Continuing onward with our retrospect of the best our Music Team thought 2013 had to offer!
Peace- “In Love” – Ceri-Ann Hughes
When asked to write about my album of the year there was only one which popped into my head straight away, so ‘hold onto your headlights’. I’d been a huge fan of Peace since they started as a band and the ‘Delicious’ EP had just confirmed this – ‘In Love’ was the perfect opportunity for Peace to show us what they could do – and they didn’t disappoint.
Frankly, ‘In Love’ is an absolute masterpiece both recorded and live. I saw Peace at the tiny venue of The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch and I’ve never seen such brilliance – the riffs in ‘Higher Than the Sun’ seriously kicked off the small (but crazy) crowd and demonstrated that this album should be one of many for the Birmingham band.
A personal favourite on the album has to be ‘Float Forever’ – it’s chilled out vibe and lyrics really do show how the lads know how to write a really excellent song. Harry Koisser and co. follow this beauty up with the much-loved ‘Wraith’ – a song which currently holds an embarrassingly high play count on my iTunes library and which takes a slight detour from the ever-expected guitar riffs which Peace so often give us in tracks such as ‘Follow Baby’. Could the album be ordered in a better manner? Probably not.
If you’ve not heard this album yet, I can’t stress to you how much it is a must-listen (honestly, it was released in March and I still can’t get enough of it!). ‘In Love’ is the best album of the year in my eyes and Peace are 100% the best live band around at the minute. What more could you wish for?
Bastille- “Bad Blood” – Roshni Kari
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March of this year saw the release of Bad Blood – Bastille’s epic breakthrough album; yet after listening to this series of tracks that honestly seemed to make my ears smile, it can safely be said that the words ‘Bad’ and ‘Bastille’ do not belong in the same sentence. The London based quartet’s fourth single, ‘Pompeii’, released a month in advance due to popular demand, gave a sensational glimpse of what we could expect to hear from the rest of the album. Not only did it earn its deserved place at number one in Ireland and Scotland and number two in the overall UK top 40 charts, for most of us (as well as die-hard indie and rock alternative fans), it will forever be remembered as the song of the summer ’13 – which had us shamelessly singing along to the famously infectious chorus whilst sitting carefree in the grass with the breeze running through our hair. Their third single, ‘Flaws’, which showed a more sensitive side to the band, brought them overwhelming popularity in Belgium and Scotland, whilst still maintaining the indie folk/rock element that attracted such huge swathes of people in the first case, and transformed them into avid listeners. Frontman Dan Smith’s distinctive and instantly recognisable voice teamed Bastille’s signature catchy and whimsical lyrics arguably makes ‘Laura Palmer’ one of their best tracks yet; a feel-good song perfect for lazy days in the sun, contemplating life with a mug of tea and plate-fulls of biscuits, or just celebrating a truly great night. Either way, Bad Blood’s contribution to this year’s charts has been immense and I for one, am certainly addicted to them.