new music

Graham Norton/Niall Horan

November 8, 2019 — Leave a comment

Former One Direction singer’s new single, Nice To Meet Ya, and I admit that it’s got a nice intro that’s worthy of Noel Gallagher and Alex from the Arctic Monkeys, and I don’t say that lightly. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of Niall, partly due to him being of boy-band stock, but even I have to admit this new song of his actually sounds pretty good. An entire dimension away from what I’m normally used to hearing. If Niall’s hoping to make the transition from boy-band to serious artists this is a good way to start it. It’s my type of music and is a decent mixture of Indie, electro and acoustic. If his new album, Flicker, sounds as good as Nice To Meet Ya  then I would be solely tempted to get a copy. His performance was really good and it was quite nice to see him play with a band, almost as if they record together, permanently. Now providing that he stays on this musical route there’s no reason why he can’t become a more serious indie/rock musician.

 

Also on the sofa were Helena Bonham Carter, Oliver Coleman, Chadwick Boseman, Lady Glennconnor and Richard Ayoade

Graham Norton/Camila Cabello

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

As a former member of the girl-group, Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello absolutely wows as a solo singer and really comes into her element. Tonight she performed her new single, Liar, and it is amazing. Now I’ve seen footage of her live performance and she oozes confidence on the stage and make that spot her own, and has equally as much confidence to use her full vocal range. Whilst on-stage she wore red and it made her look sassy to say the least and she ozzed femininity. And it was a PVC suit which made the performance just that bit more daring. Liar as a sort of hit Latina quality about it and sounds like one for the summer playlist. It sounds like up beat happy song and one you could sing along to. Even though she was on-stage with five other dancers she is someone you simply cannot take you’re eyes of her. As a music lover I defy to look at her and not feel mesmerised by her. Oh, and she’s a Game of Thrones fan

Also on the sofa were GoT’s Emilia Clarken and Jason Mamoa , Ross Noble and Regina King providing laughs, banter and discussing upcoming projects.

Graham Norton/The Sugababes

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

After several years away from the lime light one of Britain’s best-known girl bands, The Sugababes, made a come back and it was with the original line-up; Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy. They performed the late 90’s hit, ‘Flowers’, a garage classic originally performed by female duo, Sweet Female Attitude (SFA) with DJ Spoony. Now I remember the original line-up when they first emerged and it took me a while (and line-up change) to get into them. As much as I would have liked to have enjoyed their rendition of the garage classic sadly I just couldn’t get into it. Some of it may be because I’ve since grown up a bit since Sweet 7, the other might be because I’ve drifted away from that genre. Another reason why this girl band’s is that they are nickname as the time-lords of pop as every 1-2 albums there was a change in the line-up. Now I proudly call myself a fan in the past but sadly they weren’t doing anything for me this time.

Also on the sofa were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Debbie Harry and Nadiya Hussain to discuss their upcoming projects as well as the upcoming film, Terminator: Dark Fate

In The Spotlight: Friendly Fires – Heaven Let Me In

October 6, 2019 — Leave a comment

 

After nearly what feels like over a decade away indie favourites, Friendly Fires, have returned with a new album called Inflorescent and brand-new single called Heaven Let Me In. Straight from the start the song is just packed with energy, and a lot of it, and stays faithful to the bands’ musical roots. What I like about Ed Macfarlane’s vocals throughout this entire song is that every so often he sounds like he’s taking a deep breath, which in some ways adds a bit more body to the song. Also, I quite like how he sings cos it shows the range of vocal ability that he is capable of using. Heaven Let Me In shows a steady continuation of their music and how it is gradually evolving. A nice mixture of pop and dance, and plenty to go around. One of the good things that we can be grateful about is that, musically, the band haven’t taken a sudden U-turn and gone into a completely different direction. Ed’s vocals a smooth and have an almost hypnotic quality about them and just have this beautiful fluidic run about them that goes from start to finish. The song has an almost ambient feel to it which kind of compliments the band’s own musical style. For a band that have been out of the musical spotlight for what feels like just over ten years this song is a nice welcome back.

The music video that accompanies this features a young guy listening to music on his headphones, presumably the song itself. In the video he is seen walking along whilst dancing to the music whilst going past various locations and bumping in various people on the way.

🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=117&v=fAMP0MBfGhY

 

MusicNotts Talks With… The Dandylions

September 22, 2019 — Leave a comment

My last ever piece with MusicNotts. R.I.P MusicNotts, it was great writing for you 😦

Anyways for your reading pleasure, here’s The Dandylions

http://musicnotts.com/musicnotts-talks-with-the-dandylions/

 

 

Whats On UK: MacMillan Fest 19′ review

September 17, 2019 — Leave a comment

My review for the last-ever MacMillan Fest in Nottingham for Whats On UK, have a read, share and enjoy.

https://whatson.guide/2019/09/17/review-nottinghams-macmillan-fest-puts-on-fantastic-finale/

 

 

MusicNotts Talks With… 94 Gunships

September 5, 2019 — Leave a comment

My penultimate piece for MusicNotts with Nottingham’s own 94 Gunships. Have a read and enjoy.

http://musicnotts.com/musicnotts-talks-with-94-gunships/

 

MusicNotts Talks With… Crosslight

August 18, 2019 — Leave a comment

A piece I did with Nottingham’s answer to Evanescence, and they’re a six-piece band, you don’t many of those these days. Read and enjoy

🙂

http://musicnotts.com/musicnotts-talks-with-crosslight/

Album review: Colour of Sound

July 14, 2019 — Leave a comment

This is a review of the album, Colour of Sound, I did a Derby-based band called Fionas Run a while back. Sadly, according to their twitter page they disbanded earlier this year but I thought I’d share this so as to share their musical talent with everyone. Have a read and enjoy

🙂

A fresh new album by a fresh new Nottingham/Derby band, Fionas Run, full of ten brand new tracks to listen out for. They may well still be in the early years of their band but there’s been a lot of interest in these guys; Ben Boulton, Luke Wheatley, Robert Manrique and Jamie Pickering, all four of whom make Fionas Run. With musical influences from bands like Snow Patrol, Frank Turner and Mumford and Sons try these guys out and see, or hear, how they sound. Ben, Luke, Robert and Jamie are as talented musicians as they are singers, their song-writing can only be described as melodic and they are as diverse as their musical talents.

Also, they look like the type of band that wouldn’t look out of place at either Glastonbury or the Splendour festival, and they have played to packed crowds. Not hard to understand why there’s a big buzz about them right now. They sound like the sort band that could you could hear doing a live lounge-style performance on The Beat on Radio Nottingham.

If you like your music mature and melodic but with an edge and yet still packing all the rock riffs to your ears and hearts content, then this may be the album to put onto your playlist this year. With fresh original tracks’ such as Left at The Alter, Dragonfly and Summer Feeling you’d be forgiven if you easily thought of them as ‘just another teen rock-pop band’.

Wouldn’t be at all surprised if they appeared on the stage at next years’ Splendour Festival.

Birds of Prey and Colour of Sound are at least two of the tracks that we would recommend that you need to listen out for. The band’s new album Colour of Sound is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play right now. Download and enjoy. Keep an eye out for them when they come to a music venue near you.

https://www.facebook.com/fionasrun/

https://soundcloud.com/fionas-run

https://twitter.com/fionas_run?lang=en