to grab my guitar and sing along. I imagined this tune playing on a road trip and everybody in the car shouting the lyrics, I saw it being played at a bonfire.

The production sounds very simple but incredibly refreshing and unique. From the description in their Instagram bio, Mar Malade are very conscious about the fact that their music makes you want to travel:

“Music that makes you travel – even from your window to the carpet!”

Their entire brand is built around “heartwarming and handmade” postcards, the ones your grandma sends you along with home-made marmalade. And if you were thinking what I was thinking… asking yourself if they’ve wrote about marmalade before, let me tell you that they have. “Marmalade” is another single that came out this year and is part of their “Postcards” EP that includes 5 tracks.

Mar Malade is not completely unknown, they have quite a good following on Spotify and are part of really influential editorial playlists, but I still wanted to write about “Mexico” because I believe they deserve even more. Their consistent and appealing style makes me really excited about their music and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them.

Listen to “Mexico” here:

Follow Mar Malae on Instagram:

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Composition
4.5/5
Production
3.6/5
Lyrics
4.5/5
Performance
4.2/5
Album cover
5/5
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Reaper’s Scythe is a heavy one but it is ABSOLUTELY worth listening to

Genre: Psych-doom/Proto-metal

It isn’t October yet, but it sure can feel like it, provided that you have a cold room equipped with a speaker to chill in. Green Lung has been present since March of 2019 and they are one of the leading bands of the UK’s underground music. What they play is mostly a mixture between psychedelic rock and proto-metal, but I don’t think I can dumb their genre down to just those two.
Green Lung will come out with a full new album, Black Harvest on October 22nd, but the band made sure we have something to listen to before the summer ends.

Well, first of all, I would like to draw your attention to the band’s previously published music because this album and in it this single will be a followup to those. The wonderful artwork is also worth mentioning, take a look at Black Harvest’s design, it is brilliant. The theme is the same, their music represents the beautiful (sometimes terrifying) and rich British folklore, magic and some other pretty occult stuff. Have a listen here, this is the new single:

Reaper’s Scythe is a complex song with tons of references, I will do my best to explain all of them but I highly advise listening to it just for yourself first.

The first 26 seconds of this song are pretty chill which makes the real start much more epic. This melody comes back later at 2:37. The lyrics are starting out with something epic too,

“Reap what you sow”

a saying which means something like this: you will experience the same bad things that you did to other people. The full lyrics will send chills down your spine, they paint a picture of hopelessness and dread.

“Set the watchfires a-burning This Kindling Night For the psychopomp has taken flight”

After the refrain the song mentions a creature, the psychopomp, which is Greek for ‘the guide of souls’. This big winged, scary looking creature is a guide for newly deceased souls from the Earth to the afterlife. Pretty sinister if you ask me.

“By the corn rigs they’ll see him Send up the crows Welcome, He Who Walks Behind the Rows”

The next to appear is He Who Walks Behind The Rows. This enigmatic demon was created by Stephen King, I’m sure everyone heard about him already. He Who Walks Behind The Rows doesn’t take form as anything that could be described. He manifests himself as a couple of things, but the most important part is this: He influences the corn-fields and the people around Him. He can see and hear everything, he can control everything.

“Hooden, on a pale mare He’ll ride” “See the Pale Rider He’s sharpening his blade See the Pale Rider Now he’s calling out your name…”

Hoodening is also mentioned, this was a tradition in Kent, south-eastern England. The meaning of this tradition is argued so I’ll leave this as something for you to look up. You can decide what you interpret it as.
The pale mare and the pale rider are in my understanding a reference to the last one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His name is Death, what a surprise. He’s commonly portrayed with a scythe.

“Now hear us as we gather round the shrine We’re singing out John Barleycorn must die”

John Barleycorn is a Scottish folk song about a man who is the personification of barley and the beverages made from it, beer and whisky. In the song he suffers through the stages of the harvesting of barley. Pretty dark for a folk song, isn’t it? Well it is theorised that this figure was used in the wicker man ritual in which a big wicker man was burned, sometimes with a live person in it as a tribute to the gods.

Ugh, if you read this far, I am so proud of you for this song is brilliant but heavy. It is really a treasure and a procedure to figure out all the references.

This track is a good example of how good Green Lung’s lyrics and songs are. If you are listening to them for the millionth time you will still find something you haven’t noticed before. Until the full album comes out, listen to their other creations for they are impressive as well.

Listen to Reaper’s Scythe here:

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ROLE MODEL wants her forever&more

Genre: Pop

The 24 year old Tucker Pillsbury, also known as ROLE MODEL, just released his first single of the year. His discography begins in 2017 with a 4 track EP titled “ARIZONA IN THE SUMMER” and by now he has established quite a fanbase that enjoys genre bending pop. As a bonus, he released a music video as well:

The song starts with a simple guitar riff which urges you to anticipate the beat that makes your head bop as soon as it begins. This guitar-drum instrumental continues throughout the verses, while the production starts to build up more only in the pre-chorus. The use of a lap steel guitar adds something unique to the whole and a synth melody is woven into the track to bring the last chorus to the most intense level of the production. Simple yet effective.

By the end of the summer, she was a lover
I saw her ex and he's dressing like me
Hair kinda messy like me
Nobody gets it like me

“forever&more” is undoubtedly a love song. Love is maybe the most used theme in any form of art, and humans have written, sang, painted, performed etc. about it for hundreds of thousands of years, therefore nowadays it is very hard to create something that is fully unique…and I don’t even know if we must to be honest. Even though Tucker’s release has some overused ideas like: “she don’t pay rent but she stay in my mind”, referring to her as an angel,  mentioning that they have a special song, and of course, the wanting to be together “forever & more” – there is something about the way everything was crafted together that these (which normally would) don’t bother me. His angel is wearing plaid so I guess these little updates make it sound current without being too familiar. The atmosphere of the whole is very lighthearted, playful and it overall makes for a very pleasant summer love song. 

Tucker’s voice is also very unique and it is interesting to find out that he began singing…by accident? He rapped and wanted to be part of the film industry before realising that he can sing as well! What a lucky accident, the world would have been much emptier without such a voice.

Ooh, I've never felt like this before
Can't pick myself up off the floor
That's something new, I'm stuck with you

The music video premiered a few hours ago and it is just as lively as the song, giving me a sense of nostalgia and I don’t know about you, but it reminds me of old teen movies in a way. It is from the present but at the same time from the past. Maybe that means it is from the future as well, as this theme of young love is so cyclic. 

And last but not least… let’s give a little extra credit to the cover art photograph, I mean… we gotta love a man who is confident enough to wear a bridal headpiece and veil.

Listen to the song here:

 

Follow ROLE MODEL on social media:

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Composition
3.4/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
3.5/5
Perfomrance
4.9/5
Album cover
5/5
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Be prepared to be mesmerised by fil ricchardi’s latest single “Hourglass”

Genre: Indie-Pop-Folk

My favourite rising star in the indie-pop-folk genre, fil ricchardi managed to blow me away with this song. I knew he was something special the moment I heard the first few words he sang on this single. He has one of the most unique voices I know. He also has a special ability to transmit emotions almost effortlessly. The melodies travel through his vocals and individual chord progressions right into your soul, but on the way in, your ears and mind will be delighted to decipher the work of a smart lyricist who uses simplicity to his advantage.

I always say that good lyrics writing is either finding very unique and smart ways of saying something that has been said many times before (all themes in art have been used and re-used millions of times so there is a need for this) or being incredibly simple but particular. People will relate more to something specific even if those specifics don’t apply to them directly. They will project their own experiences and emotions onto the lyrics, the song, on what the artist was trying to convey.

fil manages to find a perfect balance between the two and enhances the effect with beautifully describing the physical feeling of someone’s hands slipping out of his. Reflecting on past decisions and the the difference between expectations during the last few moments of a relationship, he chooses to live in denial and prefers to enjoy the final hours before she walks out the door.

Listen to “Hourglass” here:

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Composition
4.5/5
Production
4.3/5
Lyrics
4/5
Performance
4.7/5
Album cover
3.7/5
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Matheus Who and the struggles of a 21st century artist in the online sphere

Genre: Alternative / Indie. Photograph by João  Martins.

Matheus Who is an incredible Brazilian talent who will blow you away with his perfectly crafted indie songs… And not just, because with every tune comes the ideal conception of visual imagery and aesthetic photographic artistry. His latest song “Inconsequente” takes a step back from previous themes and tackles a profoundly relatable subject matter about the negative aspects of social media where the expectations are too high and sometimes difficult to upkeep.

Being an artist, especially in a country like Brazil, where arts are not taken seriously and have no value at all, feelings of anxiety and pressure can arise. Arts are being looked at with critical eyes in general. A lot of people don’t understand how much time, drive and dedication it takes to finish a piece, and they also don’t comprehend how much art is around them 24/7. An artist designed the logo of their company, artists made the music they are listening to daily on the way to work, school, in the gym, artists made their favourite movies and TV shows they are watching every night, someone also had to write the books they are reading… art is all around yet still criminally underrated and artists get judged for not working for free and struggling. 

On top of that, social media adds another layer to this pressure, because in that sphere, everyone is a critic and considers themselves experts in other stranger’s lives. In Matheus’ words “I felt like 24/7 we have to post that we are improving and getting better in our artistry or people judge that you are not working at all”. So apparently if you don’t post about working every day, you are living the high life and do not make enough effort for your career. “Inconsequente” is about this tension and dealing with the stress of trying to be enough in an overly demanding world. 

“E eu nem sei mais                                                                           E eu nem sei mais por que                                                           Eu passo pela porta de quem não quer nem me ver”

“And I don’t even know anymore
And I don’t even know why anymore
I walk through the door of those who don’t even want to see me”

The song is written from the perspective of a lonely soul that wanders and wonders and lately finds themselves in their own company often, feeling comfortable. His old friends already live a life without him (“Meus antigos amigos já vivem uma vida sem mim”) but the lyrics are hopeful, stating  that they’ll be there soon: “Que daqui a pouco eu chego lá”.

The entire production feels like a hug, with the dreamy synths embracing you and telling you that it is okay to feel this pressure but do have a coffee to de-stress (“Tomar un café pra desestressar”).

I also advise you to take a look at the lyrics video, which is an absolute fit to the song and the editing is right up my experimental-loving alley. Split screens, overlays, funky movements, handwritten lyrics and hand drawn illustrations, the video has it all, but it goes together perfectly.

Listen to “Inconsequente” here and while you’re at it, check out his other songs as well (my personal favourite is “A Gente Vai Dançar”:

 

 

Composition
4.3/5
Production
4.7/5
Lyrics
4.4/5
Performance
4/5
Album cover
4.1/5
Lyrics video
4.7/5
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Go and listen to Izabel’s song right now, I’m counting 1, 2, 3…

Genre: Indie pop

What can I say, it’s a bop. This 19 year old singer-songwriter from Montreal keeps releasing indie pop bangers one after the other. 123 followed the highly anticipated 19, that was a follow up to last year’s 18… will there be 20 next year…maybe?

The song jumps right into the lyrics from the first second, presenting the mental state of the character from whose point of view it is written. Izabel states that the song is about her experience with BPD, specifically doing and saying things without thinking. Her thoughts keep outrunning her and before she knows it, her secrets are already gone. I would say it is also a love song of sorts, because she keeps referring to someone who in a way does not hold the way she is against her:

“Let’s get some shitty tattoos/ I think I really like you/ Tell me what is it you wanna see

Swear you never met someone like me/ Funny how I feel the same”

The production is very current with dreamy synths and a catchy beat, while the melodies will crawl inside your brain, forcing you to bop your head and sing along. It came out just in time for your summer drives and late night adventures. Izabel also took the time to share some exciting news next to this release: she is working on her debut EP “WAVES”! The date is yet to be announced but make sure to stay tuned!

Listen to 123 here:

Composition
3.1/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
4.1/5
Performance
4.5/5
Album cover
4.3/5

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Colds’ latest single “Run” will be stuck in your head

Genre: Electronic Indie Pop

Colds likes to make it known that he goes far for his idols. He travelled 8 hours on a bus from Groningen to Berlin just to see Kim Petras perform one of her earliest shows in Europe. This is something we have in common, or almost, my transportation of choice was the train and I had to travel almost 14 hours to get to Budapest for the Twenty One Pilots concert. I had no accommodation and I was on the first train back after the concert was over. Fun times!

But this is not about our passion for our favourite artists. This is about “Run”, a song that can keep you company if you ever decide to take such a trip… Or even when you don’t, nowadays it is a bit hard to do such a thing. Just take a break from your daily tasks and take yourself IN (see what I did there?) for a solo bedroom party. Put on your headphones or blast it through your speakers. Play “Run” by Colds. This electronic indie pop tune has the perfect melodies with which you can turn into the main character and live a little at your solo dance. Wait… why am I focusing so much on solo? You have flatmates, family members around? Good, invite them too, and enjoy this bop which according to Colds is: “a heartbreak song on which you can dance and cry at the same time.“

I would definitely agree. There is something about a song in which the lyrics and the melodies are dissimilar, making you dance to your sorrows. It is a completely unique way of experiencing fully and letting go. Dreamy synths and fun beats will make you bop your head to your pain. And if not your own pain, the one from your imaginary life in your head, I know it lives in your head, don’t even try to convince me otherwise.

Listen to “Run” here:

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Composition
3.3/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
2.7/5
Performance
4.3/5
Album cover
3.5/5
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“Life is free” or is it? Slum Sociable’s single will make you wonder…

Genre: Alternative, Electronica, Dance

I probably have been living under a rock. That is my only explanation for not hearing about this duo from Melbourne sooner. And they have been around for a while, since 2015. Sometimes I’m mad at the Spotify algorithm, but I forgive each miss for this recommendation.

If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for Arctic Monkeys. And something about the vocals in this song made me think of Alex Turner. I had to take a break and look up what I’m listening to. And now… I have it on repeat.

’Life Is Free’ was called that because, it isn’t. The second line of the song points that out; “how can I say that knowingly”. It’s about noticing how valuable a resource like time is, how you use it with the people in your life, how other people who might not have it as good as you use it, and ultimately trying to use it for good. – Miller from Slum Sociable

The sound is incredibly fresh and unique. They captured my attention from the first second. And this is not their only good song. The new EP titled “The Street of Dire News” came out this year, the only thing is… it looks like it’s their last project. I feel weird introducing something that is already over, but at least their songs will still be there for us to enjoy. And I urge you to listen because there is something special here.

Look how the time flies overhead
Don’t you think we could be better?
Oh timelessly
I keep the same things close to me

Listen to “Life is free” here: