(via Shutterstock)
Be in the moment.
Be swept out of the moment.
Whatever you need, and whatever you’re feeling, these five artists can deliver it, with each of their songs reaching into the very heart of what it means to be human, to be alive and to be present and running with it to some very engagingly affecting and danceable places.
While all music should move you to some degree, these songs go all out in that regard, offering up thoughtful lyrics, entreaties to just go with it and to dance away or into whatever it might be concerning you at the time.
“Loneliness” by the Pet Shop Boys
(courtesy official Pet Shop Boys Facebook page)
It’s a tricky business staying musically creative over the long-term. (This is true of creativity across all media, really.)
Sure the talent and drive are still there but with an established sound and a fan base who expected a certain style to be delivered, it can be tough keeping yourself fresh and interesting; but UK-based duo Pet Shop Boys (Chris Lowe, Neil Tennant), active since 1981, have, like Duran Duran and some others, have found a way to both honour their heritage and keep thing interesting with new song “Loneliness”, the lead single for upcoming album, Nonetheless, out 26 April.
They’ve done that in part by keeping focused on a universal sense of humanity which permeates the whole album, which is “a celebration of the unique and diverse emotions that make us human”, but “Loneliness” in particular, which will likely resonate with anyone who lived through the COVID pandemic.
‘Loneliness’ is the last track we wrote for the album. Chris sent me this very beautiful track over. And I already had this, probably inspired by the lockdown situation, this lyric about loneliness which fitted with it very well. And, it’s quite an up sounding song with a lyric that starts off sad but it turns around at the end. (Retropop)
“I Inhabit My Life (And It Feels So Good)” by Golden Vessel and Headaches
(image courtesy Golden Vessel Facebook page)
If you’re like this reviewer, you might find living in the moment more than a little challenging.
Not so Australian artists Headaches and Golden Vessel, who have not only teamed up for an eight-song album, Making Friends with The Space Around Me, but have crafted a catchy, dancey piece of pop, ‘I Inhabit My Life (And It Feels So Good)’, that knows all about entering fully into where you are.
This song is about being fully present in your body and surroundings, and completely giving yourself over to the present moment. (Headaches via Acid Stag)
Loping along with some tasty mid-fi electronica that bounces along with earthy appeal, ‘I Inhabit My Life (And It Feels So Good)’ feels like its channeling a presentness that simply exists in the relaxed vibe of the track and is happy that, here and now at last, it’s all that has to be worried about.
Not a bad lesson for life overall, really.
“Valentine” by Tourist
(courtesy Genius)
One artist who you suspect has a good grasp of entering into present emotions and just running with them is UK songwriter-producer Tourist.
Highly productive in 2023 with a trio of catchy songs to his credit, he’s back with an enormously insistent song, “Valentine”, which keeps calling over and over “I want … I need your love …”, finally asking “Can I ever get enough of your love?”
The song evokes what it feels like to have emotions take you some place from where you on what thissongissick says is “atmospheric … ethereal, dreamy, but also disorienting”, sampling “vocals from The Jeremy Spencer Band’s 1979 song, ‘Travellin’.”
The artist had this to say about this beautifully immersive track.
Often my music draws from specific life events but this album really lives in and was born from my imagination. I wanted to write something that felt like it whisked you away, an album that felt like a “place”, somewhere you might find new corners with each listen. Fundamentally, it’s inspired by dreams, memories and all those in-between experiences that are sometimes better expressed through music. (thissongissick)
“Move Like This” by Gold Fang
(courtesy official Gold Fang Facebook page)
Born in Trinidad but now calling Sydney home, Gold Fang has a way of making music that subsumes you in the best possible way and asks you to simply go along with what the song is asking.
The song in question is “Move Like This” about which the artist says – “This song is simple, follow the instructions” – and it’s a track that’s all, according to Acid Stag, “laid-back rhythms of reggae with mellow synths, pulsing beats and Gold Fang’s hooky vocals.”
This sublimely chilled piece of thoughtfully emotive pop reflects an artist, says NLV Records, who can move “effortlessly between Dancehall, Reggae, Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul” and whose song “explores a smoother side to his reggae sound, balancing the groove-driven impulses of Anderson .Paak with the high gloss of Bad Bunny.”
It’s gloriously, brilliantly listenable and yes, one listen and you will have to “Move Like This.”
You won’t have a choice, and honestly, you won’t mind a bit.
“One Night/All Night” (feat. Tame Impala) by Justice
(courtesy official Justice Facebook page)
There’s a welcomingly dark and sharply melodic edge to the start of “One Night/All Night” which is all electronic beats before segueing into a deliciously danceable rhythm and vibe with emotionally weighty vocals powering its path.
And that, you won’t be surprised of a track which features a collaborative with Aussie band Tame Impala, is wholly intentional on the part of French duo Justice, which comprises Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé.
We wanted this track to sound as if a dark/techno iteration of Justice had found a sample of a disco iteration of Kevin Parker. Kevin has a sense of melody that’s fascinating in the sense that he manages to write melodies that feel both simple and natural, but very peculiar at the same time. This song oscillates between pure electronic music and pure disco but you never really get the two at the same time. This very idea of switching instantly from a genre to another within a song runs through the whole record, and is maybe showcased the clearest in ‘One Night/All Night’. (Acid Stag)
It comes twinned with a song ‘Generator” about which the duo says:
To us, this one sounds like ‘Getaway’ by the Salsoul Orchestra, but with gabber and classic 90s hardcore techno sounds. Disco/funk and electronic music at large have always been core elements of the music we make as Justice. In Hyperdrama, we make them coexist, but not in a peaceful way. We like this idea of making them fight a bit for attention. (Acid Stag)
If you want music with presence and swagger, then these are the tracks for you, all emotional intensity and musical power that will take you in and never let you go.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2024 UPDATE!
A ton of national finals have taken place recently and with winners announced, that means we have a slew of new national entrants to get to know and listen to. We now know that …
5Miinust & Puuluup will represent Estonia
Silvester Belt will represent Lithuania
Natalia Barbu will represent Moldova