You know what I like about life?
It is a source of endless and amazing variety – sure there’s pain and loss and sadness but there’s also, hope, love and all kinds of very good stuff, a spectrum of human experience that finds expression in the work of these five artists.
Each has their own take on what they’ve, and by extension such as is the universality of life, we’ve been through to and it is as diverse and varied as the subject matter.
Whatever life gives you, there is a song for it as these beautiful songs prove once and for all …
“Tal Uno” by Barrie
In our ever-more frenetic world, the idea of slowing down to dream a little, or a lot, may seem like anathema.
But as Brooklynites Barrie, all luscious melodies and exquisitely-layered harmonies will tell you, dreaming, or in their case, dream pop, is good for the soul (as is Tinder it seems for finding bass players but that’s a whole other story).
As Fader remarks in their profile of the relatively newly-minted group, they have achieved a lot in a short amount of time:
“[Listening] to ‘Tal Uno’ brings me very viscerally back to awkward high school dances: the synths shimmer like disco ball lights reflecting off foil decorations, and the hazy vocals cast a romantic film over everything. Considering it’s their second single ever — their first was the equally dreamy “Canyons” — it sounds like they’ve had years to perfect their sound … But in reality, they’ve not been playing together that long.”
The song envelops and surrounds you in the very best possible ways, its thoughtful, resigned lyrics merging seamlessly with the unutterably beautiful music to create a place of introspection that, trust me, will transport you somewhere very good indeed.
“Solo” by Prismo
Known to his friends and family as Zach Burgett, 19-year-old Prismo is a multi-instrumentalist producer of hard-edged but appealingly melodic electronica from Houston, Texas who has found inspiration from artistically likeminded acts like Skrillex and Knife Party and a penchant for recording on his own terms.
“Solo” ably demonstrates his talents, which are considerable, by combining an anthemic declaration of only pursuing that which is good for him with driving music that matches the lyrical theme perfectly, of which the artist has this to say on EKM:
[The song] is about freeing myself from unhealthy relationships [with] the chorus … basically a battlecry for self-love and self-awareness … After I started looking out for more of my best interests, I narrowed down the real from the fake and strengthened relationships that were good for me.”
That kind of epiphany tends to bring forth a passionate approach to life and so it is with “Solo” which is infused with the kind of sense of purpose and self-belief that bolsters the already powerful, highly-listenable music.
“4am” by girl in red
Pulling things back a little on the musical intensity scale, “4am” by a 19-year-old from Norway who make[s] song in her room, explores what it’s like to lie awake in the wee small hours of the morning, muses on the meaning of life and all kind of weird mundanity too much.
That kind of insomnia-driven over-thinking is never really all that pleasant and girl in red admits that by tagging the video on YouTube with this brief but meaningful explanation – “im sad and i wrote this 2 hours ago so yup” [sic] – but the upbeat jangly guitar is so lovely that it honestly makes things feel just a little bit better doesn’t it?
But don’t take my word for it, how about We Are: The Guard‘s evocative description of how it makes you feel, darkly swirling recrimination and loathing be damned:
“If you’re like me and spend most of your nights staring up at the ceiling while your mind races with all kinds of thoughts about life, death, and everything in between, then girl in red has just the song for you. ‘4am’ is an insomniac’s anthem if I’ve ever heard one, with its lo-fi warmth wrapping around you like a comfort blanket to see you through the small hours.”
It’s strange how the mind uses a time of rest and recharging as an anarchic therapy session for one, but with music this appealing to accompany it, maybe it’s not so bad.
OK, it is – but listen to the song anyway, will ya?
“Superhero” by Lauv
Hailing from the relatively-bucolic surrounds of San Francisco, a place of heady dreams and infinite possibilities for generations of quite different people, singer/songwriter Lauv mourns the loss in “Superhero” of the kind of person who absolutely consumes your soul and whose absence feels like it will never fully be accounted for.
As Earmilk recounts, it comes from a very real place drawn from a project called “my blue thoughts” where fans were encouraged to write their stream of consciousness thoughts on a piece of paper before dropping in a box he later collected:
“‘Superhero’ is a stripped down track about longing for an irreplaceable love that has slipped through the subject’s fingers. In the beautifully made video for the track, we learn that the subject and root of the track’s inspiration is a German boy named Martin who wrote the note about his Boston-based love, Diana, while he was alone at one of Lauv’s shows. As the heartbreaking story unfolds throughout the video and Martin begins coming to terms with the fact that he may not find anyone like Diana again, Lauv’s harmonies flow sweetly alongside a guitar and piano tracking.”
Lauv’s tremulously, emotionally-evocative voice captures with perfect, beautiful agony all the regret, pain and loss, the mix of upbeat guitar and insightful lyrics heartbreakingly and accessibly realised in the gorgeous song.
“WDWGILY” by SYML
Clearly from a place bereft of vowels – kidding, he’s from Wales, where they have lots of the things – SYML (translates to “simple” in Welsh) aka Brian Fennel has crafted an arrestingly-quiet but emotionally-powerful song in “WDWGILY”.
The song is replete with all kinds of profound romantic regret, the kind of uncomfortable experience that makes for a pensive song of reflection which, it turns out, the artist was completely OK with:
“I wanted to write a song that made me uncomfortable. What makes me comfortable is a pop song structure with sweet lyrics. Taking those away allowed me to write a mournful mantra using sounds and structure that are new to me. Playing this live will be a trip.” (Earmilk)
“WDWGILY” is awash with pain and sadness but it is oh so beautiful even so, the sounds of raindrops, emotion-filled vocals and an ever more complex, building but somehow still stripped back filling your soul with the kind of introspective excoriation which kills at the time but is good for you in the long run.
Until you find that sweet spot, this is the song to get you through the hard part.
NOW THIS IS MUSIC EXTRA EXTRA!
Dare to dream!
If that sounds like the kind of lofty slogan that befits the Eurovision you would be right. Israel has selected this aspirational slogan for its hosting of the Contest in 2019, and Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, believes it perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the event.
“This aspirational tag line represents and symbolises everything that the Eurovision Song Contest is about. It’s about inclusion. It’s about diversity. It’s about unity.
“Being on that stage, daring to dream you can win the Eurovision Song Contest, be brave enough, be confident enough, standing there performing for a world audience is something that is worth the dream. This is what Netta did last year, when she performed in Lisbon. She went on that stage with a dream — a dream to bring the Eurovision Song Contest back to Israel. And she succeeded. And next year in May, in Tel Aviv, we will all meet to celebrate the good values of the Eurovision Song Contest and we will do it here, with the help of broadcaster KAN and the Israeli team.” (Eurovision.tv)
The logo and artwork are still to be released but for now feast your eyes upon this lovely tweet which announced the slogan.
Tel Aviv 2019: Dare to Dream – Eurovision Song Contest Tel Aviv 2019 https://t.co/dCPD5iztC6
— Eurovision (@Eurovision) October 28, 2018
How do you write an iconic pop hit? One person who knows is Allee Willis, the immensely-talented and delightfully-quirky who penned hits like the Friends’ anthem “I’ll Be There For You” and Earth Wind and Fire’s “September”, and who has had quite the amazing life. Great Big Story caught up with her and the result is a fascinating exploration of the need to be creative and how that leads to the kinds of songs everyone wants to listen to and sing along to. (Laughing Squid)