This review was first published on 18 December 2019. When it comes to summoning up the sounds, and more pertinently for this review, the sounds of Christmas, there is an understandably heavy bias towards evoking the sensibilities of a cold and cosy northern hemisphere Christmas. Thanks most notably to the Continue Reading
Music
Christmas in July music review redux: Put Up Your Lights by The Bird and the Bee
If anyone can make something beautiful out of something chaotic and terrible, it is the mesmerisingly good duo that is The Bird and the Bee, made up of singer Inara George and producer Greg Kurstin. Their latest collaboration, Put Your Lights Up was put together during a year when a Continue Reading
Christmas in July redux: Music review: Snow Waltz by Lindsey Stirling
This review was first published 9 December 2022. Christmas is supposed to be a thousand good and wonderfully light-as-air, joyously uplifting things. And while it often is – all that tree trimming, laughing with friends and brightness of decoration can only make you feel like a million festive bucks – Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #139: WILLOW, Dagny, Emei, Blossoms + Jude York … and Madonna’s Confessions II video
(via Shutterstock) If you’re anything like me, you don’t want pop that simply sounds good, though that is absolutely optimal, you want it to also say something meaningful too. So, sound and lyrics in perfect, compellingly listenable lockstep. These five songs, by a diverse array of artists, deliver just that, Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #138: Lady Gaga + Doechii, Nelly Furtado, Hyd, Robyn and Marley Wildthing + EXTRA! Toy Story 5 song by Taylor Swift
(via Shutterstock) It’s a heady mix of the old and the new this time around with three artists I have long loved, admired and listened to, and two relative newbies on the block who are well and truly making their mark on the musical landscape. It’s a thrill listening to Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #137: Emei, METTE, MARIS, Scratching + Holly Humberstone
(via Shutterstock) Can a danceable song really speak to your heart? Damn straight it can and here are five artists who really give substance to the idea that your music can have really bounce and vibrancy to it and yet have you feeling all of the deep and sometimes painful Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #136: RAYE, Harry Styles, MEEK, Vera Blue and Lindsey Stirling PLUS ABBA in Australia music clips … and new Madonna album
(via Shutterstock) I love songs with heart and soul. While dancing or bopping along to a track is a joy in and of itself, having an artist pour real and affecting thought and emotion into the songs they produce, and have them have an effect on you, is a real Continue Reading
Easter has a soundtrack just like Christmas, so why do we never hear it? (curated article)
(via Shutterstock) This article by by Wendy Hargreaves, academic in the School of Education and Creative Arts, University of Southern Queensland, was first published in The Conversation Australia. You can’t visit the shops around Christmas time without hearing “Feliz Navidad”, “Silent Night”, or Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #135: girli, Em Beihold, Alex Warren, TOMORA + Jessie Ware … extra! RAYE live at Abbey Road
(via Shutterstock) We all need music. It soundtracks the good, the bad and the ugly – this reference makes way further down this pot – and it gives up hope and a sense of direction when all around us life feels like it’s sinking beneath the waves. These five featured Continue Reading
Songs, songs and more songs #134: Pattie Gonia & Imogen Heap, Qveen Herby & THOT Squad, Jacob Collier, Absolutely + Metric
(via Shutterstock) I love music … but I don’t just love any music. I want music with presence, the kind of music that strides forth with energised music, lyrics that don’t play cute and timid and produced by artists who want to say things in unforgettable ways. These five artists Continue Reading