hurricane

Whilst I appreciate both heavily produced and acoustic versions of songs, I often find myself leaning more towards the acoustic counterparts. If performed well, stripped versions of songs can be really magical to watch and listen to, baring the artists' raw interpretations of emotions, which can often be lost through production.

A post on Facebook this week linked me to Elle Magazine's Women in Music 2015 feature about an up-and-coming artist called Halsey. I'm not usually one to immediately look up artists after reading an article, but something about the idea that an artist (who is also around the same age as me) was finally writing honest and meaningful lyrics made me pay attention. So I looked her up on YouTube and was lead to her first two music videos, "Hurricane" and "Ghost". Admittedly, I quite liked the rhythm of the songs but wasn't overwhelmed by any particular feelings of infatuation, and the lyrics barely registered. But then I watched an interview she did with MTV, and maybe it was how earnest she was throughout the interview, or because her views of pop music align with my own, but I found myself continuing to click through any relevant videos of her. Finally, I came across this stripped version of "Hurricane" and understood why she's rapidly gaining popularity in the USA and England, and will soon be huge here, too.

tune in

A playlist of songs that I've been listening to over and over and over again this past month, and, as expected, there's lots of Bastille (sorry, not sorry). And... in good company with the likes of Chet Faker, Lo-Fang, Rag'n'Bone Man, Swiss Lips, BANKS, Keane and a few others...

overjoyed

My reluctance to buy whole music albums stems from the experience that I usually only truly appreciate a handful of the songs in any given album, and the rest of the album eventually becomes lost to the "skipping" function when my iPod is set on shuffle. The only instance when this does not occur and I actually love every single one of the artists' songs is when it's Bastille.

Every so often I fall in love with Bastille and their music all over again. From the lyrics to the melodies, everything they create is pure magic, and every other song they cover and touch easily becomes theirs. Often their covers become even better than the originals. I've spent this past week or so watching and re-watching most of their videos, whether from gigs, tours or interviews, and have fallen in love with them even more. They are genuinely talented, humble, down-to-earth, hilarious, adorably shy and innocently cute, which is a rarity in human beings these days, let alone those immersed in the music industry. The way they manage to remain untainted by the vanity and brutality of media attention and some other artists in the industry, and simply work hard on their own terms, really deserves admiration. Rarely do I find an artist that I really respect, in terms of both their work and them as a person, but the guys of Bastille are really so, so great.

In fear of sounding like one of their crazed teenage fans who scream at them and tear at their hair and clothes at gigs, I'm going to end this post here. (Though, in all honesty, I would probably scream my head off, too, at one of their shows, with how insanely good they are live. The first video posted above is the one I watched that lead me to pay more attention to their work. And the last one with Rudimental is just such a fun performance.)

in the darkness you're my spark, i'll never be afraid to dream

The titles of my last two posts have been lyrics from Go Comet's track, "Worlds Apart". So irrationally obsessed with this song, I've had it on repeat for the past month.

Although I resurfaced from the suffocating pressures of this semester's timetable long enough to post a few entries this past week, I now have to dive back under to tackle the coming few weeks. There are so many photos I'm excited to share, though, so maybe see you in my moments of procrastination.

Girl on fire

Haven't been this infatuated with a song in a long time...

Dreams don't turn to dust

"Dreams Don't Turn to Dust"- Owl City