(Photo by Julian Myles on Unsplash)
Life needs more than its fair share of uplifting influences.
It doesn’t always get them but it needs them and thankfully these five artists are making sure that, for once at least, you get them!
Every one of these songs is a shot of sunshiney hopefulness to the soul and even when the song might veer to the intense side of things, there’s something freeing and unburdening about admitting you’re losing it because it presupposes you’ll find it again.
Or that you hope you will, and that’s often all you need …
“Love You Loud” (feat. Leon Stanford) by Disco Fries & Ferry Corsten
(courtesy official Disco Fries Facebook page)
If you’re looking for a euphoric track to really lift you up, and lift you good and high as we crawl to the weekend, and if ever such a buoyant scraping off the pavement of life is necessary, it’s at this psyche-depleted point of the week, then look no further than the effervescently upbeat powerhouse that “Love You Loud”.
True to its intensely declarative title, the song by American production duo Disco Fries and Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer Ferry Corsten is a mesmerisingly good coming together of words and music, every note echoing out the exuberance of romance being lived, as it should be, in quiet-shattering, technicolour richness than demands multiple layered sunglasses just to gaze upon it.
Acid Stag captures just how complex and yet emotionally accessible this lushly passionate song is:
Beginning with the reverb-soaked pianos and gentle vocals setting the tone, ‘Love You Loud’ doesn’t take too long to set the darkened colour palate in tact with a subtle insertion of electronic instrumentation in the backdrop that rises through the surface alongside the passion-fuelled percussion that leads us into quite an explosive chorus filled with plenty of sparsity and colour splashed all across the mix.
“Imagining” by Rina Sawayama
(courtesy official Rina Sawayama Facebook page)
Some tracks come laden with so much emotion so effectively and impactfully packaged that listening to them feel some sort of soul cleansing therapy.
“Imagining” by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama is just such a song, kicking off with ethereal and a captivating melodic dissnance that suggests something wonderfully intense if about to come our way, and it does, with the song pouring out heartfelt confessions in the verse than become agonisedly desperate utterances in a chorus that packs quite the emotional punch.
The emotive forcefulness of Sawayama’s pitch perfect delivery really hits home, capturing in richly accessible truthfulness what it feels like to tumble down an Alice in Wonderland-ian rabbit hole and wonder if you’re ever going to make it out.
The lyrics are like a sledgehammer to the “I’m fine” and “All good” glib status updates of polite conversation, laying it out bare just how ripped apart and dizzyingly incomprehensible life can be.
It’s a masterful piece of lush pop that wears some fantastically catchy melodies which it fills with lyrics that feel all the deepest darkest and necessary confessionals of our hearts.
“Speed Drive” by Charli XCX
(courtesy official Charli XCX Insta page)
If you’ve watched the Barbie movie, and if not, why not, you will quickly notice that along with brilliantly realised characters, technicolour fabulous world-building, vibrantly comedic heart and cleverly thoughtful messaging, the film also has a soundtrack that matches its every narrative beat to a danceable tee.
One of the standout tracks on what is by any measure a superlatively good grouping of movie-complementary songs is English singer Charli XCX’s “Speed Drive” which draws from Toni Basil’s 1982 monster hit “Mickey” and Swedish artist Robyn’s “Cobrastyle” to stunningly catchy effect.
Billed as “interpretations”, the two songs merge in with some highly infectious original music and lyrics to form a full speed ahead song that matches the scene in which the track features perfectly.
It’s a perfect marriage of song and film and adds more lustre to a film that’s already a phenom and bound to become ever more legendarily successful as time goes on.
“Bless Me” by Dombresky
(courtesy official Dombresky Facebook page)
Born in France but now resident in Los Angeles, California, Dombresky is a man known, according to Insomniac, for having a “penchant for invigorating four-on-the-floor beats” which, we’re assured, “is pure house bliss”.
Those claims receive substantial supporting weight with the luminously uplifting track, “Bless Me” which with its vivacious choral vocals and poundingly joyous melodies is assuring well on its way to generating a significant amount of bliss, which is always welcome no matter where you are.
Acid Stag notes that the song “enlightens your spirit immensely with its soulful house influences” something that the song’s producer, Swedish producer and songwriter Discrete, really felt too.
Working with Dombresky on this record was inspiring. We both share a love for soulful house music, and to see it come to life through our joint efforts has been truly satisfying. I’m thrilled to see it make its debut on Insomniac Records. (Acid Stag)
“Luna” by ROOSEVELT
(courtesy official ROOSEVELT Facebook page)
Creativity has its time and some truly memorable pieces of work can be written in instalments, arriving just when we need them too.
Take ROOSEVELT’s track “Luna”, which the artist says via Acid Stag had quite the musical gestation.
Luna started as a jam with a bass line 2 years ago – it was laying on my hard drive already when doing my last album, Polydans, and it never really developed into a song. I’ve reconnected with some of my old equipment and a stripped down setup in the last months and finally made it work, turning it into a funk driven dance track.
Described by Acid Stag as “a funked-up guitar driven disco treat”, “Roosevelt” is a gloriously light and bright track to lose yourself in, a beautiful song that feels like a heaviness-lifting balm for the soul which might just get you dancing too.
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