Ballad

Scuzz Sundays: Skunk Anansie – ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’

November 28, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: ‘Skin’ Deborah Dyer (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Theremin/Chief Songwriter), ‘Ace’ Martin Kent (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Richard Lewis (Bass Guitar/Unclean Vocals) & Mark Richardson (Drums) (2020) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, for a final time this year, the time has come for us to revisit some of the Pop-Punk ghosts of the decades past for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, not forgetting that it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This is the last installment of the trashy weekly feature because I have something special planned for December instead – which is still on-theme and on-brand – but I’ve been conspiring with a special guest who may (or may not) have some involvement with these plans. Therefore, we need to round off the latest year of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on a high note and the multi platinum-selling 90’s Brit-Rock group Skunk Anansie are certainly a fit for the grand task. They were particularly significant for their own frontwoman, ‘Skin’ (aka Deborah Anne Dyer OBE), who was crucial to black music history because, sadly for the time, it was highly unusual for an androgynous black woman with a trademark bald look to front a well-known Punk Rock band in the mainstream. However, in 2004, they were ranked as one of the most successful UK chart acts between 1952 and 2003 by the Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles & Albums, having spent a total of 142 weeks on both the UK Singles and UK Albums chart. A single synonymous with Skunk Anansie was ‘Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)’ – a top 20 hit in several countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Iceland. Written about a tough breakup, the music video caused some controversy when shots included two girls kissing. Another sign that Skin and company were ahead of their time. Let’s revisit the similar sights below.

Often grouped as part of the 90’s Brit-Pop boom, Skunk Anansie were more precisely an Alternative Rock and Hard Rock outfit who were popular for numerous other hit singles like ‘Weak’ and ‘Charity’ that made a mark on the charts internationally. Their name of ‘Skunk Anansie’ also derives from the Akan folk tales of ‘Anansi’ who was the spider-woman of Ghana, and the band added the title of ‘Skunk’ at the front to, as they simply noted, “make the name nastier”, flowing with their signature sounds to give them a harsher Punk edge over their contemporary competition. ‘Hedonism’ has become a frequent favourite with their fans at live performances and Skin has often been known to perform the single at solo gigs too. Starting with a somber tone using lyrics like “I hope you’re feeling happy now” and “I wonder what you’re doing now/I wonder if you think of me at all” that establish Skin’s narrative who appears not to be ‘over’ their ex-lover despite their bad behaviour following a split, Skunk Anansie complement her shy and willowy vocals with some muted guitar beats, followed by mid-tempo Drums and a harsher bassline, in a fashion that feels reminiscent of a rock opera ballad. They still resemble a Pop band on the more alternative side, however, as the downtempo mood still resembles that of a more moderate Rock song. The focus, here, is on the vocals. Skin uses emotive lyrics like “Does laughter still discover you?/I see through all those smiles that look so right” that feel open and revealing to her character, which are contrasted by highly distorted guitars in a particularly memorable guitar solo in the middle. The drums and the bass are very tight and consistent, while the dynamics and subtleties are left intact because Skin’s vocals are never compromised by the heavier guitar melodies, which leaves plenty of wide space for the lyrics to come through nicely. Confrontational yet slightly tinged by vulnerability, Skin’s vocal performance is rich and well-recorded. In conclusion, ‘Hedonism’ is a solid single with crossover appeal between slightly different genres that still holds up today. Kept simple and effective, yet complex enough, it is a good testament to the credibility of the 4-piece despite their larger mainstream popularity.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Stoosh’ (LP) (Released on October 7th, 1996) (via One Little Indian/Epic Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page! Thank you for continuing to support my content every day, and I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off a new week’s worth of posts that includes a fairly strange mixture of Christmas recordings and new alternative favourites, but it’s that bizzare time of the year again. We kick off with new material from a wildly experimental duo who met each other at the Guildhall School Of Music and Drama. They have released a crop of singles and an EP on the forward-thinking Warp Records label, and their new single marks their signing to Rough Trade Records.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Frightened Rabbit – “It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop”

November 20, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for “It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop” (Released on Dec. 15th, 2008) (via FatCat Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to grab your Gingerbread Latte to sip along with as we continue our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ today, which I’ll be leading because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A Scottish indie folk band who were formed by Scott Hutchinson, who originally began the group as a solo project, in 2003 – Frightened Rabbit were a band who released five albums, two EP’s, two live albums and ten singles to critical acclaim, which allowed the band to develop a large cult following that is still avid to this day. There is a sadness to the band, however, as Hutchinson fell ill and he went missing on a terrible night in 2018, where his body was later found dead near Port Edgar, South Queensferry. Based in Glasgow from 2004, the band were also known for their frequent collaborations and extensive touring with Aaron Dessner, a multi-instrumentalist from The National. Frightened Rabbit’s work has been released across Fat Cat Records and major label Atlantic Records, and the strongly reviewed 6-piece were also well-liked for their regular charity work with the Invisible Children Inc. music coalition project. Hutchinson, alongside his brother Grant Hutchinson, also worked with Justin Lockey (Editors) and James Lockey (Minor Victories) on their side project Mastersystem. Mainstream-wise, Frightened Rabbit were perhaps best known for 2013’s ‘Pedestrian Verse’, which reached #9 on the UK Albums Chart. However, their final album, 2016’s ‘Painting Of A Panic Attack’, which included the particularly good single ‘Get Out’, was my personal favourite. In 2008, they got into the seasonal spirit with ‘It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop’. Let’s give it a spin.

Scott Hutchinson released an original mix of ‘It’s Christmas, So We’ll Stop’ as solo material in 2007, before he reworked the track with expanded instrumentation and additional production for a re-release the next year. He said, “It’s Christmas… is about people deciding to be pleasant to one another for about a day, regardless of whether or not they actually get along the rest of the year”, adding, “I feel it’s maybe healtheir to live a little more consistently (not that I do), but often humans need excuses to be nice and giving and loving to one another, and Christmas is one of those times, for better or worse”, to the Vinyl’s product description. At just over five minutes in length, Hutchinson encourages a ceasefire for hatred over the top of some swelling String sections, a melancholic lead guitar hook, some softly psychedelic backing vocals that feel warm in texture, and some gradually building Drum rhythms. Lyrics like “As the rot stops for today, Let the rot stop for just one day” touch on restraining the disillusionment and sensual assault that comes with the excess of the holiday season. Later lyrics, like “‘Cause the wine on our breath puts the love on our tongues”, touch on product overindulgence and throw shade at commercialism a little, while vaguely spotlighting the community of Christmas as the main theme. The final refrain of “The next day, life went back to its bad self” hints towards the hostilities of the wider world being resumed after the big day of December 25th. While treading familiar ground for a Christmas single, in terms of the key material discussing the halting of arguments and the easing of tension that it all brings, Hutchinson manages to polish everything in a neat way. His vocal delivery feels sharp and piercing at times, giving off the idea of the knives being put down for the single day but also suggesting a warmer armistice, and it introduces a raw element of melancholy and a sense of foreboding to the instrumentation. The soundscape, as a result, is full of musical diversity. It is slightly charming and witty in a black comedy format, but it’s also a little sombre and downtempo, all while maintaining an uplifting quality in the spirit of the religious season. It feels very frank, with the blend of orchestral and acoustic instrumentation complementing his variety of tones as the songwriting develops in a way that’s gradual. It is one of the most poignant, yet realistic, festive songs out there.

  • Pictured: Scott Hutchinson (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Writer), Billy Kennedy (Lead Guitar/Keyboard). Andy Monaghan (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Simon Liddell (Bass Guitar) and Grant Hutchinson (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2013) (Photo via RedBull.com/Atlantic Records)

That brings us to the end of our trimming of festive output for this week! Please join me again tomorrow for ‘Scuzz Sundays’, as we take a listen to a Pop-Punk anthem from a well-known California-formed rock band who bonded over their love of music on the football pitch and they recorded one of their albums in the Paramour Mansion.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Norah Jones – ‘A Holiday With You’

November 17, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘I Dream Of Christmas’ (Released on October 15, 2021) (via Blue Note Records)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m asking you to allow me to be the elf on your musical shelf for yet another festive daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As I was researching new Christmas music for exposure on the blog, I was prioritizing in finding something original to show you, rather than going for cover versions. The wish has been partially met by the Manhattan-born Jazz vocalist, songwriter and pianist Norah Jones, who has seemingly got into the seasonal spirit pretty early this year, as she released her new holiday album, ‘I Dream Of Christmas’, in October via the iconic Jazz label Blue Note Records. I was also suprised that I hadn’t previously heard of Norah Jones, who has won nine Grammy Awards and she was named as Billboard’s top Jazz artist of the 2000’s in 2013. She has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, and she made her feature film debut as an actress in 2007’s ‘My Blueberry Nights’, a film that was directed by Wong Kar-Wai. What is wrong with me, then? Anyhow, Jones is also the daughter of the Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar and the concert producer Sue Jones, and so she is also technically a member of the rich Shankar heritage of musicians. She has yet to release a holiday album until this point, and the record features a mix of cover versions and original material. Renditions of ‘Winter Wonderland’ and The Chipmunks’ ‘Christmas Don’t Be Late’ are therefore joined by native festive tunes like the album’s opening single, ‘Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)’ and prior single ‘Christmas Glow’. Another original ballad that meets your ears on Jones’ eighth LP is ‘A Holiday With You’ – which you can check out below.

Jones began to draft ideas for ‘I Dream Of Christmas’ together when she was listening to Christmas albums by Elvis Presley and James Brown last year, and Jones began writing her original material as soon as the period ended in January 2021, which she says gave her something fun to work on and look forwards to. She also says, “When I was trying to figure out which direction to take, the original songs started popping in my head. They were all about trying to find the joys of Christmas, catching that spark, that feeling of love and inclusion that I was longing for during the rest of the year” in her album’s description. Opening with a gentle Piano melody that changes chords, Jones uses expressive vocals like “Winter isn’t easy when you’re holding back the tears” and “Just you and I, a starry sky/And nothing else to do” to set the scene, giving the rhythm guitar melodies a languid feeling and then introducing some mellow Horn sections into the mix. Later lyrics, like “Would you be happy with a holiday in bed/With covers over head” and “Your heart is lost, inside a frost/I’ll give you mine instead” are veering more towards romantic and wistful, even occasionally flirtatious and ever so slightly sensual, suggestions. The chorus finds Jones continuing to express a deep desire for a sense of companionship in the season atop some muted percussion and chiming Piano chords, while the overall production is very stripped back and intimate, revealing some light emotions more alike to a perennial roasted Chestnut within the season instead of one that reveals upmost joy, necessarily. Overall, Jones does an excellent job of using her classical Jazz origins to immediately put her own Christmas stamp on this rare original recording, which feels a little subdued and restrained in comparison to your most typical Christmas songs. It feels warm yet bright, and it makes for a pleasant alternative to your usual festive playlists.

  • Pictured: Norah Jones performing at the Alte Oper Opera House (2012) (Photo Credit: Paolo Gianti)

That’s all for now! Thank you for snuggling up to the fire in tune to another festive track with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth review of some exciting new music from a Brisbane-formed dorky group who explore the genres of Dance, Acid Pop and Indietronica in their music. They have performed at festivals including Splendour In The Grass Festival. They have also received nominations at the Queensland Music Awards, National Live Music Awards, J Awards and the AIR Awards.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Elle King – ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’

November 13, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Elle King backstage at GMA’s ‘Summer Concert’ series (2017) (Photo by David Crotty/Getty)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for our first festive post of the new year’s holiday season, and that’s also because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The John Lewis advert is out. The supermarket shelves are full of tat. The Hallmark movies are now showing on TV almost each day and everybody’s sharing a list with an item or two. That can only mean one thing: It’s here again for another year. Whether you still think it’s too early or not is up for debate, but since this is me writing the blog and planning a post out every single day, I’ve decided that it’s time to start looking at different artists who are getting into the seasonal spirit as we begin our own ‘Countdown To Christmas’ series of Christmas-themed posts on the blog, which will be spread throughout the next seven or eight weeks, or so. We’ll be listening to a variety of on-brand Yule tracks, both new and old, that will provide alternatives to the yawners from Sir Paul McCartney and Elton John that we seem to get over-exposed to every single year, while sharing the same goal of injecting some Christmas flair into your streaming playlists. My first exhibit of the season this year is Elle King, an LA-born multi-instrumentalist and singer songwriter who is the daughter of the comedic actor Rob Schneider and the former model London King. You may remember her from scoring a big hit in the mainstream with ‘Ex’s & Oh’s in 2017, a track which reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart and the top ten in the US charts. She’s also known for her collaboration, ‘Drunk’, which she performed with Miranda Lambert, a single which has racked up over 150 million streams worldwide. She has also toured with acts like James Bay, Joan Jett, Of Monsters & Men, Michael Kiwanuka and Train. Check out her new rendition of ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ below.

To tell the truth with you, when I first heard Elle King’s version of ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ a week ago, I had never heard of the track before at all and it was only when I was researching some information for this post that I learned that it’s a cover version of an ancient and traditional Christmas R&B recording. It was originally performed by legendary Blues pianist James Brown in 1960, which he co-wrote with Gene Redd, and it reached #76 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1961. Since then, it has been covered by the likes of Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Josh Gracin, Gary Allan and Lee Roy Parnell. Elle King is just the latest to join their ranks and, hopefully, put a fresh spin on the original version. She does so with her mid-pitched crooning and sultry guitar melodies that feel representative of her Country-leaning solo material, while also keeping the Jazz element of the original track intact. Lyrics like “Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues/My baby’s gone, I have no friends, To wish me greetings once again” discuss the melancholy felt by those people who spend Christmas alone and apart from loved ones, while the later verses show a more optimistic take on simply enjoying the festivites of the time of year, as sequences such as “Choirs will be singing/Silent night/Christmas carols, by candlelight” and “Friends and relations send salutations/Sure as the stars shine above” trade the longing and agony of the opening verse for feelings of anticipation and contentment, as the final hook of “No more sorrow, no grief and pain/I’ll be happy, Christmas once again” draws things to a naturally mood lifting conclusion. This was a decent take on the original carol because Elle King manages to modernize some of the widely universal themes of the old 1960’s recording and King sounds absolutely accessible to a casual, very easygoing audience of listeners. While her take didn’t really suprise me in any way or did something that I’m likely to remember for that long, regrettably, this was perfectly fine and enjoyable to listen to as it sounded pleasant and it has a solid, calm vibe going on. A cheerful carol, with an air of Amy Winehouse to it, that everyone can find relatable if heard by all of the family at dinner.

  • Pictured: Elle King in an official photoshoot for Teen Vogue (2013) (Photography by Matthew Kristall)

That’s the only trick that I’ve got left in my stocking of seasonal strains for today! I’ll be back tomorrow for more of the same ‘Scuzz Sundays’ shtick as we look back at one of the Pop-Punk era’s memorable anthems of the late-90’s to mid-00’s era to see if it can hold up to some quality and value tomorrow! On the chopping block this week is an Agura Hills-formed Post-Grunge band with a silly name who haven’t appeared on the feature since March of 2020 – when the global lockdowns began. Known for hits such as ‘The Reason’, the Californian band have sold over ten million albums globally.

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Today’s Track: Cate Le Bon – ‘Running Away’

November 2, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Pompeii’ (LP) (Available on 4th February, 2022) (via Mexican Summer)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for yet another daily track on the blog to get brought to your attention, because its always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Known for her subversive spin on vintage guitar rock music, the Carmarthenshire-born Welsh alternative folk singer songwriter Cate Le Bon is a woman of many talents and she can perform her music fluently in both English and classical Welsh. She has also toured across the globe with artists like St. Vincent, John Grant and Perfume Genius, and she has production credits on albums by Deerhunter, Josiah Steinbrick and Tim Presley. Jeff Tweedy – of the popular Alternative Rock band Wilco – has even named Cate Le Bon as one of his personal favourite musicians of the moment. She has released three EP’s and multiple singles, and Le Bon is now six solo albums into her dynamic career. In fact, we previously covered her track ‘Mother’s Mother’s Magazines’ on the blog for one of my daily posts back in the late half of 2019. It was a long time ago, so you would be forgiven for struggling to remember reading it. However, it is a good time to try and delve into her material again since her sixth full-length album, ‘Pompeii’, is on the way, and the playful songstress has set it up for a release date of February 4th, 2022 via Mexican Summer. The follow-up to her 2019 Mercury Prize-nominated record, ‘Reward’, Le Bon says that “Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease. Solo. In a time warp. In a house I had a life in 15 years ago”, adding, “I grappled with existence, resignation and faith. I felt culpable for the mess but it smacked hard of the collective guilt imposed by religion and original sin”, as she explained in a press statement. The first single to be taken off the new LP, ‘Running Away’ is your first taste of the record. Le Bon played every instrument on the new record, and she was joined by her regular collaborator Samur Khoja for recording studio sessions in Cardiff for a pair of tracks. Let’s give ‘Running Away’ a listen below.

Speaking of her new single, ‘Running Away’, the Welsh folk crooner describes, “The world is on fire but the bins must go out on a Tuesday night. Political dissonance meets beauty regimes. I put a groove behind it for something to hold on to. The grief is in the Saxophones”, in her press notes. An enforced period of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic has, according to the Penboyr-born vocalist, also resulted in a “more extreme version” of Le Bon’s studio process, making way for a collection of more “Playful, satirical and surrealist” songs than what may have come from Cate before. These themes become clear in ‘Running Away’, which is of no resemblance to the 70’s Sly & The Family Stone Psych Funk classic of the same title. Another wayward progression of her complex instrumentation style, the track immediately feels mid-tempo, yet buoyant, with some ghostly guitar strums mixing with a softly Funk-inflicted backdrop in a strange way. Observational lyrics like “It’s the sweetest thing/That you never had” and “You can’t put your arms around it/It’s not there anymore” are wise to keep their distance because, although Cate Le Bon refuses to give us many specifics within the lyrics, as you would probably expect given her experimental nature, it feels clear that all-encompassing emotions of longing and reminiscence are placed at the center of her core. The vocals in the chorus are obscure in tone, but tinged with a feeling of lethargy, with drowsy guitar melodies that slightly evoke a 00’s ‘Slacker Rock’ feel akin to Terry Presume or Mac DeMarco, and a bubbling amount of weariness in the lovesick croons of her voice. The usual trademarks of Cate Le Bon are here, but the production feels more refined with an air of Kate Bush about it. The regal blasts of Saxophone melodies and the ambient washings of the Synths are sparse enough to reveal little, but light elements of Prog-Rock and Ambient Jazz get scattered through the verses. Together, the different elements of the song feel relatively sparse and unidentifiable on paper but they are neatly buried and they place Cate Le Bon at the center of her work, as she uses surreal songwriting with great patience and sculptures enigmatic vocals on remaining unsure about whether she should seek some things that sound lost to her. In conclusion, ‘Running Away’ is a solid evolution of Le Bon’s style because it encourages her to pale back the layers of her common material. It feels slow, but never filler, ramping up her sound by shaping something so tidy and intricate, but suitably vague and mysterious.

  • Pictured: Cate Le Bon in a still from the ‘Wonderful’ music video (2016) (Photo via Colorising.com)

As I’ve mentioned, we previously covered Cate Le Bon’s track ‘Mother’s Mother’s Magazines’ on the blog a long while ago. If you’d like to remind yourself of that post, feel free to check it out here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/30/todays-track-cate-le-bon-mothers-mothers-magazines/

  • Pictured: Cate Le Bon in promotional art work for ‘Reward’ (2019) (Photo by Huw Gwynfryn Evans)

I have completed my task for another day, and, on that note, I thank you for coming along on the ride. I’ll be back tomorrow for a new edition of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ where we’re looking back at a well-known 1972 hit that was associated with a film of the same title. It comes from a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted Ska, Reggae, Rocksteady and Prog-Soul multi-instrumentalist who is the only living Jamaican musician to be awarded the Order Of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by his government for services in Arts, as he helped to popularize Reggae music globally.

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Today’s Track: Cathy Jain – ‘Green Screen’

November 1, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Artificial’ (EP) (Available from November 5, 2021) (via Yala! Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and you’ve arrived at the right time for yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This is a brand new week and a brand new month, so I’ve got some brand new music from a brand new artist to mark the occasion of the theme. Cathy Jain is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter who mostly gravitates towards Bedroom Pop and Alternative R&B in terms of her production. She was raised in China and Australia before moving to the UK when she reached the age of 13, and she now finds herself currently based in Wistaton, Cheshire. A recent Brine Leas student, Jain can speak Chinese fluently and, in her time there, she learned how to play the Guzheng, a traditional Zither-like instrument. Jain found her break when she landed a top five place in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Talent Search among more than 10,000 entries, and she will be releasing her debut EP – ‘Artificial’ – on November 5th via Yala Records. Her fans include BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne and Steve Lamacq, and BBC Radio 1 hosts Clara Amfo and Jack Saunders, and she’s also gained support from NME, Clash and The Line Of Best Fit. The follow-up to her debut single ‘Cool Kid’ is ‘Green Screen’, which was co-produced and co-mixed by her frequent collaborator Rob Heron at the Cracked Analogue studio. So, let’s give it a listen below.

Cathy Jain’s work has been featured in major playlists across streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer, and when talking about the major themes of her soon-to-be-released EP, she explained in her press release, “Together, the four tracks take a look at how we define what is really ‘real’ when we spend so much of our time either in our own heads or in a virtual world online”. For ‘Green Screen’, Jain aimed to write a single with a more “epic vibe”, and she gradually weaves together several layers of Soulful instrumentation and vocal harmonies to build the recorded track up to create some accessible Alternative Pop with hints of Lo-Fi ambience and mild Psychedelic Rock. Pulling in some Vaporwave and Chillwave influences for a surprisingly laidback opening, she complains, “I’m bored/It’s late, the stores are closed and I’d explore my phone I have some more”, during the introductory verse. The themes of virtual interaction soon become clearer, with seductive lyrics like “Notes on every sting, making each one sting” and “Things I pretend to have experienced” in later sequences while the electronic textures dabble between blissful Synths and tender, acoustic guitar riffs. Jain refuses to follow the traditional Pop/Rock/Indie single structure of the present day and abandons this pre-conceived idea in favour of switching over to different backdrops to keep things interesting, including a more glitched combination of Keys and Synths aided by some more ballad-like and sing-song vocals in the later part of the single. A few hooks like “Sometimes we just wanna be/Some melodramatic teens in the feels” and “Kissing the green screen/Making me feel things” seem to reoccur now and again, but she places a larger emphasis on sweetly drawled verses and changes of tone plus timbre rather than relying on a typically catchy chorus. The music of the overall package has a back-and-forth pace to it and the harmonies feel a little playful at times, with the attitudes of self-awareness and reflection mixing neatly with the more Dream Pop-inspired backing beats that complement her explorations of exploring a virtual self shared with her colleagues and friends. Overall, ‘Green Screen’ is an intriguing and alternative Lo-Fi Pop single that may take some less acquired listeners a few listens to wrap their heads around, but I really enjoyed how it subverted my expectations of a teen, emo dream Pop song and she does things differently to her peers. The chilled synths reminded me of Still Woozy, the long-winded romantic croons made me think about La Roux, and her youthful take on the Alternative Soul game feels fresh while appealing for fans of Lorde. One that I’d like to experience outside of my own screens.

  • Pictured: Cathy Jain in an official publicity shot for her ‘Artificial’ EP (2021) (Photo courtesy of artist)

That’s all for now! Thank you very much for your continued support regarding the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at some more brand new material, this time coming from another gifted female solo singer songwriter from Wales who has pulled in an appearance on the site before, although it was covered in the early stages of 2019 and so I would forgive you if you’ve forgotten all about it. The Carmarthenshire-born artist, who sings in English and Welsh, will issue a new album via Mexican Summer in early 2022. She’s toured with St. Vincent and Perfume Genius.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Patti Labelle – “Music Is My Way Of Life”

October 27, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It’s Alright With Me’ (LP) (Released on March 2, 1979) (via Epic Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As a diva that is responsible for selling over 50 million records worldwide, an actress who has appeared in productions like ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’, and an entrepreneur with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, as well as a lifestyle TV host for ‘Living It Up With Patti LaBelle’ and an inductee of the Apollo Theater Hall Of Fame, the question for Patti LaBelle is more clearly: What hasn’t she done? For her musical career, she started singing at church and later formed a vocal group, Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles, which later became simply known as The LaBelles, and they scored a US #1 single with ‘Lady Marmalade’. As a solo artist, she set the R&B genre alight once again with ‘It’s Alright With Me’ in 1979, her third full-length LP, which she produced alongside the Grammy Award winning mixer Skip Scarborough, and the album enjoyed a sizable run of mainstream radio and chart success, reaching the #33 position of the US R&B charts. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’, later to be remixed by electronic music producers like Joey Negro and John Luongo, soon became an ultimate R&B/Disco classic of the late 1970s. Follow her philosophy below.

One of the most interesting facts that I’ve read about the Pensylvania-born singer is that, in 2015, she released her own ‘Patti’s Sweet Potato Pie’ to the US supermarket shelves, and, due to a YouTube video praising the product shortly going viral, literally sold like hot cakes, as if they were, and shifted millions of units where, through the result of a 72-hour period, Walmart reportedly sold one pie every second. An 8-minute dance stomper, 1979’s ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ came around when Disco was huge and hit a commercial peak, although LaBelle mixed things up a little by working with Scarborough, known for producing his romantic ballads, to create arrangements that were more sleak and intricately designed. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ isn’t a slow jam however, and it provides a lot of Disco grooves instead. Lyrics like “When I dance they look at me, That’s the one thing you can’t take from me/That’s the music that I feel in my soul” and “When the daylight comes and I’m leaving the dancefloor/By night time, I’ll be back for more” feel exuberant and triumphant, and it is filled up with feel-good instrumentation to boot. The Jazz elements shine through clearly, and there’s plenty of guitar licks that keep proceedings feeling upbeat and light-hearted. The vocal performance is strong, and LaBelle sings about how music shapes her identity and how dance music brings her together with loved ones with a convincing passion. The track is also filled with a floating Piano line of chords that add to the Jazz sound, and the Horn section creates another soulful groove. Overall, ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ is a classic due to it’s traditional Jazz and Funk grooves, and it’s open-armed embrace of unity and Disco. If that is her philosophy – then It’s Alright With Me.

  • Pictured: Patti LaBelle at the BET Honors at Warner Theatre, Washington (2016) (Photo by Paras Griffin)

Thank you for checking out my latest throwback track post on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for a long-awaited debut appearance on the music blog from an emerging female-led Post Punk band from the Isle Of Wight who will be touring in locations such as Cambridge, Oxford, Guildford and Reading in the winter months. Signed to Chess Club Records – the home of artists like Sinead O’Brien and Phoebe Green – the 4-piece have been praised by UK newspapers like The Observer and The i.

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New Album Release Fridays: Lala Lala – “DIVER”

October 8, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘I Want The Door To Open’ (LP) (Released on October 8, 2021) (via Hardly Art)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for us to enjoy a deeper dive into one of the weekend’s zestiest new album releases, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! October 8th. It also happens to be a Friday, and so that means new albums from the likes of the Canadian Experimental marvels BadBadNotGood, LA-based Bedroom Pop prodigies Magdalena Bay, one half of Warwick-based Alt-Pop duo Cash+David in the form of Liz Lawrence, the criminally underrated Louisa Roach-led Wirral-formed Post-Punk group She Drew The Gun and former Feels member Shannon Lay all hitting the shelves of your nearest record shop today. However, ‘DIVER’ is a gorgeous track that’s been issued as a single from ‘I Want The Door To Open’, the third solo album in the discography of Lala Lala, which is the Indie Rock project of the Chicago-based singer-songwriter Lillie West. She began making music when she attended the School Of The Art Institute in Chicago and became involved in the city’s local music scene after being encouraged by a close friend to buy a guitar from Craigslist, after she was raised up in Los Angeles and London. Since then, West has been heard on ‘Siren 042’, a collaboration with Yoni Wolf, the frontman of the Alternative Hip-Hop band WHY?, and she performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2019. She has also toured the US with Death Cab For Cutie and Better Oblivion Community Center, and she has received praised for her “ability to offset sharp lyricism with shimmering guitar and singalong-worthy vocal refrains” by Adelaide Sandstrom, a respected writer for NPR Music. Her new LP is the follow-up to 2016’s self-released ‘Sleepyheads’ and her critically-acclaimed 2018 follow-up record ‘The Lamb’, with the album’s themes being inspired by a novel ‘Manhattan Beach’ by Jennifer Egan. Take ‘DIVER’ for a spin below.

The new album boasts numerous guests like Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, poet Kara Jackson, Adam Schatz from Landlady, fellow Chicago scene musician Christian Lee Hutson, and a few others, and West has described the project herself as “I Want The Door To Open’s a musical quest undertaken with the knowledge that the titular door may open; but is is through falling in love with the quest itself that one may find the next closest thing”, adding, “It’s a bold exploration of persona and presence from an artist questioning how to be herself fully in a world where the self is in constant negotiation”, in her own words. The sound of ‘DIVER’ certainly fits the glacial warmth of the arctic landscapes of the music video and the icy white visuals of the LP’s cover artwork, with some Baroque instrumentation and the slowly ascending backing vocals that evoke a theatrical, choir-like sound. Lyrics like “I’m Sisyphus/You’re the witness/It’s intimate, the violence/It’s palpable to want it all” feel visual and poetic too, and these sequences are tidily set against the backdrop of a lo-fi distortion and some layered, wide open drumming. There are moments of orchestral and ethereal musicality here, especially in the chorus where she uses lyrics like “Your face distorted in the window/Swimming out towards my new life” to sing about discovering a new era in your life and recognizing the swooping thematic tides of change, but later lyrics like “All my time I have is diamonds/Rolling around my head” acknowledge a struggle of developing yourself to meet your goals as one that never truly ends. It feels like a warm introduction to the rest of the ideas that West has likened to exploring on the new record, with an Avant-Pop air of Kate Bush or Tom Waites to connect the abstract musicality together, and so this is a very nice and easily consumable track overall. It’s not necessarily a criticism of her music itself, but I think that a better stage name than ‘Lala Lala’ would make me a bit more likely to take her as seriously as she would like me to as a musician, as it sounds more like she’s one of the younger siblings of the Teletubbies currently. That nitpick aside, I enjoyed the heartfelt personal reflection and the winter sound of the track and the critics seem to love her, and so I’m sure the new record will make for a fascinating listen – although she cannot stare directly at it.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘The Lamb’ (LP) (Released on September 28th, 2018) (via Hardly Art)

That brings us to the end of today’s musical musing, and thank you a lot for your continued support with the blog. On a related note, please subscribe to my new podcast – ‘The Subculture Sessions’ – on Spotify for more regular content like this post. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a big new collaboration from a 00’s indie pop staple who have remixed the likes of Kate Nash and Sebastien Teller, and a rising star who sings in Spanish and English – and has signed with RCA Records.

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Scuzz Sundays: Avril Lavigne – “When You’re Gone”

September 26, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Best Damn Thing’ (LP) (Released on April 11th, 2007) (via RCA Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for yet another one of my daily posts, seeing that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Scuzz Sundays’ marks the end point of the week where we take an in-depth look back at some Pop-Punk anthems released between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s, and the Canadian vocalist Avril Lavigne was one of the most famous female role models of the era. Best known for the multi-platinum selling singles ‘Sk8erboi’ and ‘Girlfriend’ and her nickname of ‘Pop Punk Queen’ from the music publications of the time, Lavigne still holds the title of having the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian singer with her 2002 debut release, ‘Let Go’. She’s also dabbled in acting work, as she did voice work for 2006’s ‘Over The Hedge’ and she appeared in the comedy-drama film ‘Fast Food Nation’ that also opened in cinemas in 2006. ‘When You’re Gone’ was released as the second single from her third full-length album, ‘The Best Damn Thing’, which hit the shelves of Woolworths in 2007. This LP incorporated more elements of Post-Grunge into her recordings than before, and it has sold more than six million copies globally, topping some of the US Billboard charts along with reaching the top of the charts in twelve countries. ‘When You’re Gone’, as a single, peaked at #24 on the US Billboard 200 and it reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. Refresh your mind below.

Lavigne wrote ‘When You’re Gone’ with Butch Walker (Panic! At The Disco, Dashboard Confessional) who also produced the track, and the subject matter was reportedly written about her marriage to Sum 41’s lead singer Deryck Whibley at the time and how she feels when the two of them are touring separately, but she has been quick to dispute this rumor during interviews with The Belfast Telegraph at the time. She also worked with the composer Rob Mathes to orchestrate the single. You may have noticed the genuine String section in the brief early goings, for example, when you just listened to the track via the video. She also incorporates a fluttering Piano line and a gentle Synthesizer to the mix too. The lyrics are simple, with universal themes like separation from a love interest and expressing how you feel when you’re apart from a special someone in your life, shining through brief sequences like “I always needed time on my own/I never thought I’d need you there when I cried” and “And the days feel like years when I’m alone/And the bed where you lie is made up on your side” that deal with internal conflict a little bit, and these words are matched by an anthology of cheesy love stories in the music video. The chorus makes these lyrics feel a bit more catchy, with some explosive Drum sequences and a lightly distorted guitar melody creating enough of a Hard Rock angle to the tune, reminding us that it is, indeed, a track by Avril Lavigne. Personally, I felt it was fine. This is superficially like any kind of Pop-Rock ballad though, with some contemplative songwriting and some touching instrumentation lending the record at least a little bit of emotional depth. My issue is that there’s absolutely no subtlety here, however, and it simply feels too straightforward for the vocals to really tug at my heart strings very much. There’s some nice Piano sequences and a lower tempo that gives the track a slightly poetic feel, but the bombastic drums and the basic themes feel a bit soulless and lacking in much of a distinctive character. Overall, this is a so-so effort that tackles themes of both loss and longing in a warming way, but not a poignant one due to the simplicity.

  • Pictured: Avril Lavigne at an undisclosed gig on tour (2012) (Photo via Zine Cultural/Getty Images)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my new post on the blog today, and I’ll be back to do it all over again tomorrow by kicking off the new week of music with an in-depth look at the current LP from a Swedish House DJ who is the owner of the Young Ethics label and he has also been featured on KEXP’s Song Of The Day podcast.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Portishead – “Glory Box”

September 15, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Dummy’ (LP) (Released on 22nd August, 1994) (via Go! Beat/London Records)

Good Morning to you! This Is Jacob Braybrooke and, you guessed it, it’s time for me to guide you through an in-depth look back at one of the seminal sounds of the past that has been influential to those of the present for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, because it fulfills my mantra to write up about a different piece of music every day! A female-led group who were largely seen to be the companions of Massive Attack in mid-90’s Bristol, Portishead were one of the greatest pioneers of the Trip-Hop music genre – a blend of Hip Hop and Electronica with elements of Dancehall, R&B and Soul that obscure the two core values to feel quite unrecognizable at times – between their years of activity between 1991 and 1999, with a reunion to follow up in 2005. Fronted by Beth Gibbons, Portishead were named after the nearby town to Bristol of the same name, which can be found roughly a few miles west of Bristol along the coast. The band are mostly known for their debut studio album, ‘Dummy’, which was showered with universal praise from both critics and audiences alike when it saw the light of day in 1994, quickly becoming a landmark British album of the 1990’s. A further two well-liked albums followed in 1997 and 2008, but ‘Dummy’ inevitably won the Mercury Prize in 1995. They also cited an engineer, Dave McDonald, as their fourth member ahead of some releases, and, in 1999, the band received the ‘Outstanding Contribution To British Music’ award at the Ivor Novello Awards. These days, Beth Gibbons has continued to work on projects as a solo musician, and she worked as a judge for the tenth annual Independent Music Awards, supporting the careers of independent music creators. Check out one of their earlier singles, ‘Glory Box’, below.

Built from a sample of Isaac Hayes’ ‘Ike’s Rap II’, ‘Glory Box’ reached the #13 spot of the UK Singles Chart when it was released as a single from Portishead’s iconic triple Platinum certified debut album ‘Dummy’, in January 1995 and the legacy of the track continues to take off because, in 2011, Slant Magazine ranked the tune at #21 in their article of ‘The 100 Best Singles Of The 1990’s’ and it has also been used in a variety of TV drama programmes, including appearances in episodes of ‘Lucifer’, ‘Snowpiercer’ and ‘The Vice’. Kicking off with a classical Bond-like instrumental created from the aforementioned sample piece, Gibbons reflects on post-feminism and what it means to seek love as a woman during the more contemporary times of the track, slowly crooning nail-biting lyrics like “Leave it to the other girls to play/For I’ve been a temptress too long” to the tune of a mellow, ambient and fairly spacious musical backdrop made up of a slow hip-hop breakbeat dressing and a lustful, darkly hypnotic Dub template. There’s a push-and-pull sense of tension to these sounds, with a harsh guitar solo that continually enters the fray at brief intervals, which gives the energy of the track an uplift in the more rough-edged moments, where Gibbons croons lyrics like “We’re all looking at a different picture/Through this new frame of mind” that feel slightly more optimistic, in outlook, than the more swooned delivery that came before. The chorus of “Give me a reason to love you/Give me a woman”, for example, explores her feminime out-and-out dejection with an emotional payoff, while the downtempo Jazz sensibilities knowingly nod just enough in the direction of Plunderphonics and Lounge Jazz. The rest of the production feels very potent, with Gibbons matching the cinematic string-infused instrumental with a voice that almost feels like it’s coming out directly from an antique radio on the beach. It isn’t quite a ‘Chillout’ record of slowed dance melodies and Ambient Pop production that were all the rage for a brief period during the late 90’s and the early 00’s, but the psychedelic backdrop oozes a balanced mixture of melancholy and momentary bliss. Overall, this is a liberating and terrifying anthem for post-feminist despondency of the time, with edgy production that kept things fresh and well-paced instrumentation that amplifies the power very carefully. An iconic “Final Torch” moment from their landmark album.

  • Pictured: Portishead’s Beth Gibbons performing at Roskilde Festival (2011) (Photo by Bill Ebbesen)

That’s all for now! Thank you very much for your continued support for me and the blog, and thank you, as always, for getting this far to the end of the page with me. Tomorrow, I’ll be looking at a popular recent release from a California-born rapper, performance artist, poet and activist who has been opening doors in the Alternative Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul genres, and, as of 2019, has identified as transgender after beginning hormone therapy for a gender transition in that same year. They have rubbed shoulders with huge mainstream mega-stars like Kanye West and Taylor Swift.

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