The 1975 - I like It when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
The 1975 released their new, 17 track album earlier this year, with some changes to their sound, and even their monochromatic theme they’ve stuck with for so long.
The album opens with the track named after the band, a song remixed and originally on their first full length album. “The 1975” is only a one minute and twenty-three second song, however, it is able to transport you to another place. This is a soft song, a song that makes you want to dream.
Many of the songs on this album are very quiet, and melodic, like “Please Be Naked” and “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it”, the longest song on the album as well as the name of their album. These tracks are very sleep-inducing, in the best possible way, and often contain very little lyrics. The 1975 are great at making tracks with very little words out to be some of their best songs.
Other tracks like “UGH!”, “The Sound”, “She’s American” are more upbeat, songs-that-make-you-want-to-dance type of songs. These tracks are more of the type to listen to when getting ready in the morning, while the others are more of nighttime vibes.
Favorite Track: Somebody Else. Pretty, catchy, and refreshing. A song about not wanting to be with someone, but not wanting them to be with someone else, either.
Moose Blood - Blush
Moose Blood is a smaller band from the UK, with a cult following within the alternative scene. Blush is Moose Blood’s second full length album, but they’ve also had many successful EP’s. Blush gives off happier vibes, even though some of the lyrics on this album are actually quite sad. Overall, this record sounds more mature, proving that Moose Blood improves their sound with everything they make.
Two of the more popular tracks on the album are “Honey” and “Knuckles”. They are both upbeat, and it sounds like there are influences from different eras.
My favorite parts of this album are the lyrics.
From “Honey” - “It's in the back of my mind / But it's worse when I sleep / Now I'm losing my breath / And I'll never understand how you could forget me”
From “Spring” - “I never got the chance to say what you meant to me / And you know I don't believe / But I guess you watch over me”
From “Glow” - “She came in today/ I just looked at my dad's face /He was crying I knew she was lying when she said "You're okay” / You're not okay, no, you're not okay, are you?”
Favorite Track: Spring. A slow, and heartbreaking song about dealing with losing someone to suicide.
Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor
Panic!’s 5th studio album was released earlier this year, gaining a lot of attention after adding new band members to the band since their last album.
This album is more similar to the last than any of their other records, but still it has its own style. The band has said their influences for this album came from Sinatra and Queen. As a listener, you can definitely hear the influences, as well as sounding more new-age era on some tracks. Specifically on “Emperors New Clothes”, you can absolutely hear the inspirations from Queen. Whereas with “Crazy=Genius”, there is an old-timey, Sinatra type of feeling throughout the song.
Some of the slower songs on the album are some of the best, and possibly most heartfelt tracks. The song “Death Of A Bachelor” and the title of the album, is a very self aware, questioning-my-own-actions track. The thoughtful lyrics along with the melodic sounds, happens to make it one of my favorites.
“Impossible Year” is another slow one that caught my attention. This track reminds me a lot of “What A Catch, Donnie” by Fall Out Boy, a band they’ve always been linked to. It’s a very heartbreaking song, especially if you take it literally. But many fans believe there is a deeper meaning, maybe even something that is private to the singer himself.
Favorite Track: LA Devotee. A upbeat, pop-punk meets electronic sounding song about the demanding world of Los Angeles.
John The Ghost - Sincerely, John The Ghost
This 6 song EP is one of my absolute favorites of this year. John O’Callaghan, front man of The Maine, created John The Ghost as a side project. Speaking on the new project he says, “The Ghost haunts the far corners of my head and permanently lives in a flat he built on the tip of my tongue. He is everything I wished I'd both said and done when I had the chance but simply forgot how. He isn't quite sure why he has so much to say, or if he really means much of it at all, but this is what his voice sounds like and these are his songs.”
All of the songs on this EP are generally slower songs, which (for me, at least) makes his words even more meaningful. The EP opens with “Sour Grapes”, a song I thought sounded a bit like The Maine, but different in many ways. John paints the picture of a self-criticizing and regretful version of himself in this opener. This is the type of song to drive around at night to, when you are on your way home and all of your friends are quiet.
“Red House” is the second to last track on the EP. This song also paints a picture of John and his insecurities of growing older, regret, and potential. My favorite lyric from this song is toward the end, where instead of focusing on the negative, he starts to turn the song around. “If you're not everything / You're nothing till you try to be / Nobody needs saving / Just a little bit of empathy.” This is the type of song that you think you’ve heard before, and it reminds you of home.
Favorite Track: A tie between Red House and the final track, All At Once. Red House reminds me I am not alone, whereas All At Once shows the demons that are present in John’s mind, pairing it with a catchy melody and a repetitive chorus. Both are very heartfelt tracks and are very important to me.
Jon Bellion - The Human Condition
Jon Bellion’s first full length album was released this summer and already has landed him on the radio, as well as Itunes’ top songs. This 14 track album has a song for everyone - Pop, rap, and electro-pop are all incorporated into it. As a native long islander, I may be biased, but Jon Bellion is slowly taking over the pop scene.
The album opens and closes with a recording button sound, telling us when the album starts and ends. Track #3 is “All Time Low”, the song that landed him on the radio in recent months. This song shows Jon’s struggles with what he once had, and now he’s hit rock bottom, or an “all time low”. This track is more on the electronic side of his album, but it did gain a lot of attention from mainstream radio stations across the country.
“Morning In America” tackles all of what’s wrong in America in his 11th track on the album. In this song, Jon discusses a lot of issues happening, especially things going on at school. Something that caught my attention was when he sings about losing the class president to an overdose. “When the class president overdosed, we all pretended / It was rare, it was shocking and all the town was talking”. He also discusses the narrator’s mother’s problem with prescription drugs and his own problems with ADD. The thoughtful lyrics and catchy sounds of this track make it one of the best on the album.
Favorite Track: Hand Of God - Outro. This is a magical song about Jon’s relationship with God. At the end, he combines all of the tracks in this album into one, and it is truly mesmerizing.
