All in song lyrics blog post
Lorde's new album Melodrama comes out in one week, and "Perfect Places" seems to be the song most like Pure Heroine that I've heard so far. The music is synthy and deep, but it differs from Pure Heroine by sounding lighter and less dark. There's just something below the surface of the music--maybe something in her voice--that speaks of being happier. Or maybe it's how she sings the line "I'm nineteen, and I'm on fire." Whatever that quality is, "Perfect Places" might be my favorite song from Melodrama so far. It's Lorde, but it's older, happier Lorde, and I like who she's becoming.
Paramore dropped the music video for a new single just a few days ago, and it's been very interesting, between "Told You So" and the previously released "Hard Times" to try to predict the direction the band is taking. My impression of Paramore's earlier music was that it was fairly hardcore, but this new music seems to have Latin influence and seems lighter and easier to digest.
Harry Styles just released the next single from his upcoming album Harry Styles, and if any song from any former One Direction band member is going to claim indie influence, it's probably going to be "Sweet Creature." The name's already odd enough to be alternative, and the folksy backing vocals, simple guitar picking, and country-inspired vocal flourishes remind me heavily of acoustic alternative songs about summer days and childhood.
Just a few days ago, Imagine Dragons released "Thunder," and I have to say that I really like it. I remember hearing "Radioactive" for the first time. There was a girl I liked, and she, a few friends of ours, and I sat on her parents' livingroom floor sharing music. She brought out Imagine Dragons, and while relationally she didn't change my life, musically she might have. I was interning for a US senator at the time, and I remember pulling up Grooveshark and listening to Imagine Dragons songs non-stop.
Fall Out Boy just released their first new song in years. After the success of songs like "Uma Thurman" and "Centuries," I think a lot of Fall Out Boy fans have been waiting for something new from the band, and we now finally know that Fall Out Boy will be releasing a new album called Mania in September of 2017. The lead single off this album is "Young and Menace," and its lyrics are about riding the wave of feelings of isolation, anger and anxiety.
The Chainsmokers have released a new song! "The One" is slower and more purposefully emotional than most of the hits The Chainsmokers has been dropping recently. That being said, that slowness isn't what we expect from The Chainsmokers, so I'm curious to see whether people will take to it or not. Of course, it does sound like The Chainsmokers are diversifying their repertoire with "The One," which could be a sign that they're growing as artists.
Gorillaz is back after a half a decade hiatus, and I can't believe I've never listened to this music before. "Saturnz Barz" (not to mention the other three songs released at the same time) is artistically created, methodical, and cryptic. Some lyrics are clear personal narrative (a la Popcaan's rap), and the rest are near incomprehensible. Lay these down over a track that's just as new, weird, and edgy, and you have yourself a song worth listening to.
Clean Bandit, who has been touring with Zara Larsson, just released a new soon-to-be-hit single with the singer. Despite using the word "symphony" eight times, "Symphony" has got a strong dance beat and heavy synth, and sounds custom made for the club. But that's what one expects from Clean Bandit. And also as expected from Clean Bandit," Symphony's" music video has a strong emotional meaning. The music video shows a man recovering after the death of his boyfriend/husband. But does the song itself reflect this depth of meaning?
Lorde just released her newest song from Melodrama. And when I say "just," I mean "just." "Liability" is less than hour old, but it's already easy to hear how good it is. Interestingly, it's a different style from anything from Pure Heroine. The song sounds more singer-songwriter than any of the dark, synthy pop on Pure Heroine, but the lyrics are still angsty, dark, and sad. It's the same Lorde even if she sounds a little different in "Liability."
If you actually want to be hypnotized, the Coldplay lyric video for "Hypnotised" should do the trick for you. There's lots of slow motion water, flowers, bubbles, and landscapes. Combine that with the incredibly dream-like state the music itself will put you in, and you're really not going to have a chance against Chris Martin and the rest of Coldplay.
I should preface this by saying that I'm a huge Lorde fan, but I won't let that color my explanation and analysis of her song. Pure Heroine was the first time, personally, that a new album came out that I could listen to straight through and then start again. Every song on that record was amazing, and I loved them all. It opened me up to the new experience of listening to an album as a whole, which is more difficult than you might think in a world that runs on singles.
“Chained to the Rhythm” by Katy Perry is about people who live live far away from difficulty or unhappiness and who aren’t willing to come down out of these “bubble[s]” to see real problems that need to be solved in the world. She doesn’t specify the kind of problems and leaves it to her audience to apply her song to situations on their own though there does seem to be a pretty substantial political charge to this song.
Coldplay and The Chainsmokers are probably one of the more unlikely collaborations we'll see this year in music, but "Something Just Like This" may be one of the best collabs we'll see. Musically, it's entrancing. It's everything we love about The Chainsmokers' thoughtful and body-moving approach to EDM music with everything we love about the dry, smooth power of Chris Martin's voice. It's really the best of both worlds, and while the group is an unlooked for collaboration, personally, I'll be looking for more songs from these two groups.
I've always been a bigger fan of Katy Perry's sound than of her lyrics, and I think that sometimes pop stars put their music above their lyrics. In fact, they may do that most of the time. After all, when you think of pop music, do you think of dancing and good times, or do you think of careful consideration of abstract concepts? Well, since you're here on my site, maybe you're one of the few who would say the latter.
Imagine Dragons has always been one of my favorite bands, and they've released something beautiful in "Believer." The song was released just a few days before the writing of this post, and I've already explained it on my YouTube channel, but I thought it deserved a little bit of a longer look. This song has something deep to say, and it's reminiscent of "Sucker for Pain"--a song that Imagine Dragons collaborated on for the Suicide Squad movie.
I was going to explain "Run Up" by Major Lazer, but got a few paragraphs in and realized that I needed something a little bit more substantial to write a full blog post about it at the 2AM time that I'm writing right now. That being said, "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran was the perfect alternative. I enjoy the music he puts out, and I'm excited for the rest of the Divide album to come out. I've already explained "Shape of You" on this blog and "Castle on the Hill" on my YouTube channel, and I encourage you to check out both of those explanations, the latter of which you can find just below here.
I think "Paris" by The Chainsmokers is going to be one of the deepest songs I've explained in a while. And I'm honestly surprised. "Closer" was decently deep, but "All We Know" disappointed me. The duo seems to hit and miss as far as depth or insight of lyrics go, but I think "Paris" is a home run of sorts. They refrain from making their song everything a pump-up, dance song could be as far as energy and lyrics go. And instead they slow it down, turn down the dial a little, and focus on what the words are saying. This isn't a requirement for every song by any means, but I'm glad to see the diversity in their songwriting, and am excited to explain "Paris."
I've never seriously listened to Arcade Fire until now, but I've done some research on their latest single "I Give You Power," and I think you're going to like the depth of this song. The lyrics are a tad repetitive but still powerful, and the story behind the song may surprise you even more.
Ed Sheeran released this song while I was on a trip to Africa, so I didn't get the chance to explain it right away, but there's still time, and I'd like to take a closer look at the meaning of the lyrics. Sheeran is an extremely talented musician, and I've greatly appreciated the artistry of some of his other songs, so it's a pleasure to explain this one.
Taylor Swift and ZAYN just dropped their new duet "I Don't Wanna Live Forever." The song's going to be part of the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, and it's intense. The song's musical aspect is smooth and rich and interesting. The lyrics, on the other hand, are very simple and straightforward--they're about a relationship that didn't work out the first time around.
