It’s been busy. You need some peace and quiet BUT you also want to think … to feel … to ponder.
Another one of life’s wondrous contradictions which lends itself to being soundtracked by people who get the human condition, who have lived it and who have the talent to turn it into beautiful, thoughtfully arresting music.
These five artists have taken a key moment in their lives and turned them into songs that sound amazing, have a real heart and soul and meet you right where you are.
In quieter moments like this, they are just what you need …
“Space” by AUDREY NUNA
Have you every a strong impelling urge to push everyone and everything far from you?
New Jersey-born singer and rapper AUDREY NUNA certainly knows what that feels like with the talented up-and-coming artist pouring her heart and soul and a celebration of her Korean-American identity into the startlingly beautiful song “Space”.
Coming complete with a meditative, visual striking video, “Space” is a gorgeous piece of lo-fi pop, anchored by the artist’s luminously atmospheric voice which conveys a brittle acknowledgement of the need to be alone for a while.
The song is the perfect marriage of emotion, music and voice, a track that speaks to how so many of us are feeling after a highly stressful 18 months and how perhaps the solution is to simply get away from it all.
If you do, make sure you take this superlative song with you …
“Clear” by George Gretton
“Clear” is a laid back pop gem that kicks with repeating, overlaid harmonies that create a memorable sense of time and place that begins the song as it means to be go on.
Created by UK artist George Gretton, the song came out rather quickly as the Nottingham producer-musician explains on Sidekick Music.
“‘Clear’ is the quickest song I’ve ever written & produced in my life … It was written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered all in a week. I usually like spending a long time pouring over every last detail of my songs, but I kind of felt like this didn’t want diluting at all. Just the concentrated ideas from one or two days and nothing else was all ‘Clear’ needed. That’s why it’s pretty short, concise and to the point, at least sonically”.
The track is borne of a lot of introspective time courtesy of the pandemic, with lockdowns causing the artist to look inward rather than document lived experience.
It has informed “Clear” with an incisive interior beauty which paired with emotively-rich music has produced a real song of our times.
“Bad Dreams” by Cannons
Hailing from Los Angeles, CANNONS is a trio comprising Ryan Clapham, Paul Davis and Michelle Joy who have produced what Variance magazine calls a “shimmering new track” in “Bad Dream”.
The song is all ethereally muscular pop, driven by synths, Joy’s emotionally atmospheric vocals and am insistently beautiful melody that is both propulsive and chilled all at once.
The first track from their new partnership with Columbia Records, the band hopes that “Bad Dreams” will find a place in the hearts of fan who, like the band, have experienced a less than ideal year or so of late …
“We’re excited to share our new single ‘Bad Dream’ and hope you find yourself connecting to it as much as we have been during this time of such uncertainty in the world.” (Sony Music)
“Super Classic” by Supertaste
The Brooklyn duo Supertaste certainly know how to lay down a smooth piece of indie pop-meets-disco-meets-house music.
“Super Classic” is all kinds of cosy, laid back fabulousness, a deliberate on the part of the band who have this to say about the track lifted from their sophomore EP of the same name.
“Supertaste’s mission is to bring you that warm feeling of walking to your favourite bodega after a night of dancing …” (EDM Tunes)
They go even further on Acid Stag giving this highly-listenable track even more of a big night out vibe.
“The setting of this song in our heads is really like a Fear & Loathing vibe – but make it a first date in NYC – trying to capture the energy of the city at 2am on a summer night, that electricity of a new romance, the intoxicating heartbeat of the nightlife.”
“Cold as Ice” by Ben Phipps
Can love break down the cold hardness of life?
It turns out it can if “Cold as Ice” by California’s Ben Phipps, featuring captivatingly emotive vocals by L.A. singer CAPPA, is any guide.
The musically vibrant and upbeat song carries with a darker lyrical heart of falling short of the very best you long for, despite the promise of magically energising touch and is a product of the pandemic where homebound people dream of being out doing what comes danceably naturally …
“Recorded in winter under California’s stay-at-home order, this collaboration came together 100% remotely between CAPPA and I. We wanted to make a song that would get you to your feet before dropping to just the essential elements, only to build back up and drop once more to a stripped back beat.” (Ben Phipps, Acid Stag)
As songs go about the vagaries of the human condition, it is the perfect mix of longing and disappointment, all mixed in with intoxicatingly good music.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST EXTRA EXTRA!
The credits have rolled but the Eurovision Song Contest is never truly over!
Before we hit a summer packed with 2022 rumours and speculation, classic EurovisionAgain shows, and the Host City bidding process, let’s take a moment to remember just how much effort went in to the 2021 Contest.
To honour the hard work each participating country has put into delivering a ‘Live-on-Tape’ back-up performance (should they not have made it to Rotterdam), we’ve created two special shows featuring these performances.
Guiding us through the Celebration is our Eurovision.tv host Krista Siegfrids and, of course, what’s a Eurovision without fans? Keep an eye out for the special fan performances you’ve been submitting throughout May.
Tonight you will be able to see the performances of the songs from the Grand Final of Eurovision 2021.
Neither the MAPS or Embers Live-on-Tape performance will feature in the Eurovision Song Celebration shows, as both artists want the live performance they delivered in Rotterdam to be the version that people remember. Lesley and James’ songs will still feature in the fan recap. (all text (c) Eurovision Song Contest via YouTube)