Welcome to another edition of The Lion’s Tunes.
At the suggestion of a close friend, I decided to put my
love of music to good use.
She pointed out to me that since I love music and listen to
so much of it, I should share what songs I’m currently jamming to at the
moment.
If you follow me on twitter then you’d know I usually tweet about
what music has got me all caught up and catching feelings.
If I can sum up this week’s music selection it would be –
Soulful, Truth Bombs and Sassy Funk.
I’m by no means a music expert and I won’t pretend to be.
Most of what will be written here is information I’ve learned on the net and
just my personal opinions on the songs. So have at it...
·
Song: Gold Dust
Artist: Galantis
Album:
Description:
After hearing their hit song “You & I
(Runaway)” I knew that I wanted to hear more from this group. There was
something about the song that just couldn’t get me to leave it alone. Sometimes
with some EDM songs you don’t know whether they a momentary flash in the pans
or something you will be able to hear on your playlist without skipping- “You
and I (Runaway)” is a song like that for me.
After
a quick search, I discovered their follow up single “Gold Dust” and boy was I
not disappointed. Staying in tune with their sound they deliver a track with
emotion and beat. I really enjoy this track; it’s quieter but no less potent. I
highly recommended it.
Additional Mention: Smile.
Interesting to note that Galantis is a
Swedish duo composed of one of the Miike Snow members, Christian “Bloodshy” Karlsson
and Linus Eklӧw. If you’ve heard of Miike Snow you’d know their sound is quirky
given that it’s within the EDM genre but it works for them. Anyways someone on
Twitter suggested I hear their song “Smile”, and as nice as it is, for me I
find it somewhat generic. It’s like that song on an album that’s nice but it’ll
never stand out for you. That being
said, not every song can be a superb hit so a few duds are to be expected. All
in all I’d suggest giving more of their music a listen and find out if you like
what they are selling because I certainly do.
·
Song: Twisted Tongue
Artist: Misterwives
Album: Our Own House
Description:
When I was pondering about this particular
song from the band, the words that came to me were “Sassy Jazzy Rock” and in
some ways that perfect encapsulates their vibe. I picture myself in a vibey New York City bar, or something like the one in the movie “Going the Distance”, where you just reveal in the sound of a band
and groove the night away. The band definitely knows their sound and who can
deny it because it works. “Twisted Tongue” has that sass and also there’s a
lovely section in the song where they get funky which just works so well. I
think “Twisted Tongue” should be playing in movie scenes and credits.
I’m listening to this song now and it made
me think of Duffy is some ways. With music it is only common to compare artists
and the sound of Misterwives reminds me of Duffy, but I think that is just
because of the lead singer’s voice. I wouldn’t automatically dismiss them if
you dislike Duffy though. There is something so catchy about the song. You
might not hear it on the first listen (I didn’t) but this song is soo funky. I
bet you that you’ll be singing the tune or lyrics of “...you just managed to mask what’s now clear as glass, and that is –
you’re an ASS-HOLE.”
Additional Mention: Reflections
Their funky side becomes clearer in this
song. I really don’t have much further to add other than the above. All I want
to do is just stop typing and groove along to the song. Reflections grew on me.
·
Song: Hard
Time
Artist: Seinabo Sey
EP: For Madeleine
Description:
This song fits into my own made genre of
what I like to call “Truth Bomb EDM”. It's the type of song you dance to in your room at night
with your eyes closed and just shutting yourself off from the rest of the
world. Having some de-stress alone time. The drum beat gives me that
Amazonian Marching Band vibe. Please please please go and give this song a
listen because the voice of this Swedish-Gambian singer should be heard.
“Hard
time forgiving, even harder forgetting; before you do somethin’, you might
regret...”
Additional Mention: Younger
This song was released before their song “Hard
Time”, and I didn’t like it. I thought that the potential was there but the
song didn’t really do much. As what often happens with me is that I sometimes
judge songs too quickly, and not all songs make a home in your heart
immediately. This one grew on me and while I never seek it on my playlist, when
it does come on it just makes me stop and I don’t skip it. You feel the hairs
on your arm raise because it just has that truth bomb factor. You just have to
listen. There is something haunting but thought provoking about the song and it
just makes me like it all the more for what it is.
·
Song: Say You Love Me
Artist: Jessie Ware
Album: Tough Love (Delux Edition)
I came across this saying that I just felt
was so perfect; it went something to the effect of -“The right song will find
you at the right time”. This song happened that way to me. I was on tumblr,
browsing someone’s account when suddenly my earphones were playing this song. I
immediately fell in love and went to search it. This is a song I became so
obsessed with, as I was writing this week’s blog post, I found this and I had
to add it.
I love this song for many reasons because
it speaks to that moment when all you want from the person you have feelings is
just for them to say they love you (see what I did there?). I even used it as a
chapter title for my online story; this song is just pure bliss. Don’t mind me
while I quote the whole Second Verse and Chorus:
“Just say you love me, just for today.
And don’t give me time, ‘cause that’s not
the same
Mmm... want to feel burning flames when you
say my name
Want to feel passion flow into my bones like
blood through my veins.
Cause I don’t want to fall in love
If you don’t want to try
But all that I’ve been thinking of is maybe
that you might
And babe it looks as though we’re running
out of words to say and love’s floating away.”
Additional Mention: Tough Love
I only heard this in the past few days and I
get why it’s the title track for the album. More people really need to know
about Jessie Ware. Her musicality really shines through, and she knows exactly
how to use her voice. Wispy and gentle when it needs to be as witnessed in
“Tough Love” and uses the power of her voice when she needs to.
Hot Pick of the Week:
· Artist: Kwabs
EP: Walk
Soulful. Fresh. Silky.
Those are the three words I’d use describe
Kwabs. There is something special about this guy, and when his album gets
released in May this year, it will be a must have. As what often happens within
the music industry (from my little understanding) is that these artists often
release EP’s to give people a taste of their sound and then if people bite
these artists are rushed into the studio to produce a full length album.
Do yourself a favour and purchase his EP (a
quick Google search confirms that it’s on iTunes) because I promise you won’t
be disappointed. The title track, “Walk”
has been playlisted on radio stations so I’m certain you’ve heard but still,
there are so many gems. It was released
in October last year but my word it’s great. As I’m typing this, I’m currently
obsessing over “Into You” *dance
breakdown*, getting goosebumps from “Pray
For Love” and just treating my soul to some good music with “Saved”, “Last Stand”, “Wrong or Right”
and “Spirit Fade”.
If all is right in the world then this
talented man from Ghana will hopefully blow up in a huge way.
The “Oud maar nog nie Koud nie”:
There might not always be this section within future posts
but I thought I would add it in this one nonetheless. These songs aren’t new (and
may or may not exactly be well known) but yet are still banging. The section
title is in Afrikaans which in English means “The old but not yet cold”.
· Song: Woods
Artist: Bon Iver
I came across Bon Iver after they won the
Grammy actually, famously beating out Justin Bieber in some category or other.
I was like well let me go give a listen to their music. I will admit that I’m
still not sure if Bon Iver is one person/ duo or group because from my
understanding it seems like there is the lead singer and recurring members. Getting
back this song however, it gave me chills; haunting and eerie but it works. I
loved how the song was describing that feeling of being lost within life by
using woods as a metaphor. We’re all
just stumbling through the woods of our lives not knowing where we are going
but feeling out way through it.
Additional Mention: Lost in the World (Kanye West’s
version/remix of Woods).
When I first heard about this, I thought
“great Kanye probably butchered the song” but when I saw the video of Kanye and
the lead singer of Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) performing this together at the
Coachella music festival, boy did I fall in love with it. Kanye West is one of
those artists who can create pure music magic once he lets his ego get out of
the way and let music take over- this is such an occasion. When Kanye came on
and remixed it, keeping Justin’s vocals and, adding his own hip hop flavour, it
just gelled so well together. I sometimes search for this song if I hadn’t
heard it in a while because it is just one of those songs you need to hear
every so often.
·
Song: No One’s Here To Sleep
Artist: Naughty Boy ft Bastille
If you don’t know of Naughty Boy then where
have you been? He did the super catchy “Lala” song featuring Sam Smith on the
vocals and also “Home” with Sam Romans. However there is a lesser known and
older song from Naughty Boy that actually features the talents of Bastille
(who’s lead Singer Dan Smith is actually from South Africa yay!). I came across
this song is an episode of one my favourite shows – Teen Wolf (judge away, I
know it is bad) but the song just captured my attention. It’s moody and dark
but so great.
Additional Mention: Wonder
This song is one banger. It just gets you
grooving and dancing. Also it’s Naughty Boy featuring the talents of Emeli
Sandé. I love seat dancing to it.
Extra:
Songs on the radio
that I’m currently obsessed with –
1.
Goldfish – Away Game (Deepfish Mix)
2.
TiMo ODV ft Sarah Jackson – Save Me (Radio Edit) ←This song is amazing
3.
Zebra and Giraffe – Goodbye
4.
Kelly Clarkson – Heartbeat Song
All tracks should be available on iTunes.
I’m aware that the tunes aren’t exactly big club dance
tracks but I’ll promise to keep an ear out for anything. What usually happens
though is that the songs are always picked up by radio stations and killed to
death on repeat so I tend to go for the smaller songs here.
If you have any suggestions don’t be scared to let me know
in the comments below.
Theo. Over and
Out.
