#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:

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#Review: Against The Current – Past Lives 👁


   

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Against The Current are an American pop rock band from New York, who formed in 2011. The band is made up of Chrissy Costanza (lead vocals), Dan Gow (guitars) and Will Ferri (drums). The band are notable for regularly posting covers on YouTube as well as delighting fans with original tracks too. In 2016, after signing to Fueled By Ramen, the band released their debut album, In Our Bones. Now, 2018 sees the band releasing their second full-length record, Past Lives. Here’s what we have to say about it…

Against The Current - Past Lives.jpg

This stunningly diverse and charming record opens with the almost haunting ‘Strangers Again’, dealing with getting over a relationship and cutting ties. The guitar line is dreamy and the vocal breakdown towards the end is a rather quiet and personal moment that really draws you in. It’s a brilliant way to open a record; it doesn’t go in all guns blazing but instead captivates the audience with its beautiful soundscapes.

Next is probably the best track on record, ‘The Fuss’. With Daft Punk-esque, 80s synths, funky guitar rhythms and one hell of a catchy chorus, this is a track you will just want to play really loud and dance like mad to!

Other significant songs include: ‘I Like The Way’ – a track all about new love that almost reaches EDM territory with its strong piano line. It’s something you might expect from the likes of Sigala‘s Easy Love or Sweet Lovin’; ‘Voices’ is a slightly more grungy offering about being self-conflicted and trying to ignore the internal voices (which is reflected perfectly with whispering backing vocals) – it’s very Paramore meets Fickle Friends, whilst ‘Scream’ is a rather floaty and dreamy song – for some reason it evokes images of the perfect all-American family from the 1960s (no idea why!) It’s an uplifting yet subtle track; I keep finding myself going back for more.

‘Personal’ has a Taylor Swift-like quality to it and the production is incredible – the vocal harmonies sit beneath the rest of the production in the chorus, but it’s truly enchanting. ‘P.A.T.T.’ (short for Pretty All The Time) is an out and out female empowerment anthem – it’s fast-paced, punchy and relatively simplistic but the message is fun and powerful about girls feeling like they should be allowed to be themselves without having to look “pretty all the time”…calling all, “Girls!”

It’s an impeccably well-crafted record which has very successfully merged the boundaries between dance, pop and rock music, with a sprinkling of 80s vibes on top.

Lastly, ‘Friendly Reminder’ is another notable song, it’s certainly an album track rather than a potential single but the use of a phaser effect on the vocals and an epic clap-along chorus towards the end make it really stand out…again, there’s a big 80s vibe to it.

What Against The Current manage to do so well throughout, is take you on a journey with them; when they’re soaring high, you’ll feel all the sparks of excitement with them brought about with big synth sounds, intense beats and tons of reverb but equally when melancholy reigns, you’ll feel their heartache too.

Whilst I could say something about every track on the record, I won’t – you just need to experience it for yourself. I really can’t recommend this highly enough…the only reason it didn’t get a 5 is because there are one or two less stand-out, album-fillers but even those are pretty damn good. It is very much an album which marks a band that have found their feet; they’ve created something wonderfully catchy yet utterly credible with sincere lyricism, interesting melodies and top-notch production.

It’s an impeccably well-crafted record which has very successfully merged the boundaries between dance, pop and rock music, with a sprinkling of 80s vibes on top; it’s difficult to pigeonhole this band…in a good way! It’s a truly exciting time for the band; this will certainly make waves in the genre and undoubtedly pave an exciting path for their future!

Rating
4-5


‘Past Lives’ is out now and can be downloaded from iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/past-lives/1425108766


Past Lives on Spotify

Almost Forgot (Official Video)


We hope you’ve enjoyed our review! What do you think of this band’s sophomore release, Past Lives? 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:

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Matt – Muzik Speaks
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#FeelGoodFriday: Craid David – ‘Ain’t Giving Up’ featuring Sigala


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2016 really is the year of Craig David! First he made a triumphant return with the single When The Bassline Drops, which he soon followed up with One More Time. Since then, he has teamed up with the hit producer, Sigala (known for singles Easy Love, Sweet Lovin’ and Give Me Your Love) to release a monsterously catchy hit, ‘Ain’t Giving Up.

The track is taken from Craig David‘s recently released album Following My Intiuition, which has been a massive hit!

This song serves for the perfect #FeelGoodFriday track, due to it’s upbeat nature and intense catchyness! If you haven’t already heard it, where have you been?! Check out the awesome video below!

Are you as pleased as us that Craig David is back? What do you make of this massive hit? Have you got anything similar you can recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or #FeelGoodFriday suggestions in a comment below or talk to us via our social media.

Happy Friday everyone!

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Ain’t Giving Up’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/aint-giving-up/id1141929360?i=1141929573


#MellowMonday: Foxes – ‘Devil Side’


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Foxes is an incredible singer from Southampton, who we have previously featured. She is renowned for her vocals on Zedd‘s 2012 single, ‘Clarity’ and having released a string of up-tempo, fun pop tracks.

This particular song, ‘Devil Side’, is taken from her second album, All I Need, released earlier this year. It’s brimming with passion, emotion and powerful vocals; it’s perfect for #MellowMonday.

Since no official video has been released, below is a video of an acoustic performance of the song. It’s beautiful!

What do you think of Foxes’ latest album, All I Need? Have you got a similar #MellowMonday song for us? Please talk to us via our social media accounts of leave a comment below.

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Devil Side’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/devil-side/id1019553218?i=1019553657


#TopSongsOf2015

Here are our Top 20 Songs of 2015!


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Muzik Speaks – Top Songs of 2015

Yesterday we presented you with our favourite albums of 2015, and today we bring you our favourite songs of 2015. The year has been crammed with some sensational songs and these are the ones we think made the biggest impact this year…but do you agree with our choices? What other songs would you have included?

  1. Justin Bieber – What Do You Mean?
  2. Years & Years – King
  3. Jack Ü (Diplo & Skrillex) – Where Are Ü Now featuring Justin Bieber
  4. Adele – Hello
  5. Omi – Cheerleader
  6. Sia – Alive
  7. Wiz Khalifa – See You Again featuring Charlie Puth
  8. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Downtown featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz
  9. One Direction – Drag Me Down
  10. Jess Glynne – Hold My Hand
  11. Little Mix – Black Magic
  12. Drake – Hotline Bling
  13. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
  14. Jason Derulo – Want To Want Me
  15. Nick Jonas – Levels
  16. Sigala – Easy Love
  17. Tove Lo – Talking Body
  18. Fleur East – Sax
  19. Kelly Clarkson – Heartbeat Song
  20. Life Of Dillon – Overload

The Songs

I hope you’ve enjoyed these songs as much as I have this year and if you’d have chosen some different tracks, please let me know what you’d have chosen 🙂

Enjoy,

Matt x
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#Playlist: August 2015

Willkommen ‘Speakerz’!

So sorry it’s late but after a short break, here’s August’s monthly YouTube and Spotify playlist!

August brought you some great throwbacks by HelloGoodbye, Jaimeson and Shanice; mellowed some Mondays with Etta James, Lost Frequencies and Hayley Kiyoko and brought you a whole range of new music from Digital Farm Animals, Sigala, Prince Royce and Pia Mia.

More than anything, we hope that you enjoyed the songs we brought you throughout August 2015’s posts and we thank you for your continued views and support! – Our apologies if any of the tracks are missing from the Spotify playlist – some of them may not have been released yet or some may have been removed from Spotify by the artist/band.

Note: You can view the whole YouTube playlist by using the dropdown menu at the top corner of the video, or skip a song using the ‘next’ button.

NEXT MONTH:

Next month, we’ve definitely got another Skype interview and of course we’ll be bringing you many more epic tunes!


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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#FeelGoodFriday: Sigala – ‘Easy Love’

Sigala Banner

What an epic, feel-good song this is! It’s got a summery sound and an amazing sample…recognise it?!

You probably got it straight away, but the song features samples from The Jackson 5’s massive song, ‘ABC’ combining 70s Motown funk with tropical house; it’s the sound of the summer!

The video is really cool too, featuring a bunch of children doing dance-offs, with the main duo performing some rather insanely synchronised moves!

What do you think of this massive song?! Are you a fan? Have you already heard this? Please leave a comment with your #FeelGoodFriday track for the week, below.

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Easy Love’ is released on 4th September 2015 and can be pre-ordered from iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/easy-love-single/id1009229334