(via Shutterstock)
Had a big week?!
Haven’t we all so what we all need now, and needs lots of, is music that feels something, says something and makes us sense that maybe, just maybe, things might get better.
Or at least feel better for a few minutes …
These five artists deliver on that need, and with real oomph and emotional and musical power, and give your soul a lift even as they stoke it with some beautiful insights on the human condition.
“Seeing Double” by Lemonade Baby x Ronnie Sinclair
(courtesy official Lemonade Baby Facebook page)
Armed with a stutteringly playful intro, “Seeing Double”, a collaboration between Australian artist-producer Lemonade Baby and Ronnie Sinclair (Alistair Seawright from Brisbane duo Safety Club), is one of those instantly repeatable songs that sweeps you into its beguilingly upbeat world and keeps you, very happily, there.
It’s a pure slice of giddily alive pop that pops and bounces with real alacrity and verve and induces the kind of happy bopping that revives flagging spirits and makes even the more mundane of tasks feel like they are charged with a fun vivacity.
It speaks to the power of two talented people coming together, with both Lemonade Baby and Ronnie Sinclair commenting on the creative process behind the song through Acid Stag.
I had invited Alistair into the studio to work on some tracks. At that point in time my dad gave me a guitar pedal that he’d made for his pedal brand. Al tweaked the settings on the pedal and wrote that intro guitar riff. After that I played the drums, and he played the bassline. Next was recording vocals, Al took the mic and wrote his chorus and verses, and I wrote my verse, it all flowed out very quick. We had finished the song in 2 hours. Al left it with me to tweak and mix the record. ~ Lemonade Baby
It’s really a breakdown of communication, when you’re trying to find common ground but you’re just passing by each other again and again. And you feel like you’re going insane at a point. The frustration of being so close but, yet so far. ~ Ronnie Sinclair“
“Woof” (feat. Kah-Lo) by SOFI TUKKER
(courtesy official SOFI TUKKER YouTube channel)
New York duo SOFI TUKKER, comprised of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, are known for their fantastic ability to serve up diverse pop songs that sound like they belong to the same fun-filled family but which all sound distinctively their own.
Suffused with world beats and Portuguese, which Hawley-Weld studied in college and which was cemented as a passion, along with Brazilian culture, when she lived in the country, the songs of SOFI TUKKER, bring in all kinds of talents and influences, and in the case of “Woof”, that includes Nigerian singer-songwriter Kah-Lo (aka Faridah Demola Seriki).
She blends seamlessly but distinctively into “Woof” which mxdwn.com describes as …
The track is a high-octane, multilingual anthem with a distinct blend of Sofi Tukker’s signature sounds. “Woof” incorporates Portuguese, French, German, English and Yoruba, showcasing the duo’s mixture of languages and cultures in their music. As Sophie Hawley-Weld explains, ‘Fans may recognize it from when we DJ’ed it in our live stream in 2020. We added a cool guitar sample, plus some live guitar and Kah-Lo slays her verse.’
The track is lifted off their recently-released album Bread, which, and here’s mxdwn.com again, “represents a vibrant mix of sounds and styles, combining house, Brazilian funk, drum and bass, bossa nova, pop and even Portuguese poetry”, and it comes with a video that is a ton of fun to watch, perfectly matching the spirit and sound of “Woof”.
“Honesty” by Merry Lamb Lamb
(courtesy official Merry Lamb Lamb Instagram account)
Sounding, and almost feeling, like a fever dream, “Honesty”, from London-based Hong Kong-born artist Merry Lamb Lamb, is one of those arrestingly out-there tracks that makes you realise how much can be done with music in the right, super-talented hands.
Full of reverbs and pulsating synth beats and emotionally-loaded ghostly vocals, “Honesty” surges back and forth on a jittery carpet of sound that captures with almost instantly with its otherworldly, haunted sensibilities but its innate humanity, brought forth by the artist’s resonant vocals.
It is, notes Acid Stag, “a darkened and murky offering filled with swirling instrumentation that packs quite a punch amongst the captivating vocals on offer”, that speaks to how profound being honest can on our lives and the world at large.
Living in a world full of hatred, u can always feel fearful and have to stay on guard sometimes. Growing up, I was always moving, and feeling unsafe was the first thing that concerned me the most. Hate always exists in our daily busy lives. We try to ignore it clearly with our headphones on, but it sometimes gets to us. But I truly believe the beauty of honesty is the power of everything. Staying true to ourselves and believing that honesty will one day defeat all the hate, blame, and hurt. (Merry Lamb Lamb)
“Falling Asleep” by St. Lucia
(courtesy official St. Lucia Facebook page)
Hailing from South Africa but now based in Germany, St. Lucia is the creative brainchild of Jean-Philip Grobler who performs with a number of others including Patti Berranek, a keyboardist, percussionist and backing vocalist who also happens to be Grobler’s wife.
Their latest song, “Falling Asleep” is a lot of fun, full of an upbeat surging beat and vocals that carry real emotiveness with Get Some Magazine describing the song as “the ultimate indie meets electro-pop dance floor rager [with its] “the pulsating drums, funky bass grooves, and infectious string section are all expertly designed to make audiences lose their minds in a good way”.
The clip which accompanies it has a lush expansive feel to it, perfectly accommodating the song with a landscape that seems to grow to take in the song’s size and ambition.
And yet for all its bigness as a beguiling dance track, “Falling Asleep” feels emotionally intimate and warmly closed in, a pop song that magically goes big and small all at once.
“Monaco” by Jude York
(courtesy official Jude York Instagram account)
Talking songs going BIG, “Monaco” by Jude York feels right from the first emphatically ambitious notes like a blockbuster cinematic effort that is as much visual as it is musical.
Hailing from Australia, the self-described “queer artist [from] regional Queensland’, York is a singer-songwriter and producer who is able to channel real emotions and theatricality into his songs with “Monaco” being proof positive of his synthesist ability to bring these elements together.
Playful and fun, “Monaco” also has a cinematic melancholia to it, full of the vibrancy and warmth of treasured memories but tinged with regret and nostalgia which, if you think about it, is true of many memories, even the very happiest.
It’s a brilliantly catchy song that has musical presence, lyrical impact and a real sense of raw, heartbreaking humanity mixed with the heady brio that can only come with the breathy escapism of summer nights.
EUROVISION 2025 UPDATE!
Nemo brings it home for Swizterland! (courtesy Eurovision.tv / Alma Bengtsson / EBU)
Yes, barely four months after the somewhat controversial 2024 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest wrapped up, we already have a host city for 2025!
Basel aka Basle has been given the gig to host next year’s event and according to this video, it’s a cool choice that reflects the very cultural sensibilities of this city in northwestern Switzerland.
Onward and upward with all songs released now eligible to be entered for Eurovision 2025 (Cyprus has already named its entry!) …
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