Musical theatre has a way of letting you see and hear the stories that aren’t always brought to attention. Like the songs about being the socially awkward friend at a party and you start to have a panic attack. The music and acting work in tandem to give the audience authentic moments that they can personally connect with.
This soundtrack— written none other than by Lin-Manuel Miranda—is so incredibly unique because it seamlessly juggles rap and multi-lingual phrases in a 2 hour production, while being targetted towards a younger demographic. Somehow it all just seems to work together beautifully, while still keeping crucial topics about poverty and gentrification in the forefront and integrating Latin sounding instrumentals to compliment such.
It’s a melodic monolgue from Nina who is struggling to find the words to tell her parents, and friends that she dropped out of Stanford. She worries they’ll hate her and will be dissappointed because she was the only person to actually “make it out” of the barrio.
The lines in this song are so authentic and really affect anyone who has ever felt an impeeding weight resting on their shoulders placed there by their own parents, because they set the bar so high (myself included). She starts off by singing, “Hey guys it’s me/ the biggest dissappointment you know…” she can’t keep standing on their pedestal and feels guilty about it. The barrio isn’t worried because they know their “star” will get out of this low place eventually. “Ay te adoro, te quiero/ the neighbourhood waved and said Nina, ‘be brave/ and you’re gonna be fine!'”
As hurtful as it is to listen to initially, it’s also comforting and hopeful to hear all of the voices wishing her encouragement and telling her to keep going. Nina realizes that she can always get back up and try again with pacienca y fe (patience and faith). At times when I feel overwhelmed, this is my mantra to help me push through.
So to anyone who needed to hear it today: Pacienca y fe… just breathe, and try again.
Johnny Balik, his voice a heavenly mix between Justin Timberlake’s charm and Bruno Mars’ suave, who grabbed people’s attention over the past couple of years with his keyboard and a Soundcloud account.
There’s a small bio on Balik’s website that explains his overall style, “…MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST THAT FUSES ORGANIC AND POP SOUNDS WITH TRUTHFUL AND INSPIRING LYRICS.” and while it emulates Balik’s music perfectly, it doesn’t fully show just how many toes he has dipped into various pools of genre and experimentation with different instruments and beats.
Balik is unafraid to play with his sound, ranging from falsetto ballads (“Honey”) to R&B slow-jams (“I Need It”). His latest track “Frequency” does exactly that- the instant you press play you are welcomed by Balik’s pop falsetto vocals, and prepare yourself for another bop that just barely makes it onto the charts. But then about 20 seconds in you hear the workings of…a saxophone?! The vibe of the song is pretty two-dimensional, but the sax-tease goes and adds a bit of extra flavour to the production.
Following that, the lyrics don’t veer far off from what every other pop artist on the radio is singing about, “do you feel the frequency/ do you feel alive/ do you wanna ride the wave with me tonight?” typical “boy meets girl and falls hopelessly in love”. We’re talking the stuff rom-com films thrive off of. Still despite the cliche pop lyrics, Balik still manages to intoxicate the listeners to his music with his delicate vocals and jazzy beats.
Anyone who’s brave enough to incorporate a brass instrument into their pop song, automatically deserves a pat on the back. I for one, was taken aback at first listen because it’s not something that’s conventionally heard in pop music today. Balik’s producers are trying to push boundaries and test different ways to put out a unique sound while still trying to be, well, unique and play a different chart-topper that makes it stand out from the cookie-cutter mould.
So when you give it a listen, turn it up, kick back and feel the vibe.
Death is something that if you’ve ever had the misfortune of experiencing, it can be unexpected and it is final. Dealing with it isnt much better– grief can be slow and painful and takes some time for your heart and mind to heal from the loss of a loved one.
Louis Tomlinson has taken his time and is now writing this song, two years after his mother had passed away from leukemia. Instead of the song being a heart-wrenching ballad, which the song does come across as at first listen, he makes the song powerful, beautiful and hopeful. The more you listen to it and its lyrics, the less sad and more optimistic you feel.
In an interview with the artist, he came out to speak about the song, about why it was time to finally write it and why his mom was such an important person in his life, the strength he found in himself because of his mom’s love for him and vice versa.
It feels really liberating. … just had to bite the bullet and f***ing do it. I knew I needed to write this song, but I was a bit scared of it. I’m not at the stage in my grief where I’m going to open the first verse and burst into tears … I don’t want people to get caught up in the sadness of it, the song should be hopeful.
Something that was done really nicely with this track was the simplicity that went into every layer of the song. The piano in the beginning is balanced with the synsthesized voices of the chorus behind Tomlinson’s voice, and the wave rolling up to the chorus doesn’t come crashing down hard on the track, but the upbeat drum brings a change in tone and mood, reminding the listener that the song isn’t supposed to be lamenting on the past. The organic and basic structure of the song didn’t make one element overpower the others; Tomlinson’s vocals never drastically alter as he sings, nor do the instrumentals change– everything stays relatively consistent all throughout, and makes the song a lovely sentiment allowing the lyrics and meaning to shine through just as much as the sound does.
This song is important to listen to, for that time when you’re missing that one person and you feel like the world is dealing you the wrong cards, but his message of hopefulness is what lasted with me, the idea that there’s light inside the dark, his lyrics in the chorus, “I will be the best of me, always keep you next to me/ I’ll be living one life for the two of us” reminds me to sty strong and not to dwell on the things that make me sad but to also remember all the good in my life thus far.
Tomlinson reminds his listeners that its okay to be sad an cry, its okay to grieve, but its picking yourself back up afterwards that’s really important and to dance through your life in joy rather than strife.
It’s been nearly 8 years since anyone has heard of the name Adam Lambert, unless you’re like me and have been keeping tabs on him ever since Lambert’s American Idol days (Raise your hand if you think he should have won Season 8). When you think of Lambert, you think of eccentric glitter and dark eyeliner singing to the outcasts of the world, with his acrobatic vocals to puncture the rock and roll lyrics into your head as you rock out channeling your inner 2009 “punk-rock era”.
As tradition of being the runner-up on Idol, Adam has gained more popularity than his fellow competitor who had actually won the competition. He went on to release four albums and briefly work in TV, starting his career off on an “Original High”. After 2015, Lambert fell under the radar and kept to himself only releasing a single or two in the past couple of years. He says around this time he fell into a depression, where he felt as if he had no direction in his life and was frustrated with his career. After relfecting on all the good he has had in his life, his family and friends and his experience of playing as the frontman for Queen for 2 years now, Lambert took his pain and turned it into an achingly beautiful testimony of his life throughout the past couple of years.
“This was written about me defying my disillusionment, owning my needs and opening my heart […] there have been many times where I’ve had to compromise on my artistic vision, and I’m coming out of a dark period of second guessing my own artistry and having my mental health suffer because of it.”
This song takes a drastically different turn from his initial sound, and opts for a light guitar and drum instrumental, followed by a chorus in the background to emphasize his angelic singing style. Even if you aren’t a fan of Lambert’s earlier work, you may enjoy listening to this track because Lambert uses it to build on a new chapter of his music career.
So it seems like Lambert is temporarily hanging up his guy-liner and trading it for emotionally raw and heartfelt lyrics of heartbreak and isolation that everyone at one point could resonate with. So “for your entertainment”, click the link below and allow yourself to feel something through the melody and tempo of this song.
Divorce, depression, and self-reflectivity. These are the themes that have been haunting Hayes Carll’s previous albums up until recently. What It Is breaks out of that shell and embraces the ability for change and well-balanced wittiness, to shine through in his lyrics and the overall theme of the album; integrating personal and political into his tracklist.
Hayes Carll’s album uses all of the conventional country elements-fiddles and guitars included- as well as his Texan and Nashville roots, to create a fun, and meaningful outlook on how he sees his life through a new rose-coloured lens. The album is light and simple with underlying political tones that reflect all that Hayes has learned and observed over the past year, he hides under the familiar dry humour that features in his other albums, and allows the listeners to slow down and meditate on the ideas he poses about how we see the world around us. In an interview with Rolling Stones Country, Carll explains his inspiration for writing the album and why.
“I take stock of the world around me and write about it […] This isn’t by any means a political record, but there are observations or my takes on certain things that are important. I understand a lot of people look to music as an escape, it can be really upsetting when it feels like that’s disrupted.”
Hayes Carll on his sixth album.
His first song on the album titled “None’ya” is an homage to his country background and a testimony to his wife, in which the album is co-written by her. It is one of his many love songs on the album that is self-reflecting without much reflecting going on, Carll’s witty lyrics prevent the listeners to delve anywhere deeper than the initial surface level. I find that splashing around on the surface, eases the listener into the political undertones of his music. His chorus hits home on the thought of changing aspects of his own life, “I try because I want to/ I know you heart the best way that I can/ Girl all I want to do is be your man.” It’s also interesting to listen to the love songs on the album and notice that he is singing in a first-person perspective that proves in his lines that he is singing and reflecting on himself and the idea of masculinity- how he can be a better man and husband, not just the fact that his woman in question is both cool and eccentric.
The lines in his second track, “Times Like These” mask the social and political messages behind upbeat fiddle chords and melodic singing, with lyrics such as, “but it sure is getting warm ‘round here in times like these/ in times like these do I really need a billionaire?” Carll delivers the balance between music and lyrics in sort of a “late-night barstool nightclub performance scene” that is personal and eye-opening if you listen to the lyrics close enough. The order of the tracklist is delicately balanced between slow and fast-tempoed songs, for the most part, equally alternating between what I like to refer to as “the fine line between falling back in love, and falling out of love with the world”. The variety of tracks mixed with the fussy string and brass arrangements, bring an unwavering directness to the character’s narrative, that Carll creates with telling this narrative as he’s sitting on a stool and an open-mic bar in a small town.
About nearly halfway into the album, something that Carll, Allison Moore, and the producers do significantly, is create an equilibrium between soft-strumming guitar and wailing harmonicas with the almost rock n’ roll style drumming and guitar chords. In songs, like “Things You Don’t Wanna Know” and “If I May Be So Bold” are the love songs that slow down the album’s movement altogether, and give profound and thoughtful lyrics to lead the audience towards the first central idea that he discovered when writing this album. He wrote it as a way to reflect on himself and the person he is today because of his tumultuous past. “I’ve wrestled with the question of just who I aim to be/ Been dealt hands I had to laugh at/ And some hands I’d like to fold/ But I’ll play ’em all, if I may be so bold…” lyrics like these show just how much he has grown since his last album, Lovers and Leavers, rising from the ashes of heartbreak and divorce to the next stage of turning over a new leaf with a new wife and a new life as a better man. The last couple of tracks on the album refer to the political approach he’s trying to shed light on in the matter. “The whole world is exploding and I know it feels so strange/ It must make you so damn angry they’re expecting you to change/ Fragile men” In this song, he calls out the right wing Americans who refuse to change their political views to match the evolving state of the world we are living in today.
Overall, the message of the album is widely pleasing to listen to because its melodic and upbeat nature of the tracks. The instruments and sentimental lyrics play together beautifully to present a simple and light-hearted sound that you can listen to anytime. However, if you wanted to listen more intuitively to the album and its underlying meaning, you are able to hear the message of the song jumping out subtly at you- its hidden under classic country chords and dry-humoured wit. The album is great to listen to if you just need a simple soundtrack to listen to on your teal-painted front porch on a sunny afternoon in the South.
Picture it: you pull up to Walkerville High School and enter through the giant arched doors. You are greeted by a warm atmosphere filled with smiling PTA moms and young students collecting ticket stubs. Immediately you are surrounded by a familiar feeling of childlike joy, the energy of the show buzzing through you already.
I’ll be entirely honest. I heard that WCCA’s big production this year was going to be Chitty, and I had to ask my sister and about three other adults what the heck it was actually about. From what I had gathered, it was a movie made in 1968 starring Dick Van Dyke with musical accompaniment by the Sherman brothers. I remember listening to the soundtrack once before a couple of years ago. After the first couple of songs, it grew almost impossible to not hum along with the catchy tunes and tap your foot to such lighthearted melodies. If the music was the one thing to base my judgment of this play on, then my expectations for a “truly scrumptious”, family-friendly adventure were exceeded.
As I’m sitting in my seat and looking around at the little kids with their parents, and people carrying bouquets for their kids in the show, the overwhelming pitch of the pit orcestra tuning flutes and clarinets engulf my ears. As soon as the lights went out and the spotlights came on, the imagination began to shine through.
My mind was automatically blown away with color and sound as soon as the Van Dyke protege started to sell his whistling invention during the “Toot Sweets” number. Watching this number you can’t help but bob your head as the kids are singing about sweet treats. Something that is so creative is how the cast and crew have immersed the audience into their show, so you feel as though you are a part of their choreographed routines and banter. In the middle of this number, the kids dance off into the aisles and through the seats picking up members of the audience, spinning them around in time to the beat. At that point, you could literally see people of all ages laughing and playing along- you feel as if you had transported yourself back to a time in your life where everything was joyous and carefree and it felt like a magical piece of your childhood could live itself out at that moment.
Breaking the fourth wall, was a concept that was intricately woven into the musical’s design. Both the music and stage directors worked to create a spectacle that keeps the audience not only entertained but engaged.
By the end of Act 2, the student band becomes much more involved with the musical’s plotline dressing up as guests to the Baron’s extravagant birthday party, it has a simple way of bringing the score to life and encouraging audience participation. The characters Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria, if their names give anything away, are positively volatile but make up for it with their horrible accents and humorous ways, whilst declaring their love (“Chu-Chi Face”). The song “The Bombie Samba” is a particular fan-favorite amongst the crowd due to the fact that while the Baroness is singing she would literally cut off the band’s playing abruptly to ridicule them to play better because she “is never off tune, not ever”. How the actress does this with a straight face is remarkable because it was possibly the highlight of the show.
The happy ending ensues soon after when the lights come up and the show appears to be over but not one person seemed to mind because they were instantly transported to a happy memory of their life. This musical had the power to give them that and to put a smile on their faces… all because of a magic flying car!
If you have a free moment next weekend, why not check out the magic?
I seriously cannot get enough of this album, or this man-band considering its been twenty-five years and these boys are still rising on the charts. Who would’ve thought all of those “I<3Brian” headers on my school binders would still be relevant today?
This single is part of the group’s ninth studio album and they clearly didn’t come back to just swagger around in matching denim ensembles. They came to bring their A-game and give today’s pop charts what it’s looking for- an electronic love song to rock out with nostalgia on the brain.
Right off the bat with the first chord progression, the piano sample automatically reminded me of 5 Seconds of Summer’s “Want You Back” and plays consistently throughout the song giving it a cool, synthesized dance vibe to the classic BSB “cookie-cutter boyband” style of music. It’s clear to see that the boys are really trying to branch out with their music style and sampling from other artists and genres to further evolve their music on this album, to reflect who they are as a band today- equal parts funky and fresh.
“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is that song that you can turn all the way up and dance like nobody’s watching. Much like Elton John’s song of the same name, they’re talking about not leaving them heartbroken because love is something they value deeply and if this girl we’re to break their hearts, they don’t think they could handle it because “its the only one that they got”.
In an interview with Billboard, member Howie Dorough had commented on the dance movement shaping their sound and the production going into this comeback track, “Something we’re really known for is our signature harmonies, our great melodies — stuff that just makes you feel something and moves you. Hopefully, with the right team around us and producers, we’re able to do that and stay relevant.”
I really think he hit the nail on the head. Stuart Crichton had worked hard to find the right song for these guys to re-emerge back on the scene with, after five years apart. This song definitely made me head bop in anticipation for the rest of the album, and their future singles seeing as how “[their music is ageless] as long as you get it done right, you can fit in anywhere”
If I could say anything about “Freelance” by Toro y Moi’s most recent album, is that it is a musical mixed bag. The production of this track plays with so many shaky synthesizers, heavy basses, and truthful lyrics, that listening to it feels like a whirlwind of sound that left my head spinning thinking “what just happened?” amongst other things.
Turns out I wasn’t far off on my assumptions. This single definitely packed a disconnected kind of funky electronic-pop sound, with gravelly backup vocals, intentionally sounding like a scratched CD. It’s plain to see that Chaz Bear really wanted to experiment with new sounds- different from that of Toro’s typical sound- and use the 30 minutes of the album to construct an ode to those people who will use technology in a positive way, by creating art and spreading joy with it.
The lines in the last verse, “I can’t hear you, maybe you could change your tone/ People tend to listen when they see your soul” highlights an important message that is significant to remember, to remind listeners that even though you may feel (artistically) blocked or alone at times, that you can still express yourself using art to speak out against the ugliness in the world.
While I could appreciate the message Bear was making about self-expression, this track was musically all over the place and hard to focus on the message due to the deafening instrumentals in the background. On a lighter note, if you’re looking for an energetic dance song to play when your friend passes you the AUX cord, then this might be the song you’d want to blast.
Do yourself a favor and listen to this track really loud and alone, or at least with some really great headphones. I promise you-you will instantly feel swept away into a whirlwind of metaphorical lyrics and heart-swelling orchestral music, where you feel simply alive and vulnerable.
I feel like this track is the perfect song to end the album and tie Amos’ pro-feminist ideals of women rising back up and learning to be whole again after being faced with such horrible situations in their lives. It’s clear throughout the album that her music is very personal and resonates with aspects of her life, her songs being a sort of therapy that helps her to work through her internal battles.
This song, in particular, integrates a historical story inside her own allegorical one regarding her life. This makes the song that much more complex and full of depth as Amos works brilliantly to weave together with subtle artifacts of history, her own journey through her past. Lines like “There’s something we left on the windowsill/ There’s something we left, yes” and “If you know me so well then tell me which hand I use” give the listeners a lens into the life of the young Grand Duchess and what happened to her so-called “fate”. Amos plays with the speculation of Anastasia escaping her execution in this song, as a means of her being a survivor of such a tragic event in her life.
I think what Tori is trying to do is send a message to her listeners of “we’ll see how brave you really are”, which just so happens to be a repeating line throughout the song. She is trying to tell her audience that you can face life’s changes with determination and the courage to do so, but it can only happen if you come to accept yourself–you cannot change your past but you can choose how you react to it and move forward from it. I think this is such an important message for people, especially women, to learn from listening to this song.
The hammering crescendos of the violins and basses, accompanied with the gentle piano chords and thoughtful lyrics are enough alone to get you hooked on this track! Amos has definitely put her all into not only this song but Under the Pink itself and it shows!
A lot of things have happened in the past five years, for a “double-threat” artist like Van Etten. It had been a very tumultuous couple of years for her as she had been kickstarting her acting career, as well as starting her own family.
She decides to peel back all of these layers of herself to create something so personal and raw, at whilst trying to redefine herself in her music. Very different from her previous singles or typical sound.
Van Etten’s album allows to you to connect emotionally to what she has been through, watching her grow track-by-track and following her on her “journey to the past” draws the relationship between the fans and herself even closer.
“And in life, it is all about the choices we make, and how the direction of our lives comes down to the choices we choose.”
Catherine Pulsifer
I think this very accurately explains what I felt listening to the song and what I think Van Etten was trying to get at where she introduces the listener to the hectic rollercoaster to come.
The album starts off with the track, “I Told You Everything”, which brings together a consistent piano chord, synthesized backbeats, and a soft melody to create a sobering authenticity of what it feels like to strip away all your secrets to someone you love.
The slow tempo can symbolize the difficulty it was to allow herself to feel vulnerable. The instrumental in combination with her haunting voice, transport you into her own atmospheric world, and if you close your eyes, you can imagine being in that bar too listening to this heart-wrenching four-minute confession.
This song made me want to reach over the table and hold her hand or give her a hug and applaud the fact that she is choosing to wear her heart on her sleeve and let us get a snapshot of her personal life, throughout the song.
The rest of the album only gets more self-reflective from here-on-in, but Remind Me Tomorrow starts on such a strong note with the first track setting everything up for what you think is to come, the other songs follow in its lead, little do they know they better strap in for the ride!
Notes on Notes 