REVIEWS
As an avid music fan, plus undertaking a degree in music journalism, I've written countless reviews over my career. Here I've complied the very best for your viewing pleasure.
Ariana Grande – thank u, next
It is no secret that Ariana Grande has had a hard time. Following the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller back in September, the singer vowed to take a break from music. Calling off her engagement to Pete Davidson in the subsequent month couldn’t have been much easier. For many, this might have been the icing on top of the hiatus-shaped cake.
Although the singer broke her oath of musical silence in favour of the iconic girl-power anthem ‘thank u, next’, elements of her heartbreak seep through on the hotly anticipated album of the same name. On the surface, the record is dripping in sass, emanating a sense of new found poise. Dig a little deeper, however, and tracks such as ‘fake smile’ and ‘ghostin’ reveal the skeletons still haunting Ariana’s closet.
Her outright contradictions are admirable as the relatable ‘needy’ is directly tailed by ‘NASA’. Trap-infused tracks ‘break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored’ and ‘7 rings’ are highlights, exemplifying the singer’s aptitude to get what she wants.
Ariana’s customary impressive vocals are combined with a high production value, blending elements of contemporary R&B with attractive pop hooks. With this, thank u, next is the perfect illustration of how to seize your moment.
(first published in LDN Music Magazine issue 4)
ALBUM REVIEW
The 1975 @ O2 Arena, London​
An almost nervous anticipation fills London’s O2 arena as the eerie piano of ‘Love Theme’ gets steadily louder, then suddenly stops. The lights flicker, and a sound so dense breaks the prolonged silence and makes your heart drop right through to the pit of your stomach.
The A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships version of ‘The 1975’ interlude ricochets through the walls as the band finally enter, pleasing the thundering crowd. Charismatic frontman Matt Healy has fun playing on the treadmill-like moving stage, whilst two backing dancers strut rather distractingly around him.
An eclectic blend of the old and the new sees that the energy never drops, even throughout gentler tracks such as ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘Robbers’. A touching moment occurs when the crowd fall silent for a haunting rendition of ‘Medicine’, with the room lit tenderly with a modern imitation of lighters.
Healy becomes emotional as the bulk of the set comes to an end, putting his all into the anthemic ‘I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)’. The indie-pop quartet save the best for the encore, with fans encouraged to jump along to ‘The Sound’. Breakthrough hits ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Sex’ prove favourites, as the band regretfully disappear and Siri bids the crowd “goodbye”.
(first published in LDN Music Magazine issue 3)
LIVE REVIEW
Nina Nesbitt – The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change​
Following a string of undeniably catchy singles, the singer-songwriter turned pop princess Nina Nesbitt’s The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change is contemporary perfection. Somewhat of a concept album, the record explores love and heartbreak, effortlessly using girl power as the ultimate catalyst for rejuvenation.
Lead single ‘Loyal to Me’ and follow-up ‘Colder’ demonstrate Nesbitt’s new song writing technique to be flawless. Focussing first on melody, then later revisiting lyrics, appears to be the model formula for writing captivating, stick-in-your-head-all-day chart hits.
Outside influences run riot on the album as it oozes 90s sass-filled, girl-band vibes. Quoting Destiny’s Child and TLC as direct stimuli, similarities between Nesbitt and Britney Spears seem more appropriate as the Latino-R&B fusion of ‘Love Letter’ and empowering ‘The Best You Had’ aid the singer in her battle for the title of Queen of pop.
Towards the conclusion of the record, the songwriter cannot conceal her balladeering roots with tracks ‘Things I Say When You Sleep’ and ‘Last December’ indicating Nesbitt’s love for storytelling. The latter is remnant of Taylor Swift's 2012 Red era, using the power of music to express pure sorrow only the coldest of hearts would not empathise with.
(first published in Godiva Music Magazine issue 1)
The album reads as a self-reflection of the singer’s adolescence, with title track and first single ‘The Moments I’m Missing’ dripping with nostalgia. As the sound of trickling water soundtracks the record, the visually stunning accompanying video on Spotify leaves Nesbitt emanating vulnerability. Giving her life to the album proves rewarding for the songstress as the record allows the listener the feeling of knowing Nesbitt wholeheartedly.
A new type of sounded feminism, The Sun Will Come Up is for the women who have loved and lost, but grown because of it.
ALBUM REVIEW
Gabrielle Aplin @ Student Central (ULU)​
The queue is back and around the corner on a drizzly Thursday evening in London, as a hum of excitement floats in the air.
Upon the release of her recent EP Avalon, Gabrielle Aplin is ending her mini UK tour in the country’s capital. “Thank you for coming, there’s a lot more of you than last time!” the singer proclaims to an intimate yet exuberant crowd of just over 1,000.
Following support from bubblegum electro-pop trio Outlya, Aplin kicks off the show with the lead single from 2015’s Light Up The Dark: ‘Sweet Nothing’. The Wiltshire-born singer has the perfect mélange of classic singer-songwriter style tracks and newer synth-heavy pop numbers.
‘Panic Chord’ and ‘Please Don’t Say You Love Me’ have the crowd singing every word, whilst ‘Night Bus’ and ‘Waking Up Slow’ initiate a groove even evident in the middle-aged Dads chaperoning their awe-eyed daughters.
Clear from the off, Aplin isn’t here to mess around. Her ever impressive vocal performance and raw talent emits from the stage in waves during stripped back versions of break-through cover track ‘The Power of Love’ and an acoustic encore of ‘Stay’ and ‘Home’.
‘That Girl’ is accompanied by an important message – Aplin tells the crowd of how she used to always wear heels on stage to “feel bigger and stronger”. “But fuck
that” she continues, before showing the audience her snazzy trainers and ensuring awareness of the mistreatment of women, not just in recent revelations from the film industry but in the music industry too, is wrong.With her bright blue eye shadow and yellow scarf, Gabrielle manages to fill the entire venue with her angelic vocals and multi-instrumental talents, using ‘Salvation’ (played on the piano) and ‘Coming Home’ (played on the acoustic guitar) as her portfolio.An idyllic blend of electro-synth lushness and bare, passionate folk acoustics, the 25-year-old singer has evolved not only over the course of her short career, but in front of the fan’s eyes here tonight. Beginning as a somewhat timid, tea-drinking pixie and progressing into a Peroni sipping pop princess, Aplin’s performance is refreshing and enlightening – something more than needed in this time of darkness.
LIVE REVIEW
Sampha – Process​
“You’ve been with me, you’re my angel / Please don’t you disappear” Sampha serenades on ‘Kora Sings’. This singular line encapsulates the concept of grief and bereavement painstakingly presented to us on Process. The 28-year-old singer, songwriter and producer, born Sampha Sisay to Sierra Leonean parents in Morden, South London, ditches the backseat role (after working for the likes of Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, and Drake) in favour of an ethereal, conscious solo debut.
The record has an air of cosmic sensibility as one tracks floats into the next. But still, every song manages to retain an inch of personality, allowing the listener to connect emotionally with each. Lead single ‘Blood On Me’ explores violence on the streets of London, whilst ‘(No One Knows Me) Like The Piano’ is a raw, emotional ballad using just Sisay’s impressive vocals and his deceased Mother’s out of tune Piano to convey pure sentiment.
Elsewhere, tracks such as ‘Reverse Faults’ and ‘Timmy’s Prayer’ (co-written with Kanye West) experiment with the alternative R&B label, creating a dense, almost suffocating attraction. ‘What Shouldn’t I Be?’ uses robotic harpsichords and eerie falsetto to create a dreamy ending to a sleepless record. Having lost his Father to cancer in 1998 and his Mother to the same disease in 2015, Sisay expresses feeling only empathically available to those who have been through the same.“I didn’t really know what that lump was” he reflects on ‘Plastic 100°C’ of his own health scares.
The disjointed instrumentals paired with cryptic lyricism lead Processto be a hit with music critics. Aided by Rodiadh McDonald’s jagged production, Sisay’s debut was rightly nominated for, and hence won, the 2017 Mercury Prize.
The process for Sisay is one of healing from immense pain, demonstrated through beautiful craftsmanship and brilliant execution of tragic and haunting, yet somewhat enlightening, musical narratives.
ALBUM REVIEW
Bruno Mars – 24K Magic ​
With the over-exuberant visual albums and the exhausting two-hour long mixtapes cluttering up the pop-music realm of 2016, Bruno Mars’ 33-minute homage to nineties R&B party anthems is a breath of fresh air.
The follow up to 2012’s Unorthodox Jukebox sees the ex-Elvis impersonator team up with producer Shampoo Press and Curl. A fitting pairing really, considering a trackfrom the album is named ‘Perm’. 24K Magic ditches previous producer TheSmeezingtons’ hit-making diversity in favour of a compressed concept album that ensures every track has personality.
The lead single and title-track duly starts the party, which lingers for the duration of the album. Whilst it perhaps loiters in the shadows of previous chart-topper, Mark Ronson-collaboration ‘Uptown Funk’, ‘24K Magic’ is undeniably captivating with a charming cockiness that will have you putting “yo’ pinky rings up to the moon” in notime.
‘Chunky’ and ‘Perm’ continue the legacy, drawing upon late-eighties funk to create their mid-tempo, big-horn-suffused beats. Speaking of big-horn, ‘That’s What I Like’ and ‘Versace On The Floor’ boast of Mars’ appetite for the finer things in life: “sex bythe fire at night”. Whilst the former is in-keeping with the celebratory flow, the latter utters the smoothness of previous R&B crooners (R Kelly; Marvin Gaye; Usher) in a serenading nineties-inspired slow jam.
‘Calling All My Lovelies’ is a record highlight, confirming Mars’s charismatic arrogance as he brags “I’m calling all my lovelies / ‘cause I can’t get a hold of you” ina falsetto harmony reminiscent of Michael Jackson. The track contains the onlyfeature of the entire album: Halle Berry’s voicemail. Despite a few sexist slurs, i.e. “Bad bitches and ya ugly ass friends” (‘24K Magic’) and “37-27-32” (‘Chunky’), plus the buzz-diminishing finale track ‘Too Good To Say Goodbye’, Mars’ bold intentions to craft a focussed record dismissing his favoured pop-hook formula is admirable. Certainly, this one is “dripping in Finesse” (Finesse).
ALBUM REVIEW
‘HUMBLE.'
What’s the difference between big-shot producer Mike WiLL Made-It and King Midas? Not much, apparently. Everything he touches turns to gold too. Kendrick Lamar is nothing short of a King himself – even appearing as a young pope in the video for new single ‘HUMBLE.’. The rap titan and producer mastermind collaborate effortlessly to create an undeniably infectious beat. Characterised by distorted piano chords, thumping base and inconspicuously satirical lyrics, this record slides right into the mainstream. It seems the days of the politically charged To Pimp A Butterfly are over, refreshingly replaced with the contagious narrative of ‘HUMBLE.’: “Bitch, sit down.”
‘Let Me Explain'
The follow up to Louisville-native Bryson Tiller’s platinum-selling breakthrough LPTRAPSOUL continues his legacy of laid-back, alternative R&B silkiness. The track sees the singer-songwriter regretfully address his lover: “I'm feeling like I'm 'bout to lose you / with all the shady shit I do to you”. His crooning vocals paired perfectly with producer Phoenix’s buttery beat, the track has the perfect balance of emotion and passion, crafting the ultimate slow jam. Intimate and sensual, ‘Let Me Explain’ is the epitome of the contemporary R&B scene, with Tiller leading the revolution. Essentially a record many will emphasise with, whether on the delivering or receiving end.
‘re:stacks'
When illness struck Justin Vernon, the creative mind behind Bon Iver, he fled to a log cabin in Wisconsin to wallow in his loneliness. It was here that he unintentionally created a string of instrumental melodies that would later form the foundation for his debut album For Emma, Forever Ago. Amongst these, a looping daydream of hazy guitar and falsetto vocals known as ‘re:stacks’. Placing the listener directly into a log cabin overlooking a scenic lake as the sun is setting behind the trees, the delicate, harmonious refrain repeats for a melancholy six minutes, before fittingly ending with 30 seconds of thoughtful silence.