Who You Need: Alessia Cara

image: whycauseican.com
image: whycauseican.com

The truth is, I saw her potential the second I heard “Here”. I watched her homemade YouTube videos showing off her high school bedroom, her little brother jokingly chasing her through the streets, and a heavy amount of silly lip-syncing. Alessia Cara is here and she’s as real as it gets. Her music is a classy mix of Meghan Trainor and Lorde; destined for success. Her debut album Know-It-All is a grand entrance into the intricate mind of Ms. Cara.

Cara started Know-It-All when she was 17. “I think it’s just the story of what a teenager’s life is like, and with that comes themes of rebellions, confusion, and vulnerability, and I think that that comes through in in all of the songs,” Cara told 103.7 The Q.

image: dayandadream.com
image: dayandadream.com

A stripped down version of “Here” is featured on the deluxe version of this album. It’s much darker, guided only by a piano as Cara’s vocals perform impeccable runs to the lyrics about a sh***y night out with “friends”. After hearing this, I will never listen to the original again.

Her wavering alto-toned voice graces every track in the spunkiest ways. Upbeat bouncy tracks like, “Seventeen”, “Outlaws”, and “Four Pink Walls” make you feel nostalgic for your high school days trapped in your bedroom finishing your math homework and wondering what you’ll do with the rest of your life.

“Stone”, an acoustic ballad, provides lyrics that sound straight out of a scribbled in, slightly worn diary. Cara’s voice sweetly sings, “And I will follow where this takes me, and my tomorrows long to be unknown, when all is shaken, be my safety.” “Stars” is another beautiful ballad expressing young love in the purest form.

Know-It-All is the young adult CD every 16-22 year old needs. It has everything you want and more. A solid debut start to finish from someone who was meant to be in this business.


Abbey

Twitter: @bloggingblondie

Instagram: Blondieandthebeat

Music Monday’s: “Prisoner”

Prisoner

Key Item: Cracked marble shirt

Key Materials: Printed leather

Shoe Situation: All white huarache nike sneakers

Accessory Must: A solid white hat

image via: billboard.com
image via: billboard.com

The Weekend already proved he can woo the world with “Earned It” and make us dance with “Can’t Feel My Face” so why not add another notch to the belt? His first released collaboration off his upcoming album Beauty Behind the Madness (coming Aug. 28) is called “Prisoner” featuring the sultry queen herself, Lana Del Rey. The Weeknd’s falsetto takes the lead on the chorus as the verses serve to be a guide on how to love; “love will always be a lesson, lets get out of its way.” The powerful bass in this song drive it to be a definite R&B hit and Lana’s easy-going verse just adds to the sex appeal of the song. Abel swoons to the song admitting he’s a prisoner to love; something Lana Del Rey knows very well. The two compliment each other musically, lyrically, and aesthetically.

Listen Below:

Addicted to…ZEDD

image via: http://img.talkandroid.com
image via: http://img.talkandroid.com

Zedd’s second full-length album titled True Colors could be his most emotional yet. Almost every song features simple lyrics and of course the dance drop we’re all waiting for. Zedd pulls in help from vets like Selena Gomez and newcomers like Echosmith and Troye Sivan. That’s the cool thing about Zedd, he’s always willing to let other people shine on his music, whether they have a million fans or a couple hundred. He cares about the final product and not the popularity status. Zedd has perfected his own style as something I like to call Dalectropop. A fancy mixture of dance, electronic, and pop.

image via: concertfix.com
image via: concertfix.com

Songs like: “Bumble Bee” and “Addicted to a Memory” follow the harder side of dance music, while “Daisy”, “Illusion”, “I Want You To Know”, and “Straight Into the Fire” focus on storybook lyrics, impeccable vocals, and cohesive electro beats. The best thing about this album is the beauty heard in every song. True Colors is exactly what the dance world needed; to slow down a little bit and appreciate the power of dance/electronic music. It doesn’t have to all be “shake your ass and fist pump”, it can tell stories and provoke true emotions.

Zedd recently told Billboard magazine, “I’m just an album artist. There are singles artists and there are album artists. I don’t think i’m the guy to just be able to put out a song and be fully satisfied with that. Because that puts you so much more into a box.” Sounds like the words of a true artist, my friends. True Colors is meant to be consumed and heard as a whole. Every song has its own strength and weight to the albumA lot of people stereotype DJ’s thinking all they do is play on computers when really they are creating sounds and insane hooks that we normal people could never replicate. Back in December of last year, Zedd released a half hour documentary that explains his success with Clarity and gives more of a closer look into his life. Please watch:

Proof that this album is a continuous vat of emotion and beauty is heard on the final two songs titled “Daisy” and “Illusion”. The lyrics in “Daisy” set the scene for “Illusion”. “Daisy, always climbing up the same tree, finding love in all the wrong scenes, Daisy, you got me” are the words sung out of Julia Michaels mouth (also lends her vocals to “Straight Into the Fire”). This song illustrates the struggle of not knowing a good thing when its right in front of you. The innocence in Michaels’ voice helps the songs message of uncertainty and confusion with the concept of true love. Near the end of the song, piano chords start to play as the intro to the closing track “Illusion”.

This song is almost painfully gorgeous as Sydney Sierota, lead singer of Echosmith, sings, “It feels like the fairytale’s over, I really wanted these pages to begin, with once upon a time, like all those lullabies.” This is the song that makes you cry but also has the power to save you. The hook is “This love is your illusion”, which becomes a mantra you end up hearing yourself singing over and over in your head as Zedd takes over and creates an electronic symphony epically matching the vibe of the song. “Illusion” is absolute magic.

gif via giphy.com
gif via giphy.com

-Abbey 🙂 

How Perfect, How Precise, How Pleasing

I pictured her sitting at an antique coffee table in a white wooden table chair with green fairies painted on it, sipping on some green tea with her messy red hair trailing down her pale white cheeks as she scribbled some gloriously dramatic lyrics onto a bar napkin she stuffed in her purse after leaving dinner the night before. This is what I have envisioned Florence Welch has been doing for the past four years or so. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong…who knows?

Photo via bing.com
Photo via bing.com

Florence + the Machine announced this week that they are back!! Oh my goodness I have been waiting FOREVER for this moment. Being a huge F+TM fan myself, I am so so excited for this new album. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful will be the third album from this eclectic bunch. They also released the music video for the first single called “What Kind of Man” and it is phenomenal. Reminiscent of “Kiss With A Fist” due to the feisty angst in Florence’s voice, but with age comes a fuller vocal range and a greater sense of musicality. Not to mention a highly artistic point of view as we see in the music video.

This video begins by showcasing a casual yet powerful conversation that takes place between a couple. The man tells the woman that she was having a nightmare and she gets angry that he didn’t wake her up, “I didn’t want to intervene. It seemed like you were suffering somewhere else. I didn’t think it was my place to drag you out of it so I just let you be,” he said. She replies with, “So you just let me suffer? So you think that people who suffer together would be more connected than people who are content?” He agrees and says, “I do.” I think this is often a question we don’t think about, but it’s interesting when you do take the time to think about it.

The song seems to about a long term relationship and the lack of commitment throughout it; “And with one kiss/ you inspired a fire of devotion/ that lasted twenty years.” But also the intoxicating element that comes with love, sparks a lot of the inspiration behind the song; “I already had a sip/ so I’d reasoned I was drunk enough to deal with it.” A theme we often hear about, but Florence makes it more dramatic when she sings the words, “What kind of man loves like this?” Almost posing the question, “How could a human being actually love like this?”

Miss Florence spreading her fairy wings so fans can soak up her glittery glow. photo via bing.com
Miss Florence spreading her fairy wings so fans can soak up her glittery glow.
photo via bing.com

I’m surprised by this electrifying intro to this new album cycle for Florence & the Machine, but I’m also not because everything this band does is never half-assed (for lack of a better phrase). The music is always top notch quality with stellar lyrics that you want tattooed on your entire being for the world to see. I hear more guitar-driven rock, a beautiful horn line, hard lyrics, and spunky tambourine on this track which transcends perfectly into where music is heading these days. The music scene seems to be going back to the basics, focusing more on the different elements of music. No more crap. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful has to be good. It just has to. The worst part? We have to wait until June 2….

-Abbey

Taylor On Top

Taylor-Swift-1989

Want to know what pop domination looks like right now? Then you should be reading from Taylor Swift’s book, or maybe looking at her saturated personal Polaroids that litter every new album booklet representing her latest creative endeavor into the royal doors of the pop kingdom. The internet blew up last Sunday night/Monday morning with celebrity reactions, lists of favorite songs, and positivity towards Swift’s fourth album, titled “1989.”

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Debuting at number one on the Top Albums chart on iTunes, this album flew up every list, not to mention six out of the top ten songs on iTunes also belonged to Ms. Swift.

“1989” seems to be home for Swift. She seems to be more in her element, even though this album is something completely different from anything you’ve ever heard from her. Pop beats are sprinkled on every track, along with late 80’s esque synths, drum beats, and  trance-like vocals. “1989” is a pop dream dipped in emotions, honest lyrics, and a couple ex-boyfriends…[some things never change.]

Songs like: “Bad Blood” [supposedly about her beef with pop competition Katy Perry] “All You Had To Do Was Stay,” and “Out of the Woods” [possibly about Harry Styles] focus heavily on a constant drum beat and repetitive choruses that hook your ears from the first listen. Swift has an extreme talent for making songs what I call “radio ready,” you hear it a million times and you’re still going to sing every word while sitting in your car.

taylor-swift-1989

The closing track “Clean” features dream-like vocals, twinkling pop sounds, and a slower side of Swift providing raw lyrics: “and the butterflies turned to dust that covered my whole room.” Swift’s voice always sounds better when she slows down and sings in her natural key, which is what you hear on several tracks off this album, including the poetic “This Love” and the pretty, story-like “Wildest Dreams.”

Swift has admitted in several recent interviews that this album is her best yet, and possibly the most true to herself. Swift told Good Morning America, “I think you have to stay true to who you are, at the same time challenge who you are to explore all the different aspects of what you can create.” “1989” is a grown up project for Ms. Swift, she recently moved to New York [as you hear on the title track and electronic infused “Welcome To New York”] and is now a woman. Have a seat on the throne Taylor, I have a feeling you’ll be here awhile.

-Abbey 

giphy
gif from giphy.com

All photos via bing.com