BLOG (comma) MUSIC: spotify

Showing posts with label spotify. Show all posts

Over the past year or so, I've seen the end of an upsetting number of my favourite bands. The first end that sticks poignantly in my mind is the band Trophy Wife. However, in the months after that, Save Your Breath, The Swellers, The Maccabees and Arcane Roots followed and now here we are at Balance & Composure and I am truly upset.

I'm not just upset at the fact that I never got to see them play live, although that is something that will stick with me. The fact is that their music holds such a heavy weight in my musical heart and I wasn't ready to be faced with the fact that there won't be any more of it. Their sophomore album in particular The Things We Think We're Missing has and will continue to soundtrack some of the more emotional moments of my life and has even simply brought a light or a meaning to the more mundane moments of life. I know that Balance & Composure aren't necessarily the best band or the best thing to happen to Alternative Rock music, but their music has always resonated with me in a way that felt personal. I guess that's one of the best things about music. You can listen to a song one way and yet the next person is hearing and feeling something completely different.

When I first discovered Balance & Composure back in 2014, I was a little bit late to the party but even then after just the first listen of "Lost Your Name" something sparked in me. With each of the bands listed above I can pick out a moment - an instant where a song of theirs defined an moment in time for me. Most recently I was walking off some feelings of uncertainty I was having and I listened through TTWTWM. It took me back to a time years ago when I was walking through Birmingham City Centre, sun shining, buzzing for the future. I could see that day so clearly. It's a shame that B&C are splitting but at least we'll always have those moments.

I've put together a Spotify playlist of some of my favourite tracks from them over the years. Listen in and create your own moments.

The two albums that I'm focusing on are so unexpected for me. Had you have asked me which would be underrated and which would be overrated before I listened to both albums I would have put them both the other way around.

UNDERRATED ALBUM
After their impressive debut self-titled album, Jungle were everywhere. Every festival, every advert, every TV programme, every country - they just blew up overnight. To be fair, this success ran for a substantial amount of time but just as quickly as they rose, they descended in radio silence. It was only by chance that I was browsing through Spotify last week and found that they'd released their sophomore album, and I've had it on heavy rotation since! Often on the back of a great debut, it's difficult for artists to deliver a follow up album that at the very least matches up, and so the fact that they've managed to overcome 'sophomore album slump' hasn't gone unnoticed. I've found instant favourites in "House In LA", "Pray", "Cherry", and "Beat 54 (All Good Now)". However, I know that as I keep listening my favourites will more than likely chop and change.

OVERRATED ALBUM

I was sat in a café, plowing through emails and I don't know if it was the combination of the never ending emails or the terrible weather that day but on that first listen-through, after the opening 4 or 5 songs I was irritated enough to turn the whole thing off. If it wasn't for "WEIGHT" coming to save the entire day, I would have never finished the album. BROCKHAMPTON have always relied on the creativity and cleanness of their beats to boost their records and up until now, I haven't had a bad word to say about their instrumentals. However, this album was filled with a lot of songs that after a while just became frustrating and chore-like to sit through. There are a few clear stand-outs in the latter half of the album like "DISTRICT", "TAPE" and "VIVID", however all in all, I doubt that I will ever listen to iridescence in its entirety again.

Numero ocho goes to the lovely Laura Mvula and her album The Dreaming Room. It's been a long time since I could say that I've enjoyed a sophomore album noticeably more than the debut but Laura's definitely done it.

Don't get me wrong, Sing To The Moon had some gems on it for sure but every single song on this album is a gem. Whether I'm listening to it upside down, back to front, shuffled up - this album has not disappointed once yet. In fact, my most played song on Spotify this year was actually "Phenomenal Woman" - the last song on this album. After first hearing this song, I'm pretty sure I woke up to it consistently every day for close to a month. What a way to get the day started! Such an uplifting song! There's no way that I can listen to this and not "jig me foot" as Laura's Nan says.

One criticism I may have for the album itself is that although I enjoy every song on there, lyrically and instrumentally, there may be portions where it falls a bit short and where some others have surpassed it this year. However, the reason this made it onto my list is because it played such a huge part in my day-to-day - it truly served to lift my spirits and keep my head up, and for me, that's reason enough. As cliche as it sounds Laura's music was there for me this year, and I enjoyed every note! Although, don't just take my word for it - The Dreaming Room was also nominated for The Mercury Prize this year over and against some other very big british names, so I guess I wasn't the only one.

I hope that Laura continues to go from strength to strength after this one, she's always had the talent, there's no question of that - I just never know what creative direction she might take next. Another few favourites from the record for me were "Overcome" and "Let Me Fall". If you haven't already given this a listen or if you've never even heard of her - give up a good 36 minutes of your time to listen to this album. I guarantee it will leave you with a smile on your face.