#Review: Sigala – Brighter Days 🌴


   

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Sigala (aka Bruce Fielder) is an English DJ, producer and remixer from Norwich in Norfolk. His first single, Easy Love (which featured a re-recorded interpolation of The Jackson 5 song, ‘ABC’) reached Number 1 in the UK Charts. In total, he has released a rather impressive, 12 singles, 6 of which have reached the Top 10 in the UK Charts. Now, with 10 of these singles featuring on his debut album, it’s easy to see why there is a lot of excitement about this release and indicates just how strong of an album it is. Here’s what we have to say about it…

Sigala - Brighter Days

To say that this album is star-studded is an understatement – it is utterly packed to bursting-point with incredible collaborations and downright epic tunes! Very rarely do you find that an album is filled, from start to finish, with singles but truly, every song on this record could be a single in its own right…and most of them have been!

With ten of the sixteen tracks having been released as singles, you could not be forgiven for not having heard at least one of these tracks before now! Easy LoveSweet Lovin’‘ featuring Bryn Christopher, Say You Do featuring Imani WilliamsDJ FreshGive Me Your Love featuring John Newman Nile Rodgers‘Came Here For Love’ featuring Ella Eyre and ‘Lullaby’ featuring Paloma Faith all reached inside the UK’s Top 10. They’re all uplifting, summery songs which are filled with feel-good vibes. (For more about these tracks, hit the links above – as a massive fan of them and having reviewed them before, there’s so much else to focus on with this record!)

It’s easy to see why Sigala is such a big hitter – he’s created an instantly recognisable sound by combining dance music with tropical house and topping it off with some sensational pop collaborations, meaning his tracks just rocket up the charts…and the unreleased tracks on Brighter Days continue this trend. To make it clear just how many collaborations are on this record, here are a list of all the features:

Paul Janeway (of St. Paul & The Broken Bones), Ella Eyre, Fuse ODG, Sean Paul, Kent Jones, Meghan Trainor, French MontanaThe VampsFlo RidaShaun FrankDelaney JaneHRVYNina NesbittPaloma FaithCraig David, Kylie MinogueBryn ChristopherCheat Codes, MAXJohn NewmanNile Rodgers, KodalineImani Williams and DJ Fresh.

With a lineup like that, it’s no surprise that this guy’s tunes are so damn good! Not only has he been dominating the UK dance music scene but with a whole host of international collaborations, he’s surely going to become a global hit!

The summer may well be drawing to a close but with this album, it feels like it’s just getting started; it’s the ultimate feel-good album that you just want to keep on repeat!

Aside from the obvious singles, this album features a few unheard tracks, starting with ‘Brighter Days’. With vocals from Paul Janeway (of St. Paul & The Broken Bones), you are eased into the album with a spacious verse that continually builds before unleashing a massive drop into the chorus…and the album doesn’t let up from there!

‘You Don’t Know Me’ is a huge track with shimmering synths and a monster beat (in collaboration with Shaun Frank) and some wonderful vocal lines from Flo Rida and Delaney Jane whilst ‘Somebody’ has some big, gang vocals in the lead-up to the chorus and great vocal harmonies shared between HRVY and Nina Nesbitt.

One of the biggest tracks on the album (and probably the most surprising that it’s not been a single) is ‘What You Waiting For’ featuring none other than pop princess Kylie Minogue! Think ‘Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)’ but mellowed into a tropical house anthem with an ever-evolving beat – it’s musical euphoria at its best.

‘Revival’ sees Fielder collaborate with American production trio, Cheat Codes with the addition of wonderful falsetto and full-on vocals provided by US artist, MAX, supported by a crowd. The beat is intense; something you can easily find yourself getting lost in. Lastly, is ‘All For Love’ which features Irish rock band, Kodaline. The song is somewhat reminiscent of The Chainsmokers‘ track, Something Just Like This featuring Coldplay and the vocals have a certain quality to that of Danny O’Donoghue from Irish band, The Script. This really is testament to just how diverse Fielder’s production is and illustrates his superb songwriting skills too.

The only negative of the album is that because so many of the songs have already been released as singles, there’s only six tracks which haven’t been heard before (hence focusing this review mainly on them) but honestly this is an awesome record – the way the track list flows is perfect and ending it with ‘Easy Love’ is pure brilliance!

The summer may well be drawing to a close but with this album, it feels like it’s just getting started. It’s the ultimate feel-good album that you just want to keep on repeat – whether you’re out driving in the car, home alone and looking for a pick-me-up, having a few friends round for a BBQ or going all-out with a party; this is an hour-long, back-to-back, 16-track, banger of an album, that you simply can’t get enough of! Turn it up loud, play it proud and dance like fucking crazy! A sensational debut by a superb producer…and it’s surely only going to get more exciting from here…

Rating
5


‘Brighter Days’ is out now and can be downloaded from iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/brighter-days/1397962305


Brighter Days on Spotify

Brighter Days (Official Video Playlist)


We hope you’ve enjoyed our review! What do you think of this epic producer’s debut album, Brighter Days? Are you as much of a fan as us? What would you rate it out of 5? Please leave your thoughts in a comment or via our social media.


Enjoyed this? Check out some of our other reviews here:

Muzik Speaks Album Reviews


Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#Two4Tunesday: Muzik Speaks’ 1st Birthday Playlist

Here’s a playlist of all the #Two4Tunesday songs we’ve featured during our first year…enjoy!


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Muzik Speaks is 1 year old this week and to celebrate this milestone, we’re giving you a themed playlist, for each day this week. The playlist will contain all of the songs we’ve featured on our blog during the past year, all themed around the corresponding day.

Today, it’s #Two4Tunesday and our playlist includes:

  1. Dappy  – Beautiful Me
  2. Frankmusik – Stabilizher
  3. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
  4. Taylor Swift – Blank Space
  5. Conor Maynard – Talking About
  6. Marlon Roudette – When The Beat Drops Out
  7. Years & Years  – King
  8. Angels & Airwaves – Bullets In The Wind
  9. Jason Derulo – Want To Want Me
  10. Lucy Spraggan – Unsinkable
  11. Nick Jonas – Jealous
  12. Luke Friend – Hole In The Heart
  13. TEAM* – I Like It
  14. New City Kings – Change
  15. Omi – Cheerleader
  16. Deorro – Five More Hours featuring Chris Brown
  17. Taio Cruz – Do What You Like
  18. Life Of Dillon – Overload
  19. Britney Spears – Pretty Girls featuring Iggy Azalea
  20. Prides – Higher Love
  21. Maroon 5 – This Summer
  22. Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
  23. Ryn Weaver – The Fool
  24. Ella Eyre – Together
  25. Aston Merrygold – Get Stupid
  26. Little Mix – Black Magic
  27. Passion Pit – Lifted Up (1985)
  28. Owl City – Verge featuring Aloe Blacc
  29. LunchMoney Lewis – Bills
  30. Dappy – 100 (Built For This)
  31. Frankmusik – This
  32. Years & Years – Shine
  33. Blonde – All Cried Out featuring Alex Newell
  34. Sigma – Glitterball featuring Ella Henderson
  35. Conrad Sewell – Hold Me Up
  36. Tinie Tempah – Not Letting Go featuring Jess Glynne
  37. Trevor Guthrie – Summertime
  38. Jerry Orbach & Angela Lansbury – Be Our Guest (Beauty & The Beast)
  39. Robin Williams – Friend Like Me (Aladdin)
  40. Adriana Castelotti – With A Smile And A Song (Snow White)
  41. Tommy Luske & Bobby Driscoll – You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly! (Peter Pan)
  42. John Newman – Come And Get It
  43. Stefano Pain & Maury Lobina – Take Me Back
  44. Flo Rida – I Don’t Like It, I Love It featuring Robin Thicke & Verdine White
  45. Cash Cash – Take Me Home featuring Bebe Rexha
  46. Prince Royce – Back It Up featuring Jennifer Lopez & Pitbull
  47. The Score – Oh My Love
  48. Prides – Little Danger
  49. Digital Farm Animals – True
  50. Robin Thicke – Back Together featuring Nicki Minaj
  51. Pia Mia – Do It Again featuring Chris Brown
  52. MOKS – Otherwise featuring James Arthur
  53. Dappy – Money Can’t Buy
  54. Ellie Goulding – On My Mind
  55. Pentatonix – Can’t Sleep Love
  56. Major Lazer – Lean On featuring MØ & DJ Snake
  57. Philip George – Alone No More
  58. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Downtown featuring Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee & Eric Nally
  59. KStewart – Ain’t Nobody
  60. Melissa Steel – You Love Me? featuring Wretch 32
  61. Aquilo – Good Girl
  62. Olly Murs – Kiss Me
  63. Sia – Alive
  64. Justin Bieber – Sorry
  65. Ben Haenow – Second Hand Heart featuring Kelly Clarkson
  66. David Guetta – Bang My Head featuring Sia & Fetty Wap
  67. LÉON – Treasure
  68. Good Charlotte – Makeshift Love
  69. Tinashe – Player featuring Chris Brown
  70. Fleur East – Sax
  71. St Lucia – Dancing On Glass
  72. Hailee Steinfield – Love Myself
  73. Craig David x Big Narstie – When The Bassline Drops
  74. Coldplay – Adventure Of A Lifetime
  75. The Vamps – Wake Up
  76. The 1975 – UGH!
  77. Coasts – You
  78. Matoma – Running Out featuring Astrid S
  79. Zara Larsson – Lush Life
  80. MKTO – Classic
  81. Walking On Cars – Two Stones
  82. Elle King – Ex’s & Oh’s
  83. Izzy Bizu – White Tiger
  84. ZAYN – PILLOWTALK
  85. NAO – Bad Blood
  86. Greyson Chance – Afterlife
  87. Fleur East – More And More
  88. KStewart – Be Without You
  89. Sigala – Say You Do featuring Imani & DJ Fresh
  90. Beyoncé – Formation
  91. Rihanna – Work featuring Drake
  92. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Kevin featuring Leon Bridges
  93. Halsey – Colors

If you want to download the songs and use a custom cover for them, here’s one we’ve made for you 🙂

Two4Tunesday Cover

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#Playlist: February 2016


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G’day fellow Speakerz!

So, February has been just as incredible as January was! We’ve done another interview, with singer-songwriter David Ford and been to review The Japanese House‘s gig at The Haunt in Brighton as well as shared a whole heap of songs.

We hope that you have enjoyed this month’s songs and you can find both the Spotify and YouTube playlists below!

We hopefully have a couple more interviews and gig reviews lined up for March too, including Lucy Spraggan and MEST, so keep your eyes and ears peeled.

As always, please keep sharing our posts and remember to share your song choices with us by commenting on our posts or talking to us on Twitter and Facebook.


OUR CONTINUED AIM

We’d like to ask you, to go ahead and ‘like’ our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/muzikspeaks) and ‘follow’ us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/muzik_speaks). Then if you could please post a status or send a tweet to your followers and friends to ask them to check us out, we’d be really grateful! We want to grow this community and we honestly can’t do it without your support!

Lastly, please, please respond to our posts on Facebook or leave comments on each of our blog posts with your own tracks for each of the daily themes – we want you to share what you’re listening to because we love music as much as you, and we really enjoy finding out about new tunes. Thanks so much!


Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#Two4Tunesday: KStewart – ‘Be Without You’ & Sigala – ‘Say You Do’ featuring Imani & DJ Fresh


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KStewart – ‘Be Without You’

KStewart has a voice to be reckoned with; her vocals can be saintly sweet or devilishly dynamic and that’s a great thing! Her musical style has some 90s vibes to it, but she’s throwing in house and garage tones to shake things up a bit!

This latest song is helping to cement just how fantastic she is and makes me even more excited to hear an album from her.

The video is a collaboration between her and New Look – I think it’s a fantastic direction for both parties – fashion promoting music and music promoting fashion – it’s a match made in heaven! You’ll also notice MNEK making an appearance in the video too. It just looks like a whole load of fun, but where KStewart is concerned, I would expect nothing less!

Show your support for this song and please download it – great tune!


‘Be Without You’ is on iTunes for downloading now! – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/be-without-you/id1081944745?i=1081944748



Sigala – ‘Say You Do’ featuring Imani & DJ Fresh

I’ve featured Sigala on Muzik Speaks, twice already, but I just can’t get enough of his summery dance vibes!

With Easy Loveand Sweet Lovin’already grabbing people’s attention, there is no doubt in my mind that ‘Say You Do’ with get a great reception on release; not only has he got Imani on the vocals, adding that sweet sound into the mix, but none other than DJ Fresh has dived in to help on the production. It’s one MONSTER of a song; very reminiscent, vocally, of ‘Hot Right Now’ (featured on our Summer Songs 2015 Playlist), the smash hit for DJ Fresh.

The video is typically Caribbean which goes perfectly with the vibe of the song!

I just love this tune – I really hope Sigala will release an album of hits, just like this; it’s upbeat, fun and smile-inducing!


‘Say You Do’ is not released until 18/03/16, but you can pre-order it on iTunes now! – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/say-you-do-feat.-imani-dj/id1077265863


Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#SummerSongs 2015 – The Playlist

This weekend, we present you with our first ever #SummerSongs playlist for 2015! This playlist has been lovingly crafted by the current Muzik Speaks writers, each contributing some summery songs we love!

If you already own the songs and want the custom artwork, please feel free to copy/download the artwork below:

SummerSongs2015

Matt’s Song Selections

There are so many songs on this playlist that I just love! They’re either current songs which right now are giving me that summer feeling, or are a few years old but hold memories for me.

Some of the songs I’ve chosen include;

  • Jason Derulo – ‘Try Me’ featuring Jennifer Lopez and Matoma – this song’s got a distinct dancehall sound and captured me instantly. The song is on Derulo’s new album, Everything Is 4 and although it’s an album track, it’s the perfect opening track for our summer playlist!
  • Sam Smith – ‘Lay Me Down (Tiësto Remix)’ – this remix is incredible! I’m a big fan of remixes anyway, but Tiësto’s euphoric, spacious sound on this track, has transformed an already beautiful song, into a electronica dream!
  • Walk The Moon – ‘Avalanche’ – an album track from their latest release, Talking Is Hard, this song’s guitar sounds make it an upbeat, melodic song. It reminds me of something out of a sunny scene in Made In Chelsea or on the beach.
  • One Direction – ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ – OK, so I feel I should justify this selection! One Direction, no matter what you think of them, have written some damn good songs; this being one of them! This song has a clear 80s quality to it, it sort of reminds me (not sure why!) of Climie Fisher‘s ‘Love Changes’.
  • Tyler James – ‘Why Do I Do?’ – I used to love this song when it was released back in 2004 and the jazz-pop qualities of this song are unique and captivating. It’s damn catchy too!
  • Fall Out Boy – ‘Favorite Record’ – I love Fall Out Boy and they have gone from strength to strength over the years. I love the production on this track and its use of certain effects on the vocals and guitars make it intriguing to listen to. It’s lyrics are also fairly reminiscent and that for me is a quality of summer; making memories to reminisce in years to come.
  • Michael Jackson – Love Never Felt So Good featuring Justin Timberlake – this song has previously been a #FeelGoodFriday track of mine and it’s not hard to tell why! It’s a perfectly sculpted pop song with the uplifting sounds of Michael Jackson’s vocals, married with modern Timbaland production and support of Justin Timberlake’s voice.
  • Razorlight – ‘Rip It Up’ – released back in 2004, this has many memories of countless parties I went to whilst at my secondary school and just makes me think of times I spent with friends. It’s energetic tempo makes for a hard-hitting belter.
  • Vance Joy – ‘Riptide’ – this song is a personal favourite of mine; I was once shown this track by someone I admire for overcoming their fear of performing and its California surfing sound is the perfect calming close to our playlist.

My other selections include songs by; Ariana GrandeTwo Door Cinema Club, TrainDJ Fresh featuring Rita OraSigmaFrankmusikClean Bandit and Shift K3Y.

That’s it from me! I hope you like the songs I’ve contributed to the playlist and that they might help shape some memories for you too. Please share this playlist with your friends. Matt x


Max’s Song Selections

I’m really excited to share this playlist with you guys, it’s packed full of great tunes listen to this summer. Our selection is quite varied in styles and genres as we hope to capture all the highs and lows of your summer through the playlist.

The song I added to this playlist are:

  • Dan Croll – ‘From Nowhere’ – this song is just far too cheery to not have in your summer playlist! The upbeat riffs and instruments make this song a good listen.
  • Only Real – ‘When This Begins’ – to be honest I’m in love with this whole album. But this tune fits best with our Summer vibes, it’s probably one you’ll put on, sit back and relax to. If you like ‘Only Real’ be sure to check his feature in my #WildCardWednesday post.
  • Toddla T – ‘Take It Back’ – although this song isn’t too recent, I think some clean Drum n Bass is essential for a good playlist. ‘Take It Back’ has some beautiful vocals over this great backing track.
  • La Roux – ‘Uptight Downtown’ – This song grabbed me by it’s instrumentals, it’s on the verge of a pretty interesting ‘funk’ track. Also I personally love La Roux’s voice regardless, it’s so clean and natural sounding. Her songs should defiantly feature in your summer this year!
  • SBTRKT – ‘IMO’ – this song is a little different to the others. It’s a very mellow tune, with an overall softness to the instrumental. It’s a beautiful song nonetheless, some really nice production went into this!

These are all of the songs I’ve decided to choose for the summer; enjoy!


We’ve gathered only the best songs which are sure to make your summer special. We want this summer to be one you’ll remember for the best reasons! Check out the full playlist on Spotify. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Matt & Max – Muzik Speaks
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#Two4Tunesday: Sigma – ‘Glitterball’ featuring Ella Henderson & Conrad Sewell – ‘Hold Me Up’

Today we’re bringing you a brand new track from Sigma featuring Ella Henderson (see our previous post about the remix of their previous song, ‘Changing, featuring Paloma Faith) and a great summery song from Conrad Sewell.

Sigma Banner

Sigma are going from one featured celebrity vocalist to the next, creating their own path of smash hits and leaving some massive songs in their wake!

The duo consists of Cameron Edwards and Joe Lenzie, who have so far worked with the likes of Labrinth, Paloma Faith and DJ Fresh and this next release of theirs features vocals of the incredibly talented, ex-X Factor contestant, Ella Henderson.

‘Glitterball’ is such a big-production song with its almost movie-like strings alongside chaotic drum and bass beats, a gospel choir and Ella Henderson‘s fantastic vocals. I’m predicting that it’s going to be a huge hit for them; a new landmark song for Sigma.


‘Glitterball’ is due for release on 24th July 2015 and you can pre-order it now on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/glitterball-feat.-ella-henderson/id997398173


Sigma – ‘Glitterball’ featuring Ella Henderson


Conrad Sewell Banner

Conrad Sewell recently gained recognition for lending his vocals to Kygo‘s hit song, ‘Firestone’ but he’s also released his own solo song, ‘Hold Me Up’.

The Australian-born singer moved to America to work on his solo project and has worked on a bunch of hit-makers, penning this one with Brian Lee (who’s worked with Lady Gaga and Icona Pop), The Euroz and Lewis Bell. He’s also embarking on the Ed Sheeran tour around Australia.

At the moment, ‘Hold Me Up’ has a tentative release date of 24th July 2015, however no pre-order has been made available yet. When it was released in Australia, the song peaked at 39 in the charts, however I reckon it’ll score a Top 20 in the UK charts, with the right promotion. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this song.

Conrad Sewell – ‘Hold Me Up’

And there ends this week’s #Two4Tunesday! Enjoy them as these are two really great songs! Please don’t forget to share away to your heart’s content across your social media accounts.

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#Two4Tunesday: Ryn Weaver – ‘The Fool’ & Ella Eyre – ‘Together’

This week’s #Two4Tunesday features two up-and-coming pop lasses, both of whom have a lot to offer the world of pop music and culture!


Ryn Weaver Banner

Ryn Weaver is incredible! Born Erin Michelle Wüthrich, of Argentinian/American decent, she has quickly become an internet success story picking up recognition from Charli XCX and Hayley Williams (Paramore)!

This sensational artist seemed to just emerge out of nowhere with her debut track, OctaHate, going viral. You may remember the original video where there was a little girl as her younger counterpart with some stunning imagery throughout. Sadly, Ms Weaver recently stated that she hated the original video and has since removed it online asnd replaced it with a new version in which she and her best friend have a food fight; it’s such a shame as the original video was one of my all-time favourites!

However, since then, Ryn Weaver has released her follow-up track, The Fool, which is also the title track to her upcoming album. Once again, the video is heavily incorporated with artistic imagery and makes for a really interesting visual accompaniment.

Ryn Weaver, as an artist, truly excites me; she not only produces interesting, unique and quirky pop songs but also visual masterpieces to accompany them, making for a fantastic re-defining of the word ‘artist’ in the music industry. I can’t wait to see what more she has in store for us!


‘The Fool’ is available to download from iTunes right now – please go grab your copy and show support for this incredulous artist – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-fool/id981136094?i=981136101


Ryn Weaver – ‘The Fool’



Ella Eyre Banner

Next is the latest release from Ella Eyre. Ella trained at BRIT School and came to recognition for her collaborations with RudimentalNaughty Boy, Tinie TempahBastille and DJ Fresh but since then has released a string of Top 20 hits, the most recent being ‘Together’.

This particular track has a fresh, summer feel with its calm verses and intense, drum and bass style choruses. This song confirms the incredible talent Ella Eyre has and that she deserves recognition for her talents.


‘Together’ is out now on iTunes, please go and download it – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/together-single/id978502227


Ella Eyre – ‘Together’


So here ends another #Two4Tunesday! Please remember to share the link to this post on your social media accounts and tell us what your two favourite tracks are right now. Thanks for the continual support!

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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