Review of: Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran

On 6 January 2017, singer / songwriter Ed Sheeran released two new songs to promote his upcoming album, titled ÷, called Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill. Ed Sheeran made is breakthrough into the charts with his album + with songs like The A Team and the excellent song Lego House. He rode off his success with his following album X which featured top ten singles Thinking Out Loud, Photograph and the critically acclaimed Don't. Could his new songs stand up to the quality of his previous songs?

Well, if there's one thing I can say for certain, they are definitely very different songs. We'll start with Shape Of You. Instrumentally, it's very weak. A blatant cash in on the tropical house trend that filled the charts in 2016. Thematically, it might seem innocent enough. Sheeran is at the bar in search of a lover, but it leads to some clumsy lines like, when describing his relationship with the girl he picked up at the bar 'we push and pull like a magnet do'. Furthermore, Sheeran's delivery is significantly weaker than it has been on previous songs. It is clear by the lightweight, bouncy tone that the listener is supposed to be on his side, but how can I be when Sheeran shows so little emotional investment in the relationship. The line 'your love was handmade for somebody like me' suggests that the love that they have stems from more than just looks, but the rest of the song suggests otherwise, and the message comes across very weak complete with flimsy drum machines helplessly trying to give the song some kind of foundation. If there's one positive thing I can say, the hook is not bad. It does stick in the brain. Credit where credit is due I suppose, but all in all, I did not find this song very enjoyable. And the worst thing is that it's so radio friendly that once radio programmers get their hands on it, it's unlikely to disappear. So, not a very good start.

Luckily, his second single, Castle On The Hill, is about as far away from Shape Of You as you can get. A  folk pop ballad anchored by rich, rollicking guitars as Sheeran remembers and emotionally sings about how he's grown up in since he was as young as six years old in what is essentially a rehash of 7 Years by Lukas Graham but better production, more emotionally captivating lyrics and vocals and told through detailed writing, great lines, an Elton John reference and a killer, sawing hook. The real emotion comes on the bridge though when Sheeran lists those who 'raised him' during his lifetime and how the reality of growing up can be demanding for some. An amazingly touching moment before Sheeran erupts for the final chorus.

In conclusion, I am looking forward the new album that Sheeran is releasing on 3 March, but I do hope that Sheeran elects to use more sounds reminiscent of the ones used on Castle On The Hill than Shape Of You because this upcoming album has the potential to be great.

Shape Of You: 1.5 / 5

Castle On The Hill: 4 / 5

Top 10 Worst Hit Songs Of 2016

So it's that time of year again. The time where critics like myself compile our personal lists for our top ten best and worst songs that have graced the charts in 2016. Overall, 2016 has been a very poor year for the Billboard Hot 100 in my opinion. It was full of mediocrity and a slew of downright bad songs that I will be discussing here. In order to qualify for this list, the songs in question must have debuted on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 2016. If the song does not fit the criteria, it cannot be on this list. Without any further delay, let's get on with some dishonourable mentions.

Dishonourable Mentions:

The Chainsmokers - Closer feat Halsey
This song is saved from the list thanks to a pretty decent build-up and some detailed lyrics, but then the drop comes and ruins everything. The lyrics here are also questionable too. Andrew Taggart is described as hooking up with an ex-girlfriend who he attempts to flatter through making fun of her lack of wealth. He describes how he knows his ex could not afford the Rover that they romantically drive away in, and continues to taunt her with lines about how she stole her mattress from her roommate. If she can't afford a decent mattress to sleep on, she has problems and Taggart sure isn't helping.

Charlie Puth - One Call Away
Not a whole lot to say about this one. This song is just plain embarrassing in how weak it is. How am I supposed to be convinced that Charlie Puth is going to be the one who is going to be the one who is going to save the day and always be there if his voice has no presence over a lacklustre piano centred instrumental? And that's before we touch on the superman line in the chorus.

Charlie Puth - We Don't Talk Anymore feat Selena Gomez
However much One Call Away is a mess of nothingness and unconvincing vocals, We Don't Talk Anymore is not any better thanks to somehow injecting even less drama into the lyrics, production that feels just as bland and lifeless, and Selena Gomez tacked on to produce a risk-free breakup song with no presence or originality about it.

Fifth Harmony - Work From Home feat Ty Dolla $ign
This song has one of the most tired instrumentals I've heard on the radio this year. The lyrics here are the big problem for me here, though. The first verse is about a female in a relationship sending nude pictures to the male in the relationship while they are at work either in an attempt to get him fired, or with an understanding that what she is doing has the potential to get him fired, but she's doing it anyway. Do I need to say anymore?

Selena Gomez - Hands To Myself
While I don't dislike Selena Gomez as an artist, this plastic and limp song has so little presence that it carries no sexual tension. It feels so assembled and colourless instrumentally that it doesn't work being a song about Gomez's attempts to keep her hands to herself. Even with the instrumental problems, it still could have missed this list until the bridge where Gomez drops this awful line: 'I mean I could, but why would I want to?' What a way to completely undercut all drama that wasn't even present to begin with.

Rihanna - Work feat Drake
This track is ugly and misshapen in the worst possible way regardless of what Jamaican adaptation of English Rihanna is speaking in. It's just a jumpy, jolty, unfinished mess that I can't get into.

So, that's the dishonourable mentions done, so let's get on with the full top ten list.

#10

Like it or not, music is an art form, regardless of quality. Or, at least, that's what I thought before I heard this disaster.

Calvin Harris - This Is What You Came For feat Rihanna

This song is a joke. The kind of no effort song released that may have escaped this list in the sea of mediocrity that filled up a huge portion of the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 this year, but Rihanna's vocal flourishes push this song past mediocrity and into pure awful. The lyrics aren't helping here, though. You're at the club and there's one girl that you, and presumably everyone else (hence the song's name) came to see, and out of everyone at the club, this girl has chosen to look at you. More creepy than anything if you ask me, and the lyrics that are used to paint this picture are so bland that I have no desire at all to come back to it.

#9

There is bound to be one pick on every top ten worst song list that is controversial and several people will no doubt disagree with. However much you could say that about any of my picks on my list, as someone is bound to disagree with at least one of your opinions, this one is, without a doubt the most controversial one on this list.

Flume - Never Be Like You feat Kai

Feel free to disagree, but this song is a horrendously disjointed mess, and it is on this list 100% because of that. I get the appeal of this production. It's weird and shuffled with so much going on. For me, this just ruins the song. It's so cluttered with the blaring synths that just don't know when to resolve and instead elect to carry on stuttering and causing the song lose all sense of melody. In the chorus, everything is drowned out by the awkward synths that have presence and volume, but nothing else.

#8

Back to the more predictable side of this list.

Meghan Trainor - No

Meghan Trainor is seen straying from the doo-wop sound that infected her 2015 album Title to atrocious results. The song describes Trainor's attempts to reject a guy who starts asking questions to her at a club. I understand the sentiment, but the execution is not good here. Especially in the way the track has been written. The writing doesn't frame the situation as any more than a guy trying to talk to Meghan Trainor. He hasn't said anything that requires Meghan to go to such extremes rejecting him. It just shows me that whatever style Meghan Trainor and her producers try to emulate, the immaturity that was on display on songs like All About That Bass from her 2015 album will continue to shine through.

#7

Being boring is not enough to make this list, and while the song I'm about to discuss is, to some extent, an exception to this rule, this song does more than just be boring.

X Ambassadors - Unsteady

The Instrumentation on this song is what tips it onto this list. It has no life. Hot very fitting for a song with lines like 'If you love me, don't let go'. The song feels more board and dreary than emotional. I feel no sympathy for this young person who sees their parents relationship falling apart in front of them. With a more potent vocalist behind the microphone, I might care a bit more, but as it is, I cannot and will not recommend this song.

#6

In 2016, we had ten singles reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Weekly Charts and eleven if you count Hello by Adele which had a run at number one which started in 2015 but ran for the first three weeks at number one in 2016. Why is all this relevant? Because out of all the ten songs that I could qualify to go on this list, this is the worst.

Drake - One Dance feat WizKid and Kyla

This song just further shows how overexposed Drake is now. He can churn out whatever he wants and secure hits on the Hot 100 thanks mainly to streaming considering this song doesn't even have a video on YouTube. He doesn't even need to care about quality anymore. This tropical flavoured track is a catastrophe for two main ways. One of them is how Drake feels so unenthused by the incoherent lyrics he's singing. How can he get away with trying this little? The second one is the piano that runs throughout the song hitting in the most awkward places throughout the song. It is not as disjointed as Never Be Like You, but as least that song is somewhat intriguing in how much of a mess it is. This is just poorly written, poorly performed lifeless music.

#5

And speaking of lifeless music...

Gnash - i hate u i love you feat Olivia O'Brien

This is more than just lifeless, this is pushing boundaries in how dreary it is, but somehow Gnash and Olivia O'Brien have even less charisma than Sam Harris of X Ambassadors. The fluttering piano that anchors the song feels weak, but it's probably the most competent part of this song when compared to our vocalists. Gnash's distant murmur is just plain frustrating to listen to. Especially when he elects to curse after every line he says in his verse. Olivia O'Brien is better, barely. At least her voice has a glimmer of grace and elegance that makes her verse and the chorus slightly less detestable, but the song still blows.

#4

I can appreciate minimalism in music. It has its place. But this song pushes my patience to the limit. Unlike a song like Never Be Like You, I have genuinely no idea what appeal this song has. All the more reason for it to be higher on this list.

Ruth B - Lost Boy

However much this song is pretty high up on this list, it is remarkably easy for me to explain why I dislike it. A song purely based on piano chords and a vocalist is pushing the limits of minimalism. The lyrics are basic and plain lacking the detail to paint the picture that Ruth B is going for. It barely has a melody. The piano occasionally flutters with short shimmers of melodic presence, but they are so unimpressive that they get lost in the void of boredom that is this song.

#3

On the topic of minimalist failures...

Kiiara - Gold

This song is a pure example of how not to do minimalism. This song is not minimalist out of any artistic vision, but instead, a reverb-soaked disaster that fails in every sense of the word. First of all the song is completely incoherant and brings up so many points without being able to resolve them in a way that is cohesive and logical. Instead of even attempting to make an artistic statement, Kiiara resorts to repeating lines throughout her forgettable verses without a glimmer of interesting personality in her vocals to production that, instead of just accepting that it's minimalist, is drenched in reverb to sound bigger than it really is. It ultimately fails spectacularly.

#2

I'm amazed that there is a song above this one on this list as I'm very aware this is a popular choice for number one on worst of 2016 lists. It was just beaten out by one other song that I'll discuss in a second, but for now, the song that just missed the cut.

Shawn Mendes - Treat You Better

I think it is going to be nearly impossible for me express my huge distaste I have for this song fully, but I'll try my best. In short, this is a song about how Shawn can, supposedly, treat a girl better than her current boyfriend whilst simultaneously giving no evidence at all that this is at all the case making me think that Shawn just wants to take this girl for himself without a care in the world for what her current partners feelings are towards her. The song is tipped into pure awful in the second verse where Shawn says how much he would like to wake up with the girl in question the second that the girl says she would like him too. The level of self-awareness is terrifyingly low here. And as if this wasn't bad enough, the awful manipulative music video tips this song into pure abysmal.

#1

I'll be honest, I thought that this artist hit rock bottom in 2015 when she released the worst hit song of that year. Turns out, I didn't know half of it.

Meghan Trainor - Me Too

I'm sure it is pretty self-explanatory why this song is on this list and at number one, but I'll explain nevertheless. With Me Too, Meghan Trainor somehow finds new lows by taunting the listener with how she is significantly better than them. That alone is enough to put this song in the top two on this list. But it's the instrumentation that puts this song at number one. It sounds cheap and lazy to such an unbelievable extent that I really struggle to get through this song in one sitting.

So, that's my list. Let's hope 2017 brings more quality than this to the charts.

Review of: Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya

Daya is the name of an American singer and songwriter who released her first self-titled EP in September 2015. She has had two singles peak in the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 with Hide Away peaking at 23, and Sit Still, Look Pretty peaking at 28. She was also featured on a song not present on this new album with The Chainsmokers in early 2016 called Don't Let Me Down which peaked at 3 on The Hot 100. It is almost a good thing that particular track was not included on this album because it would probably steal the show.

While I do think there are some good moments on Daya's Sit Still, Look Pretty, they are largely overshadowed by issues in the production and mixing of this album that stops the album from clicking with me as well as it could. My first big problem with the production is that there is nothing organic or hugely interesting going on.This is mainly due to the real lack of melodic presence that these songs seem to have. The beats are so overpowering, and the melodies are nowhere to be seen on this album, and when they are there, they're nothing special. Legendary is probably the best example of this with that awful squeal of the synth line swamped to the bay of the mix.

Other than that, this album really fails to impress me all that much. Talk tries to add a bit more menace to the production but is only able to emphasise the awkwardness of the songs. Similar case with the song U12 with its slow, groan of a melody line that just sounds horrible over the beat.  I could say a similar thing about the synth line on the verses on Got The Feeling ruining an otherwise passable chorus, and the weak, flimsy synth loop that runs throughout Words. Also, there is a line on the latter song that did frustrate me. 'We don't have to say love 'cause the words only get in the way'. I am slightly unsure how Daya intends for her relationship to improve by not acknowledging the love she has for this guy. Slightly confusing.

At least I.C.Y.M.I is a song that I can appreciate. Mainly because I can sympathise with the frustration of having an ex who just won't just accept it's over and move on with their life. The same with Cool. The fact that she is speaking about a positive relationship is refreshing and likeable. If only the production matched the mood.

The hits Hide Away and Sit Still, Look Pretty are both songs that inspire very little in the way of thought. In the former's presence, we have a song where Daya asks 'where do the good boys go to hide away?' She goes on to make comments about how she is looking for a guy who is willing to give her some respect and status in the relationship. Seems like a fine idea on paper, but Daya proceeds to make some very odd generalisations about what boys want in their girls. The statements seem to prove that she is not looking hard enough for a guy that is prepared to treat her with respect, though in the song she does insist that she is 'looking high and low'. The title track on this album follows a similar path, but the framing and use of hyperbolic language throws me off the song massively. She describes herself as a queen, and then that she is going to rule the world. Even if you argue that 'the world' is a metaphor for the relationship, the fact that she is playing the commanding role with such force kind of makes me want to (if I was the boyfriend in this case) stay away.

There is one moment on this album that stands out from the crowd, though, and that's the track Back To Me. On this track, the clumsy production is stripped back in favour of a pure, delicate piano ballad that proves to me that Daya might be a pretty emotive singer. The backing choir does ruin that sense of isolation that the song needs in order to connect on a wider level, but other than that, I really enjoyed this song, probably the best on the album.

The album close with the semi-inspired self-empowerment track, We Are. I can applaud the efforts of trying to go out with a bang, and generally, I do like this song, but the album lacks the consistent quality (or any quality at all) to feel deserving of this payoff.

In conclusion, Daya's Sit Still, Look Pretty is not a particularly fun listen. The lack of great moments means I can't rate this album any higher than a strong 2 / 5. If there is one good thing that I can take away from this, it's that Daya does show some potential on a few songs here. Give her time to mature, a production team who can deliver some weight instumentally to support her, and we might see something good from Daya in the future.

Favourite Tracks: Back To Me, I.C.Y.M.I

Least Favourite Tracks: Talk, U12

Overall Rating: 2 / 5

Review of: Illuminate by Shawn Mendes

Shawn Mendes is a Canadian singer-songwriter who started gaining traction in 2013 when he started to post covers onto a six-second video sharing site called Vine. This resulted in him gaining a few hits in his home country of Canada with Life of the Party and Something Big in 2014. His worldwide breakthrough came in 2015 with his song Stitches which went platinum in twelve countries and topping the UK and Scottish Official Charts. He also collaborated with Fifth Harmony's Camila Cabello on I Know What You Did Last Summer and released it on a revisited version of his debut full-length album, Handwritten. Despite quite liking that latter song, I still had pretty low expectations going into his new album Illuminate. This is mainly because his lead single Treat You Better was grading, obnoxious pop at its worst. Did Shawn Mendes surprise me?

Well, no. Quite simply not. Illuminate is an example of an album that struggles to gain and maintain any serious momentum or anything interesting to keep my interest for twelve tracks. His delivery is not mature or old enough to make Treat You Better or Mercy even slightly convincing, the latter being saved by being one of the only places in the album where the album has any momentum courtesy of the backing choir, and the attitudes on display on Ruin or Treat You Better push this album close to pure awful for me.

Take the opener, Ruin for instance. A song where Mendes tells his girl that he is 'not trying to ruin her happiness', but he follows that statement a line later with ' but you know I'm the only one for ya'. He appears completely unwilling to put the situation in the girl's hand and allow her to make a decision. This attitude is certainly comparable to his attitude on Treat You Better where he attempts to insist that he is better for this girl than her current boyfriend, but gives very little in the way of evidence to back up his point. The fact that he describes himself as gentlemanly on this track further cements its position as the worst song here.

Three Empty Words isn't that much better, though. Mendes appears to think that not telling his girlfriend that he loves her is going to improve the relationship. If you are going to that sort of extreme to try and make something of your relationship, you might as well end it all. The hook on No Promises might be slightly more tolerable musically, but it still has some problems. Mendes again insists on making decisions without seemingly thinking them over as he says that he and his girl should not make promises because they are unlikely to keep them. He appears completely unprepared to take any risk or anything beyond the safest, least interesting relationship Mendes could have possibly brought up in his song.

Lost potential is littered all throughout this album. Honest is a great example. It could have been a decent song if Mendes had framed it properly. The song describes how Mendes feels he is unable to maintain a solid relationship with this girl. Sounds innocent enough on paper, but the framing says otherwise. The song implies a real lack of effort on Mendes' end to even try to understand what he needs to do to be able to supply the girl with what she needs. It screams of laziness.

On Don't Be A Fool Mendes and his writers make another mistake in framing and he ends his relationship with his girl even though he is still in love. However much it does say in the song that this is because he doesn't have time, it also doesn't demonstrate that Mendes has put any effort into trying to find time. If he really was in love, you'd think that he would at least put the smallest amount of effort into trying to find some time for his girl. Again, Laziness.

Patience might have a pleasant, steady instrumental, but like so much of this album, it's the subject matter that frustrates me. I understand Mendes' frustration on this track as he attempts to deal with an on one day, off the other kind of relationship, but instead of singing about how he is losing his patience, why not just sit and talk it out? Why not just express your feelings to the girl in question. That would be the more mature, sensical thing to do.

On Like This, Mendes eloquently describes his girl as 'not drop dead gorgeous'. I have no idea how I'm supposed to root for this guy at all. The closing track Understand is interrupted half way through with a spoken word monologue which does not serve any purpose at all and is just seemingly there to add to the five minute running time, but I can at least get behind the themes on this song Mendes discusses how he doesn't want fame to change who he is deep down. If the song didn't drag on for so long, he could have made something of that message. Also, if Mendes does 'really want to understand', you'd think he'd put in some more effort to communicate his issues with his girl. The Treat You Better like attitudes resurface on Bad Reputation, which for me is the point where this album just becomes pure awful. Mendes insists that he could be the one who can 'treat her like a lady'. If I was the girl in this case, I would start backing away slowly because at not one point on this album has Mendes given the smallest amount of evidence supporting his point. It's infuriating.

However, after everything I've said about this album, there are a few songs that did stick for me. Lights On is pretty cute with Mendes saying that he wants to love his girl with the lights on, as oppose to turning the lights out and not being able to properly see every inch of her. Pretty cute I suppose. Mercy is easily the best song on the album by playing a thicker instrumental over Mendes' voice and supporting it with a strong backing choir; I would argue it works very well. The backing vocals more than make up for Medes' lack of presence. I like the lyrics here too. Mendes seems prepared to do anything for his girl, and the punchier instrumentation sells the song: I really like this.

If only the instrumentation on the entirety of this album was up to this level. For a majority of this album, the production is minimalist and incredibly filmsy. On top of that, the guitars are weak and unable to pick up anything close to texture and presence in the mix. The worst example of instrumentation is probably on Ruin. The stomping percussion is so frustratingly slow,

In conclusion, stay away from this album. It's not good. I wouldn't even recommend this album to anyone looking for solid background music like this album is trying to be. Mainly because the attitudes are so infuriating, I can't help but get frustrated wherever I'm listening to it. For me, it's 1.5 / 5 and no recommendation. Avoid this album.

Favourite Tracks: Mercy

Least Favourite Tracks: Treat You Better, Bad Reputation, Ruin

Overall Rating: 1.5 / 5

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Review of: Young as the Morning Old as the Sea by Passenger

Let's face it. I'll always be slightly biased when talking about Passenger. Mainly because I can think of very few artists who were responsible for evolving my music tastes quite like Passenger. For those of you who don't know, Passenger is a five piece fronted by Mike Rosenberg. Rosenberg has released music under this name since his first album Wicked Man's Rest, which to this day I consider his best work until the band broke up in 2009 and Rosenberg took the name on for himself where he continued to release music. He made his break into the mainstream with the 2012 smash hit Let Her Go which topped charts across Europe and the critically acclaimed album, All The Little Lights. An album that I continue to love and adore to this day; if you haven't heard it, go listen to it, it's amazing. Since the release of that album, Passenger has had a fan base that Mike had never had before. He released his next full-length album in 2014 titled Whispers, another great album, and then the sequel Whispers II in 2015. However much I did feel like Passenger's material has been going down hill a bit, especially with the release of Whispers II, I was still excited when he announced his 2016 album, Young as the Morning Old as the Sea. So, how was it? Did it live up to my through the roof expectations?

Well, this album certainly doesn't have the immediate hit song on it like All The Little Lights did, and it's nowhere near as good as Wicked Man's Rest which holds on to the title of best Passenger album for now, but there is still a warm feel of indie folk-pop that feels like it's coming from a good place. This has always been Passenger's main selling point for me. His honest vocal tone kind of makes you at least sympathise with him, at least to some extent. His vocals (and the backing vocalists particularly) continue to sound great on this new album, but I can't help but think that something deeper than that is missing from this album. The quality seems to have dipped from stunning, to fine enough, occasionally forgettable, but always pleasant folk-pop. It's difficult to pin down quite why this has happened, but I can take a bit of a guess. First of all, there is a certain lack of music variation throughout this album. I understand that Passenger is a folk-pop band, so obviously there is folk-pop on this album, but there is so little change in the instrumentation from song to song that it can get frustrating. In other words, a lot of these songs sound very similar. But I suppose the sound is welcoming and matched with Mike's vocals lines that sit at very similar ranges throughout this album, it does work. Mike's voice sounds like it was made perfectly for this brand of folk flavoured pop music. It's quite amazing really. It's great to hear an album this refreshing every once in a while.

Passenger has always been an incredible storyteller for me like on my favourite song from All The Little Lights, The Wrong Direction, where he tells the story of someone who is finding it difficult to find a woman with detail and interesting metaphors, and while there is some of that on this album, like on Beautiful Birds which features British musician Birdy. The song tells the story of two lovers, or birds as they are described as in the song, with eventually the female in the relationship asking too much of the male, and the relationship falling apart. I like the detail here. This brings up a whole other point to do with the lyrics and themes on this album, because if I had to give one word to describe Young as the Morning Old as the Sea by Passenger, it would be, reflection. Take When We Were Young for instance. A song where Passenger discusses what it was like being young, and how time has flown by. A message that seems tinged with sadness which I really appreciate. It shines the song in a significantly more interesting light.

Sometimes the stories on this album can get vague and repetitive. While When We Were Young has detail and complexity behind its story, songs like the opener Everything have stories behind them that don't connect quite as much. On Everything, the message is 'if you've got love, you've got everything' to quote the song directly. However much the simple framing does compliment that message, the lack of any real content beyond it kind of sets it back for me. Anywhere is another example. It opens with a pretty promising guitar melody, that might have worked if Passenger didn't just spend the entire song discussing that he'll always be with his girl no matter what. The potential is present in these melodies, but the themes don't always provide a solid enough baseline for the lyrical content in these songs to keep the interesting for the length of the songs.

I like the soothing vibe Somebody's Love has got going on, and while I will always prefer the single version of this track - mainly because it's almost four minutes long, and the album version is nearly five and a half - it still stands out as one of the better songs on this album. I love how the lyrics intertwine with each other and how they all seem to link and connect on the second verse. It continues the pleasant feel that this album has going on.

However, I could probably do without the dry, shallow echo of the guitar on Young as the Morning Old as the Sea, but once they fade into something more acoustic later on in the track they become more interesting. The song does drag a bit, though. Beautiful Birds probably has the most enjoyable instrumentation on this album by playing to a more delicate feel pretty amazingly. The framing is spot on here. I would have loved it if Birdy was allowed to be more expressive on this track, and not just seemingly being here for the sake of framing the song as a duet. Maybe if she had a verse explaining the situation from here opinion.

Points must be given for the way that the end of Beautiful Birds fades into The Long Road. It is a transition that I love. The Long Road is a song about travel and has a feeling of moving on and new beginnings over the shimmering instrumentation. While this song is about moving on away from what you know, Home runs that idea even further as it discusses the safety of home and how Mike doesn't have the comfort of a place like that. It is slightly irritating that the song goes on for six minutes, and half of that time is spent repeating the same verse four times over, but that verse is so well crafted talking about the difficulty of not having a home. A great song, but not the beat on the album.

Fools Gold is, without a doubt, the best song here, and it is almost entirely to do with the complex framing. I may have misinterpreted here, but the song seems to be about wanting more out of a relationship partner and comparing all the things Passenger has asked out of his partner that wasn't going to enhance the relationship in any way to fools gold. I find that metaphor so touching.

In conclusion, I'm struggling to come up with an awful lot of criticism for this album. My biggest criticism of this album is that I would have appreciated a bit more string texture in the mix that made some of his earlier work particularly interesting musically. Even the more boring songs on this album like the song If I Go that just doesn't end up doing a lot for me still have the captivating vocals and backing vocals to give it that soothing feel that fills up the entirety of this album. Overall, it's 4 / 5 and a firm recommendation. If you're a fan of Passenger and haven't heard this yet, it's essential. If not, I'd still recommend this album as warm background music for working to, or even just to relax to. I am happy to say, Passenger has once again delivered.

Favourite songs: Fools Gold

Least Favourite Songs: If I Go

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

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Review of: Wild World by Bastille

Bastille is a pop rock band that made a big splash in the mainstream with their hit singles like Pompeii, Things We Lost In The Fire, Bad Blood and Of The Night. On their 2013 album Bad Blood. I really like it - especially on Pompeii - when Bastille get a bit darker and tackle subject matter that most bands wouldn't touch. I hoped that they would touch on this kind of themes and lyrical material on their lead single Good Grief. Unfortunately, this was not the case. A very underwhelming lead single, to say the least. To see a band capable of making hits like Pompeii clearly unable to release their full potential on an album. But, I'm not going to judge an album on its lead single, so I gave Wild World by Bastille a chance. Did I find anything?

Well, I certainly found something, but I'd hesitate to call this album anywhere close to good. In fact, it was quite disappointing really. And pretty much everything wrong with this album can be traced back to one huge problem. The producers messed with a working pop-rock formula and crammed it full of electronic effects that, a lot of the time, sound horrific. The rough, growling, grading synth that runs throughout the abysmal track The Currents. A track that can be summed up in one line. 'Oh my God, my God. I can't quite believe my ears'. A catastrophe. The track elects to swamp Dan Smith's vocals out in the instrumentation, which might have worked, if Dan's voice had anywhere near the presence in the mix that it should. The statements that I have just said might lead you to think that songs like An Act Of Kindness work better with the eerie, stripped back presence, and while I would argue that it does work better than The Currents, Dan Smiths unconvincing delivery simply does not compliment the instrumentation. That's another huge problem with this album. Dan's voice is rarely able to match the overloaded electronic production. He probably fairs the best on Good Grief with the clattering percussion balancing against the electronic elements pretty well allowing Dan's voice to move pretty freely throughout the mix, but on the majority of songs on this album, this is not the case.

One other key element of this album that is implemented to mixed results is the sampling. This album features a lot of sampling from movies like on Good Grief, Send Them Off!, and Fake It. However, the samples never carry any meaning related to the songs they are used on, and as a result, I can't appreciate the use of sampling on this album.

I am really struggling to come up with any positives with this album, mainly because many of the moments on this album, while they might not inspire any deep hatred from me, come off as pretty boring. Songs like Glory, Power and Fake It are the kind of songs I'm talking about here. The kind of songs with so little in the way of redeeming qualities, that they don't serve a coherent purpose on the album in terms of establishing any artistic intention. Despite the catchy verses, the chorus of Lethargy falls under a similar vein. The faster paced vocals from Dan Smith allows a decent level of intensity, but it really is nothing all that special. Snakes has decent percussion line back in it, but there is no real crescendo to pay off the first verse and chorus that feel like they are building up to something, and the payoff just doesn't come. I'm not going to deny that the song has potential, but elements of the execution lacked.

Despite everything negative I have commented on throughout this review, there are some moments on this album that do kind of connect. Blame is among the better tracks on the album as it tries to tackle some rock influences that I do appreciate with the howling guitars at the start. The clear instrumental focus works well here I'll admit that. Also, despite the whining synth line running throughout the verses, I can kind of get behind Warmth for its strong, heavy percussion and being able to deliver some intensity entirely thanks to the vocal layering on the hook, but it is disappointing that the guitar solo was so short that it's barely worth mentioning. I also quite like the great baseline (which there are are quite a few of on this album like on Good Grief) and horns on Send Them Off!.

I mentioned previously in this review that I like it when Bastille get a bit darker, and they do on tracks like Two Evils, Four Walls (The Ballad Of Perry Smith) and Winter Of Our Youth, the latter ending the album on a positive note. The production holds real presence, especially in the chorus. Two Evils is a pretty dreary attempt at darkness that bores me to tears that should have just been cut from the album. Finally, the most interesting song on this album, Four Walls (The Ballad Of Perry Smith), a song that discusses the death penalty, and specifically references a case in the title. Perry Smith was a criminal who was hanged for his murders on April 14, 1965. It takes quite a lot of courage to directly reference a criminal case. I can respect that.

Overall I can't recommend this album. It doesn't have any down right amazing songs. It's quite clear to me that this album is not destined to do a lot in the mainstream. I don't see a hit in any of these songs, so I'm giving the album a generous 2 / 5, and only a recommendation if you're a Bastille fan. Other than that, avoid this album.

Favourite Tracks: Warmth, Blame

Least Favourite Tracks: The Currents

Overall Rating: 2 / 5

Review of: Girl Problems by Chris Lane

Before I get into my review of the new Chris Lane record, let's talk about pop country.

Country music, being the popular genre that it is, has not only captured the hearts of fans, but also sparked the creation of several radio stations. The airplay that some country songs received on these radio stations allowed country to access the Billboard Hot 100. In recent times, several artists have taken advantage of this and, with it, created a whole new, mainstream-friendly genre, pop country. Artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Dan + Shay, have hopped onto the pop country trend to mostly huge success. Chris Lane is the latest artist to gain mainstream success with this genre.

So, how? How have so many artists gained popularity through one simple genre manipulation? The basic idea of this genre is that it has the potential to be relevant in the mainstream as well as be playable on country radio, hence giving it an extra push. One of the artists who I mentioned earlier who has taken advantage of this trend is Chris Lane. In 2016, Lane released a single called Fix along with a six-song EP of the same name. Four of the six songs made it onto the new record. The EP was widely criticised by country music enthusiasts for barley being country. However, for a pop album, I really enjoyed that record. So, I decided to check out Chris Lane's debut full-length album, produced by hit and miss producer Joey Moi Girl Problems. Was it any good?

Well, simply put, it was good, but not great. Chris Lane has put together a pleasant, but not amazing album. In fact, I would go as far to say that the Fix EP is more consistent at least than this new album Girl Problems. It has its highlights, don't get me wrong, but it also has its fair share of problems. Let's start with Chris Lane himself. He certainly has charisma, like on Fix, Let Me Love You, or Her Own Kind Of Beautiful, but occasionally he can come off as obnoxious, like on the worst track here, Who's It Gunna Be, where Chris Lane attempts to win over a girl by intentionally peer pressuring her to take him home instead of another unnamed guy, when the only line in the song that actually gives evidence as to why he would be a better choice than the other guy is 'And I've got what you like'. Obnoxious is an understatement really. It is not a particularly recurring theme throughout this record, but on this one song, it did frustrate me.

In terms of production, the album likes to switch between your 'regular' overproduced pop country sort of sound, breezy acoustic pop like on For Her and a more stripped back sound like on All About You and, while I understand the songs purpose on the album. It's a slow song in amongst a lot of overproduced pop country, but the lyrical content seems limited and pretty lousy. However, there is a song on this album that uses a lower tempo to its advantage. Back To Me is the example that I had in mind, and it is the lyrical content, particularly the honesty in the lyrics, that puts it firmly among the top tear of songs from Girl Problems. The lyrics speak about how Chris Lane's girl is looking to move on to a different phase in her life, one that doesn't involve Chris, or maybe no guy at all. But underneath all that, the lyrics highlight a glimmer of hope that she might come back. A hope that is translated in the glimmering instrumentation as well. The tone of the instrumentation combined with Chris Lane's softer vocal delivery gives this song a huge edge over songs like Who's It Gunna Be. There is one criticism that I have for this song that does make me a bit angry, and one that once I found, I couldn't ignore. There is a trap beat playing in the chorus. A hip hop based beat, playing in a soulful pop-country love song. It doesn't work. It clashes with the tone of the song that Chris Lane and his producers were clearly going for. It was almost as if the producers were aware that this song wasn't destined for greatness, and therefore, they just slammed the cheapest beat they could find over it to get it on the track listing as quick as possible. The fact that they don't even try to hide it by indulging the mix in melody makes this all the more infuriating. The song is still good, but realistically, it could have been better.

Then you come to the complete opposite end of the production style used throughout this album, and you come to songs like Fix. A decent catchy melody line anchors a strong hook and catchy melody line. But, in terms of themes, it's nothing that I haven't heard before. An issue that plagues quite a bit of this album. Especially on songs like All The Time which tries to express Chris' love for his girl, but doesn't do it in a way that is at all new or interesting in terms of the lyrical department. The distracting 'Aye Aye A' backing vocals are certainly not helping.

For Her tries to add some acoustic breeze to the instrumentation, but I would argue that Chris Lane's vocals sound better over greater instrumental texture than this like on Fix. One song that tries a similar production style is Her Own Kind Of Beautiful. While For Her went for light production, Her Own Kind Of Beautiful gets the balance basically perfect. Production that allows Chris to be expressive without sounding obnoxious. A catchy chorus that allows his emotions and feelings to flow freely. It works incredibly well, especially with Chris Lane behind the microphone. Maybe is similar in the production, but instead talks about the lead up to a break up with surprising detail where both parties could have tried harder. It's an interesting and enjoyable listen.

The title track Girl Problems is a simple song glorifying a girl with stupid lines like 'you're turning on everything but the light'. However cringeworthy that line is, it's clear that, not only am I not in the target demographic for this song, but that the track is clearly not trying to accomplish anything apart from Chris glorifying his girl, who he is clearly having a good time with. It's a fun song, but not in the top tier of songs from the album.

I've saved one of the most interesting songs to discuss for last in this review. The song that I am referring to is Circles which features MacKenzie Porter, a Canadian actress and musician who released her debut full-length self-titled album in July of 2014. I stand by my opinion of Chris Lane sounding better over slightly heavier production than this, but this sound seems to suit MacKenzie's voice more than anything else. The production has a certain elegance to it which I do like, and framing the song as a duet makes the song a lot clearer. It speaks about a relationship that both sides want to work, but neither are certain how long it will last. It's a nice touch.

In conclusion, there are some great moments on this album, but also a few moments that could have been ironed out. Overall, 3/5 seems like a fair score for Chris Lane's first full-length album.

Favorite Tracks: Back To Me, Her Own Kind Of Beautiful, Maybe

Least Favorite Tracks: Who's It Gunna Be

Overall Rating: 3/5

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