This is the seventh studio album from the St Albans, Hertfordshire band. The band did a pre-tour over February, March and April this year to promote the record at the most iconic yet intimate venues nationwide. A mad concept, right? Well, no. The band wanted to support these venues that have taken a hit since 2020 and give a chance for their fans to see them up close and personal in all their glory.
We begin with the title track, and wow, what a way to start. It is nothing like I have ever heard the band do before. This is something Beethoven would have written. It is more a symphony than anything else, and the sound is glorious. We then return to familiarity on ‘Set Me on Fire’, where the band brings their rock and dubstep combination. ‘It Hurts’ is more of a departure from dubstep as they incorporate rock with club. I have no idea why the band use dubstep, as not many have been fond of it since 2014, and god knows why it still has its own chart on Beatport.
This album leads on from their 2020 effort. I may not have been fond of that one neither, but it worked out in a live setting. This one will as well, going by that. I liked that ‘Leap into the Lightning’ ventured into drum n bass, adding an element of Pendulum, who have mastered the rock and drum n bass combination.
Lead singer Rou said the record is a reminder for us all to smile in a world that gets more evil and sick by the day, so even though he might be releasing a lot of anger, there are more uplifting messages in the lyrics now and then.
Song recommendations: ‘A Kiss for the Whole World’, ‘Leap into the Lightning’, ‘It Hurts’
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that Taylor Swift was being held to ransom by Scooter Braun over her original masters for her past albums. To combat this, Taylor has decided to re-record the records, which are more enhanced versions of the original albums; over her years of experience as an artist, “Red (Taylor’s Version) is the second instalment of the re-worked records. Initially, the album was released in 2012.
Now, you would have thought that the interest from her fans or just generic listeners of hers wouldn’t bother listening to or buying an album they already have, but no, you would be wrong. I didn’t listen to the original record, but I did listen to a fair chunk of the songs through going shopping, listening to the radio, or watching television. The songs are far more enhanced now and better for it. Her vocals are more mature and softer. In the originals, Taylor sounds raw and angry. On these re-works so far, she has been far calmer. The production and the featured artists show that Taylor is savvier than she was as a youngster.
The immense excitement generated for this album’s release was the 10-minute version (That closes the record.) of ‘All too Well’. Her fans have known it, but the track was unreleased until this album came out. The song is about her brief relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, which led to a heartbreaking split in 2010. The record also opens with the original shorter version of the same song, albeit more enhanced.
Unlike the original, the extended version includes anecdotes about how the breakup ruined her 21st birthday, and she scathes at the age difference between them. Taylor asks Jake if the split also hurts as the track fades out with haunting layered vocals. The track didn’t make me cry, but that might not happen with you. It is quite a challenging listen, but as mentioned before, Taylor remains measured with her vocals rather than spitting venom.
Of course, an added incentive to buy these reworks is the “From the Vault” tracks. Of course, as mentioned in my review earlier in the year, these songs are album tracks from those sessions. These sessions would include ‘All too Well (Extended Version)’, ‘I Bet You Think About Me’, ‘Run’ featuring Ed Sheeran, ‘Nothing New’ with Phoebe Bridgers and many others.
I enjoyed the refined version of ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’. It sounded familiar, but yet an entirely different track from the original. The production is more sophisticated, so any distortion has been cancelled out. I remember hearing this soft Dubstep track with a tinge of distortion, or maybe that’s just me. There are even tracks such as ‘Stay Stay Stay’ and ‘the Last Time’ featuring Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody that tended to be overlooked and have been given a new lease of life on this version, with Taylor taking it back to her country roots.
I will have to concede that this version of “Red” is far superior to the original because Taylor’s vocals are more refined and measured, plus the production is crispier. Taylor’s confidence has grown over the years of being an artist, and this re-work certainly shows it.
Song recommendations: ‘the Last Time’, ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, ‘Everything Has Changed’
Wow, it has been 14 years since the debut album and seven records later, You Me at Six are very experimental on their albums.
“SUCKAPUNCH” is no exception, although you can still hear a familiarity with the band’s wall of sound. The record contains personal fables and their desire to keep pushing the boundaries. Leading vocalist Josh Franceschi said they must push the boundaries to let the industry know they are still around. Indeed, the current shitstorm going on in the world inspired them to push those boundaries and do whatever they wanted sonically while bringing new ideas across various genres they have flirted with in the past and other experimental sounds they were venturing into on this.
Lookat “Beautiful Way”; it is more Drum n Bass than the genre they are pigeonholed in. Then “SUCKAPUNCH” is what you would hear a disc jockey mixing in the nightclubs, with its roots firmly in Techno. The smatterings of Dubstep on the album make some tracks ideal for playing in clubs and raves when that day comes again. Of course, the band does return to their generic sound on tracks like “Kill the Mood”.
However, at the halfwaypoint, the track “Glasgow” brings a brief lull on the uplifting and energetic album. “Adrenaline” soon sees an end to the break. “What It’s Like” takes you back to the familiarity of their sound and harks back to the days of “Lived a Lie”.
The band has played it pretty safe even though it is obvious they have experimented (Maybe that’s why I found it all too familiar? Because they never stop being experimental.). Their guitarist, Max Heyler,said they have grown up with their music, whichIconcur with, but I need to find out where the sound has changed. I can still tell that I was listening to a You Me at Six album, but I found the club music element very welcoming. The majority still has some form of familiarity in it. However, I did draw parallels with them and their fellow English counterparts Hadouken when I heard the Dubstep tracks. Some might disagree with me calling it a “Safe” record, but they haven’t done anything I am surprised about. If they venture into country or classical, then I will be.
Song recommendations: “Beautiful Way”, “SUCKAPUNCH”, “What It’s Like”
This is more like it. After last week’s piss-poor album on the top spot, we have an album that deserves to be there for its lyrical content, production, and delivery. I remember when I first heard Ellie (I’m pretty sure we all can.), it was the song that started it all for her back in 2010, “Starry Eyed”. Although it is not one of her best or even one of her favourites, in her own opinion, it was still a strong song, and the dubstep break was pure genius, considering how popular the genre was becoming around that time. I can’t say I know much about her debut 2009 single, “Under the Sheets”, which only charted at no.53,but no one will forget “Starry Eyed”, even though it only charted at no.4 and therefore isn’t her highest position of that year, let alone her career. It was everywhere. You walked into a shop, you heard it. You switched on the radio,you heard it. You went to a fast-food restaurant, heard it, switched on the music channels, and heard it. From all that promotion, it saw her debut album “Lights” hit the top spot in her homeland and chart at no.6 in Ireland. A year after being signed, all the hard work paid off in only the beginning of what has been an eleven-year career. She has since had success with the singles “Burn”, “Love Me Like You Do”, and “River”(“River” being a Joni Mitchell cover.) scoring top spots. And every album save for “Delirium”, which was her last, has reached the acme. Bizarrely, it has been half a decade since Ellie last released an album, and it appears that “Brightest Blue” was worth the wait.
This record has been recorded over three years, with the majority done in 2017. I heard a snippet of one of the tracks on the lockdown edition of Later…with Jools Holland. Now, it was difficult to gauge any opinion from it as, as I have mentioned, it was only a brief clip of the music video for “Power”, which subsequently was released a month after the show aired. From the snippet and Ellie’s discussion with Jools about “Brightest Blue”, it sounded promising. I will go into details of how that did indeed turn out to be the case.
The album starts strong and explosive in terms of the production and language with a track aptly named “Start”. The song features a crowd cheering, then Ellie starts to play the piano and what sounds like a slow jam with serpentwithfeet singing through a vocal tube. I don’t know what they are called, but the late Roger Troutman and Jodeci were big fans of utilising the device. Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a bit on the “explosive” part, but the production is, all the same, outstanding. I was leaning towards the language used by Ellie rather than the production. It doesn’t fit in with the slow jam, but it is refreshing to see Ellie pour out her feelings and go with them in a way she seldom sees in terms of swearing in a song.
“Tides” caught my attention much later in the record, and it sounds like a song produced by Jamie XX or, indeed, a song for the XX. I wasn’t too keen on the features as, once again, the artists resorted to using that dreaded autotune. It spoiled some potentially impressive tracks on the second disc, which only renders “Overture” and “Sixteen” worthy of listening.
“Wine Drunk” is a very short track, but you can tell that Bon Iver has inspired Ellie as she used the same vocal effects that Justin Vernon uses. The title track that ends the first disc is a powerful song, and when you look at the lyrical content, it is very poetic. Here is an example of what I mean:
“Even in the calmest seas, now it’s all I wanna be, a semi-precious mystery, yeah I love me more than you, doesn’t mean I can’t be true.”
I love lyrics like that. You could use it for rap as well as for just poetry. Ellie has done a great job on this record, and both discs end strongly with “Brightest Blue” and “Sixteen”.
Ellie is cementing her place in music history, and you can understand why she is still relevant with unique vocals, catchy choruses, lyrics that strike a chord, and her desire to mix up her songs. This is one of her best albums to date. “Brightest Blue” captures your imagination from the very first listen.
Recommendations: “Start”, “Ode to Myself”, “Woman”
I looked forward to reviewing this as they did a few festivals last year, and the lads from Perth, Australia, were on point. However, they should have stayed as pop punk like they were with their self-titled debut album. Unfortunately, going into the pop arena hasn’t worked with them on this record, and it just sounds poorly produced. It’s pretty much like their previous album, “Youngblood”. This reminds me of that record, as there is little change in direction.
For me, 5 Seconds of Summer is falling into the same trap Maroon 5 did. Maroon 5, when they first got started, were releasing good songs like “This Love”, “She Will be Loved”, and “Sunday Morning”. Unfortunately, then they started making shite like “Moves Like Jagger” and “Phone Booth”. I don’t mind listening to early Maroon 5 material but since 2011? Forget it. I am saying that any song with the potential for 5 Seconds of Summer is being massacred and turned into dogshit. The band have said leading on from their previous record that their inspiration is drawn from the 80s, but I don’t know what section of that era because the songs are incredibly flat and underwhelming. It’s a shame when you consider the producers behind this project, Louis Bell and Andrew Watt, who have worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Halsey, the Chainsmokers, the late Avicii, Post Malone, Lana Del Rey, and several others to significant effect. Unfortunately, this falls into their most minor inspirational works category. I mean, not even U2’s Edge or Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello could add anything to this record because the producers, with all their effects, have pissed all over their contributions. I mean, let’s face it, Edge and Tom Morello are very unique in the way they play the axe and are fucking amazing too, but even they couldn’t rescue a lacklustre album. Maybe if the producers didn’t piss about on the songs they featured on, the album might be worthy of its No. 1 spot. It’ll probably get a lot of streams, but that could be people like me who are listening to make a review on it. The number of streams counts for nothing and needs to be a fair reflection of how well an album is doing. The sales of it could be a different story. I hope so; it’s awful.
What’s quite puzzling is that they are actually extremely good live and remind me of Muse. I am not a great lover of Muse’s studio material, but live they are in a different sphere, and those songs take on a life of their own. The same goes for 5 Seconds of Summer. Now, I was still deciding about giving them a chance live, but I was left really impressed with the performance and the interaction with the crowd. It also begs the question, are they with the correct label? Because they seem to want, the band to churn out generic pop shite rather than let them be as creative as they are live.
I found “Thin White Lies” quite comical for its reference to cocaine, but the songs that really stood out for me were “Teeth”, which has a bass line that sounds like it was inspired by listening to Bloc Party or Maximo Park and “Lover of Mine”, which is the penultimate track for blending an acoustic guitar with dubstep. Those are the only genuine creative moments I heard in the thirty-nine minutes. I hope they consider their options for the next album and move to another label because this company stifles their creativity in the studio. Even though live performances are where it really matters, it helps to add some of what
you pick up on the road to your creativity in the studio. I can’t fault them live, but in the studio, there is much work to do, and they really need to work out what their identity will be on future albums. They need to leave this record label and find one that will let them bring their live qualities into the studio. 5/10
Hello, and welcome to my weekly track-by-track review of the No. 1 albums throughout 2017. Please comment and give me feedback on what you think of my weekly reviews. I will share my honest opinions no matter how harsh they might be, so I am warning you. I hope you enjoy my weekly reviews and wish you all the best in 2017.
Little Mix-Glory Days
Shout Out to My Ex:
This song celebrates the mistakes you’ve learned from a previous relationship, how you’re defiant with your attitude, and how your ex-partner won’t break you. The Song is laced with irony.
Touch:
The music reminds me of the latest material by the Danish artist Mø. The song has a very catchy chorus, which is always the best ingredient for a song to become a hit.
F.U.:
Well, there are no prizes for deciphering the meaning of what “F.U.” stands for. I’m not a fan of this kind of mainstream music, but this song has a rather blues-induced vibe. The lyrics are about hating someone you can’t seem to kick(no matter how hard you try), yet you have managed to be dragged back into falling for them with, as the song mentions, “sweet talk”. It also sounds like it was influenced by songs such as “Unchained Melody” or “Earth Angel” when You hear the sound the lyrics are immersed in.
Oops ft Charlie Puth:
A nice animated piano riff and melodic whistling introduce the song. The Saxophone also adds nicely to the sound. It is a very upbeat track and falls into what I would define as “classic pop”.
The song sounds like the Calypso genre inspired it. The Saxophone makes an appearance and also Trumpets during the chorus. There is also that classic hook employed (in this case, “na na na”), which I can guarantee will get stuck into your head like most hooks do.
Down & Dirty:
The song starts with a dance theme before surprising you by going into dubstep and throwing you straight into dance. It sounds familiar to the music associated with lil Wayne’s “Lollipop”.
Power:
The sound of a motorbike can be heard in the introduction leading to excellent, rich vocals in the verse. The chorus falls into the dance genre. The second verse could be better vocally. It sounds more like soft rapping and doesn’t tie into the track’s title; the delivery used wasn’t potent. One of the vocalists chants “motorbike”, which then progresses to a build-up that leads into an instrumental break before the chorus kicks in. The song ends with the motorbike chant again, progressing to a build-up, and then suddenly stops.
Your Love:
I can again hear that the Caribbean has inspired the music. The introduction and verses are relatively mellow, with a steady soft piano riff. The chorus again has that classic pop hook to get the listener’s attention.
Nobody Like You:
A very emotional piano accompanies the vocals in this track. This is undoubtedly the deeper side of the band on the album. It is indeed a departure from the usual music that Little Mix is more infamous for. This is certainly a track worth listening to if you are a deep thinker. I would say that “Nobody Like You” is more aimed at the adult market, and I am sure it will feature during the slow dance moments at parties, et cetera (maybe even as the first dance of the newly married bride and groom).
No More Sad Songs:
This track is a metaphor for life about not letting yourself get down by whatever dire situation you are in but to soldier on through and enjoy being in the moment. As mentioned in the chorus, “I beg you please don’t play no more sad songs”. The chorus lyrics also talk about being wrapped up in the music, and everyone knows that music is an excellent way of healing yourself after any emotional ordeal. Again, this is not a track I associate with the band when I have heard the mainstream charts—another deep number I thoroughly enjoyed.
Private Show:
This sounds like the kind of rnb I listened to in the early 1990s and also featured a saxophone that sounds familiar to the one used in Jennifer Lopez’s “Play”. It is quite an upbeat, cheeky track, and just like a private show, it is too short(the shortest track on the entire album). I would metaphorically describe it as a short but enjoyable lap dance(the lap dance in this scenario being your ears).
Nothing Else Matters:
I remember Metallica had a song with the same title back in the early 1990s, but is this one anything like that classic track? Sonically no. Of course, Metallica is more Rock and Little Mix is more traditional pop. Emotionally? In some ways, it is. The delivery is less emotional than James Hetfield’s, but there are elements lyrically of the emotion that James delivered on that 1990s track. This is a great way to close the album, and since “Nobody Like You”, the album gradually sobers up the listener. The lyrics in the track also touch on the fact that when you’re in a relationship, you’re the only ones who should care what you both think rather than letting others interfere.
Overall Review:
I have to be brutally honest and say that I wasn’t looking forward to reviewing this album due to the fact I can’t stand most of the material that has featured in the singles charts as far back as 2007 and that I thought I would have jumped off a building not very far into this album, but I have surprised myself. I found the album enjoyable and worthy of its current placement in the official UK album charts. The stand out tracks for me were “Power” because I loved the vocal delivery in the first verse, “Your Love”, due to the soft piano riff, “Nobody Like You” shows the band have a very emotional and deep side to their arsenal, “No More Sad Songs” for its metaphorically delivered message, “Private Show” because, it takes me back to my infancy and “Nothing Else Matters” because all of we should heed the message it delivers. 8/10
Honest Opinions 