Tag: music review

#Review: James Arthur @ Brighton Centre, Brighton – 12/03/22

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On Saturday 12th March 2022, James Arthur arrived in Brighton to perform an incredible show in support of his latest album, It’ll All Make Sense In The End. With support from Sonia Stein, the evening was one packed with excitement and stunning performances. Here’s what we had to say about the show…

Sonia Stein

Sonia Stein was an interesting performer – she seems to eloquently blend funk and soul with contemporary pop, making for a really interesting sound. Think somewhere along a similar vein to Nao and you’re along the right track. She graced the stage in a bright yellow jacket, accompanied by just two band members, however between them, they produced a fantastically full-on sound. Between songs, she displayed an almost shy demeanour, yet her vocals were powerful, well-controlled and confident. If you’ve not checked her out yet, you can catch her live throughout James Arthur‘s current UK tour, or listen to her recordings on all streaming platforms.

James Arthur

He may have done something amazing simply by winning X Factor in the UK, but James Arthur demonstrated that he is so much more than just a talent show winner at his Brighton Centre show.

The singer/songwriter took to the stage to monumental applause from the packed crowd as he showed off not only his incredible vocals but his great guitar skills too, on opening track, ‘4000 Miles’.

From there, the artist proceeded to wow the audience with a mixture of his well-known hits, old cuts from previous records and some album-tracks from the recently-released, It’ll All Make Sense In The End.

The singer is undoubtedly a true professional, having spent 10 years in the industry, performing countless shows and releasing 4 albums to date, and his show appeared seamless throughout.

One thing that truly stands out in his performances though, is just how incredibly powerful and achingly beautiful his voice is live. Of course this is something you’d expect from having heard his studio recordings but it translates so well to his live performances as he shows off just how technically impressive his voice is…and it’s all done so effortlessly.

James Arthur engages with the crowd well telling little anecdotes here and there but particularly shows his gratitude to the crowd for their decade of support since winning the X Factor and how grateful he is to the show for allowing him to pursue his dreams, before launching in to the incredible single that started it all, ‘Impossible’.

Four albums in and nearly a couple of handfuls of tours down, it’s easy to see why this singer/songwriter has picked up such a fantastic following and just how wonderful his shows are. Whether you know each and every song or are relatively new to his music, I can’t recommend highly enough, seeing him live whenever you get the chance. He will not disappoint.

Highlights:

  • His vocals – I said it earlier, but his voice was truly remarkable – powerful and dynamic; something mesmerising to behold live.
  • The cruel joke he played on the audience by welcoming out Anne-Marie to perform an acoustic rendition of The Greatest Showman cover, ‘Rewrite The Stars’, before admitting she wasn’t actually coming.
  • The renditions of ‘Happy Birthday’ he sung to a couple of members of the crowd were hilarious, particularly when he couldn’t hear the name of one of them and had to keep getting them to repeat their name numerous times.
  • The addition of a section of ‘Ready Or Not’ in the middle of ‘Sermon’ made for a great crowd-pleaser.

📷 All of the photos in this post are credited to Matteo D’Ambrosio 📸
Why not give him a follow on Instagram.

 Setlist

4000 Miles
Medicine*
Sermon (including a snippet of ‘Ready Or Not’)
Falling Like The Stars
September
Can I Be Him
Rewrite The Stars (Acoustic)*
Safe Inside/Empty Space/Emily (Acoustic)
Naked (Acoustic)
Last Of The Whiskey
Always
Sun Comes Up*
Impossible*

Encore
Train Wreck
Lasting Lover*
Say You Won’t Let Go*

* These songs can be viewed in the YouTube playlist, below.

Finally, I want to say a HUGE thanks to Simon Blackmore for arranging this review for me and to both James Arthur and Sonia Stein for putting on such incredible performances.

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#Review: James Blunt @ Brighton Centre, Brighton – 03/02/22

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On Thursday 3rd February 2022, James Blunt arrived in Brighton to kick off his The Stars Beneath My Feet Tour, seeing the artist perform a whole bunch of his greatest hits to a packed crowd. With support from Irish singer, Gavin James, the event was incredible from start to finish. Here’s what we have to say about it…

Gavin James

The singer took to the stage and instantly wowed the crowd with the beautiful, falsetto-driven ‘Nervous’. Starting out as just the singer and a guitar, he proceeded to be joined by a keys player and drummer, creating a deeply rich sound. The set was packed with more rock-like tracks such as the guitar solo-laden ‘Coming Home’ to the piano-led ‘Always’ (before he switched back to guitar, mid-song!) The singer really drew the audience in with his witty crowd interactions and ability to get everyone singing parts of his songs, along with him. He is a really interesting artist and someone to definitely keep an eye on!

Highlight: The beautiful falsetto notes and powerful full-on vocals Gavin James can create with his voice is truly astounding and wonderfully captivating!

 Setlist

Nervous
Heaven
Coming Home
Tired
Circles
Always
Hearts On Fire
Only Ticket Home

James Blunt

Say what you will about James Blunt, the guy is a fantastic performer and comes with a massive, loyal fan base.

From the moment the intro music blared through the speakers and the TV screens descended to cover his entrance, before slowly rising again to reveal Blunt himself, the crowd were cheering in anticipation.

Known for his sense of humour on social media, he was also just as quick-witted in person, making jokes about singing ‘You’re Beautiful’ 22 times, performing his “greatest hit” tour (saying because he only has one) and telling people to sit tight as he took to the piano before belting out a series of sad songs.

This was a truly wonderful show, that demonstrated the amazing talent he has, not only as a songwriter, but a performer too and showcased a diverse collection of songs (after all, this is a greatest hits tour), making it a performance to remember.

Whilst the screens above the stage added some diversity, the visual effects used were at times a little corny but did add to the arena feel of the show.

If you get a chance to catch James Blunt on this UK tour, I highly recommend it – whether you know him for his obvious hits, or are a long-term fan, he will not disappoint with his showmanship! I loved every second of it, despite not knowing every song, and would love to see him again.

Highlights:

  • James Blunt‘s banter with the crowd was on point and always had the audience in stitches.
  • The performance was faultless – he was a true professional at his art…as were his band.
  • There was the perfect combination of uplifting tracks, sad songs and even rockier elements, showing just what a great collection of music he has created over his career so far.
  • The way he held the crowd in the palm of his hand was something amazing to behold too, and there were people who clearly knew every word to every song, showing just how much more he is than ‘You’re Beautiful’.
  • ‘Wisemen’, ‘Love Under Pressure’, ‘Postcards’ (particularly for the use of the ukuleles), ‘OK’ and ‘1973’ were among some of the best songs of the show.

📷 All of the photos in this post are credited to Michael Hundertmark 📸
Why not give him a follow on Instagram and Twitter or check out his website.

 Setlist

Breathe*
Wisemen*
Carry You Home
Adrenaline
The Greatest
Goodbye My Lover
High
Smoke Signals
I Really Want You
Love Under Pressure
Postcards
So Long, Jimmy
Same Mistake
Monsters
Coz I Luv You
You’re Beautiful*
Stay The Night*
OK

Encore
Where Is My Mind? (Pixies Cover)
Bonfire Heart
1973*

* These songs can be viewed in the YouTube playlist, below.

Finally, I want to say a HUGE thanks to Tom Pearce from Good Soldier for sorting out this review and to both Gavin James and James Blunt for putting on such a great show!

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

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#MellowMonday: Jolé – ‘Alpine Green’

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Jolè (aka Joshua Oliver) first arrived on the scene in early 2016 with his breathtaking brand of folk music. It wasn’t unil 2019 that he released his self-titled debut album, Jolé, on which, the singer-songwriter displayed his talents and abilities to use both electric and acoustic folk to tell personal tales, going on to amass over 2 million streams of the record.

Now, the London singer-songwriter is back with the lead single from his forthcoming Silver Lake EP (out 21st August 2020). ‘Alpine Green’ perfectly captures the power of memory, with this poetic folk song about heartache and longing for someone lost.

This is a track that will not only resonate with those who have lost a loved one but also with those who have experienced profound disconnection from family and friends during the coronavirus pandemic. Its composition is beautiful and sound is nostalgic – a true folk masterpiece, perfect for #MellowMonday.

Unfortunately, no music video exists for this track just yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated if one is released – if one were to exist though, I imagine something truly cinematic and beautiful to reflect the imagery of the lyrics. What do you invisage?

What are your thoughts of this singer-songwriter’s latest single? Do you have a #MellowMonday track to recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or song suggestions in a comment or via social media.

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Alpine Green’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/alpine-green-single/1518095638

Jolé · Alpine Green

#FeelGoodFriday: Jonas Blue & MAX – ‘Naked (Club Mix)’

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Since its release a couple weeks ago, the anthemic ‘Naked’ has amassed over 13 million global audio and video streams, but now the hit-maker Jonas Blue and exciting young talent MAX are releasing the club mix of their collaboration, which sees Jonas create a mix true to his roots.

This particular track is a high-octane display of the pop hitmaker’s specialist production talents. Armed with pumping kick drums and euphoric piano keys, the club mix adds a fresh dimension to the already, highly-infectious original, making it the perfect track for this week’s #FeelGoodFriday.

No music video has been released for the club mix but the original music video can be seen below, featuring the pair performing amongst neon and silhouetted ladies.

What are your thoughts of the club mix of this pair’s new single, ‘Naked’? Do you have a #FeelGoodFriday track to recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or song suggestions in a comment or via social media.

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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‘Naked (Club Mix)’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/naked-club-mix-single/1520494645

#Review: Paul Weller – On Sunset 🌅

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Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who first achieved fame as part of the band, The Jam between 1972 and 1982. It was then until 1989 that he was part of the blue-eyed soul group,  The Style Council, before establishing himself as a solo artist in 1991. Since 1992, the artist has released a whole string of albums, with 2020’s latest record, On Sunset, being his fifteenth studio album. Here’s what we have to say about it…

Paul Weller - On Sunset.jpg

Paul Weller has a career spanning more than four-and-a-half decades and it can only be admired just how active and contemporary he still remains at 62 years old.

Right from the opening moments of ‘Mirror Ball’; a seven-and-a-half minute epic that starts out with ethereal synths before breaking into a vast soundscape of overdriven guitars and juddering synths married with melodic pop elements, some distorted vocals and even some crowd applause thrown in; it’s clear that this is going to be an exciting record.

This rather avante-garde opener is quickly followed by ‘Baptiste’ – a rather safe, summery, soulful number that has become a familiar sound for the songwriter.

However the experimentalism of this record is once again demonstrated on tracks like ‘More’ – an extended, progressive soulful track that features female French vocals; the almost psychedelic title track, ‘On Sunset’; or on the very synth-driven and rather trippy ‘Earth Beat’, that seems to ever build, beautifully.

This is something of a captivating collection of contemporary songs.

It’s clear that there is a whole load of inspiration on this record – from rock to soul and folk to funk – this is something of a captivating collection of contemporary songs. Weller‘s vocals are sublime too – he has both smoothness and raspiness in all the right places.

There’s definitely a sense of reflection and revisiting sounds too – ‘Village’ is a beautiful number that soars and leaves a sense of nostalgia on the listener, whilst tracks like ‘Rockets’ and ‘Equanimity’ have a strong sense of early David Bowie and The Kinks (respectively), emanating a certain relaxed, contemporary appeal too.

‘Old Father Tyme’ can’t go unmentioned either – its fading in and out of a drum machine with funky guitars, brass notes and echoing vocals make it one of the focal points of the album.

The songs are so well-written and focus on central themes of contentment and growing into oneself. You would have a hard time debating that this album doesn’t work as collective body, despite all the fluctuating influences and whilst it feels like there could be more experimental sounds to come from him, Paul Weller should be proud of his fifteenth release.

Rating
4

‘On Sunset’ is out now and can be downloaded from iTunes – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/on-sunset-deluxe/1503362089

On Sunset on Spotify

Earth Beat (Lyric Video)

Village (Lyric Video)

More (Lyric Video)

We hope you’ve enjoyed our review! What do you think of this singer-songwriter’s fifteenth studio album? What would you rate it? 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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#FeelGoodFriday: Big Wild – ‘Touch’

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Singer, songwriter and producer Big Wild (aka Jackson Stell) is back with his first new music since his 2019 debut album, Superdream, in the form of brand new single, ‘Touch’. This time he has taken on a new edge with a blend of almost western movie soundtrack vibes and electronic production, creating something perfect for Feel-Good Friday.

‘Touch’ is a disco-infused, bright indie single with seriously catchy pop undertones that really increase the rich, colourful emotion that Big Wild has become known for.

Although it was written before the current coronavirus pandemic, the song is about longing for a loved one – something that will probably resonate all too well with people during lockdown.

Speaking on the new single, Stell added: “I’m sure with the current state of the world ‘Touch’ will take on a different meaning than I intended but that’s the best part of writing music, seeing where a song goes. I can’t claim any foresight, but the feeling of deep longing and desire is universal. It’s interesting because I was writing from a personal place but this theme is something we’re feeling on a societal level right now. People need connection.”

The lyric video suits this song perfectly too with it’s spaghetti western edge to it. No music video has been released as yet.

What are your thoughts of this producer’s latest single? Do you have a #FeelGoodFriday track to recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or song suggestions in a comment or via social media.

Matt Wright – Muzik Speaks
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‘Touch’ can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/touch-single/1501740551

#Review: RAC – BOY 🔴

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RAC (aka André Allen Anjos) is a Portland-based, Portuguese-American Grammy Award-winning songwriter, musician and record producer. To date, he has released a couple of studio albums and already had a career spanning 10 years. Now, 2020 marks the release of his third album, BOY, featuring a wealth of guest talent. Here’s what we have to say about it…

RAC - BOY.jpg

BOY is best described by Anjos himself, who pushed his artistic limits by navigating his way through his complex childhood. “This album is about growing up,” writes Anjos. “I was tapping into melodies that remind me of that period of my life. Rooted in a sense of nostalgia, growing pains and coming of age. It’s an elusive feeling but I tried to capture it and ultimately re-interpret it through a modern lens.”

This nostalgia is evident throughout the album, with a series of 80s synths and funky guitar vibes to bring together this collective body of work, whilst still maintaining a contemporary edge to it. Plus, the wealth of guest talent across the album is a testament to RAC’s creative magnetism. “It’s conversational,” he says of his working style with the artists he features. “We find shared experiences and I give them space to tell their story through my lens.”

Whether it’s the bittersweet melodic ‘Boomerang’ (featuring Luna Shadows); the guitar-heavy ‘MIA’ with captivating vocals from Danny Dwyer or the sweet-sounding ‘Oakland’ (featuring Winnetka Bowling League) about leaving someone behind to start somewhere new, there is something for everyone on this rather summery record.

[RAC has] created a wonderful collection of contemporary pop songs that are beautifully understated yet superbly powerful!

Standout tracks would have to be: ‘Passion’ (featuring Louis The Child) for its light, funkiness, vibing along the lines of Foster The People or Two Door Cinema Club; ‘Together’ (featuring Evalyn) which is not only a catchy tropical house-like track but the beat almost double-times part way through, making it quite different; and ‘Sweater’ (featuring Maddie Jay) – a straight-up funk track with great guitar melodies that run alongside the vocals yet both give each other space to play in the gaps between them.

That’s not to forget the previously-released singles from the record: ‘Carefree’ (featuring LeyeT) that has crisp, sometimes fast-paces vocals and simplistic production melodies that make it really stand out; ‘Stuck On You’ (featuring Phil Good) with rap-esque verse vocals and a clearly catchy chorus; and ‘Change The Story’ (featuring Jamie Lidell) – a very bass-heavy track with horns and a David Bowie meets Prince vocal to top it off.

The album has a couple of fillers that could easily have been left off, ‘Next To You’ (featuring Emerson Leif) is fairly mumble sung whilst ‘Solo’ (featuring Gothic Tropic) is chaotic in places and not the best track on the album, by far. ‘Better Days’ (featuring St. Lucia) is a little disappointing too – it’s a strong 80s power ballad and though the blend of male and female vocals is nice, St. Lucia is not featured much.

The album is stitched together by a series of musical intros and interludes all around off-key sorts of melodies with nonsensical vocals. ‘Gomas’ is very much 80s meets Game Boy, whilst ‘Dolores Park’ is probably the most beautiful of them all.

It’s easy to see how this producer has taken the theme of growing up and collaborated with others to tell his story with a deep sense of nostalgia, creating a wonderful collection of contemporary pop songs that are beautifully understated yet superbly powerful! It’ll be interesting to see where RAC takes his next album – will it be as thematic or something different?

Rating
4

‘BOY’ is out now and can be downloaded from Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/boy/1500009251

BOY on Spotify

Stuck On You featuring Phil Good (Music Video)

Carefree featuring LeyeT (Music Video)

We hope you’ve enjoyed our review! What do you think of this songwriter and producer’s latest album? 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.

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#Review: Zebrahead @ Patterns, Brighton – 18/01/20

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On Saturday 18th January 2020, Zebrahead arrived in Brighton to perform the first of three, intimate UK shows, whilst on a break from their tour with Sum 41. The band were supported by Welsh rock band, Maddison. Here’s what we had to say about the show…

Maddison

Welsh rockers, Maddison, put on one hell of a show with their heavy guitars, powerful vocals and superb production (with some pretty epic backing tracks, which truly added to the atmosphere).

Their sound is massive – it’s stadium metal meets melodic rock and their onstage chemistry radiates throughout their performance.

The only criticism is that their onstage banter sometimes became tricky to hear when they talked over each other. Other than that, despite not knowing any of their songs, I thoroughly enjoyed their set.

Highlight: It would have to be the incredible use of backing tracks to create a wonderfully full sound – a real quality production.

Zebrahead

As always, Zebrahead arrived on stage to an epic intro – this time it was the Team America theme song – before bursting into their first song, ‘All My Friends Are Nobodies’.

Despite the venue being smaller than some they might be used to, the band used the space to their full advantage. They worked the crowd into a frenzy by performing a string of their hits – both old and new – and getting everyone in the place involved!

They certainly know how to have a good time too – the band have a pair of guitar techs who dress up as aliens and come on stage intermittently, getting involved in a variety of hilarious antics – from doing a drinking competition between the two of them, to one of them crowd-surfing on a giant rubber ring (as can be seen in the ‘Hello Tomorrow’ live video below). Possibly the most fun part of their set though, was their cover of ‘Baby Shark’ but changed to ‘Let’s Do Shots‘, during which the aliens passed shots around the band (see the video below).

The band members are tight – their performance is strong, well-timed and they clearly have a great relationship on stage – the chemistry between them is light-hearted and jokey and they just look like they’re having the best time.

If you haven’t had the chance to see Zebrahead live yet, then frankly you haven’t lived yet – they always deliver a high-energy show and regardless of whether you know many of their songs or not, they never fail to get the audience involved.

Zebrahead are a must-see!

Highlights:

  • During one song, Ali asked the crowd to see how many people they could get crowd-surfing during one song – security did not look happy, but it was manic and hilarious.
  • During ‘Worse Than This’, the band brought up two people in the crowd to try and out-drink each other, causing chaos on stage, followed by getting the pair to stage dive off the stage, after the song.
  • ‘Let’s Do Shots’ (‘Baby Shark’ cover)…enough said!
  • The aliens’ antics were pretty funny – in particular the crowd-surfing on the rubber ring.
  • Ali’s powerful scream/rapping is incredible to witness live and Matty (although sometimes not always pitch-perfect) has a great live vocal too.
  • Dan’s moustache!
  • The way the band include the audience and get a real crowd interaction going means that whether you know their material or not, you will always feel swept-up and included at one of their shows.

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 📸 All of the photos in this post are credited to Elliot McRae  📷
Please go and give him a follow on Twitter and Instagram.

 Setlist

All My Friends Are Nobodies
Call Your Friends
The Perfect Crime
Drink Drink
Save Your Breath
We’re Not Alright
Mike Dexter
Seven Nation Army / Wake Me Up
Sirens
Worse Than This*
Hell Yeah!
When Both Sides Suck
Hello Tomorrow*
Let’s Do Shots (Baby Shark)*
Keep It To Myself
Rescue Me*
Party Party

Encore
Falling Apart
Anthem*

* These songs can be viewed in the YouTube playlist, below.

Finally, I want to say a massive thanks to Zebrahead and Maddison for putting on a killer show, and to Lout Promotions for enabling the review to happen!

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

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#FeelGoodFriday: Midnight Skies – ‘Falling Apart’

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When Matt emailed me to say we had some Pop-Punk to review, I was on it like skaters on a freshly waxed library fire escape. Anyone who knows me, knows I love Pop-Punk and I’ve ruined a fair few Spotify algorithms whilst DJing in the passenger seat, to prove the point (sorry Allen!). Here’s what we had to make of ‘Falling Apart’ from Pop-Punkers Midnight Skies…

‘Falling Apart’ is the third single from Seattle’s Midnight Skies. The trio only formed in the summer of 2018 but have been steadily releasing content and building a decent following in that time. As always, the Pop-Punk scene is awash with bands claiming “energetic live shows”, “fun-loving” and “always up for a party” but at the end of the day, good tracks in this genre need three things and this review is broken down across such things:

Thing #1 – It needs to be “short and sweet” – and unfortunately ‘Falling Apart’ is a full 4 minutes long. Now it would be wrong to judge purely on the length of a song but it doesn’t feel like the track uses the time well. This single could have easily ended prior to its middle 8 and no one would have noticed, but the change of pace here is welcome and worth the wait. The song then classically falls back into its chorus, as it should, but rather than ending here, there is a 30-second outro that dampens the energy of the song by drawing it out for too long. It feels like the band are trying to crowbar in all the features we enjoy in a good Pop-Punk song, some of which really work, others not so much.

Thing #2– It’s gotta be catchy! All great Pop-Punk anthems have great hooks and this is no exception. The chorus has a great melodic and lyrical hook which I haven’t stopped humming around the house since my first listen. Its initial repetitiveness, followed by the falling melody with the title lyrics bring memories back to classics from Hit The Lights and Forever The Sickest Kids, leaning slightly more towards the pop than punk element of the genre. This also comes through in the production of the track, which contains many effects across the track, especially on the vocals. Personally, I have never been a big fan of this, but I know some will love it!

Finally Thing #3 – Does it get the party started? Absolutely! It’s definitely a track that will at least get your head nodding, but stick it on at a party and I think it would get people dancing. Mostly this is down to the driving rhythm and the use of the double snare hits on the drums that give the track a lot of pace. This only relents within that middle 8 section which slows the pace down and adds some nice dynamics to the track.

Overall, this is a good track but it struggles to stand out in an already dominated field. However, if you saw these guys live and heard this track, you would remember it and hearing it again would send you back to a good night out. It feels like a blank canvas ready for you to attach your own good times and every time you put it on, I hope it would cast you back to a good night out with friends.

For Fans Of:
Forever The Sickest Kids, All Time Low, The Summer Set

3

What are your thoughts of this Pop-Punk band? Do you have a #FeelGoodFriday track to recommend us? Please leave your thoughts or song suggestions in a comment or via our social media.

Rob Manhire
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‘Falling Apart’ is out on We Are Triumphant and can be downloaded off iTunes now – https://music.apple.com/gb/album/falling-apart/1485448144?i=1485448820

#Review: MUNA @ Concorde 2, Brighton – 02/12/19

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On Monday 2nd December 2019, MUNA arrived in Brighton to perform the first date of their Saves The World Tour – their first ever headline UK tour. They band were supported by Fake Laugh. Here’s what we had to say about the incredible evening…

Fake Laugh

Armed with a fellow band member and a laptop of backing tracks, it’s incredible how Kamran Khan (aka Fake Laugh) creates such a full sound – as if he had an entire band with him. The set was filled with original tracks that could easily sit well in an American teen drama (think maybe The O.C.?!) due to his interesting brand of dreamy indie-pop. That said, he also pulled out a couple of excellent, more rocky guitar riffs that added another interesting depth to the set. Although he is somewhat awkward with his crowd interactions, that doesn’t stop him from getting the crowd moving.

Highlight: There was one particular song towards the end of the set, which I don’t believe is online, but the guitar riff and melody, paired with Kamran’s smooth vocal, was a tremendous thing to watch and dance to.

MUNA

Following a beautiful, instrumental intro, MUNA took to the stage and launched straight into ‘Number One Fan’ to rapturous applause from the crowd! They proceeded to play a string of songs, both old and new, from their debut (About U) and sophomore (Saves The World) albums.

Their Saves The World Tour marks the first headline, UK tour for the band and the Brighton show was their first date of the tour. To say the set was outstanding would be an understatement – the band really were jaw-droppingly brilliant, from their tight performance and engaging stage presence to Katie’s incredible, powerful vocals and they played to a room filled with nothing but love!

It doesn’t matter if you are a massive MUNA fan and know all the words to every one of their songs, or if you are new to them, because the vibes from both the band and the crowd are electric and every single person is able to feel welcome, accepted and a part of something special.

The relationship between the trio is genuine and packed with honest banter – at one point Katie made a small mistake and the others joked with her about it openly to the crowd but it was all taken in good fun and the audience found it hilarious too.

What possibly struck me most about seeing this band perform is the live interpretations of their tracks and just how genre-bending they really are! On some songs you can hear an almost country twinge to their style whilst on others they rock out, with one track even having a metal-style moment to it, which sent the crowd cheering. However at their core, this band are still a dark pop powerhouse with an 80s throwback feel to them.

Whether you’re a long-time MUNA fan or only just hearing about them, I cannot recommend highly enough, to try and catch them live – they will not disappoint and you will not stop moving throughout their entire set!

Highlights:

  • The stunning vocal performance from Katie (Gavin) throughout was breath-taking!
  • The chemistry between the trio (and their touring drummer and bassist) was electric – their actual performance was impeccable too!
  • The energy coming from the band was reflected throughout the crowd, filling the room with love, excitement and a truly euphoric energy.
  • The undertones of various genres being blended together, makes the band a real pleasure to watch – and as Naomi even said at one point, she “really believes [they] are the best f**king band in the world!”
  • It was a really nice touch that the band requested the venue make their toilets gender neutral for the event, to ensure everyone feels comfortable – a really caring touch for their very diverse fanbase.

 📸 All of the photos of MUNA are credited to Chloe Hashemi 📷
Go and give her a follow on Instagram and Twitter, and visit her website.

 Setlist

Number One Fan*
Stayaway
Crying On The Bathroom Floor
Around U
Never
Navy Blue
Everything
Winterbreak
Taken
Pink Light
Good News (Ya-Ya Song)
Hands Off
Loudspeaker*
I Know A Place*
It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby

* These songs can be viewed in the YouTube playlist, below.

Finally, I want to say massive thanks to xyz and also Chloe Hashemi for her incredible live photos of the show!

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

Muzik Speaks Live Reviews

Matt – Muzik Speaks
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