Herside Story, by Hare Squead

The new hip-hop trio from Ireland, recently released their latest track ‘Herside Story’, for all those reminiscing summer. Although they may attract an audience with an ‘acquired taste’, as evidenced below, they nonetheless are moving up in the music world, and after supporting Dua Lipa, could 2017 twice as good?

Halina: “The song has some quirky beats but generally it’s a bit of a weird song, not really a clubby song or an easy listening song; it has no genre.”

Beth: “Not a fan at all: I started to understand what he was saying about halfway through and I think the weird video sums up the strange vibe completely.”

Megan: “The singer is trying to sound too much like Drake’s music style in my opinion.”

Fab: “Not my thing but there are definitely some decent similarities to Drake in there!”

Wade: It’s very confusing. It’s the same problem I have with Jason Derulo and Chris Brown. They both sound exactly the same. And this dude sounds like Drake.”

Josh: “The type of song you want to chill and relax to – has a ‘spaced out’ feel to it.”

Gemma: “I like the beat, but not much of the effects on the vocals. It’s a good tune to nod your head to though.”

Kate: “The kind of song that plays in Tommy’s at the beginning of an SU night.”

Aysha: “It’s hard to understand what the lyrics are even saying – but I don’t think you’re missing out on much if you can’t.”

Adam: “Definitely not my thing – it sounds too light somehow – not enough bass, the mix is really off and let’s not get started on the level of originality in the song.”

Maddalena: “I have mixed feelings about it. I think the singer kills the muse base.”

Noelle: “It sounds a bit like the composer went: ‘I want to make chill beats and all that’ and the vocalist went ‘Nah, I want to rap and say random things and sound like I’m trying to finish my sentence before someone cuts me off really hard’, ad the result was this.”

Elliot: “Too much going on with the vocals, and slightly too sped up.”

Check out Hare Squead’s track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXVJTRXgCCg

Hallucinating, by Elohim

The upcoming electro-pop artist from L.A, Elohim (‘God’ in Hebrew), brings a very unique style of music to the table. With a warm, intoxicating feel of synth-pop, dreamy vocals and electric beats, ‘Hallucinating’ brings a rollercoaster of imaginings. 

Wade: “I like it!!”

Eamoun: “Very summery, perhaps it will keep us all warm this winter..?”

Dulcie: “Good rhythm paired with a catchy melody.”

Megan: “Cool beat, she has a nice young voice, it is very unique and has a distinct feel to any other song.”

Laura: “Perfect slice of sweet fuzzy pop that makes me severely miss summer.”

Elliot: “Funky, tribal, energetic!”

Gemma:  “Interesting combination of classic and digital instruments. Like the idea of computerised voices.”

Check out Elohim’s Hallucinating on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH6e6PnEhFk

33 “GOD” by Bon Iver

Bon Iver’s third album ’22, a million’, released on the 30th of September, consists of drums, horns and eccentric sounds that build  into an intriguing aesthetic sound.

A few members of the music team reviewed one of the new tracks 33 “GOD”…

Gemma: “Would love to hear this song at a live concert, waving my hands up side to side.”

Elliot: “Sounds almost clash with each other; not my style.”

Molly: “Very atmospheric – really enjoyed the first third but the rest of the song resembled the dissonance of a car horn. A ver relentless car horn.”

Izzy: “An amalgamation of sounds and vocals that produce a score to a relaxing break in one’s day.”

One Sentence Review: ‘Warm’ by Becky Hill

Gemma: Unusual intro, but a good unusual.

Charlie: Good production/backing.

Megan: Interesting beat and a cool voice.

Ije: Infection melody, synth reminds me of Wildfire by SBTBKT

Phoebe: Strange intro but once it gets started, had a good drum and beat.

Eamoun: Pure going out hype track, better than average.

Laura: SBTBKT mood big time, the laters are beautiful and the vocals are kickass.

Dulcie: Minimal background music really highlights her amazing voice.

Maddalena: Interesting sound, need to listen to it again.

Elliot: Interesting blend of contemporary styles.

Noëlle: The kind of song that gets stuck in your head…sounds like the people in the video would be dancing in slow motion.

Kate: Super sexy, SU worthy.

WALLS – KINGS OF LEON

Just 24 hours after the release of their new album “WALLS”, Kings of Leon are number one in the UK iTunes chart for “Top Albums”. This won’t probably surprise their fans that had been waiting to hear new music from this band for three years. WALLS, abbreviation for We Are Like Love Songs, takes us back to the band’s old, but iconic, style: that style you can’t help but like. The band was able to combine their early works’ acoustics to the new modern music influences. Kings of Leon’s soft rock is accompanied by some new and experimental sounds that make their songs unique.

Opener “Waste A Moment” is a classic throwback song that recalls their early 2000s youth. “Reverend”, my personal favourite, presents some heart wrecking lyrics and a lovely sharp guitar that goes on for the whole song. “Around the World” is the typical song you’ll listen to on the radio and dance to while driving. “Conversation Piece” has an original background sound that absolutely works with Caleb Followill’s voice. “Muchacho” features this rhythmic and unheard melody that carries on for the entire song. Songs like “Find Me” or “Over” express the band’s need of being heard.

WALLS tells us a story, a story about people and their everyday life. People that get lost, people that can’t find themselves, people that love, people that suffer, people that live. Every song touches a deep and meaningful topic that describes something about every member of the band. Listening to WALLS pushes you closer to this band and makes you understand a bit more about them. All the ten songs of the album seem to be connected, in a way or another, to each other. It’s an album to listen all in one go.

We can say that the Tennessee band may have left apart their old Southern natural habitat to enter a more thoughtful and intimate sound that it’s absolutely worth a listen.

TRACKLIST:

01. Waste A Moment

02. Reverend

03. Around The World

04. Find Me

05. Over

06. Muchacho

07. Conversation Piece

08. Eyes On You

09. Wild

10. WALLS

By Maddalena Petromilli

One Sentence Review: ‘What if’, by Craig David

Bringing back the ‘One Sentence Review’ this year, whereby each member of the music team review a new, random song. Here is this week’s…

Georgia: “Good beat to nod your head to.”

Eamoun: “Some of the best parts of early 2000s but sounds as dated.”

Daniel: “Throwing back to the early 2000’s!”

Wade: “Wouldn’t play it on my show!!”

Halina: “Good beat and lyrics, but nothing new.”

Gemma: “The beat reminds me of old 90’s R&B and the voice has a nice soothing vocal.”

Francis: “Boring, melodramatic nonsense.”

Bethan: “Not much development.”

Sam: “Naff.”

James: “Throwing you right back to an era you’re glad you left.”

Megan: “A great slow jam with a great catchy beat.”

Haroun: “Very radio friendly.”

Noelle: “It reminds me of songs that play in corny teen movies…Very Jason Derulo in my opinion.”

Dulcie: “Sounds like Justin Timberlake c. 2004.”

Phoebe: “Really catchy song – good tune for the radio.”

Nicolette: “Classic bae – loved it!”

Josh:  “It’s the 2000’s all over again!”

Charlotte: “Catchy, good for entertainment shows.”

Unknown: “From the second it starts you can tell it is a classic Craig David song with a base and a good range.”

Ijeoma: “Craig has a very distinctive voice, I enjoyed the song and very different as it contained a key change and most RnB songs today don’t have one. No wonder he is nominated for a MOBO award.”

Archie: “The lyrics, although slightly different, were devoid of anything interesting, which was a shame for such a lyric-driven song. The melody was bland and repetitive. Overall, a song with no bite.”