Category: Albums and Videos

D’Amelio’s debut single is topping billboards and crushing competition but does not offer any real musical intrigue.

TikTok, the sensational social media app that allows users to share and view short videos, has thrusted a host of individuals into the spotlight of fame. Among those most brightly illuminated by TikTok’s searing beam of celebrity is the charismatic and easy-going Dixie D’Amelio. She first started gaining popularity in early 2020 and has now amounted to over beam of celebrity is the 34.6 million followers on the app. Though she was first known as Charli D’Amelio’s older sister, she has, since then, has created a name for herself by releasing her own single, “Be Happy.” To date, this song has accumulated close to 40 million streams on Spotify, 80 million views on YouTube, and has cracked the top charts in the US. An impressive feat for someone who, prior to TikTok, was completely unknown to the world. Does “Be Happy” have the musical intrigue to warrant the tremendous amount of attention it has been receiving?

The song opens with an acoustic guitar repeating a simple riff accompanied by D’Amelio’s average vocals. In a flurry, the addition of snaps on the two and four along with a basic rhythm from a kick drum, a rhythmic drive takes over causing us to unconsciously start tapping our foot. We are then sent into the pre chorus where the atmosphere changes and becomes more spacious as we lose the rhythmic drive provided by the snaps and kick drum. After a short rest we are launched into the celebrated chorus where D’Amelio sings ‘Sometimes I don’t wanna be happy’ complimented by an energetic musical accompaniment. The lyrics are quite sad as D’Amelio speaks about her struggles with depression and tries to communicate this idea in a playful way, through the use of an upbeat and catchy instrumental track. D’Amelio uses the upbeat and catchy vibe of the song in order to show how our generation often deals with depression, through the use of humor or making their struggles sound more jovial than they actually are. The upbeat nature allows the true meaning of the song to be concealed underneath the music, a similar technique many individuals in our generation employ in order to conceal their depression. At best this is a mediocre attempt at creating what feels like a generic pop song. Though it has a catchy hook and has clearly been professionally mixed and mastered, D’Amelio’s vocals are quite insipid. Despite the generic nature of this pop song with no real appeal, it has managed to climb the charts and experience huge amounts of success, thus showing the power social media fame has nowadays and how it has completely revolutionized the music industry. Without the existence of TikTok, artists like D’Amelio would stand no chance at receiving the kind of success she has. In the global romper room of TikTok being followed is better – and more lucrative – than leading. Starry-eyed influencers like D’Amelio can seamlessly transition from one form of entertainment to another and experience tremendous amounts of success, regardless of whether or not they possess any real talent.

Artists pay tribute to the beloved Beatle on his big day.

The Empire State Building shimmered sky blue on October 9^th. A peace sign shone against its spire. One thousand feet below, the world remembered John Lennon on what would have been his 80^th birthday. John’s son, Sean, who organized the Empire State lighting, coordinated a collection of additional tributes for the occasion. After performing his father’s song, “Isolation,” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sean encouraged the music community to produce their own covers of John Lennon’s solo works. His call was answered with enthusiasm from musicians eager to pay homage to their musical hero.

Of all the tributes given, Sean’s performance of “Isolation” was perhaps the most arresting. Standing before the camera, he didn’t have to sing one note to conjure the image of his father. His free-flowing hair, angular nose, and ovular glasses were enough. But sing he did, making the resemblance all the more profound. Sean skated across verses with the mellow melodicism of a young, mop-top John. Hitting the bridge, he beckoned the vivacious howl that became a staple of his father’s later works. Sean backed his vocals with loose, heavy swipes at his electric guitar—an unorthodox rhythm style championed by, as you might have guessed, John Lennon. A mere smudge of the camera lens could have duped viewers into believing they’re watching John himself.

Following Sean’s lead, Rufus Wainwright took to Instagram to post a cover of “Mother,” a heartfelt ballad which Lennon wrote of his parents, who were never sufficiently present in his upbringing. Wainwright, known for his scintillating tenor voice—and for taking a break from his pop career to compose a full-length French opera—seized the opportunity to flaunt his classical abilities. Slowing the song down, he carefully carved a collection of notes into every phrase of the first verse. Intermittent silence between lines was broken by the soft trickle of notes dripping off of a grand piano in the background. Moving through the song, Wainwright slowly sheds his articulate embellishments for a more resonant, emotive tone. Upon reaching the refrain, he lets his shimmering trill carrying him through the end. Wainwright’s gentle, sentimental approach acknowledges the solemnity of the song’s content. His performance reminds us that while Lennon was the comic, clever popstar whose face was printed on lunch pails worldwide, he was also complex, sincere, and unafraid to express his inner thoughts and feelings through his music.

It’s often said that John Lennon inspired musicians of all genres. This notion was affirmed when Kevin Parker, the man behind the experimental, psychedelic phenomenon Tame Impala, threw his hat into the rink, posting a cover of Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” on Instagram. Stripped from the bright lights and electronic effects that usually accompany his performances, Parker is filmed lying in bed with a sole acoustic guitar—an image reminiscent of Lennon’s famed “Bed-Ins for Peace.” Parker’s throaty wine and simple guitar are prudent and unadorned. This raw style pairs well with Lennon’s unencrypted lyrics. Lines like “I was feeling insecure/ You might not love me anymore,” refuse to hide behind a wall of metaphors and symbolism. In this confessionary song, Lennon means as he says, openly reflecting upon his faults as a husband. Parker, shelving his usual electronics to go acoustic, embraces the honest, unvarnished nature of Lennon’s music in his tribute.

One final tribute came from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, who uploaded a cover of Lennon’s song “God” to YouTube. Recording from his home studio in Chicago, Tweedy’s was backed by his son, Spencer, on drums, and his son’s childhood friend, Liam Kazar, on bass. Standing at the forefront of the frame, Tweedy draws a few jangled chords out of his acoustic guitar to the soft, steady tap of the drum. The easy undercurrent of instrumentation is quickly pierced by Tweedy’s gravelly croon. With little regard for pitch or melody, his performance more closely resembles spoken word than song. This style is most fitting for the chosen song, which is a potent proclamation of Lennon’s philosophy on life. It is with utmost purpose and conviction that Tweedy sings such striking likes as “God is a concept by which we measure our pain” and “I don’t believe in Jesus/ I don’t believe in Kennedy… I don’t believe in Beatles/ I just believe in me.” In Lennon’s day, few artists wrote so directly about themselves. Even fewer had the bravery to convey their deepest, unfiltered philosophies in song. Cautiously aware of the difficulties of performing one of Lennon’s most personal pieces on this day of tribute, Tweedy abstains from musical showmanship. The lyrics, still pulsing with the energy which John breathed into them so many years ago, need little musical support to make an artistic statement.

From his flaring voice to his sloppy guitar style, Lennon’s signature sound lives within each of these performances. Then again, these imitations might not be intentional. Tweedy is known for his loose rhythm playing. Wainwright and Parker constantly reach decorate their vocals with high, airy trills. It’s hard to say for sure, but one could argue that Lennon’s influence reaches deeper than these tribute songs, touching how these artists developed their own sounds. Perhaps these tributes are not only celebrations, but payments of debt to a man who moved music forward, providing inspiration for countless performers. Of course, as these performances show, Lennon’s influence goes far beyond sound. While Dylan spoke through symbolism and Springsteen through story, Lennon just spoke, delivering his raw, candid thoughts to the world. Sean Lennon, Wainwright, Parker, Tweedy, you and I listened. We listened to his far-reaching, forthright messages of truth, peace, and love. We will be listening for the next eighty years to come.

Elvis Costello continues to reinvent his sound in his latest release, Newspaper Pane.

Nobody put him up to this. Sitting atop a trove of chart-gracing hits, Elvis Costello did not need another album to secure his legacy as the grandfather of British pop-punk. He certainly didn’t need the money, either. Yet the sixty-six-year-old songwriter stepped into the studio once more, and yet again, he refuses to play the role of rock-star-retiree. While his contemporaries are reliving their glory days, writing boilerplate tunes in the keys of their former successes, Costello is moving forward. His new five song EP, “Newspaper Pane,” incorporates genres from New Orleans Jazz to Alternative Rock, reaching into territories previously unconnected to the Costello catalog. The EP will be annexed as part of Costello’s 31^st studio album, Hey Clockface, which is set for release on October 30^th (yes, you read that correctly—his thirty-first studio album).

The EP’s opening track, “Newspaper Pane,” enters upon a hollow soundscape, which is suddenly cut by the discordant twinge of an electric guitar. A backbeat clicks into place, manufacturing an industrial groove. For a moment, listeners may be fooled into believing that they’re playing someone else’s track; the monotonous, percussive instrumentation is far removed from Costello’s classic projective, guitar-laden tone. Then, a squealing, nasal voice punches through the mix, leaving no doubt of the artist’s identity. The first lines paint a scene of a woman deserted in her dilapidated apartment. She plasters newspapers to the wall “to keep out the nonsense/ to block out the needing.” His poeticism primed, Costello winds through rhymes with a flicker of Dylan-esque symbolism and a flair of his own fatalist wit. The song’s energy surges into the third verse, “Pictures of bright futures somehow ignored/ That offered her finery she could never afford/ Tempting out savings that she didn’t have or could never risk/ Not a fashionable kindness, it was grotesque.” Costello’s evocative appeal against the corrosive effects of tabloids and other sensationalized media is poignant here, and extends throughout the rest of the song. True to his style, Costello rattles off imaginative, vivid verses faster than we have time to process them. Upon the line “A bent note on a horn I can’t play,” a row of tart, trite trumpets intervene, moving Costello’s cultural grievances forward with greater intensity. Costello’s bellicose voice balances the broody instrumentation, producing a song that is classic in content and novel in sound.

If the EP’s first song steps into unmarked territory, the second song, “Hey Clockface / How Can You Face Me?” catapults Costello into another galaxy. Rather than revert to his pop-punk roots or elaborate upon the alternative rock aura articulated in the previous track, Costello takes a dive into jazz. No, he was not just inspired by jazz. He did merely not incorporate elements of jazz into his song. Costello is swinging and scatting (yes, scatting!) with the vigor of a New Orleans trumpeter. Bouncing rhymes off a beat of bass and brass, Costello croons to a clockface, wishing for its hands to slow down and give him more time. The song’s campy, fantastical pitch connects seamlessly with the swinging beat, producing a truly vaudevillian tune. A second seal of authenticity is stamped into the EP’s liner notes—Costello is backed by the Parisian jazz ensemble Le Quintette Saint Germaine. As a whole, this formidable facsimile of swing jazz further proves Costello’s abilities to succeed in any genre.

After strolling about the French Quarter, Costello circles back to the desolate cityscape of alternative rock in his third song, “We Are All Cowards Now.” The song begins with one long ooooh—a harmony of layered backing vocals. Then, as quickly as he teases this morsel of pop, he subverts it in a miasma of static and white noise. Pressure builds into a frictional stroke of percussion and is released with a resonant twang of electric guitar. This repeats again and again into a mechanical beat. Costello’s voice chimes in, offering a cryptic critique of war. Lines, such as “pretty confetti, chemical debt/ A necessity to bleed,” are eloquent. However, together these verses fail to make a coherent point or paint a descriptive story. While aesthetically pleasing, Costello’s lyrics fail to distinguish themselves from the heap of poetry that laments the terrors of war. Still, the song is redeemable beyond the writing. Costello injects his lyrics with a melodramatic melody that locks in with the obscure, experimental beat, producing an eclectic and intriguing sound.

Costello continues his theme of sensational journalism in the EP’s fourth track, “Hetty O’Hara Confidential.” The tune follows Hetty O’Hara, a deft journalist whose well-followed gossip column “could kill a man with one single stroke.” Yet all her power and influence could not prevent her fall from grace. After publishing scandalous piece about the wrong person, O’Hara is assassinated by a vengeful vigilante. Costello comments “they’ve got witch trials now/ with witches to spare… Hetty said “I’m powerless and I feel alone”/ Now everyone has a megaphone.” Costello’s story is a vivid portrayal of the powers and perils of modern media. It would make quite the page-turner if ever sent to print. Yet, we may be more fortunate to receive this in the form of song. Costello builds a boisterous beat by layering snippets of himself beatboxing, which combine with his raucous vocals to create a sound just as hair-raising as the story he tells.

The fifth and final track, “No Flag,” is a homecoming for Costello. While it lacks the same initiative for innovation as heard on previous tracks, there’s praise to be made in mastering nostalgia. Costello’s opening whine, “I’ve got no religion, I’ve got no philosophy,” could be plucked straight out of his years of youthful rebellion. Bright guitars and abrasive vocals pull more notes into the melody than previous tracks, further achieving the pop-punk aesthetic of Costello’s earliest albums. If it seems out of place for a senior citizen to be wailing of his inability to fit in with mainstream society, remember that this is Elvis Costello. He clearly saved up enough cultural angst in the 1970s to last him the next half-century of his career. The rebellious content is not disingenuous, it’s just Elvis being Elvis. To be sure, “No Flag” is not a complete repackaging of ancient material. The electronically altered organ and synthetic drum machine pepper the song with enough modernity to make this seemingly classic song coherent with the other, more experimental tracks on the EP.

Costello’s new EP spans an impressive range of sounds for its size. For those in search of alternative rock, “Newspaper Pane” and “We Are All Cowards Now” provide a modern, metallic feel. Meanwhile, those longing for the jazz of yore will find comfort in “Hey Clockface / How Can You Face Me.” For the bookish listener, the fourth track, “Hetty O’Hara Confidential,” is a delectable piece of fiction. Finally, Costello invites his veteran fans into the fold with “No Flag,” a shimmering homage to his past tempestuousness. With such variety, one can only begin to imagine what genres Costello will explore in his full album, Hey Clockface, set for release on Friday.

Where to Start is the first single and music video from Bully’s third studio album SUGAREGG, exploding with melody and singer and songwriter Alicia Bognanno’s passionate screams. 

Quarantine-induced music has ribboned magic into the strangest of times. Artists free from the endless rush of tour are allotted unorthodox amounts of time for their minds to unfurl. Alicia Bognanno, known to the music world as Bully, returns with her third record SUGAREGG, released August 21st, 2020. “Where to Start” launched the project into cyberspace with raspy vocals, indelible bass-lines, and guitar riffs full of fun fury. This bouncy, cathartic punch of a song begs to be played live in a room of sweat-dripping, raucous punks. It is riot grrrl with the heart of a poet. “Where to Start” chronicles Bognanno’s bipolar II disorder, and her strife reflects artfully in the lyrics and accompanying video. The video is a frenetic colorful rush that feels like the inside of one’s brain, a dream visualized. Colors splash one after the other on screen, superimposed with footage of Alicia singing, playing bass, playing guitar, performing wildly in her home. We follow her on a journey of whim, desperation, and anger. Aligning with “I live for you to tear me apart,” three separate shots of Bognanno are shown of her holding a knife to her palm, undoing her braids, and wailing on guitar. The music video is a prism of mood. There is a grunge-like nature to the visuals; film grain, smudges, and distortion. From electric blue to deep red, the aesthetics give off a synesthetic quality. Vivid abstract flares and textures render the song a moving painting with Bognanno superimposed like a modern-art exhibit. The juxtaposition of color and Bognanno’s home feels like an autobiographical dreamscape. It is her likeness, her scrunched expression, guitar playing, and a bloody nose in the shower that feels incredibly personal, but dreamlike due to the ever-changing colors. Alicia splatters paint on a canvas while the lyrics “You turn me back into a child / erratic, desperate, sad, and wild” ring out. The agitated, manic nature of the lyrics and overdriven guitar melt perfectly together.

SUGAREGG is a capricious whirlwind of an album in rock music today. “Where to Start” is brimming with emotion, the fast-pulsing punk that one can lose themselves in, whether in a bedroom alone or on a run. The song is multidimensional, any mood (except for bedtime wind-down time) can enjoy this song. Now is the time to rock out. There are few artists who swell with the howling emotion of Bully in 2020. SUGAREGG demands a listen.

Lady Gaga’s boundary-pushing album ARTPOP takes on themes of femininity and sexuality, still incredibly important to fans.

Lady Gaga’s third album ARTPOP is a collection of eccentric, conceptual, and colorful songs. In 2013, it was a disastrous phantasm of experimentation. Charts donned singles but sales overall were timid for the super-pop-star at the time. ARTPOP was often deemed “highbrow” for a pop album, with many creative moments soaring above the public’s Katy Perry-fixated minds. It was a futuristic, camp narrative of a woman overcoming sexual trauma and exploring an artful landscape constructed by modern artist Jeff Koons.

Gaga’s baroque outpouring of creativity and experimentation was questionably and poorly received. Lyrics surrounding feminism are blown into grandiose pop songs, tilting the norms of a commercial album. I’ve selected standout tracks that never made it on the radio, but deserve a place in anyone’s ears.

TRACK ONE: AURA

ARTPOP opens with a plucky, frantic guitar sound and western-movie reminiscent tones. The distorted voice and eerie howls in the background that greet us with the deranged speak of a murder of Gaga’s “former,” and fall into a sitar melody with maniacal “ha ha ha’s” until we reach a very 2013-like EDM buildup. The drop launches us into spoken-word on top of a slimey, neon, bassy synthesizer. The lyrics are a feminist declaration of who she is, with camp undertones: “I’m not a wandering slave / I am a woman of choice. / My veil is protection for the gorgeousness of my face.” Originally titled “Burqa,” this song is an undressing; the chorus taunts the listener in a cosmic sea of starry synths if they want to “see the girl who lives behind the aura.” She calls herself an “enigma popstar,” mentioning that she may wear things not as a statement but just as a move of passion. It exhibits her true artistic spirit, to wear, dance, and create for the sake of creation. While it does not reveal what is behind the aura just yet, it sets a colorful scene for what follows in ARTPOP.

TRACK TWO: VENUS

Produced by Lady Gaga herself, the sonic palette that follows is cohesive with the previous track. The EDM sounds are melted into a pop atmosphere, not overwhelmingly wubby or deterring. Venus is an intergalactic love song, weaving space with hot love. The repeated “Venus!” reminds us of the goddess of love throughout the entire track The overarching sublime hedonism lyrically is juxtaposed against a camp, electronic instrumental, resplendent with synthesizers. The bridge is an homage to the planets, and especially after listing Uranus, she shouts in a semi-comical, semi-powerful yell “Don’t you know my ass is famous?” The track is an ode to a cosmic lover, one who’s “out of this world, galaxy, space, and time.” The theme of Venus is baroque, alluding to the world of ARTPOP that Gaga affirms in the titular track. One can create anything, and this is one of many fantasies of art that occur on this album.

TRACK 3: G.U.Y.

G.U.Y. is an acronym for ‘Girl Under You.’ It opens with a spoken word passage that continues the Greek god theme established in Venus by mentioning Himeros, the god of sexual desire. G.U.Y. is a nuanced view of feminism over a frenetic dance beat. The riff in the background has a gritty, aggressive quality, which is a reason why one could have been dissuaded from this song, but it bursts and breathes in the chorus. It is pop experimentation with the EDM trend of 2013 with lyrics that take decoding and ultimately becomes a frequent relisten. Lyrics such as “I’m gonna wear the tie / want the power to leave you / aiming for full control of this love,” assert power, but then in the chorus she decodes G.U.Y. for us: she wants to be in power, but without the trope of being powerless when you’re underneath somebody, both figuratively and sexually. The message of being a powerful woman whilst not wanting the norm of submission to continue is a hefty feminist statement not made by any other pop artist at the time. G.U.Y. is Gaga asserting herself as the intense figure that she is. 5’2 and sure of what she wants in love.

TRACK 4: SEXXX DREAMS (or censored as X DREAMS)

Lady Gaga claims that this track was born out of a psychedelic trip and not until the last moment did it coalesce. A shimmering, 80s inspired instrumental glows as Gaga has almost a conversation with herself. One is talk-singing, the other replying in song. This song is a full admission of illicit thoughts to the lucky person, so candid in nature that she even includes a clip of her talking that mimics the confession that she’d genuinely make to the person at a party. The lines are a bit too raunchy to share here, but the message is a tongue-in-cheek due to how forward she is. This song was never likely going to become a radio hit as the FCC would have laughed at any attempts to censor the message. This song also speaks about Gaga’s bisexuality at a time when LGBTQ+ themes were mostly absent from mainstream pop music. In 2013, her blunt lyrics, subtle humor, and catchy melodies were overlooked.

TRACK 6: MANiCURE

MANiCURE experiments with a cocktail of classic rock guitar shredding and modern dancehall beats. Gaga’s energetic vocals are belted like an 80s rockstar with a hint of Kate Bush. The song begins with the private moment of getting ready to see someone, putting lipstick and perfume on but in a wildly flamboyant way. The bombastic nature of this song matches the ardent vocals, even though the subject is that of an insecure relationship, perhaps on both sides. The production is huge, with a booming drum beat, clapping rhythms, and synths that brighten the mostly gibberish chorus. Even though the chorus may be less literary than a song like G.U.Y., it is still ARTPOP to Gaga, meaning that it is her passion driving this heavy beat pop song. MANiCURE speaks about taking time to oneself perhaps by getting a manicure in order to cure oneself of the insecurity of a relationship with a man. The moment that one takes to focus on makeup, nails, or any type of self-care in that realm is a moment seldom spoken about in music, yet it can be therapeutic to have time alone to get dressed up and feel beautiful.

TRACK 7: ARTPOP

The thesis of the album blossoms in this track. “Come to me / in all your glamour and cruelty,” and “the melody that you choose can rescue you.” The funky synth in the background sounds like an intergalactic telephone, as Gaga sings “We could belong together ARTPOP.” This song is the most lyrically dense on the record, speaking of how art can withstand the capitalist nightmare of the music world we live in. Gaga paints us a fantasy that she manifests in this album. Art and pop can fuse in a colorful, experimental palette. Her creative side of eccentricity is not for shock value, rather for expression, echoing back to the line in Aura that “it’s not a statement as much as just a move of passion.” Her art flourishes in choice, sometimes cultural commentary, other times decadent, the idea that art for art’s sake is the soul singing through the medium of song. Immaterial, visceral passion is perfectly apt ground for art, as she says “my ARTPOP could be anything.”

TRACK 11: MARY JANE HOLLAND

Opening with a guitar riff written by a teenage producer from France, Mary Jane Holland is an avant-garde hyperpop song bathing in synths and unusual beats. Freedom from international fame is a fantasy for Gaga; she conjures a character named Mary Jane Holland, free from blonde hair and the “culture of the popular.” This track chronicles her time in Amsterdam with freshly-dyed black hair, in disguise for the first time in years. It’s a breathtaking song about Gaga having a breath of air unpolluted by paparazzi. In an experimental bridge, one cannot tell if the instrument in the background is an electric guitar or distorted synth. Theatre-inspired vocals create a strange narrative over an EDM beat that beckons her back into the last chorus, in which Mary Jane Holland is introduced as a star again with cameras clicking in the background. Her escapist dream is over as the show begins that night in Amsterdam.

ARTPOP was a wild art experiment in 2013, sonic palettes leaving listeners confused instead of bemused, but now one should relisten and swim in Gaga’s colorful world.