It's Sunday morning. I'v had a spiffy weekend but now all i want to do is have a nice relaxing day, catch up with friends over a Starbucks and watch an old movie on tv (What's Up Doc will do nicely). Sometimes when you are in this sort of chilled out mood you quite by chance find the perfect musical accompaniment to soundtrack those blissful moments. Here are two songs that quite by random came up on mp3 shuffle this early am and quite by random are both very brilliant in their own ways...
10 Reasons To Live ~ Breathe:
10 Reasons To Live are a 5 piece pop-rock group hailing from Liverpool (where I had a lovely birthday weekend last week) and have Ste McNally from BB Mak as their vocalist. I only mention this because BB Mak were one of my favourite pop groups of the early millenium (their Into Your Head album was utterly phenomenal and far more accomplished than many of their peers). So I'm a tad chagrinned that I'm only just catching up with his latest venture, particularly as the single Breathe is so utterly heavenly. It's a powerful and persuasive anthemic ballad that has a gentle, but driving instrumental that mirrors the yearning lyrics. Ste's vocal is an emotive, nuanced tour de force that bring the urgency & message of the song to life - sure, the style of the tune is far removed from the current chart trend of ibiza-esque beats & 90s-rave madness, but it adopts a more classic, timeless approach and as such you get a simple, yet devastatingly stunning song that will last through the ages. The video is a triumph too - it actually works as a group effort, showcasing the contributions of each member (there's some gorgeous piano in the mix, effective guitar riffs and a steady beat; plus some sweeping orchestral moments with the addition of strings after the middle 8) while still allowing the lead singer to take centre stage. Cleverly done - and all suited and booted, they look proper bobby dazzlers :D Do check out their brill cover of Price Tag - I'm off to buy the album, City Life, which no doubt I'll report on soon...
Auryn ~ Still (live performance):
Still busy taking Spain by storm with the rerelease of their highly enjoyable Endless Road 7058 album, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the world sits up and takes notice of this effortlessly likeable boy band. I've written already about their album & singles (Breathe Into The Light, Last Night On Earth & current fave, perky I Don't Think So), but had to focus today on their gorgeous ballad Still. Performed recently on a Spanish tv show, it highlights everything that makes this group such a winning combination for me. It's quite compelling to watch - from the spellbinding acapella starting intro by Blas through to the stirring & inspirational chorus, where all the boys seamlessly weave their voices together in harmony to create a wall of sound that elevates the song to greatness. I love that they actually commit to the performance through their intensity & facial expression of emotion - and that after a trio of fairly uptempo releases, this ballad ticks all the great boyband ballad boxes (stripped back middle 8, big massive key change and yay - standing up from the stools for the final chorus). There's a reason boy bands tackle songs like this - it's because if done well, they are incredibly effective & memorable. This performance is a corker. Love.
Top 21 songs of the week:
21 ~ Gravitonas, Call Your Name
20 ~ Alphabeat, Vacation
19 ~ Stooshe, Black Heart (NE)
18 ~ Madonna, Turn On The Radio (NE)
17 ~ Eric Saade, Backseat
16 ~ Auryn, I Don't Think So
15 ~ Bright Lightx2, Waiting For The Feeling
14 ~ Ola, I'm In Love (NE)
13 ~ Chantal Claret, Pop Pop Bang Bang
12 ~ Delta Goodrem, Sitting On Top Of The World
11 ~ fun, Some Nights
10 ~ Jason Mraz, Everything is Sound
09 ~ Christopher, Mine Mine Mine
08 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Primadonna
07 ~ Danny Amazing
06 ~ Scissor Sisters, Only The Horses
05 ~ Little Jackie, Cock Block
04 ~ Nicki Minaj, Starships
03 ~ Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe
02 ~ Tone Damli ft Eric Saade, Imagine
01 ~ Maroon 5, Payphone (4 weeks)
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