Welcome back to Music Monday. We’ve been a little bit AWOL in the last few months and for that, we’re sorry! Music Monday blogs will now feature five tracks instead of ten to enable us to continue to bring you the best in new music. Enjoy these 5 massive tracks!
1) Mollie King – Back To You
Member of The Saturdays, Mollie King has delivered an incredible and triumphant debut solo single. ‘Back To You’ is a moody electropop track with an equally stunning cinematic video.
2) Usher – Crash
Usher at his most underrated is Usher at his best. Minimalist yet slick and catchy, this moody piece of R&B utilises Usher’s gorgeous and faultless falsetto over jittery percussion.
3) Sons of Sonix ft Melanie C – Numb
Ex member of the Spice Girls Melanie C once again proves her versatility and worth as a solo artist on this huge summer smash. This huge tropical house track is a collaboration with London production duo Sons of Sonix.
4) Christine and The Queens – Tilted
This simplistic yet effortlessly catchy artpop track is without a doubt one of the best tracks of 2016. It may have been around for a while but we haven’t had the opportunity to include it in a Music Monday edition yet so here it is!
5) Tieks FT Dan Harkna – Sunshine (Extended Mix)
This huge house track has earned a surge of popularity from its use in the new Fiat 500 TV advert. Repetitive, maybe but its house piano riffs and sturdy vocals make it a feel-good classic.
We’ve been nominated again by the lovely Tammy over at https://alittlebitalt.wordpress.com/!
So sorry for the huge delay in posting this, there was no notification informing us of the tag!
These are the rules supplied to us:
Write ten songs that come on shuffle (no skipping)
Write your favourite lyric from each song.
Tag people
So with no further ado, and with some apprehension considering the amount of guilty pleasures in my music collection, here goes… *presses shuffle*
1) Prince – Sometimes it snows in April
Ah, one of my all time favourite songs. Probably one of the most beautiful songs in the world.
Favourite lyric: “I used to cry for Tracy cause he was my only friend Those kind of cars don’t pass you every day”
It’s the second line that’s my favourite but the first is needed to show the context. It’s just a beautiful expression. Prince is a bloody nightmare when it comes to sharing his music online! He consistently removes his work from YouTube and Spotify so for now you’ll have to make do with this pleasant but not-as-good-as-the-original live version:
2) John Mayer – Stop This Train
Boy I’m glad this one came up! Probably one of my all time favourite songs lyrically.
Favourite Lyric: “So scared of getting older I’m only good at being young”
Captures the fear of adulthood perfectly.
3) Mark Owen – End of Everything
Mark Owen’s solo career is the most underrated thing ever (I like to remind people of this on a regular basis).
Favourite lyric:
“Enter if you can through all the tears of your parade”
Just a lovely poetic lyric which for me emphasises having patience with yourself when times are tough.
4) The 1975 – Chocolate
In my top 3 favourite songs of all time and I never, ever tire of hearing it.
Favourite lyric: “I think about how to think”
I can relate to over-thinking, to the extent you’re thinking about the way you’re thinking!
5) Robbie Williams – Snowblind
I love the vulnerability this track possesses and it’s just stunning. Robbie knows how to create beautiful ballads aching with sincerity.
Favourite Lyric: “You stole my heart, But my madness, Is taking the man right out of me”
Mr Williams is a genius at playing with phrases and this is a brilliant example.
6) George Michael – White Light
Hmm. Whilst a huge fan of George, there are many songs in his discography better than this, especially lyrically. It’s still brilliant though.
Favourite Lyric: “And tomorrow is mine”
I like the ‘seize the day’ attitude this line conveys.
7) Michael Jackson – (I like) The Way You Love Me
I LOVE this song. I’m a huge MJ fan although I don’t seem to publicise it as much as I used to. This is a song he recorded in the mid noughties and was remixed for his first posthumous album ‘Michael’. I’m including the original demo version released in his lifetime though because I think it’s better than the remixed version.
Favourite Lyric: “I was afraid of life and you came in time”
Simple but effective.
8) James Taylor – Something in the way she moves
Lovely song.
Favourite Lyric: “Every now and then the things I lean on lose their meaning and I find myself careening in places where I should not let me go.”
I love the way it recognises the more you depend on something, the less meaning it has. Just a beautifully worded lyric.
9) Melanie C & Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes – Never Be The Same Again
What an absolutely brilliant track this was/is.
Favourite Lyric: “Picturesque is the picture you paint so effortlessly.”
Left Eye’s rap is the best in this song, lyrically. As well as being poetic, it’s just a clever line.
10) Take That – Affirmation
There’s Take That songs I much prefer to this but again, it’s still a great song.
Favourite Lyric: “We’re not really falling apart, we’re just incomplete.”
It’s a bit like the ‘glass half empty or glass half empty’ analogy. The whole song is lyrically brilliant.
Well I got pretty lucky there considering they were selected through shuffle!
The original version. I love hearing how MJ wanted his songs, not them all remixed by ‘hot’ producers. The new version is unrecognisable and utterly crap. I remember the original leaking years ago and always loving this track.
Came across The 1975’s live cover from Dermot O’Leary’s Radio 2 breakfast show the other day. It’s a beautiful simplistic cover which made me look at the original in an entirely new light. Since then, I have been listening to both over and over again. Vince Clarke – the writer and musician on the original track is a genius and Alison Moyet’s voice is amazing.
2) The Vamps – Last night
This is just so catchy and irresistible. Really love this
3) Gary Barlow – Since I saw you last
One of my favourites when I first listened to the album but I placed it on the back burner for a little while whilst I enjoyed other other songs. Since the release of the video, however, I have fell head over heels back in love with this. It’s so powerful, so emotive and so catchy.
4) John Mayer 3×5
A catchy, well-written little track towards the end of John’s debut album ‘Room for squares’. I love listening to this on a calm, warm day when I am walking on the way to somewhere. The lyrics are fantastic.
5) Jakwob – Somebody new
Keep hearing this on Radio 1 and I think it’s awesome.
6) Meanie C – Be The One
A track off Mel’s debut album ‘Northern Star’, this is so simple but so beautiful. I find it very summery and have been listening to it on repeat recently.
The closing track to Kylie’s current album ‘Kiss me once’, this is so fresh and so current yet also loyal to Kylie’s iconic sound. Can’t get enough of this right now.
This is an awesome track penned by Diane Warren (who’s written with and for Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Sugababes, Beyonce, Gary Barlow and others). I love it’s retro/motown feel and Paloma sounds incredible on it.
9) The 1975 – Robbers
Yep The 1975 are in yet another one of my playlists. This song is just so beautiful and emotive. Really looking forward to seeing the video once it’s done.
10) One Direction – Strong
A friend told me to listen to this and I haven’t looked back since. Say what you want about One Direction but they have some great hits and songs to their name and this is one of them. Really love the power of the chorus, especially the melody. Discovering new favourite songs through friends is the best.
Bit of a strange combination of tracks this week, admittedly! There’s always a fair amount of diversity in my music taste but I think this week’s is the one to fully highlight that. Anyway, here’s the 10 songs I have been loving/listening to this past week.
1) The 1975 – AntiChrist
I knew this song existed of course but for some unknown reason, I just never listened to it. I think I dismissed it as an instrumental off one of their E.Ps. How wrong I was though. Some fantastic, inquisitive lyrics and it’s an incredibly powerful song. The last minute really reminds me of something Coldplay might do. Awesome track.
2) London Grammar – Hey Now
Similarly to the above, this is pretty haunting but very beautiful. Love this band.
3) Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me
Heard this on Radio 1 again the other day and was reminded of what a great song it is. So chilled out despite it being a club track.
4) George Michael – It doesn’t really matter
I’ve loved this ever since I stumbled across the ‘Older’ album last Summer. It’s so chilled-out and so perfect. It’s one of those songs where I can’t necessarily relate to what it was written about but it’s so personal that it still manages to come to mean something to you. The lyrics are perfect too.
5) Melanie C & Lisa ‘Left eye’ Lopes – Never be the same again
I’m a massive Melanie C fan as many of you know. As well as loving The Spice Girls, Sporty Spice has always been my favourite and had the best voice. Her solo career is massively underrated and I own a great deal of her solo material which I love listening to. This song is just awesome and thankfully was a big hit over here. It’s just well written, a perfect pop track and I love the randomness of having Lisa Lopes rap on a Spice Girl solo track!
Heard this on the Nixtape on Radio 1 last week and was reminded of what an awesome song it is. Not a fan of Drake at all but this is the only song he’s ever done that I’ve thought anything of. Love the production, the beats, the chords and it’s just a great tune.
7) George Michael – Though
Beautiful penultimate track off George’s ‘Patience’ album. Very personal and very underrated.
Perfect pop cheese. My favourite track in this week’s playlist! This happens to be my favourite J-Lo song ever. SO good.
9) Wayne Wonder – No letting go
A classic that I’d forgotten about! Again, heard this on The Nixtape and was reminded of this awesome song. Gives me some beautiful fond memories of Summer 2003 listening to this really loud 🙂
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