By: Nimra Khan
Taylor Swift has released her new album 1989 on October 27th into the much-anticipated hands (or iTunes libraries) of “Swifties” everywhere. Just two years since the release of her album Red, 1989 marks a complete crossover into pop music, with no sight of the country-loving girl we once knew.
I've been a Taylor Swift fan from the beginning, but I had started to lose interest since the release of Red. I found myself growing tired of the repetitive slow, sad, and broken-hearted songs that she was producing, and wanted something more. It seems 1989 was just what I needed, as it has blown me away with how catchy its songs are.
While still belting about her love life, Swift has crafted a completely new way to express her feelings through her music. Much like her single "Shake It Off," the album starts and ends as upbeat and exciting. Beginning with a dark verse before slamming into an uplifting chorus, the darkest song on this album, "I Know Places," has to be my favourite. It felt like a very personal song about what a relationship must be like while in the public spotlight.
While many of the songs are upbeat, Taylor has managed to bring back a few of the ballads she is known for. However, unlike her past works, these songs like “This Love” and “You Are In Love” don’t slow down the album, and help to balance the high-energy of all the fast-paced songs on 1989. As a welcome bonus, the album even comes included with three voice memos explaining the song writing process for three of the songs, and a pleasantly surprising set of Polaroids.
My only complaint about 1989 would be that most of the songs still revolve around the same generic love and heartbreak lyrics that Swift is known for. Still, it is honestly refreshing to see a complete change in style from Taylor Swift, as she is doing exactly what every artist shouldn't be afraid of: evolving. Even if you aren't a Taylor Swift fan, this revamped Taylor Swift album is a perfect way to open up to her for any lover of pop music.
By: Rachel Harper
Ben Howard continues to rock the indie-folk scene with his second album I Forget Where We Were released on Oct. 21. For fans of Every Kingdom, the familiar sound of the previous album is still an underlying presence, while at the same time propelling itself into a new direction.
Howard, a 27-year-old English singer-songwriter, is quite popular in the U.K., is quickly becoming a rising star in North America. He has a considerable fan base in the Greater Toronto Area, having played at Echo Beach in August 2013.
Howard has been a favourite of mine for a few years, and his new album has only enhanced my love for his music. Part of this is because of his very distinct, pleasant voice – soft, airy, and transforming almost into a rasping growl when he reaches low notes. Many of his new tracks incorporate goose bump-inducing harmonies, similarly to his previous album. The song is either overlapped with Howard’s voice, or with India Bourne, the bassist and cellist within the group.
There’s a healthy mix of acoustic and electric guitar in I Forget Where We Were, which pairs perfectly with the array of fingerpicking techniques Howard employs. “End of the Affair” is one such song, with Howard plucking a soothing rhythm at the intro, and ripping through harmonics with a savage passion near to the end. “In Dreams” displays this talent as well, as notes seem to fly by while the drums plod steadily along in the background. This technique is a staple of Howard’s and while it produces a calming arrangement, it also helps the song build itself up to greater heights.
Howard’s talents are not limited to his technical skills, as he is also a fantastic lyricist. His songs and their meanings give you something to chew on as you’re thrust into feelings of nostalgia and wistfulness. This makes I Forgot Where We Were offer a certain grounding effect that results in wonderful de-stressing music. If you’re in need of some serious relaxation, this is the album for you.
By: Nicole Vasarevic
26-year-old Swedish singer Tove Nilsson, better known as Tove Lo, has finally released her debut single album on Sept. 30, and has outdone herself. Queen of The Clouds is the ultimate soundtrack to a reckless Saturday night out after a bad breakup with someone who you thought was your one true love.
Tove Lo has had a slow, yet promising rise in the music industry. Besides her popular solo work, some may recognize her from Icona Pop’s hit “I Love It” or the catchy intro to Disclosures “Latch” featuring Sam Smith. These hits come as no surprise, as Tove Lo was bound for success at a young age. Starting out as a lyricist and writing for artists including Cher, Lo has earned her place in the music industry.
Queen of the Clouds chart-topping single “Habits (Stay High)” is the perfect walkthrough of what the album is about: love, heartbreak, and all the ill-advised ways of dealing with it. Featuring a music video where Tove Lo is covering hickeys and making out with boys (and girls) in graffiti covered bathrooms, “Habits (Stay High)” channels the reckless energy that makes Lo’s songs so compelling.
Lo’s sweet and girlish voice will catch you off guard with her vulgar and almost self- destructive lyrics, and boy, the girl can belt out those high notes. In “Talking Body” she doesn’t sugar coat it by saying, “if you love me right, we fuck for life.”
It is this kind of energy that makes Tove Lo a shocking breath of fresh air in a time where pop music has been lacking in rawness and edge. By manipulating spacey beats beat that wash over you and possess you to do something reckless, Tove Lo explores the animalistic and archaic emotions that lie deep within us all.
Listening to Queen of The Clouds is a fantastic experience, but it may release your inner ex-boyfriend-calling, pool-hopping self. So be warned.
A year after the release of her EP Sail Out and a series of successful features and guest appearances, Jhené Aiko is back to woo us with her sweet voice on her first full studio album Souled Out. While the album suffers from some of the bumps and bruises of her past works, the singer proves that her formula of calming melodies and breezy production still leaves the listener satisfied.
For those unfamiliar, Aiko has had a strong year musically, and it shows. She demonstrated how valuable she can be on other artists’ songs, working with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino, while proving her ability to stand on her own with songs like “The Worst”. In that time it seems she gained the confidence needed to “sail out” towards an album that relies less on the talents of featured artists, and more on her own abilities.
The result is certainly mixed. On one hand, Aiko’s greatest strength is her voice, or more specifically, using her smooth voice to her advantage in terms of production. While she may not boast the range of Adele or Beyoncé, Aiko possesses an effortless breezy tone that sets her apart from the crowd of other RnB female vocalists. As such, Aiko makes sure to include tracks that pair well with her sound; ethereal and synths, clean guitars, and reverb heavy drums all play a part in constructing Souled Out’s aquatic sound.
Unfortunately, these qualities can also have the unfortunate drawback of simply boring the listener. When Aiko fails to mix up the rhythms in her melodies, the songs tend to blend together, leaving little impression to those tuning in. Many tracks across the album simply sound too similar to each other, leaving an album filled with a bit too much filler. For those who weren’t a fan of her past work - whether it’s her solo tracks or features - it is likely you will find the same flaws in Souled Out.
Still, when Aiko succeeds it’s hard to ignore. Songs like “W.A.Y.S” showcase Aiko at her strongest. Pulling the listener up and down, “W.A.Y.S” is a prime example of her ability to convey raw emotion almost effortlessly, and is easily the best track on the album. This emotion only becomes stronger thanks to the high quality production of veterans Thundercat and Clams Casino. “W.A.Y.S”, an abbreviation for “why aren’t you smiling” a kind of catch phrase of her late brother, deals with loss and the chaotic nature of life without holding back. Because of this, it is easy to get wrapped up in the emotional whirlwind that Souled Out offers. This same energy exists in “Eternal Sunshine” and “Promises” leaving the second half of the album the highlight of the project.
In the end, Souled Out isn’t perfect. The songs at times blend together, lacking distinction, but Aiko’s ability to translate her emotions so effectively into her music makes it worth the price of admission.
Looking back to older albums, it seems the most memorable aspects of Interpol tracks were the changes in energy and pace. Each song was careful and deliberate in the cumulative buildup, and the climax of individual songs and each album as a whole was strategic. The bass and treble are meticulously crafted to interact and play with one another under vague lyrics about love in deceptively simple layering that leaves interpretation up to the listener.
These familiar themes also exist to some degree on El Pintor. It's more reminiscent of Interpol's hit album Turn On The Bright Lights than the generally disliked Interpol. After a basic start in “All the Rage Back Home”, it becomes apparent that this song merely eases you into the track list, rather than setting the tone for the entire album. The more segmented and clearly defined instrumentals and transitions of this introduction song give way to constantly changing and developing pieces that shift between establishing a familiar presence and expanding new sounds. The memorable opening riffs of “My Desire” change into mere texture by the climax to provide a great listen. This feels like the true beginning to the album. “All the Rage Back Home”, also the opening single to the album, is like the practice and tune-up before the big performance.
Each song then progresses in a similar fashion. A simple riff leads into the full band, which then introduces more and more until the inevitable climax and fall. While this is simple and may seem repetitive throughout El Pintor, Interpol deserves praise not for surprising the listener or providing a large amount of variation in their tracks, but in refining their tried and true nuances.
Because of this familiarity, it is difficult to describe the differences from song to song. The only real variations are what they choose to bring to the forefront, and the listener's own personal enjoyment of the main hook or intensity. The established bass line giving way to the long vocal strands, repetitive guitar, and wildly varied percussion pace changes of “Anywhere” might be more appealing compared to the more laid-back, somber, and consistent “My Blue Supreme”. This similar structure, however, means that there is very little possibility that personal opinion of the album will actually change by listening to more of it.
All in all, listeners should not expect to be completely blown away by the album or for it to like Interpol if they disliked them before. For those that already enjoyed the band, this is a good addition to their discography and worthy of a listen.
Makthaverskan are a punk band hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden. The quintet is composed of Maja Milner, Irma Krook, Andreas Wettmark, Hugo Randulv, and Gustav Andersson.
Originally formed in 2009 to combat the daintily cute direction that artists like Lykke Li, Robyn, and Peter Bjorn & John were taking the Swedish music scene, Makthaverskan have impressed critics with two full-length LP’s that carry on the legacy of their heroes and now defunct Broder Daniel.
It is their latest effort II that first caught my attention. Released in March of last year, I only caught wind of II when Pitchfork’s Ian Cohen reviewed it this May. I forgot all about the album after downloading it until I saw Kip Berman, lead singer of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, proudly flaunting his copy on Instagram.
The co-sign from a member of one of my favourite bands was all I needed to dive headfirst into the absolute bliss that is Makthaverskan’s sophomore effort.
Opening song ‘Antabus’ sets the bar for the rest of the record high. The track is named after a drug given to alcoholics to discourage them from relapsing through the threat of painful symptoms. The anxious peal of the the violent guitars and drowned out drums competing to be heard, along with Milner’s confession —“I am walking in my room, trying to find out what to do, but I just can’t find a way” — leads us to believe that Milner too is suffering another kind of relapse, heartbreak. Considering her helplessness at the hands of her volatile emotions, Milner’s emphatic refrain of “Fuck you!” becomes all the more liberating.
If you were relishing a moment’s reprieve for your racing heart, album standout and personal favourite ‘Asleep’ will sorely disappoint you. Milner’s lyrics seem to have come from a place of crushing dismay we all know, the abyss of unrequited love. The Swedish lead singer’s grasp on English may seem paltry to some, but her limited vocabulary affords her writing a beautiful sense of brevity here. Milner opts to soften her powerful voice in the buildup as she mournfully reflects that “you’re asleep, you’re dreaming of someone and it’s not me” which makes the ensuing belting of the chorus all the more piercing. The repetition of “it’s not me you’re dreaming of” may at first seem depressing, but the acknowledgement breeds a pervading feeling of catharsis which is propelled skyward by the ever-buoyant jangly guitars.
‘Asleep’ is fun to belt out on angst-ridden occasions. In my experience, this came as I ran home from a bar in which I had asked for the pretty bartender’s number after Croatia’s 4-0 drubbing of Cameroon and several pitchers of beer had lent me confidence I normally only found through listening to rap music.
The rest of II is a rollercoaster ride for your emotions well worth the price of admission.
Michael Gallagher
The Silhouette
Because the Internet
Artist: Childish Gambino
The “actor-writer-rapper” gig was cool until all of Donald Glover’s talents got muddled into one very confusing concept album. Paired with a stream of social media confessions, a short film and eventually a 75-page four-act screenplay, Because the Internet is a classic example of too much style and not enough substance. While art across multiple mediums can sometimes make an idea more coherent or more moving, in the case of Gambino’s most recent album, the extra baggage only highlights the record’s inability to stand alone from the rest of his material, and leaves the listener with a confusing 57-minutes.
Gambino has talent. His first effort Culdesac, was a transparent and deeply personal record. It showcased his darker emotions and contextualized his diverse artistic environments. His follow-up Camp represented an improvement in all aspects of his craft, with smarter lyrics, better flow, and more interesting production.
Unfortunately, Because the Internet seems to have halted Glover’s progression, replacing it with occasionally stale production, and a flow that favours speed over content.
Too often Internet’s songs abandon conventional verse-chorus structure, and instead ramble between a strange fusion of trap production, and dizzying stops and starts. Songs like “3005” show that the album could have been great – classic Gambino – but instead, these songs are followed by “Flying with the Navigator” which forces the listener to sift through the strange, spoken-word style of a distorted Gambino, and slow arpeggios of a guitar. All of it feels pretentious and unnecessary.
Thankfully, “Sweatpants,” “Crawl,” and “3005” are among some of the tracks that help stabilize the album, and give fans what they wanted. While it may not be perfect, fans of Childish Gambino should still give Because the Internet a try, if only to hear those tracks.
3/5
Following the release of their widely successful Record in a Bag in 2009 and subsequent extensive tour schedule, indie-rockers Hollerado present their latest offering, White Paint, to much anticipation in the Canadian music circuit.
The band has come to be known for their do-it-yourself approach and endearing touches on everything they call their own, including a hand-drawn website, an album filled with confetti and other goodies, a Twitter that churns out horse facts and an obsession with nachos.
Formed in 2007 and originally from the town of Manotick, Ontario, the band is made up of four best friends since childhood: Menno Versteeg (vocals, guitar), Nixon Boyd (guitar, vocals), Dean Baxter (bass) and Jake Boyd (drums). White Paint was put out on their own Royal Mountain Records, which is also home to the Toronto-based Topanga.
White Paint shows a band that is all-grown up but still knows their sound. Right from the start of the opening track, “Wonder, Velocity, Charlie and Me,” things are distinctly Hollerado-esque with spaceship samples and soaring group vocals proclaiming the vastness of the world. Both guitarists’ work on hooks is evident through the entire album.
“Lonesome George” stands out as an example of the band’s fine storytelling work, recounting the last days of the only remaining Pinta Island tortoise. (The track was previewed when the real Lonesome George passed away.) The use of narrative is also present on “I Want My Medicine,” an ode to a man who painfully sells his record collection to fund pharmaceuticals in the hope that he will live another day.
A favourite for me on the record is “So It Goes,” a high-energy track Versteeg wrote about his grandfather’s experience during WWII. Captured by Germans, he claimed to be a horse doctor even though he knew nothing about the trade. He would either hope the horses recovered on their own or proclaim they were beyond saving. Upon being found out, his life was spared by a sympathetic German soldier for whom he later testified at Nuremberg regarding his kindness. Such stories often accompany new tracks throughout Hollerado’s live show.
Despite the new lyrical maturity, White Paint is still musically fun and danceable. Guitars soar and charge through the choruses, and solos are pulled out on a few tracks. A special mention goes to the rhythm section of drummer Jake Boyd and bassist Dean Baxter for providing a fresh foundation to build on. White Paint is raw in the right ways but solid enough for a sophomore release. This is a band that loves what they do.
By: :Lucas Canzona
Artist: Tragically Hip
Album: Fully Completely (1992)
It’s easy to overlook the Tragically Hip. Quintessential Canadiana since stepping onto the scene with 1989’s Up to Here, the Hip have sold out arenas and charmed city-dwellers and smalltown folk alike. Kingston-bred and fronted by Michael Stipe soundalike Gord Downie, their signature brand of mid-tempo riff-rock punctured with folk-tinged balladry has slotted them nicely into any outsider’s conception of the Canadian identity.
Remembered primarily for late-period classic rock staples like their breakout “New Orleans is Sinking” and meaningless beauty “Ahead by a Century,” the Hip formerly existed in my mind as an overrated bunch, relegated to fulfilling CRTC Can-con obligations and obstinately pushing out LPs well beyond their prime. I enjoyed the odd single here and there, but shelved them mentally alongside heaps of overrated ‘90s jock-rock. Boy, was I wrong. It took a summer of landscaping, rattling around in a beat-up Dodge Ram pickup between jobs for me to realize their worth. Every variant of rock station blasted their tunes: classic, hard, alt, new. Commercial success being far from the best determinant of musical value, I decided it was probably worth something and bit the bullet.
To start, I tracked down the records whose singles I was most familiar with, which appeared to be the Hip’s first three: Up to Here, 1991’s Road Apples (apparently a euphemism for iced-over horse manure, given the record label’s pass on the band-proposed Saskadelphia, which allegedly sounded “too Canadian”) and 1992’s Fully Completely. After two months and easily twenty listens apiece, each has found itself in my heavy rotation. Each has its gems and merits, but perhaps the most well-balanced is Fully Completely. Luring in listeners with airwave smashes like “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)” and “Fifty-Mission Cap,” Fully Completely reveals a standard of songwriting depth and instrumental layering the surface-level fan may easily pass over, and exemplifies the paragon of an LP without a single wasted track. The existence of lead axeman Rob Baker creates two distinct guitar tracks per song, making the album rife with memorable riffs while creating a guitarist’s play-along dream.
The record is well paced, eschewing the typical front-end load in favour of spacing out key tracks. Near the record’s close, two tracks emerge as shining victors: the plaintive title track and the prairie ballad “Wheat Kings.” “Fully Completely” breathes new life into a played-out minor pentatonic bassline by laying it expertly underneath minor seventh chords, all the while leaving room for Baker’s overlaid soloing and Downie’s tortured vocals. “Wheat Kings” recounts the story of David Milgaard, a Saskatoon man wrongly convicted of murder, and the national spectacle that ensued. Capitalizing on the simplicity of a G-C-D progression and intermittent acoustic and slide soloing, “Wheat Kings” paints an expressive picture of prairie life as much as it explores Milgaard’s story. National clichés aside (the song name-drops both “prime ministers” and “the CBC”), “Wheat Kings” reins the band in from reckless bar chord abandon and kick-snare grooves and drops it down a level or two.
Fully Completely is far from the Hip’s only standout record, but it will transport you from the trunk of an FLQ car to the hundredth meridian to Cartier’s Quebec frontier with surprising fluidity, all the while maintaining one foot in the realm of modern rock.
Simon Marsello
