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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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NAHreally doesn’t care what you think

Genre: Hip-Hop

Brooklyn-based rapper NAHreally makes hip-hop to kick back to. Forget trap bangers. Forget sizzling hit-hats. Forget overproduced vocals. This is music to hang out to. Bust out your Bluetooth speakers in a park, and you’ll have heads bopping along to his silky smooth beats and hyper-relatable rhymes in no time.

On his latest project, Loose Around The Edges, what stands out is his attitude. The way he shrugs his shoulders in the general direction of his haters. Or maybe they’re versions of himself that he has left behind. That seems the only explanation for lines like: 

it’s a piece of cake to hate, it takes work to love,
and therein lies the rub,
that internalized lifestyle of living in a rush,
knee jerk jerks shirk the hard work and get worse

from Curmudegeon Emerge In Me

This is a lyricist who has taken time to build not only his ability on the mic, but also his perspectives on life. The mix of self-depreciation and honesty makes for rough-and-tumble bars that empower listeners to trust themselves and not be dragged down by what other people think. To my ears, he’s always finding new ways of repeating the oldest trick in the book, namely “you do you homie.” And it works because he does:

i try to keep my mouth shut,
people do stupid shit, so what?,
i might pull up with a bowl cut,
30 minutes late, but i showed up

from Bowl Cut

Those who listen for substance in hip-hop are always on the lookout for a sense of clairvoyance from their MCs. On standout track Civic, NAHreally hits us with truth. He takes a subtle dig at cancel culture by invoking R. Kelly’s failings, and our collective reaction to celebrities who commit crimes. Should you no longer listen to the remix to Ignition? Or is the real problem that you are letting the experience of experiencing music be tainted by the actions of the creator?

yo, i don’t need to be omniscient,
to know some of you still listen,
to the remix to Ignition, admit it

from Civic

i’ve been embellishing intelligence since,
elementary. essentially i’m just good at spelling,
dwelling on the past is not compelling,
don’t send me clips of people rapping on Ellen

from Don’t Send Me Clips of People Rapping On Ellen

So I jumped on a WhatsApp video call with him to see if we could get some insight into the man behind the music. Here is what happened.

——-

To kick things off, tell us a little about yourself outside of music.

I’m from Massachusetts, and I’ve lived in New York City since 2015 (Brooklyn for most of that time). I live with my girlfriend and dog and spend most of my time finding new music to listen to or watching the Boston Celtics.

What attracted you to making hip-hop?

When I was 15 or 16, my friend put me on to a lot of 90s East Coast hip-hop—Wu-Tang, Big L, Das EFX. I couldn’t get enough and eventually we started recording some not great music (not totally awful though), but it stuck with me. I rapped on and off until I moved to New York and started going to open mics at Nuyorican Poets Cafe. The idea of trying to make music had never left my mind, so I had to give performing a shot. The response was positive and I met a lot of great people, so I kept going.

Tell us about your process. How do you go about writing your songs?

I try not to overthink it. I don’t edit lyrics too much, so I try to make sure I’m happy with a line before I move on to the next one. I want to make myself laugh while I’m writing—not because it’s funny per se, but just because that’s how I know I like a line. It’s a lofty name to invoke, but I’ve always loved this DOOM quote from his 2009 New Yorker with Ta-Nehisi Coates:

“When I’m doing a Doom record, I’m arranging it, I’m finding the voices. . . . All I have to do is listen to it and think, Oh shit, that will be funny. I write down whatever would be funny, and get as many ‘whatever would’ funnies in a row and find a way to make them all fit. There’s a certain science to it. In a relatively small period of time, you want it to be, That’s funny, that’s funny, that’s funny, that’s funny. I liken it to comedy standup.”

I try to do the same with beats. Once a loop makes me want to rap, I start writing to it. Sometimes I don’t even go back to change anything once I get writing. If I wanted to rap on it, the beat must have been finished.

I read you made your own beats for this latest project. Where did you get the samples?

It’s mostly mid to late ’60s and early ’70s jazz with a little Brazilian music from the same period in there. Really standard hip hop stuff but hopefully not anything others have used already. I find samples online—no vinyl at the moment because of COVID and space/time constraints. I wouldn’t rule out a switch to vinyl though. I made the beats for LATE in Logic with an SP404 for effects, but now I’m working more with an MPC1000 for my next tape, so the process is always changing.

What does the future hold for you?

Keep going. I’ve put out a tape every year since 2016. Hopefully I can keep that pace or increase it. I don’t have a business plan or any other type of plan other than keep working. I’ll continue to rap and make beats until I don’t want to anymore.

Lastly, if you had to have three records spinning in your grave what would they be?

Bill Evans – Explorations (need some jazz in my afterlife)

Sublime – Sublime (I need some punk and some chill rock, and I think this covers both bases. I may be biased because this one just hit its 25 year anniversary though)

MF DOOM – Mm..Food? (Tough call between this, 36 Chambers, and Madvillainy, but I think I want to go with the more whimsical album)

Thanks for taking the time to chat with Undies! Hoping to hear more from you soon. 

 

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Two-Minds – Album Review

Genre: R&B, Classical Minimalist, Electronica
A lilting falsetto voice breathes, falters and soothes on Two-Minds, the beautifully considered new album by Sheep, Dog & Wolf. Each song is packed with organic textures – clarinets, saxophones, flutes, and horns – alongside a balanced use of electronic effects and samples. Considering the number of instruments in the mix, you might expect a complete line-up of band members. Incredibly, the album is weaved together at the sole hands of young Aotearoa New Zealand artist, Daniel McBride. This reveals how the theme of isolation core to Two-Minds directly mirrors McBride’s music-making process, giving an immediate sense of how deeply poignant this album is. Amongst restrained wails and softly croaked melodies, McBride sings lines like “Isolation is my home” as he wrestles with themes of mental illness.
The depth of McBride’s musical storytelling is evident in Two-Minds, particularly when he weaves together music and lyrics through use of metaphor. Take the opening track, ‘Months’. If the music was an engine, it would be that of an old car left unused and in disrepair for too long. The key turns and the engine hums to life before it quickly chokes out leaving you in silence. A second attempt is somewhat hopeful. In McBride’s case, breathy wind instruments play slow chords with a tired energy. There is a sense of fighting against a heavy inertia. The ensemble comes in and out, each time trying to gather momentum. The first words he sings? “Months out of time/I feel nothing but this pain and exhaustion”. The rest of the album follows in a similar effort to overcome inertia as McBride asks of himself, or the music, or perhaps anybody listening: “Give me something/I haven’t been me in a year”.
Released in April of 2021, Two-Minds comes a year after the pandemic took hold, landing at a time when ‘not feeling like yourself’ was a symptom many of McBride’s listeners likely shared. McBride tackles the ugly multi-headed beast that is depression, anxiety, and isolation with catchy rhythms and memorable melodies. With a touch of dark humor and a quick pace from the opening track, McBride asks: “Who would I even be/Without my anxiety?”. The approach to scoring these heavy emotions is clever and can often leave you caught off guard. Take, for example, the track ‘Fine’, where words “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine…”are looped, growing from a faint background texture until it squeezes into the foreground. The realization of meaning is hard hitting as you consider the voice, echoing endlessly, is akin to the cycling nature of depression. The loop continues until the cycle finally falters and the rest of the song fades away.
On the track ‘Cyclical’, McBride sings “Stagnation/The screams come through the walls/I’m losing the day”. Despite these lyrics, the music never feels stagnant. Each song is a careful observation with McBride choosing to re-cast dark and deeply personal experiences as colorful jazz chords mixed with pop-sensibilities. The result is a highly relatable album that suggests mental illness could be more common than we think. It’s easy to assume that this was an album created during the pandemic when we were all feeling these emotions to some degree – disconnected, worn down, exhausted, and unable to get on with normal life. In reality, McBride completed this album four years earlier in 2017. This might owe to the reason why Two-Minds carries a great deal of authenticity; it draws on experiences that precede the current moment and will likely hold up for future listeners to come.
But it’s not all a foregone conclusion. In the album’s final track titled ‘Feeling’, a driving snare drum conjures an image of a beating heart while a rolling piano line gathers momentum. The music swells and with unbridled joy McBride sings: “Happiness as I find/I’m alive/and feeling”. Finally, we reach that high.
Necessary, real, and above all else, a pleasure to listen to, the pure honesty of Two-Minds is a much-needed album that captures our post-pandemic Zeitgeist.

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Composition
5/5
Production
5/5
Lyrics
5/5
Performance
5/5
Album Cover
3/5
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flwrs. & Girl in the mirror release Backpack EP

Genre: Soft Pop

Girl in the mirror introduces herself as a self-releasing Budapest-based track-maker, vocalist, coffee lover & firm believer in broken clocks that are right twice a day. She began with producing happy EDM but experimented with many genres over time. Nowadays she makes softer tunes. “Backpack” was produced in collaboration with her boyfriend flwrs., while some other vocalists jumped on a couple of songs as well. flwrs. is an indigenous producer from South Dakota, currently based in Oklahoma. He blends hip-hop, pop and orchestral elements in his songs and has released four albums and many singles since 2012 when he first discovered music producing. He is a self-taught producer, learning from the internet and from friends. He loves cats and wants to bring home every cat he meets.

Let’s listen to the EP and see what they offer:

The first track is “I don’t want to go” and it features Two:22 and leorinda, a Chinese/Vietnamese vocalist-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. A love-hate relationship is described with smooth pop vocals and sad lyrics. The lyrics and melodies are complete opposites, the production sounds happy and bubbly but the words are talking about people who misunderstand each other and are suffering in a not so happy relationship. It is always interesting when songwriters approach their writing with this contradiction in mind which gives the songs a unique sad-happy atmosphere.

“You and I” continues with another relationship, this time a happy one that has different struggles, more specifically the issue of distance. Long-distance couples don’t see each other as often as they would like to, and being so far away for so long is hard on relationships sometimes. This song, however, is from the perspective of two characters who still love each other very much, and no matter the spatial difference, they keep waiting for each other. The words that pop into my mind when trying to describe the production are: cute, soft, video-game-like and heartwarming.  

Girl in the mirror and flwrs.

“Staring to the Sea of Wishes” is the third track, and according to the artists, it was born on the border of lockdown and freedom. We all can agree that the first few weeks of lockdowns were quite disheartening and demotivating. Reading and seeing bad news one after the other, experiencing people’s indifference to others’ sufferings and not knowing what is coming next took a toll on a lot of people’s mental health. In a time where half the world is burning, half flooding with water, half flooding with plastic and so on, there is a need for songs that help you stay motivated and hopeful. What is the thing that keeps us going forward through hard times and what would you ask for if you would find the Sea of Wishes? – these are just some of the questions the song arises. kim saesol features on this one. 

Track 4 and 5 are the same, but in different languages: “Butterfly Light” and “Lepkefeny” . As someone who understands both I have to admit that I like the Hungarian version better, and after I first heard both, I was sure that it was the one written first. Later when I received the press release, this feeling was proven to be correct. Right off the bat I have to say that the vocal melodies of this song are my favourite out of all and I also believe it has the most complex lyrics filled with a lot of subtlety and vulnerability. The words were written by poet Fanni Sütő and are about a blossoming summer romance when nothing is certain yet but the other person seems perfect in every way and you are wondering if whatever this is can have a future. The English version features leorinda.

The last track, “Neighbourhood puppy”, was released a year prior, when they did not know that there is going to be a finished EP. This is what the artists said about the song: “A cute song about how Sam met a puppy on the streets of New York City. Well, he had to sing about it because the puppy was so cute.” And what can I say to that? It is a cute song and who doesn’t like a happy neighbourhood puppy?

Overall, “Backpack EP is a sweet pop romance made of cute bubbly synths and soft sine waves, guitars and smooth vocals”. If you like soft pop and cute songs, do check it out:

 

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Composition
2.9/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
2.6/5
Performance
3.4/5
Album Cover
5/5
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Step by step to reach the door that leads to the ultimate goal

Genre: Bedroom Pop/ Alternative R&B

I don’t know where I read this or who told it to me, but someone somewhere said that if you are just starting out and can’t secure blog reviews and interviews, just write about your own songs. Plain and simple. Write down your own take on things and have an article out there that people can easily access, after which they can make up their own mind. So here I am, after launching a blog to support other up-and-coming musicians, I am writing about my debut EP titled “Steps” because it came out today.

I have decided to release 4 songs as singles as well, because releasing more often is better for the Spotify algorithm, however today I will write about them in the order they are on the EP and not the order in which they were released. 

“Will you let me in?” is the first song, a tiny 1min15sec long intro tune that encompasses some of the main themes of all six tracks. It talks about the passing of time and the inability to stop it, leaving toxic people behind, walking away and working towards what is important, step by step until you get to the door that leads to your dreams. In my head, me beginning to release music and taking it more seriously during this past year and a half was a huge step for my career, and every single song got me closer and closer to this moment. While releasing this EP I am symbolically knocking on the door of the industry so to speak, because these are my most polished and important songs so far. I am knocking on the door and waiting to see when they will let me in. 

1 step 2 step 3 step 4


I'm standing right here, knocking on the door


Will you let me in?


I said


Will you let me in?

The next song is “Better on your worst nights” and it is about a relationship at its breaking point. The two parties don’t understand each other anymore but still don’t have the courage to take the first step in letting go. It has been going on for so long, how can it just end like that? The question is heartbreaking, but the only healthy choice is to walk away. After all, lately they only feel good when the other one doesn’t. This is my go to explanation when someone asks what is it about. I tend to write songs very visually, I already see a movie or a music video in my head in the writing session (I really hope I can film them sometime in the near future because I already have elaborate shot lists and everything lol) so it is sometimes hard for me to explain the entire world behind my songs in a couple of words, but I also believe that every track is up to the listener to interpret and a lot of the times I don’t even want to explain in too much detail what I was thinking about, just so each individual can project their own experiences onto them. 

I remember you were funnier


Back when the days were sunnier


These days all I do is sending warnings


Wind blew away our house of cards


And you didn't leave any marks


Don't be shocked when you won't find me in the morning

 “Always drunk” is based on a Charles Baudelaire writing titled Be Drunk. It tackles existential questions while suggesting that in order to get through the hardships of life, you have to be always drunk. The inability to cope in a healthy way with things that are out of our control is at the centre of this production. It’s sad, it’s desperate, the character can’t accept things even if they know that they can’t change the facts. (By the way, when I talk about characters, I mean the main characters who the songs are about or from whose perspective they are written). Anxiety is bad, especially when it is because of things that I can’t change. I know that it’s no use, but still, I can’t deal with it in a healthy way sometimes. Always drunk was written while some tears were shed, it initially wasn’t meant to be on this EP, wasn’t even written for this instrumental, but after hearing it I knew that they we’re meant to be together, so the melodies and lyrics were altered to fit the whole.

Everyone's talking but no one knows what about


The ones who are silent  at times tend to act out


The burden of time bends you down to the ground


Kneeling and screaming but I don't make a sound

The first song that I released as a single was Pills. Obviously the main single is the title song and I knew that from the start, but the first song I wrote for Jorge was Pills so naturally I decided to release it first as well. I loved it so much and it felt so current that I thought it would be the most successful one out of all. That didn’t happen (yet?), this shows that our perception of what people would like more is very different from reality. It tackles the attempt to take life day by day and live in the present, experiencing  every moment before they are gone, but restricted by pills that cloud the mind. Want to know what I was really thinking about with the lyrics? Okay I will tell you but you might be a bit surprised. I know that everyone else is thinking about more serious drugs, but I was writing it with lavender pills in mind. Yes, lavender pills. The first lockdown was a bit stressful next to the overall stress of having no idea what to do with my life (not going back to uni, no job, lockdown making it even harder to get a job etc…) so I was taking lavender pills to help me relax and even fall asleep. Because I couldn’t, no matter how much I worked during the day and how tired I was. 

So it was a small play on words, taking pills to fall asleep but adding the existential layer with “but I don’t want to go to sleep”, you know? Anyways, if it is about other drugs for you, it is fine.

Snippets of a life go by


We are so scared to say goodbye


Always running against time

“Are we?” is the most successful song so far. I released it as the third single and I am happy that people love it as much as I do. It is finally a happy song, haha! I don’t know if you noticed but I tried to order them in a way that suggests progress, an emotional one, so they go from angry and sad to happy by the end of the EP. This track captures the moment of a relationship coming to life, when the two parties become “official”. It is often because of the curiosity of a friend or family member that the question arises. Are we together or not? Not putting labels on the relationship is good enough for the couple, but the outside world’s curiosity leads them to confront the idea and clear it up.

I know that you know


You had me 'round your finger from the get go


And you know that I know


I'm somebody that you can not let go

And finally, we arrived to the title track that has an extra (1, 2, 3, 4) in the title.  The main characters live in the outskirts, every day just peeking in to get a glimpse of what might be waiting for them on the other side. Step by step they are working towards reaching the door that leads to their dreams, while helping each other in the process. It is a love song, it is a statement of the current place in my life, it is a personal manifesto. I love Steps. It was probably the most fun song to write. I was dancing and jumping around to the first demo that I recorded in only a couple of hours. I wrote it in one afternoon just the way it is and never changed anything after. An animated music video was made for it by the amazing Ben Balaton and it perfectly captures the story of the song. I loved working with Ben because he understood my ideas from the get go, even if some of my initial drawings were horrible, he could make it just the way I imagined it, and I thank him for the perfect final product that I will cherish forever. It is my first animated music video, are you kidding me?!?!?!

Hold me closer than before


I'm cold, you see stay forevermore


If only I knew what to ask for


Why am I feeling like I'm running out of time

Overall, I don’t know what to write in the ending paragraph because this was not a review, just some thoughts from behind the scenes. I don’t want to leave you with a conclusion. I hope you will listen and will draw your own. Million thanks to Jorge Arenas who is one of the most talented musicians I know for producing, mixing and mastering these songs.

Stream Steps here:

 

Puzzls on social media:

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I will only review the album covers because they were made by the one and only Rue Atelier and they are literally perfect, nothing else to add here:

Album cover
5/5
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Billie Eilish is happier than ever

Genre: Pop/ Electro pop

Billie Eilish needs no introduction but in case you’ve been living under a rock the past couple of years, she managed to win the hearts of millions of people all around the world as well as 10 Grammys next to other awards. Other people are just starting to figure out what to do with their lives and here she is, at 19 releasing her second studio album which contains 16 tracks.

Track 4 and 14 have been out for a while now, but style and theme wise it makes sense that they are on the album. Three other songs, respectively “Your Power”, “Lost Cause” and “NDA” have also been released prior to the album, giving people a little sneak peak about what to expect. They all have music videos that correspond to the by now well known Billie aesthetic. “Not My Responsibility”, the spoken words from the  2020 short film also made it on the album.

For some reason she has been getting some hate lately in the online sphere both because of the sound of the songs and accusation of queerbaiting… and other things, but this is a review about the album and not about what cancel culture has a problem with currently, so the discussion will not take these outside accusations into consideration, mainly because there is no way of choosing a side from the outside. 

Soft, dreamy vocals overtake the entire 56 minutes and 15 seconds, while the journey begins with “Getting Older”. The production is very simple, offering space for the vocals to overtake the whole… and I have a feeling that this will be a general occurrence over the course of the entire album. The song is written from a very vulnerable place by a young artist who in the eyes of the outside world has a perfect life but has gone through trauma in secret and is dealing with it on her own, promising that everything will be fine. Growing up while the entire world is watching  is a peculiar thing. The song has a bittersweet feel to it, confessing a certain sadness but is also very hopeful.

"I've had some trauma, did things I didn't wanna
Was too afraid to tell ya, but now, I think it's time"

Finneas, her producer brother, is known for constantly recording random sounds and using them in his productions, so “I Didn’t Change My Number” is no different. It begins with what sounds like a dog growl, suggesting a switch from the vulnerable to something more aggressive. A past relationship takes the center stage in this production where the beat mirrors the lyrics perfectly and creates an unnerving atmosphere. Distancing herself from a person who seems to not be over her is the plot here, it is passively angry and sometimes even threatening. Why did I say passively? Because it is from the perspective of a person who is angry and deserves to be, but can reflect on the situation with maturity. 

"Maybe you should leave
Before I get too mean
And take it out on you
And your best friend too"

“Billie Bossa Nova” is the third track and again changes the mood. Bossa nova is a Brazilian popular music that evolved from merging samba with jazz and blues. It is smooth and rhythmic, maybe even nostalgic, and the dance requires subtle body movements. The title already suggests the genre of the song and the content is lighthearted, about a love story while on tour and being constantly followed by paparazzi. Finneas declared in an interview with Rolling Stones that there are a lot of things they have to do to avoid getting followed to their rooms by the photographers so they wanted to write about these experiences but spiced it up with a mystery love affair. 

"It might be more of an obsession
You really make a strong impression 
Nobody saw me in the lobby
Nobody saw me in your arms"

“my future” has been out for a while and discussed already, so we are going to jump right into track 5. Oxytocin is a hormone and a neurotransmitter that is involved in childbirth and breast-feeding. It is also associated with empathy, trust, sexual activity, and relationship-building. It is sometimes referred to as the “love hormone,” because levels of oxytocin increase during hugging and orgasm, according to Medical news today. It is also the title of the song that begins with a faster beat. This one is definitely on the crazier side, both the beat and the composition are peculiar but make you want to jump up and sing along to it. A dependent relationship is what drives this tune, with very clear sexual associations and suggestions. Someone on Genius wrote that this one will be very fun live, and I can not help but agree. 

"If you only pray on Sunday
Could you come my way on Monday?
'Cause I like to do things God doesn't approve of if she saw us"

“GOLDWING” is the shortest song on the album and the beginning sounds like a church choir singing a religious hymn or gospel. Perfectly soft vocals layered on top of each other lift you up and make you feel like you are in heaven. It is kind of ironic that this song comes right after “Oxytocin”, in which she performs actions that “God doesn’t approve of”, maybe like a form of atonement or purification. I got to admit, I think this my favourite off the album so far, the way the introduction makes you feel, the way the entire atmosphere changes after the first minute and the beat comes in, the lyrics… “GOLDWING” is definitely something else. 

"Goldwing angel
Go home, don't tell
Anyone what you are
You're sacred and they're starved
And their art is gettin' dark
And there you are to tear apart"

Another interesting placement is “Lost cause”, which already came out prior to the album so there not much more to say about it, but vocally it is definitely one of her most captivating creations. 

By now it is becoming clear that in the shaping of this album, alternating upbeat and downtempo songs was also taken into consideration, and as expected “Halley’s Comet” is another mellow production. This beautifully crafted love song is filled with vulnerability and strong emotions. As suggested earlier, I am a sucker for good instrumental breaks and changes inside one track so this one is also on my list of favourites.

Halley's Comet
Comes around more than I do
But you're all it takes for me to break a promise
Silly me to fall in love with you

“Not My Responsibility” is the spoken word video interlude Billie released in early 2020 and discusses the objectification of women in the entertainment industry based on their body image. But not just the entertainment industry, really, women all around the world are objectified every single day and their worth is decided by strangers solely based on looks. 

“OverHeated” is the first song after the interlude, and mind you, the transition is perfect. It seems to further go into the theme of “Not My Responsibility”.  It was probably inspired by some paparazzi pictures that went viral because they showed her wearing clothes that were not baggy, “finally” letting the world know how her body looks like, giving it up for discussion, as if that was the most important thing about a young talented woman. 

And everybody said it was a let down
I was only built like everybody else now
But I didn't get a surgery to help out
'Cause I'm not about to redesign myself now, am I?

“Everybody Dies” tackles an existential question that I’m sure everyone has struggled with in their lives. Fear of death and the unknown is what drives this song, but even if the theme is sad, Billie is comforting and tells people that they are not alone no matter what.

"You oughta know
That even when it's time, you might not wanna go
But it's okay to cry and it's alright to fall
But you are not alone"

The next three songs have been out and discussed multiple times to I will not spend too much time on them, but I did want to mention “NDA” which was peculiar at first listen and did get some nasty comments online, however I think it is the type of song that you get used to only after  hearing it several times and then you get obsessed. I have to admit I did not like it at the beginning but now I love it. And the video as well, Billie has a great sense of artistic mastery.

And now… number 15, we got to the title track.  The vocal melody has an old air to it at the beginning and only becomes contemporary with Verse 2. I believe this will make the song timeless.  Now that I listened to this one, I have to say that it overtakes “GOLDWING” on the favourites list. It is obvious why they chose it as the title track and in my opinion it is the best track on the album. The most complex production, composition, build-up, style change… it is really really good. A very problematic relationship is described that makes her angry, in the first part we don’t get to know the underlying problems but after the style changes the song becomes angry and describes many things that he did wrong.

You ruined everything good
Always said you were misunderstood
Made all my moments your own
Just fuckin' leave me alone

“Male Fantasy” is a beautiful way to end the album. A recent heartbreak and the line between fantasy love and real life is what drives this song. Incredibly beautiful harmonies and melodies describe the situation.

Home alone, tryin’ not to eat
Distract myself with pornography
I hate the way she looks at me
I can’t stand the dialogue, she would never be
That satisfied, it’s a male fantasy
I’m goin’ back to therapy

A YouTube comment I read under the lyrics video really encompasses the general feeling of this album: “We saw Billie as a teenager with her previous album and now we get to see her as a woman”. No song feels like it’s just there to fill up the space, each and every track has it’s special place for the narrative, each and every track is necessary. Overall this album did not disappoint, on the contrary, it showed a different, evolved side of Billie and it really makes you wonder what other things the future holds for this talented soul.

 

Composition
3.7/5
Production
3.6/5
Lyrics
4.8/5
Performance
5/5
Album cover
3.4/5
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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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If you haven’t heard Your Psyche Is Showing from Generous Gods yet, what are you doing?

Genre: Psychedelic rock

Generous Gods, a band you will instantly fall in love with just released their new digital 45! It is perfect for lovers of psychedelic music and also for people who just started getting into the genre! I was fortunate enough to hear from them personally so you can too. Firstly, you can read an interview and then a review of the songs.
Get your loudest speakers because even your neighbours will want to hear the whole thing! Let’s get into it!

How would you describe your band?
Hi, nice to be speaking with you today! We’re a bring-your-band-home-to-mother type of group if your mother lived in Haight-Ashbury in 1967, nearly named you Saffron, regularly protests human rights, and enjoys vacationing in Santa Fe while wearing obnoxiously large turquoise jewelry. Generous Gods is a revolving cast of characters each adding their personality, ethos, and life experience to the music thus creating our little slice of southern-psychedelic heaven all right here in the warm sunshine of Atlanta, GA. 
 
What are your ultimate goals with your music?
We got no goals, aside from relentless expression, defeating oppression, renouncing possession, defying suppression, and offering the occasional suggestion. We’re careful to be mindful of that last one though. Being on The Ed Sullivan Show would’ve been a thrill or hanging out with Nico at The Dom in the East Village would’ve been cool, but I think we missed our chance. 
 
Were there any bands or performers who really inspired you? If so, who are they? 
Stax Records, The Animals, The Golden Dawn, Love, Nina Simone (her Pirate Jenny from ’64 is mind shattering), David Bowie, The Stones, 13th Floor Elevators, Jean Knight, The Troggs… Lots of novelists and poets and entertainers and scientists that we admire and respect outside of music as well. We would read an astrophysics book before most music biographies any day – they tend to reach farther than music biographies allow for. We did enjoy Keith Richards’ autobiography, ‘Life’ though. Confessional and went deeper than skin. Open G does funny things to a person’s mind. 
 
What would you like your music to mean to people?
Well, we don’t really know – that’s a hard thought to hold in your head. We hope it’s something to them, that’s better than nothing, but what that is, we won’t understand it or even care to really. Music is subjective and it’s appreciation can be terribly dynamic. Certainly is for us ha. Music maybe doesn’t mean any particular thing to you, but it’s rather a timestamp or indicator of what you were going through at that point and that’s where the meaning is derived. Socrates probably said that. 
 
What inspired you to start making music of your own?
Well, music has been a creative pathway for us for some time now. It’s an idiosyncratic endeavor, music. You want to be there when it works and it’s hard to run from when it doesn’t – we often find ourselves in both instances. We’re from Georgia and there is a staggeringly rich musical history here: Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight, The Spontaneous Generation, Ma Rainey for god’s sake.. it’s mystifying. It’s in the live oak forests, the Chattahoochee River, the streets of Atlanta, and the coastal waters off St. Simons Island. Hard not to be inspired.
 
Is there anything you’d like to add? Maybe a message for the readers?
Generous Gods loves it’s listeners, money is fake, aliens are real, your ego will betray you every chance it can, fall in love with a person who loves to read, everyone should have to work in the service industry at some point, ‘The Big Lebowski’ is the apogee of American cinema, Jupiter’s moon Europa, likely has giant sea creatures living in it’s 100 mile deep ocean, and you should listen to our music through the prism that we’re blissfully out of step with modern music and that’s ok with us. Thanks for having us! Be well, Hedi – peace and love!!!

Well aren’t they just so kind? I don’t know about you but their answers made me want to hang out with them and their obnoxiously big turquoise jewelry wearing mothers. They create a unique atmosphere. And this shows on their music too! If you haven’t heard their two new songs yet, here’s a link so you don’t have to look it up.

Let’s talk a bit about the first song, Snake Oil! The melody will surely have you dancing in your living room. From the first second, this track sounds very catchy and indeed it is! The refrain is very memorable, it will be stuck in your head and I’m sure you won’t mind. At about one and a half minutes there is a short guitar solo which blends into the song well and is very melodic.

The next and last song is very tuneful. A part of the lyrics just before the refrain can be heard a couple times, this really makes you fantasise about screaming ‘Just lean in closer, I’ll tell you what was left unsaid!’ at a concert with your friends. I promise you don’t need a drop of alcohol to have a good time while listening to this masterpiece. In the beginning of the song we can hear a melody that could have been played on a sitar, it carries through the song and compliments the guitar’s theme. The vocals in the refrain create a harmony that is very nice to hear.

To sum up, Generous Gods really created something that will be stuck in your head and make you dance. Their new digital 45, Your Psyche Is Showing is -i promise you- worth listening to.

You can listen to Your Psyche Is Showing here:

 

Follow them on social media:

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Composition
4/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
4/5
Performance
4/5
Album cover
4/5
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Clairo – Sling review: sweet tunes with a pinch of heartache

Genre: Indie-Pop-Folk / Soft Rock

Clairo’s brand new album couldn’t have had a more fitting title. Just as a sling that holds up hanging weights, the singer’s new EP carries within itself a thousand feelings while trying to get a grip of longing for someone or something missed or not yet found, attached to the context of domesticity, caring for yourself and for other beings. The songs are an epitome of self-awareness, a journey of awakening with bits of melancholy, loneliness, regrets, spoken and unspoken words, but also freedom and a search for closure and acceptance. 

The softness of this album is not only reflected in its melodies, but also in the short, delicate titles and the simplicity of the cover. The composition was undeniably handled with care and patience, outthought, and cleverly put together. Listening to it gives you the feeling of standing in the middle of a field on a summer day, enjoying the breeze, thinking about all the struggles and hardships of life in the calmest way possible.

As a lyricist, Clairo is impeccable. She is able to express her thoughts and feelings in such beautiful and special ways, using  words that make it hard not to be mesmerised. One of her lyrics that captured me for example is from the track called ‘Partridge’: Comfortable, unmotivated always/ Seeking other stories, other memories/ I’m sorry I have to hold you longer than you expected/ It’s only temporary. 

However, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something is lacking within this new album, and that would be what I’d call the element of surprise. Most of the songs feel a bit plain and alike when it comes to the sounding, it’s hard to distinguish them from one another, like they are carrying the same tunes over and over again, which is fine as they capture the atmosphere of the artist’s volition perfectly, yet it could’ve been more relatable with just a little bit of spice added to them. 

All in all, the album is worth a shot if you’re craving for something simple yet meaningful, with sweet tunes and a pinch of heartache.

Listen to ‘Sling’ here:

 

Follow Clairo on social media:

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Composition
4.6/5
Production
4/5
Lyrics
5/5
Performance
4.5/5
Album cover
3.6/5
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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