Heartbroken? Sitting down too long? Longing to head home and live life on your own terms? Need an escape into a lushly cinematic landscape?
Today’s five artists can be with you in all those situations, offering up solace, empathy, melodic diversion and a sense that for everything in life there is a song.
People joke about having a soundtrack to their lives like they do in the movies but the truth is there are millions of songs out there, all of which will fit some part of your life at some point or another.
For now, and to save you listening to all those songs in search of the one you need right now, here’s a lovely variety of songs guaranteed to make you feel as if you’re not alone wherever you are in life.
“Woo!” by Remi Wolf
Remi Wolf, who hails from sunny, busy Los Angeles, is not someone who doesn’t really believe in musical labels as she tells i-D:
“… Remi describes her rainbow-hued music as “funky soul pop”. But it comes with a caveat: “I don’t believe in labels like that though, because they literally don’t make sense anymore. Everything is soup.”
More power to her since labels usually end up being seized on by the less imaginative amongst us as unshakable orthodoxies that must be adhered by an artist, creating an artistic prison in the process.
There is undeniable soulful feel to a song like “Woo!” which is infused with a warm, joyful vibrancy that will leaving you feeling a whole lot more bouncy and giddy with happiness, helped along by a colourfully psychedelic video clip in which Wolf’s smile is as sweetly happy as her music.
“Change the Story” (feat. Jamie Lidell) by RAC
Been sitting far too still during the whole COVID-10 social isolation thing?
Never fear – DJ and producer RAC, who calls Portland, Oregon home, will have you up and moving with grooving intent in no time.
His song, “Change the Story, which feature vocals from British artist Jamie Lidell, is so catchy that stays in your seat while listening to it, and for a considerable period thereafter, is all but impossible, something thissongissick definitely seizes upon (no doubt while typing and dancing simultaneously):
“The funky new track features prolific British artist Jamie Lidell on vocals. His rich and haunting voice adds a whole new texture to the song, backed by RAC’s signature vibey, melody-driven instrumentation. Simply put, this fresh single just really makes you want to move. Complete with an enchanting bass line and masterful synth work, RAC intimates at all the good to come on his upcoming album.”
This piece of ergonomic, physio-friendly musical bliss is the third single from RAC’s album BOY which is out now.
“LEMONS” by Brye
There is a quiet boppyness to 16-year-old’s Chicagoan Brye’s “LEMONS” a lament about teen love gone wrong which musically is all jaunty blips and catchy melody but lyrically is a deserved takedown of someone’s emotional cruelty and shallowness.
Byre doesn’t hold back even one iota as We Are: The Guard makes clear:
“This track is explosive. Mind-blowing, even. Be careful with your earbuds while listening to ‘Lemons’, as they might just overheat and shatter into hundreds of pieces upon pressing play. The BOOM, you’re cooked just for listening to the experience of a teenage relationship gone sour pouring through the miniature speakers that we had very clearly warned you not to put directly next to your ears.”
Here’s a thought for all the thoughtless souls out there who nothing about making life miserable for someone they once lavished care and love upon … instead of squirting lemons in someone’s eye, metaphorically of course, maybe stick to making lemonade?
Everyone will be happy, you won’t hurt someone and you won’t be the subject of a musical takedown that is one of the catchiest and honest songs of the year.
“Goliath” by Woodkid
Woodkid, who hails from France, has crafted a song in “Goliath” that is all kinds of darkly atmospheric, burning emotion, accompanied by a percolating beat that is orchestral in its expansive allure.
It’s a stunningly gripping, beautifully affecting song that gets right into your heart and soul, and has some very tasty things going on, as Abbey Road Studios notes:
“[‘Goliath’ is] a skillful blend of meticulous sound design, futuristic electronics and majestic strings, on which he lends his haunting vocals, compliment the piece seamlessly.”
Cinematic in scope and brilliantly, captivatingly emotional in feel, “Goliath” is a stunning piece of brooding, thoughtful pop, and is drawn from the artist’s long-awaited Yoann Lemoine-produced second album, his first since 2013’s very well-received The Golden Age.
“We’re All Just On Our Way Home” (feat. Luwten) by San Holo
Sander van Dijck aka Dutch DJ, musician, record producer and composer San Holo has a way with luminously beautiful melodies.
The latest case in point is”we’re all just on our way home”, featuring the Tessa Dowstra-founded Dutch band LUWTEN, which sounds exactly as the title suggests.
Warm, richly-melodic and chilled in a way that only comes to you when the day is over and the tension has lifted, a wondrously-relaxed state of mind that fits in very much with the approach of both San Holo and LUWTEN, according to CONSCIOUS ELECTRONIC:
“The maxim for Luwten, Tessa Douwstra’s creative conduit, is a simple one: space is the place. Well, maybe not outer space specifically, but a space unburdened by the strain of one’s surroundings. A place where only one thing truly matters: the desire to create something that didn’t exist yesterday. It’s an ideal that perfectly comports with San Holo’s approach to art.”
It’s a creative sensibility that fits perfectly into that magical place when you’re heading home, the stress of things you have to do is over and you are in that enviable position of being able to create the rest of your day as you see fit and in a way that can make you uniquely happy.
For those of you for whom this is a sacred and wonderful place, and who on earth can’t relate, this is your soundtrack.
SONGS, SONGS AND MORE SONGS EXTRA!
Want to relive the songs of 1987 in one very danceable three-minute medley? Of course you do, and now thanks to Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell of The Hood Internet, you can!
Artists, according to Laughing Squid include:
Aerosmith, Audio Two, Belinda Carlisle, Boogie Down Productions, The Cure, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode, Eazy-E, EPMD, Eric B. & Rakim, Eurythmics, George Michael, Guns N Roses, Heart, INXS, Jody Watley, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, LL Cool J, Love And Rockets, Madonna, MARRS, Michael Jackson, Midnight Oil, New Order, Pebbles, Prince, Public Enemy, R.E.M., Rick Astley, Salt N Pepa, Sonic Youth, Starship, T’Pau, Taylor Dayne, Tiffany, U2, Was (Not Was), When In Rome, Whitesnake, Whitney Houston.