As promised, I
compiled all of the music I’ve been loving recently into one post. There have
been so many amazing releases over the past couple of weeks so I’ve been taking
full advantage of that. I’m incredibly guilty of listening to albums on repeat
for days on end because then I find something I enjoy, I want to fully immerse
myself in it. So, let’s dive into this list.
Tonight Alive
“Disappear” – As someone that loves both Tonight Alive and PVRIS it’s hard not
to be obsessed with this track. Tonight Alive truly reinvented themselves on their
most recent release Underworld, allowing themselves to truly showcase their musicianship
and deliver an album that they can (and should) be proud of. While “Disappear”
isn’t necessarily a standout track on the album, it’s definitely one that
deserves to be discussed. It’s a powerful and melodic bop that serves as an
anthem about abandoning your comfort zone in exchange for breaking free. Jenna
McDougall’s vocals soar on this track; she’s always had some serious pipes but
pair that with Lynn Gunn’s raspy and dreamy voice and you have a match made in
heaven.
Cane Hill “It
Follows” – Cane Hill have been tearing up the music scene for a while but with the
release of their sophomore album Too Far Gone, they’ve gone from just tearing
it up to completely obliterating it. They’ve shed their skin and emerged as an
entirely new band, focusing on showing everyone just how Cane Hill truly are.
The album touches on various topics that have both affected the band and the
world around them. “It Follows” is a catchy, metal track that takes you from
nodding your head along to the beat to catapulting yourself across the room in
a one-man mosh pit in your bedroom. With lyrics like “Such dramatic agony/ The
fever breaks again/ I can feel it following/ And it's calling my name,” the self-proclaimed
“metal-epic” entices your inner trouble-maker to go out and unleash hell.
Waterparks “TANTRUM”
– Waterpark’s latest release Entertainment has been one of the most talked
about releases of 2018 and its only February. One of the tracks that has earned
its title as a definite “bop” is TANTRUM. From the moment the automated voice
starts to the moment the guitars kick it, it hits you like a slap in the face.
Waterparks did the damn thing when they released this track. It’s raw, gritty
and it proves that Waterparks aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill pop punk
band. It’s definitely the heaviest track on Entertainment, with the band
finessing audiences with every beat. After the automated voice finishes
roasting these “fuckboy bands” flooding the scene, the song starts off with Awsten
Knight’s declaration of “If I wasn't thin and white with blue hair would I be here?
/ Maybe if I kill myself you’ll know I'm sincere / I'll shave my blue hair,
burn the rest of two dares / Drop from 'parks like "fuck it, who
cares?" They truly didn’t have to go so hard, I’m still recovering.
Paramore “Pool” – Guess who’s back in another episode of “After
Laughter Continues to Be a Gift to the World”? After Laughter plays out like a
dark comedy, dressing up the dark undertones in the lyrics with pretty melodies
and catchy beats. Paramore’s dark take on a love song exposes the visceral side
of a love-gone-sour. It completely depicts what it’s like to strip away every
part of yourself and dive headfirst into the deep in and then remembering you
can’t swim and instead of saving you – the one you love just watches you drown.
Paramore has me reminiscing on past loves that never even existed.
Staircase Spirits “Ghosts”-
Music has always served as an outlet, a way to heal and expel any demons that
might be weighing on your heart. It can be incredibly cathartic to finally put
into the words the darkness that’s been consuming you in an attempt to harness
that pain and turn it into something pure and therapeutic. That’s exactly what
Staircase Spirits did with their latest EP Ghost Stories. This pop-rock outlet
is composed of Anna Maria Acosta and Eva Friedman, hailing from sunny shores in
Los Angeles. After revisiting the songs on their EP, they decided to re-release
two of the more personal tracks on the EP – “Roulette” and “Ghosts”. These
track in particular were especially important to Acosta as they were conceived after
she escaped an abusive relationship. I got the chance to hear a bit of her
story behind the tracks. “4 years ago, I woke up, looked at the man sleeping
next to me and realized that if I stayed, I wasn’t going to survive. I
ultimately wrote two songs about that day – January 19, 2014.” Acosta then
explained that they released the EP on the anniversary of their existence. In “Ghosts”
you can feel every bit of the pain she experienced and the relief that followed
her escape to freedom. The opening verse, “Gone tonight, I left a lot of ghosts
behind me / In haunted houses full of secrets that they kept / I’m far enough
away that they don’t scare me here / And I’m too far gone to feel regret”
perfectly sets the scene of her story.
Make sure you check
out all of the incredible talent on this list. Let me know what songs you’ve
been loving in the comments.
