Lead singer Ben Bridwell’s vocals glisten alongside a steady guitar as “No One’s Gonna Love You” begins. A romantic song, that could sing you to sleep (and maybe shed a couple tears?) This is the song you want to hear at your wedding. It stands as a promise of love; “But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do, no one’s gonna love you more than I do.” The most beautiful aspect of this song is the layering effects that are heard throughout it. Guitars have never sounded as magical as they do in this song, almost melancholy. Drums keep a steady backbeat as alt-synths plague the background. Bridwell gracefully leads the listener through a love story. Band of Horses have a way of making songs feel endless, there’s not much to them, but they all hold their own weight and remain relevant in music for years to come. “No One’s Gonna Love You” is one of those songs.
Recently, Taylor Swift tweeted about a cover of one of her 1989 songs, “I Know Places”. A story of a secret relationship, hidden from the public and the unity found within it. Ms. Swift thinks it might be her favorite cover she’s ever seen…and I HAVE to agree. The second I plugged my headphones in and watched the full video, I was obsessed. Vance Joy does a phenomenal job at giving emotion to every single word in the song. Almost as if, “I Know Places” became re-born again through the mouth of Joy himself.
Joy takes a romantic twist on the song, making it all acoustic, using his voice and string plucking fingers to create a gorgeous new song that Ms. Swift is certainly proud of. The chorus is gentler, filling every gap of the guitar chords. Joy’s voice wavers in the most beautiful way as he makes his way to “I know places we can hide.” Near the end, he sings “Just grab my hand and don’t ever drop it, my love,” and it is breathtakingly soft and perfect. The song almost takes on a whole new meaning than the one Swift gave it. Hers is powerful, slightly dark, and loud. While Joy’s could count as a love ballad, something you could hear at a wedding, the elements of love are more prominent with the easygoing pluck of every guitar string. I actually prefer Vance Joy’s cover to the original. I think you will too…
Banks is the epitome of sassiness. Her debut album Goddess let out every single emotion one could feel about love and loss. “And I Drove You Crazy” is a slow vibe-driven song about confusion and being mislead. We’ve all felt it, “What are you looking for? Wanted to be your girl, and anything you wanted, baby I tried to be.” Banks’ sultry voice builds to an electronic heavy chorus with layered backup vocals to emphasize “I drove you crazy”. You immediately picture a fight between a couple, maybe a couple shoes are being thrown, but there’s also a subtle plea filtered throughout the song. Desperation for love and what she wants it to be and feel like. Banks seems to be in her own genre, every song has layered electronics, while keeping an R&B slow beat as her voice compliments all of it in the most beautiful way.
-Abbey ❤
Billboard Magazine named them the Best Dance Music Moment at Coachella this year while dance music website Dancing Astronaut named their set the Best Debut of the Festival. This duo is known as Galantis and they are going to dance their way into your hearts (or ears?) very soon. Made up of Christian Karlsson, aka Bloodshy, and Linus Eklöw, aka Style of Eye. These two are reinventing dance music and bringing diversity to each song they create. Both have devoted their careers to dance music and have now teamed together to form Galantis. Their full-length debut album is titled Pharmacy and will be available June 8.
At first listen, you become addicted to these guys. Everything they are producing is of the highest quality. They merge all the popular elements of dance music with futuristic vocals and sounds we’ve never heard before. Catchy hooks, and deep house drops make each song radio ready for the summer of GALANTIS. As I noticed they were releasing a new song every week in preparation for their debut album, I realized I was buying every single one…my workout playlist is forever grateful. These two create the type of music that is slightly hypnotizing yet consumingly emotional, it’s just that good.
“Runaway (U & I)” was the first song I heard by this duo. Using childlike vocals and heavy electronic repetition, I was immediately hooked. It feels futuristic yet the lyrics are so simplistic and touching; “I wanna runaway, anywhere out this place, just you and I.” Most dance songs can get old after a while, but Galantis never bores you, not once. The lyrics match the thematic element of the background sounds. It was also the #9 Most Shazamed Song at Coachella 2015.
“You” is a more recent single that caught my attention. Once again, using high-pitched anthemic vocals they pull you in as you patiently wait for what’s bound to be an epic drop. But that depends on what version you listen to. The original “You” is a lot lighter in terms of electronic beats than the remixes by Tiesto and so forth. You feel as though your hearing piano chords that are laced with computer touches. The original “You” sounds more pop/radio ready than the remixes do. The cool thing about Galantis is that they have so many remixes for this song. Each mix can give you a completely different vibe if you listen close enough, it’s quite fascinating actually.
On the other hand, my new favorite is “Peanut Butter Jelly”. Taking a vintage spin back in time, this song sounds like something you would hear on the Just Dance video game. Grab your dusty bell bottoms and swing your hips on the dance floor, maybe slip on some roller skates? It’s just an overall “feel good” song that revolves around the saying “spin it like peanut butter jelly.” Fun, right??
Christian and Linus talked to Brobible.com back in December about their music. “We give each song a treatment like it is our last song that we will ever write. We don’t do any fillers, we try to give all full attention both visually, and production and how its being released,” said Linus. When asked what they appreciate most about deep-house music, they said plain and simply, “the groove”. Galantis describe their music saying, “We bring something new to the table. We’ve got a solid toolbox that we use combining a lot of different music and it turned into something that’s missing. That’s why we wanted to do it, so yeah.”
I always end up finding a 1975 song that I’ve never heard and I immediately fall in love. It happens every couple months or so. I become obsessed with it. I look up the lyrics. I listen to it on repeat as I do my homework. I find the meaning behind it. I let it consume me. “HNSCC” is different. Coming off the deluxe version of their debut album The 1975, this song is maddeningly beautiful. There are no lyrics, only whaling guitars and electro synths making you feel every emotion possible in the most glorious way.
HNSCC actually stands for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Patients were identified with it in 1975 (hmmmm…) The root of this increasing trend is unclear, although marijuana use and HPV infections are possible explanations. It is commonly found in young males.
In an interview back in early 2013, lead singer Matt Healey told Bang Tidy Music that HNSCC is the chemical title for head nose and throat cancer. He then explained how it was created saying, “My Nana who I was close to died of cancer this year and it was around about that time that the guitarist’s mum got diagnosed with cancer and it felt like it was a big impact, the fact that something you have no control over can really mess with the dynamics of people’s lives. It’s actually a live guitar take. I was playing the guitar plugged in the computer and George was putting it through every plugin you can imagine. He recorded it without telling me so I was in the zone. This was 2 am on a Saturday night so we were under the influence. I recorded the guitar take and we listened to it back hammered and we were like ‘this is really pretty man, nah let’s get some sleep’. We woke up the next day and we just spent like half an hour putting little moments of vocals and synth and that was that. I think ‘Music for Cars’ is the most honest record in regards to things like that.”
Healey then explained that “HNSCC” can stand for whatever you want it to stand for; “That’s what art is, I want people to make up their own things. People have said to me that they have taken something from the music and asked ‘does this mean that?’ and I said ‘no but it does to you’…If it makes you think about something, that’s the reason I [make music]. I want people to feel about our records the same way that I’ve done about other people’s music, whether it’s negative or positive, I just don’t want people to not give a fuck. Six months ago I wouldn’t have minded, but now we’ve started I really want to know what people think.”
As I read through the comments, I noticed people were doing just what Healey said. Finding their own feelings for this song and what it means to them:
-“This makes me feel like I’m in that state between consciousness and sub-consciousness; when I’m slightly aware of what is happening around me, yet I’m kind of drifting apart; like the kinda state where I’m just about to die and I’m counting my last breaths and I can feel my soul is just about to depart and I couldn’t be happier about it because that means this is an end to all my sufferings. And just before I’m about to slip off, I catch that last glance of that person who meant everything to me and that is all to what I’ve ever wanted and I couldn’t be happier.”
-“Every time I listen to this song I cry. Its something about it that’s so beautiful and deep. I feel this type of peace and serenity in this song. I think what makes it so beautiful is the simplicity, the calming sounds. It feels like you’re slowly dying, but you’re dying a peaceful death. It really makes you think about how wonderful death really is. Life is hell, but its a test. And this song makes me feel like the test is finally over. I’m far too young to think about death but honestly I like the sound of the word death. For some these thoughts I’m feeling are quite morbid or scary, but honestly death is beautiful. All your worries and fears are finally over. This is what I think this songs about. It might be different to everyone else though.”
-“it reminds me of when you’re in a coma and you have the choice to live or die. like all the memories and all your different stories are playing back in a fast motion and it stops on certain ones, and those are the memories that help you decide to stay or let go. i feel like I’m somewhere between conscious and unconscious, relaxed and stress free. Happy.”
-“when you’re in the back seat of a car, driving late at night. Very little cars around on the highway. And no one is making noise. just the road, the car engine and you breathing.”
-“When I listen to this song. I feel like I am standing in the edge of a cliff and the wind is howling around me. Whipping my hair about and I feel terribly alone because there is no one around me and I can’t even hear my own breathing. This song sets me on an edge. An edge I quite like. This is the kind of music that brings you to a terminal closure. I know it sounds bad but in a way I feel like this is the kind of song which makes you feel okay about giving up. Like it’s okay to jump and be peaceful. I feel like this is something one might hear when he or she is ready to give up. The freedom of being able to give up completely is what I feel through this song. It’s a the soundtrack of closure and feeling renewed with the idea of not existing for mundane things. Whenever I have such thoughts, this song is the only thing I listen to. It makes me feel light. Free of burden and one with myself even though I can’t fucking hear the voices in my head.”
-“colors. that’s all i see when i hear this, memories of past friends and things i wouldn’t remember just listening to the birds. like the flashback of your life when your dying, people you loved and stories you heard. sounds, like the laughter of a friend who died before she actually lived, a train speeding past you. tastes like bitter chocolate, green tea with too much sugar, salty tears. this song has a vibe to it i can’t even explain.”
I think this is so amazing that people are feeling so many crazy things for this song. It really shows the immense power that music has over people, emotionally and mentally. I can only imagine how proud The 1975 are that they created such a gorgeous song that can touch so many people.
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