Mixtapemotions

  • “The Sound” by The 1975, Monday, July 31, 2023

    It’s been an interesting year for The 1975, to say the least. While frontman Matty Healy’s habit of shit-posting and provocative goofball answers in interviews had been a norm for the band, polarizing fans of the band, earlier this year Healy’s alleged relationship with Taylor Swift made the band even higher profile. While the two are (supposedly) no longer romantically entangled, last week Healy’s controversial antics made global news headlines again.


    I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT YOUR NAME. Last weekend, Matty Healy and the 1975 had a festival in Malaysia canceled and the band, including Healy, was banned from the country. The reason had to do with protesting the country’s controversial anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Following a rant about the laws put in place by the country’s Muslim majority, Healy took bandmate Ross MacDonald and kissed the band’s bassist. Reactions around the world to Healy and the company’s protest have been mixed. First to criticize the band was Malaysia’s LGBTQ+ population, who despite facing fines and up to 20 years in prison, feared that the band’s protest set them back years in their fight for equal rights.  Others fear that The 1975 may have sabotaged Malaysia and other countries’ attempts to enter dialogues with the Western world. Japan is facing pressure these days to legalize same-sex marriage as they are the only G7-nation not to allow gay marriage. In his rant in Kuala Lumpur, Healy told the audience, “I do not see the point of inviting The 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with.” Healy similarly faced criticism for kissing a male fan in Dubai in 2019. 

    A SIMPLE EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. So perhaps the “white savior” complex might be a fitting tagline for Matty Healy. You may call him childish or even a “slacktivist”–an activist who does absolutely nothing for the cause other than raising awareness. The son of British television actors and stated to have “grown up around queer people,” Healy’s activism has been called childish and haphazard, even dangerous. However, Matty’s own sexuality has been questioned on many occasions, so much so he makes a joke about it on the single “The Sound” on the band’s second album. The song seems to be clearly about a girl, but the singer has openly supported the LGBTQ community throughout the band’s career, even to the point where many have mistaken the singer as queer. While many bands have toned down their support for the community when touring in certain countries, The 1975, by conviction or stupidity or a little of both have decided to make a statement on tour. Even the band Muse whose concept albums about draconian government interference changed their setlist in Malaysia following The 1975 incident. Healy seems to be the only one calling out the Muse’s hypocrisy. Is Healy the ally the community needs? Probably not. But in a time when there is such a stark difference between Hollywood and Western Europe and the rest of the world, I think that issues like this are only going to get more pronounced. Especially if Gen Z is as queer as the Internet would have us believe.

  • “Emotion” by Carly Rae Jepsen+ E-MO-TION Track by Track, Sunday July 30, 2023

    Music critics weren’t expecting much from Carly Rae Jepsen when she released her third studio record, E-MO-TION. Her second record Kiss contained two top-10 hits, “Good Time,” a duet with Owl City, and the number 1 song of 2012, “Call Me Maybe.” But Kiss was immature as was the lead single from E-MO-TION, “I Really Like You.” However, the parent album of the single was much more grown up than Kiss. And while Jepsen may no longer be a hit maker on the Hot 100, her fan base and critical acclaim has remained consistent since releasing her pivotal third record E-MO-TION. Today we take a look at the original track list. We’ll look at the deluxe editions and bonus tracks later. 
     

    1. “Run Away with Me” is perhaps the best Carly Rae Jepsen song. It’s the beginning of an adventure, even if its just a weekend trip. The music video for the song features Jepsen and her band on their off days on tour, running around the cities of Paris, New York, and Tokyo, with the most notable scenes of Jepsen and the band singing karaoke in Tokyo. The saxophone is played in a unique way in the song, sounding like a trumpet calling for action.


    2. “Emotion,” the album’s title track, slows the album’s mood a little from the verse. Loneliness is a theme in Jepsen’s music, and “Emotion” is a song about a former love who Jepsen wants to haunt. 

    3. “I Really Like You” was an addition to the album because her manager Scooter Braun wouldn’t allow her to release another single until it could match “Call Me Maybe” in catchiness. Braun also had drinks with actor almost universally beloved actor Tom Hanks and asked him to be in Jepsen’s video. Hanks gladly accepted the offer. The video turns the adolescent love song into a collective love for a national treasure. 
    4. “Gimmie Love” is another slow start after an album highlight, but like “Emotion,” the chorus hits with a driving beat. As the song progresses, the backing vocals build and the song sounds like a late ’80s/ early ’90s that meant something special at the time, but re-contextualized in the ’10s for maximum nostalgia. 
    5. “All That” was the first promotional single from the record, released on iTunes after Jepsen performed it on Saturday Night Live. It’s one of the slowest songs on the record–an end of prom slow-dance ballad–exactly the type of song that Scooter Braun didn’t want to be pushing Jepsen’s new record. Hence, “I Really Like You” was released as the album’s first radio single.

    6. “Boy Problems.” After the slowest comes the funkiest, “Boy Problems” is certainly an immature take, and it was the song I couldn’t stand at first. Co-written and featuring a vocal intro by Sia, the song captures a valley-girl vibe that is totally ironic, totally. It’s a storytelling song about not wanting to hear about that problem your friend is telling you over and over again. Who cares? I’ve got my own problems.


    7. “Making the Most of the Night” brings the album into a mid-track slow down. The songs aren’t boring, but they lack the umph of the earlier tracks. The song, also written by Sia, was a promotional single released before the album. Whether the song is about a love interest or a friend, the listener of the song has had a rough time, and the speak will hijack that person for a night out to help that person forget about their troubles. It’s a nice sentiment. 

    8. “Your Type” was the third single from the record and final promotional single leading up to the album’s release. The song only charted in Canada. It’s a heartfelt song about being in love with a friend. 

    9. “Let’s Get Lost” brings back the sax! It’s the feeling of a night you never want to end, highlighted by Jepsen suggesting, “let’s take the long way home.”
    10. “LA Hallucinations.” Is this the first song Jepsen wrote about sex? It’s a song about changing due to fame. The song starts out with the speaker shacking up with a boy she sees herself with forever until fame overtakes her or the both of them. On a later Carly Rae Jepsen this would seem out of place, but at this time it seemed like Jepsen’s career was on the up-and-up. 

    11. “Warm Blood” has Carly singing in a sultry voice. It’s one of the sexier songs on the record. It’s club ready despite being one of the slower tracks. 
    12. “When I Needed You.” Carly best explains this song on an episode of Song Exploder. The original ending of the non-Deluxe Editions of the album is where we’re going to end the post for today. 


  • “I Like U” by Tove Lo + Saturday Night Mix, Saturday, July 29, 2023

    Many of the songs on Tove Lo‘s Dirt Femme are inspiring songs that pack a lot of meaning into a 3-minute pop song. Whether it’s feminism, sexual liberation/ inhibition, relationship dynamics, eating disorders, Dirt Femme is certainly not the stereotypica shallow pop record. In May, Tove released a post-album single, “I Like U,” that was in many ways the opposite of the record. However, the single will be included on an upcoming reissue of Dirt Femme. 


    I RUN INTO YOU EVERYWHERE. I heard “I Like U” in May or June. I think Tove has every right to make whatever music she wants to. She gave us an incredible issue-heavy record, so a playful song about a longing for a taken individual is certainly warranted. It’s just there isn’t much to talk about other than this song is a bop and that it’s a nice club song. So, being an un-hip, non-club goer, I thought I’d make a soundtrack for Saturday nights. Here it is:


     

  • “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE” by Pvris, Friday, July 28, 2023

    Earlier this month Pvris released their anticipated fourth record, Evergreen. Starting with their 2019 release of the EP  Hallucinations, Pvris began a departure from hard rock into Alternative dark pop. This departure was partly due to producer JT Daly encouraging the band to experiment with pop hooks. The band’s 2020 release Use Me was an even greater realization of the vision set forth on Hallucinations; none of the songs were straight rock songs with perhaps the exception of “Dead Weight.” 


    PRAY FOR BETTER TIMES. Between Evergreen and Use Me, Pvris shifted from being a band to a one-woman moniker, or as cleverly stated in the song “GODDESS,” not a woman or a man but a “motherfucking brand,” with only Lynn Gunn remaining on the band’s roster. Over the years, band members dropped off, with guitarist Alex Babinsky forced out after allegations of sexual misconduct just prior to the release of Use Me. As of earlier this year, bassist Brian MacDonald is no longer a full-time member but only tours with the band. Sonically, Pvris’s fourth record goes further into pop territory, though it’s a noisy form of pop. Songs like the aforementioned “GODDESS”sound like what would happen if P!nk covered Britney Spears‘ “Toxic.” Evergreen evolved from its predecessor in darkness and attitude. The lyrics throw a bit more profanity into the mix. The overall ascetic of the album is harsher too. Let’s start with the obvious: the cover featuring Lynn Gunn’s head held by a tattooed, muscular arm. While the album is titled Evergreen, there is nothing green on the album. In fact, it feels more like the dead of winter than the lush July in which the album was released. The only thing that makes the album cover less grotesque is Gunn’s facial expression, which feels unintentionally comical to me, reminding me of metal album covers that try so hard they end up looking camp. 

    I SHOULDA KNOWN THAT IT’S JUST A WASTE TO WAIT ON REDEMPTION.  More superficially, I have a hard time with titled in all caps. In Internet speak, it means shouting, and it feels like Evergreen is shouting for our attention even though Pvris’s cultural impact is still relatively low. One other thing to note with Evergreen is that Lynn Gunn seems to be taking on a bigger role as producer. Compared to Use Me, Evergreen feels to lack the cohesion of the former record. That’s probably because of the multiple producers brought on. JT Daly serves as a producer and songwriter on 4 of the album’s 11 tracks compared to all of the tracks on Use Me. With Daly’s absence, we get Doja Cat producer Y2K on two tracks including today’s song “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE.” We even get a track produced and co-written by Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda. But what we get from Evergreen is to see a musical direction crafted by Lynn Gunn who c0-produces 6 of the 11 tracks. Lyrically, “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE” sets up the album’s themes of the speaker’s exhaustion working in a post-pandemic music industry. Gunn rails against patriarchy, especially in her field of rock music. Gunn also posted on Instagram that the song was inspired by: “Social media content, attention economy, instant gratification, capitalism, the hamster wheel that we’ve created, burnout, fear for the planet and us as people if we don’t course correct our behavior and priorities.” It’s been three years since Use Me and with the exception of several non-album singles and collaborations, it seems that burnout is a big factor in Pvris’s absence. I just hope that Gunn will continue to take inspiration around her and that album four won’t be the end of Pvris.
     

  • "One Day" by Kodaline + In a Perfect World Track by Track, Thursday, July 27, 2023

    Today is a perfect day to revisit Kodaline‘s In a Perfect World. The cover of the album reminds me of a summer day at the lake. The music soundtracks the drive to that lake outing as well as the lazy afternoon you spend in a coffee shop with a friend to beat the heat. However this summer is finding you; indoors or outdoors, rain or shine; I hope that listening to Kodaline’s first album is the perfect accompaniment to these hot days!

    1. “One Day.” The album starts with a radio-ready track. We’re immediately drawn into Steve Garrigan‘s unique vocals. Sometimes his Irish accent comes through, particularly on “through the eyes of someone else.” The song builds from a simple guitar to more climactic backing vocals on the final chorus. The band re-recorded the song in 2014, a year after the album’s release, short-cutting the build, making the backing vocals even bigger. Both versions of the song are worth a listen, but the original fits better with the album.


    2. “All I Want.”Kodaline certainly isn’t a huge band in the United States. However, “All I Want” is their most successful track, thanks to placements in shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and on the soundtrack to the film The Fault in Our Stars. As the second track on In a Perfect World, the song is a slow build and not entirely catchy until it hits the guitar solo, tying the song together. 

    3. “Love Like This” feels like it’s taking notes from Mumford & Sons. No it’s not banjo or mandolin-based, but the strumming guitar adds an energy that was missing on the last track. The harmonica makes the song feel like a camping tune. 

    4. “High Hopes” takes the emotion “All I Want” conveys in lyrics and transposes that sadness into a musically-moving ballad. I’ve written about this track twice, so check out those posts.


    5. “Brand New Day.” I’ve written about this track twice as well, though I’ve chosen the acoustic version featuring additional vocals by English singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt. 

    6. “After the Fall” brings the album more into Coldplay/U2 territory. The piano-based anthem soars.  Original? Not exactly, but it’s certainly inspirational. It’s a song about picking yourself back up after facing failure.

    7. “Big Bad World” feels more processed than the previous songs, feeling more in-line with what Kodaline’s music would become on their later releases. It’s a song about the human experience of taking a chance in a world that seems unforgiving.

    8. “All Comes Down” gives us Steve Garrigan’s power vocals again. The gospel-inspired track is moving with a choir, piano, and guitars taking a secondary role. The lyrics deal with a similar theme on the album of life being up to the individual. The verses deal with the hardships, but the chorus propel the listener to make the move.

    9. “Talk” ventures into “sad boy” territory. The slow song deals with a break up and the aftermath, being unable to talk to the person anymore. This ultimately deprives the speaker of closure.

    10. “Pray” is a haunting song. Garrigan has talked about being raised culturally Catholic as many of his peers who grew up in Dublin, yet he has also expressed his doubt of the existence of God in interviews and in his music. However, “Pray,” is a song about hope. The dreary song feels like a spiritual end of the album’s middle act. This set of introspective songs from “After the Fall” to “Pray” raise questions about God and the answer is mostly as unanswered the song abruptly changes into the next song.

    11.  “Way Back When” is a fun track if you separate it from the previous song. It’s a storytelling song not focused on the future but the past. It’s such a contrast to the existential songs in the center of the album.


    12. “The Answer” returns back to the existential themes of the album, but the speaker has resolved that he is not “searching for the answer” nor “looking for the truth.” The song is also the first bonus track, not part of the original album.

    13. “Perfect World” is the title track of the record, but it’s also a bonus track. While it was recorded and released on the band’s 2012 self-titled EP, the song was only included on bonus editions–the streamable version on Apple Music and Spotify–of the album. The song implies that perhaps everything is not okay because we don’t live in a perfect world. The band also filmed a music video for the song.

    14. “Lose Your Mind” and 15. “Latch” don’t add much to the record. In fact, some of the B-sides they included in the Collection edition, like “Gabriel” would have fit better on the album

  • “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service, Wednesday, July 26, 2023

     

    After 20 years, an album and a band can become legendary. However, in the case of The Postal Service, the legacy is attached to one album, Give Up, even centered on one single, “Such Great Heights.” The Postal Service was a side project of Death Cab for Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard, producer Jimmy Tamborello, and backing vocals from Rilo Kiley‘s guitarist and singer Jenny Lewis. But like older Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service and “Such Great Heights” is a bigger hit in the nostalgia of eventual fans, as Death Cab for Cutie’s heyday with Plans in 2005 and being featured on television shows like The O.C.

    EVERYTHING LOOKS PERFECT FROM FAR AWAY. Ben Gibbard’s venture into electronic music is a musical arc at least as old as The Beatles. But unlike The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Strawberry Fields Forever, Gibbard didn’t take the electronics to Death Cab for Cutie in 2003. Instead the same year that Death Cab released their organic classic Transatlanticism, Gibbard released the synthetic Give Up with The Postal Service. Gibbard took some of that sound into later Death Cab albums, but at the time, The Postal Service’s synth-based indie pop was distinct from Death Cab in every way except for Gibbard’s unmistakable voice and poetic lyrics. And to clarify my earlier argument about nostalgia making “Such Great Heights” a bigger hit, the song was a minor hit in 2003 and the record charted on Billboard’s 200 Albums and Heat Seekers; however, I wonder how many eventual fans, like me, first heard the song on Garden State original soundtrack, covered by Iron & Wine and thought that the song was an Iron & Wine song? Even worse for my credit, I don’t think I had heard the original until boarding a (gulp) American Airlines flight back to the States in 2015. At the time, I thought that Ben Gibbard had covered the original by Iron & Wine. 

    WHEN YOU SCAN THE RADIO, I HOPE THIS SONG  WILL GUIDE YOU HOME. I’ve gone through times listening to a lot of Iron & Wine  to times when I absolutely cannot take another note of singer Sam Beam‘s voice. That being said, I think that the acoustic version of “Such Great Heights” conveys an emotion that The Postal Service doesn’t convey. The acoustic version is much more laid back, fitting with much of Iron & Wine’s music when Beam isn’t disguising disdain for toxic expressions of patriotism or faith. The Postal Service’s version, though, focuses on the adventure of the song. That’s why it’s such a great song for American Airlines to try to distract us from the fact that our knees are in our face. Listening to yesterday’s song “Fireflies” and today’s song “Such Great Heights,” it does seem that Owl City was influenced by Gibbard’s voice and even the sound of the track itself. Gibbard’s classic, though, provides a more mature lyrical approach. But it might be Gibbard’s hipster appeal on the outskirts of pop culture that influenced the sounds of pop music enough to make a song like “Fireflies” familiar enough to top Billboard’s Hot 100. But this argument would be hard to make. While Owl City’s writing is emotional and on the nose, Gibbard’s ability to write nuanced emotion into lyrics may not get him a number one hit, but twenty years later, we’re still talking about “Such Great Heights,” which didn’t even chart on Billboard’s Hot 100. 

    Read the lyrics on Genius.


  • “Fireflies” by Owl City ft. Matt Thiessen, Tuesday, July 25, 2023

    In 2023, so many hit songs come from what we call “bedroom pop” artists. It’s been that way for several years. Bedroom pop refers to artists who get famous from self-releasing music, recorded in a home studio using equipment and software that was once prohibitively expensive.  In 2009, Owl City released their breakthrough album Ocean Eyes, which contained their number one single “Fireflies.” Although the record was released on Universal Republic Records, the song came from singer-songwriter Adam Young, a 22-year-old composing melodies in his parents’ basement while he battled insomnia when working at the local Coca Cola plant. 

    I’M FAR TOO TIRED TO FALL ASLEEP. Owl City, Adam Young’s musical alias, posted his compositions and blogs on MySpace and started gathering a following. Young’s following, according to a 2011 interview in Hit Quarters with manager Steve Bursky, was based on the singer-songwriter’s engagement with fans. Bursky states: “People feel like they know him, like they’ve got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online.” The following grew from independent singles and the EPs Of June and I’m Only Dreaming, the latter charting at number 13 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums, to a soundtrack placement in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and a record deal with Universal Republic. The first single from his debut album Ocean Eyes was also Owl City’s biggest hit, “Fireflies.” The song comes from a camping trip Young took in his home state of Minnesota. That summer night, rather than fireflies, Adam witnessed an awe-inspiring meteor shower. 

    A FOXTROT ABOVE MY HEAD.  Recording with producer Matt Thiessen of the band Relient K, Adam Young co-produced the track. Owl City worked with Relient K on their album Forget and Not Slow Down and toured with the band. Thiessen can be heard on the bridge of the song. Critics were mixed on “Fireflies,” some praising the song’s imagery and use of the genres of vaporwave and Twee, while other criticizing the song’s simplistic lyrics. Some critics even said that Young’s vocal style in “Fireflies” was an imitation of Ben Gibbard‘s voice in his side project The Postal Service, specifically the song “Such Great Heights.” Today, Owl City isn’t a hitmaker, but Young continues to create music under that moniker. The hits that Owl City has had within the last decade, however, have been for Christian radio–a duet with CCM singer Britt Nicole and a reimagined version of the modern hymn “In Christ Alone.” While Young’s project touches on overtly spiritual themes more in Owl City’s later discography, the music isn’t exclusively Christian nor exclusively secular, with contributions to the Dear Ethan Hanson musical and several notable collaborations. Today, as cheesy as it may sound, we dream about those summer nights where the childhood wonder at fireflies dancing on a clear night. 



  • “Cupid” (Twin Version) by Fifty Fifty, Monday, July 24, 2023

    In 1958, Connie Francis released the song “Stupid Cupid” written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka. The song-writers were part of the historic Brill Building in New York City, which churned out pop and rock standards for a post-Jazz age music scene. With a few charting hits before, 21-year-old Connie Francis delivers the upbeat song with a youthful rock ‘n’ roll energy. The rhyming of “stupid” and “cupid” makes listeners think back to schoolyard chants they sang back in elementary school. But the juxtaposition of the god of love and the quality of lacking intelligence are not exclusive to a 1958 song. 


    I GAVE A SECOND CHANCE TO CUPID. Earlier this year, a new K-pop group �FIFTY FIFTY (피프티피프티) released their second single, “Cupid.” Like many K-pop groups, FIFTY FIFTY were trained for two years before their debut in 2022. The girl group consists of four members, signed to a small Korean label Attrackt. Being a startup with only one act signed, the label poured money into the girl group. The marketing worked. “Cupid” has become a viral hit around the world thanks to TikTok and Instagram. It topped music charts in New Zealand and Vietnam. An English version of the track has been added to multiple Spotify playlists and the simplistic song about being screwed over in love has made its way around the world and has given FIFTY FIFTY their fifty minutes of fame. With groups like BTS topping the Hot 100 then going on hiatus because of the requirement of conscription, it makes sense for K-pop to start marketing girl groups. But in the case of FIFTY FIFTY, this rise to fame wasn’t without controversy. While the girl group still seems to be on an upward trajectory  internationally, Korean netizens and music fans have a mixed reaction to the girl group’s fame.

    I LOOK FOR ARROWS EVERY DAY. When Attrackt was founded, the label originally partnered with KAMP, a production company that would market Attrackt’s acts internationally. However, KAMP pulled out of the deal but a new group of promoters formed called The Givers, lead by a producer from KAMP, Ahn Sung-il. The production team spent time raising funds and training FIFTY FIFTY in the skills needed to be a successful group from rapping to acting and speaking and singing in English. Once FIFTY FIFTY became a successful group with their first single hitting Billboard’s Hot 100, the members of the group sued Attrackt for violating their contracts, medical neglect, and lack of financial transparency. However, the label filed charges against Ahn and three others for obstruction of business, breach of duty, and fraud. Attrackt claims copyright of the song “Cupid,” while Ahn insists that she owns the copyright after purchasing it from a third party. The case was filed in June and it’s still ongoing with both sides insisting that the other is lying. The court battles, however, have stalled promotion from their Korean label and their overseas distributor Warner Music Korea, resulting in the cancelation of the music video for the group’s follow up single, “Barbie Dreams” from the recently released film Barbie and what will happen to the group in the future is up in the air.  
     

  • “Into You” by Ariana Grande + Sexy Singles Playlist, Sunday, July 23, 2023

    Ariana Grande released her third studio record, Dangerous Woman, in May of 2016. Originally titled Moonlight, Grande spent a lot of time promoting the record before it was released. Songs like “Problem” and “Bang Bang” had solidified the singer’s career in pop hit-making with a reputation for the sweet and sexual with varying layers of covertness. The lead single of her 2016 project, “Focus,” however, while charting well, was actually removed from the standard edition of Dangerous Woman. The title track, though, became the new lead single and “Into You” was the second single from the album. Today, I’m making a playlist that perhaps follows up yesterday’s songs about drinking at the bar. Today, it’s a hot summer day, I’m presenting Sexy Singles, songs that have to do with sex. Again, enjoy responsibly!






     

  • “shot in the dark” by Ashley Cooke, Saturday, July 22, 2023

    Ashley Cooke is an up-in-coming country pop singer. Yesterday she released her 24-song debut album shot in the dark. Cooke says the album was “inspired by true love, heartbreak, and the moments between.” A duet with Colbie Caillat, “mean girl,” deals with some honest advice for dealing with a man who doesn’t really love the listener. The title track is a fun song about a hook up at a bar that turns into true love. This Friday in mid-summer, I’m releasing a playlist of songs about hitting the bar. I’m going to keep it mostly positive, focusing on those good times with good friends or meeting someone. Please, listen (and drink) responsibly.