It’s hard to say goodbye, and it’s even harder to admit to yourself that it’s for the best. They say when you truly love someone you put their happiness before your own, even if it means that they’re better off with someone else. A truly noble gesture on paper, but in practice how many of us are really strong enough to be so selfless. ‘Glad It’s You’ plays as a letter to an ex’s new partner, acknowledging all the things they give them that you never could, and wishing them both the best for the future as everyone deserves to know love and happiness. I’m not sure I know many people that have the strength and maturity to even admit such a thing to themselves, let alone articulate those thoughts into a gorgeous folk ballad and share it with the world. The candor, sincerity and tenderness shown in this track stands as a real testament to Kate Vogel’s strength of character and her remarkable ability as a songwriter. In both its music and its sentiment, ‘Glad It’s You’ is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a good while.
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Album Review: Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Tame Impala – The Slow RushTop Tracks: Hannah Grace – Blue
It’s been well documented that we’re all our own harshest critics, but something you rarely see mentioned is that we’re also our own best friends. When we are at our lowest, more often than not it falls on us to pull ourselves up out of the darkness. In essence ‘Blue’ is all about self love, about being so exhausted and exasperated with feeling down that you channel every last bit of energy you possess into feeling positive. That positivity simply radiates from this track, from its earworm melodies, from its stunning soulful vocals, and from the golden glow of its gorgeous retro video. It is the kind of song that just lights up the room. After a string of stripped back piano ballads it’s wonderful to hear Belwood favourite Hannah Grace releasing music to make you want to get up and dance and cast all your doubts and worries aside. While we may often have to pull ourselves up out of the darkness, often I find it is joyful songs like this that help light the way forward.
Top Tracks: John Adams – Kiss Every Stranger
When it comes to love, finding “The One” is like finding a needle in a haystack. In fact that would be a massive understatement. In reality it’s more like trying to find a needle in a haystack without knowing what a needle even is. We like to think we have a “type” and it’s just a case of ticking off the right boxes, but love doesn’t follow logic. Sometimes opposites attract and you fall for someone you never thought you would. Over time your priorities may change and you may find yourself looking for different things. And sometimes we can get hung up on the wrong person or meet the right person at the wrong time. All this means that we don’t know what we’re looking for until we find it, and there are no shortcuts on that journey, the only way forward is to keep looking. That search is the basis for the brilliant new single from John Adams. Following on from last year’s stunning EP No White Lies, ‘Kiss Every Stranger’ reflects on the struggle of searching the one and the demoralising feeling it can bring, but it also carries an undercurrent of hope that they’re out there somewhere and keeps faith in the fact that true love will win out in the end.
Album Review: Oh Wonder – No One Else Can Wear Your Crown
Oh Wonder – No One Else Can Wear Your CrownAlbum Review: Darling West – We’ll Never Know Unless We Try
Darling West – We’ll Never Know Unless We TryTop Tracks: Zac Pajak – Retrograde
They say that sometimes less is more, but that’s usually the exception to the rule. In most cases, more is more. I often hear songs with simple, stripped back arrangements that just feel like there’s something missing. Sparse acoustic tracks that seem like they had a fuller sound at one point and have been stripped down to the bare essentials. ‘Retrograde’ doesn’t feel that way; there’s nothing missing here, no working backwards to make it more empty and quiet, instead it seems to have emerged fully formed and ready to win your heart. Scarcely more than soft acoustic guitar, some understated electronics and some wonderfully soulful and radio-friendly vocals, this new track from London based singer/songwriter Zac Pajak is greater than the sum of its parts. All about letting go and trusting that things will work out in the end, it makes sense that ‘Retrograde’ does such a great job of basking in the calm and the quiet. It is simple but surprisingly satisfying, the exception that proves the rule. It’s like a single candle that’s somehow able to keep the whole room bright and aglow.
Top Tracks: Remington Super 60 – I Don’t Wanna Wait
Some songs are intrinsically linked to a place or time. They capture the spirit of a particular scene or movement, or reflect the culture surrounding where they first came to life. Some songs however are a lot harder to place, they shift and evolve to become whatever the artist wants it to be. Take ‘I Don’t Wanna Wait’ for instance, what setting does it conjure up in your mind? There’s a dreamy warmth to it that evokes images of a Californian summer, yet there’s also a suave and sophisticated aura around it which you can picture drifting out from some Parisian cafe. There’s a subtle psychedelic shimmer to the track that simply screams 60s, but the groove feels so fresh and contemporary. It’s whatever the band wants it to be, and they revel in whisking you away to wherever they please. And so, from their cold and quiet Norwegian homeland, Remington Super 60 take you on a grand summer voyage to golden beaches and bohemian bistros. In the end the destination doesn’t matter however, not when the journey itself feels like drifting across the clouds without a care in the world.
Top Tracks: Holden Laurence – Wild Horses
We all have a longing to forge our own path ingrained within us, one that bubbles its way to the surface as we get older. We want to see all that the world has to offer, we want the freedom to find ourselves and make our own mistakes. This is the case even when you’ve had a happy and healthy upbringing, you still can’t help but wonder what else is out there, but when you come from a broken home that feeling grows tenfold until the dam is fit to break. It’s that latter scenario that ‘Wild Horses’ reflects upon as it tells the tale of a girl yearning to break free. When your house doesn’t feel like home then it’s not just a case of the grass being greener, it’s more like living life in monochrome and wanting to finally see colour on some new horizon. It’s imagining bars on every window as you find yourself caught in the crossfire of every spiteful family squabble. It’s not simply wondering if there’s a better life out there, rather longing to truly live for the first time, a longing that won’t be denied no matter how long it takes.
Mariana Semkina – Sleepwalking
Belwood Music 