tracy chapman – Muzik Speaks

Jonas Blue (real name Guy James Robin) is a London-based DJ, producer, songwriter and remixer. Since releasing his debut single, ‘Fast Car’ featuring vocals from Dakota (a tropical house cover of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 single), in 2015, he has truly gone from strength to strength. He’s been busy working away with some big name singers and now 2018 sees him releasing his debut album, Blue. Here’s what we have to say about it…

I may have already stated that Sigala‘s debut album, Brighter Days, was the perfect party album but that being said, Jonas Blue‘s debut, is therefore certainly the soundtrack to the after party!

The album opens with the subtle yet gradually intensifying ‘Drink To You’ featuring passionate vocals from Zak Abel and some seriously, all-consuming production, launching you straight into it. Whilst it’s not an immediate, obviously catchy track, it’s certainly one you find yourself unexpectedly singing.

Although I don’t want to keep drawing similarities to it, again, like Sigala‘s debut, this too is packed full with tons of massive, hit singles…8 to be precise! From 2016’s, Number 2, tropical meets tribal house, smash hit, ‘Perfect Strangers’ (featuring JP Cooper) – a track responsible for cementing Jonas Blue as a big-hit producer and for spring-boarding JP Cooper‘s career; to the more recent, ‘Rise’ (featuring Jack & Jack) – a catchy-as-hell, merging of house and pop with an almost half-time beat, in places, there’s no wonder this guy’s album is so hotly anticipated.

Other singles taken from the album include, ‘By Your Side‘ (featuring RAYE) – with its monster chorus; ‘Mama‘ (featuring William Singe) – possibly one of the most memorable tracks of 2017; and the most recent single, ‘Polaroid’ (featuring Liam Payne and Lennon Stella) – somehow this track escaped my attention until doing this review but it’s got an irresistibly gripping chorus that you just can’t help but come back to time and again. ‘I See Love’ (featuring Joe Jonas) was featured on the soundtrack to Hotel Transylvania 3 – it’s a truly funky tune with some late 2000’s Enrique Iglesias vibes to it, however it’s not the most memorable track on the record.

Possibly one of my favourite, under-rated singles to come from the record though, is ‘We Could Go Back’ (featuring Moelogo). It’s a beautifully subtle song. There’s something very Chris Brown about it too; echoey, African tribal-sounding vocal chants make for a real sense of euphoria that would be magical to play on a midnight drive, the gentle summer breeze flowing through the open windows.

Jonas Blue’s debut is certainly the soundtrack to the after party!

As if all that wasn’t enough, there is a total of 7, other unreleased tracks to revel in! Another track to pay close attention to, is ‘Desperate’ (featuring Nina Nesbitt). Possibly one of the best tracks on the record, this unique song sees mellow, falsetto vocals paired with a wonderfully diverse beat.

Then there’s ‘Wherever You Go’ (with Juan Magan) which has a real European flavour to it and an incredible vocal from Jessie Reyez; ‘Purpose’ (featuring Era Istrefi) that is quite a grungy, almost dark track and ‘Supernova’ (featuring Charlotte OC and Dark Heart) which sees the title theme reflected in the music. The vocal is reminiscent of Cher Lloyd and has both chopped and pitched edits in all the right places.

‘Wild’ (featuring Chelcee Grimes, TINI and Jhay Cortez) is possibly the weakest track; it’s somewhat repetitive and lacks the same interesting production that flows so well throughout the rest of the album. The most interesting parts are the Spanish lyrics interwoven throughout the song.

‘Come Through’ (with Kaskade and featuring Olivia Noelle) has a piano-driven lead into the chorus (somewhat typical of the genre), whilst the whole track acts as one last hurrah before the epic album closer.

It all comes round, full circle, closing with Jonas Blue‘s debut single, ‘Fast Car’, the tropical house cover of Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 hit, featuring guest vocals from Dakota and the song that was responsible for launching his career; a really nice touch and the perfect way to end it.

It has to be said that this guy has pulled out some incredible collaborations for his debut record and demonstrated just what a power-house producer and songwriter he is. With such a strong debut album (that could act almost like a greatest hits already), this is surely just the start of a long career ahead…and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Rating

‘Blue’ is out now and can be downloaded from iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/blue/1437811936

Blue on Spotify

Rise featuring Jack & Jack (Official Video)

Polaroid featuring Liam Payne & Lennon Stella (Official Video)

Fast Car featuring Dakota (Official Video)

We hope you’ve enjoyed our review! What do you think of this producer’s epic debut 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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#MuzikSpeaks: An Interview with Charly

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Having released the EP, Wild World as part of Charly & Faust (interview here), back in October 2017 and now releasing her solo record, Film Scores, we had the chance to chat to Charly about who she’d like to collaborate with, what recent chart song she’d love to cover, what she gets up to before and after a show and much more. It’s all here…

Hey, how’s it going?
Pretty good. Thanks for asking.

What future plans have you got? Any new singles or an album in the pipeline?
I just released an album, a month ago, called Film Scores, regrouping songs I composed for short movies I got the chance to work on. I am now recording my new artist solo EP with two really talented musicians, Eric Reymond (bass and artistic production) and Coralie Hervé (drums and percussions). I can’t wait to release it and to perform it live with these two great friends and co-workers.

Where do you take inspirations from when making your music?
From everywhere. My parents always told me to look around me and to not just focusing on myself and my problems. It can be hard sometimes *laughs*. But it really helps me.

What’s your usual process for writing/recording?
For writing, it depends. When it is for a short movies, I focus on the script, talk to the filmmaker and then try to link the story to personal experiences to get a more specific idea of what should be expressed through the music. When it is for me, I usually start by playing guitars and when some melodic pattern catch my ears, I start to sing on it. I usually end up with some words that help me figuring out what the song is about.

If you could do a collaboration with anyone, who would it be and why?
I could say Patty Smith or Tracy Chapman, but right now I would say Asaf Avidan. I rediscovered his music, and it really inspired me.

That’s great! I’ve not heard of him, but I’ll definitely check him out. So what music have you been listening to most recently?
Asaf Avidan, Twenty One Pilots, LP, M.I.A, Tank and The Bangas, etc.

If you had to cover a recent chart song, which song would it be and why?
‘What About Us’ from P!nk. I really love her way to tell things that are hard to tell. Covering her stuff helps me to write lyrics actually.

What makes a great show for you?
The connection with your band mates and with the audience.

Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals?
Before the show jamming and get a beer with the band, after the show get another beer with the band and the audience.

Has anything scary ever happened to you on tour?
Not really. I saw weird stuff, but it happened to others so that wasn’t scary for me. I am sure if one of my band mate reads this interview, he/she will try to scare me on our next tour just to change that…

HAHA! They sound like a fun bunch of people. Do you have any other passions outside of music?
Gardening. That is my new obsession and everyone around me is tired of it. Except my cat which loves the idea of eating all the plants I am trying to grow.

*Laughs* What’s the best film you’ve seen lately?
Maudie. It is a movie from 2016, but I just saw it on the plane coming back form France, and I really loved it. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a movie like that.

If, in say 20 years time, a film was made about your life, who would you want to play you?
Anyone who will like to play this role. I am not sure it would be really interesting for an actor though. My life is boring.

*Laughs* I bet it’s not that boring – making music is fun! If you could be any chocolate bar, which one would you be?
I might disappoint some people, but I don’t like chocolate. It hurts my teeth.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Take what comes without asking yourself too many questions and be positive whatever the situation gets in front of you.

Charly‘s releases are all available:

To purchase on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/film-scores-single/1329681069
To listen to on Spotify –

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#MuzikSpeaks: An Interview with Charly & Faust

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Charly&Faust are a band who mix psychedelia with blues to create a very unique sound. We had the chance to chat to them and find out a bit more about what inspires them, how they go about writing and recording their music and what they get up to before a show. It’s all here…

Hey, how’s it going?
Faust: Good thanks for spending some time with Charly&Faust.
Charly: Hello! It is going pretty well. Thanks to take the time to interview us.

What future plans have you got? Any new singles or an album in the pipeline?
Faust: We just released our EP ‘Wild World’ on all the music platforms. We are also about to record a new song that we are very excited about! We are lucky to work with two incredible people: Peace S. Nistades for the artistic production and Gerhard Westphalen for the mixes and masters.
Charly: We have a music video out called ‘No Rush’ which got nominated in a lot of festivals now. We are really proud and really lucky we were able to work with talented people (Mariano Schoedorff Ares as director, Zoé Pelloux as Producer and Ines Coca as Cinematographer).

Where do you take inspirations from when making your music?
Charly: Someone told me few years ago, “You can’t create music and Art in general if you stay in a recording studio and don’t live!”. It is exactly that. You need to live and get hurt to have things to say. I also discovered a new way to get inspired, which is making researches about events and topics I want to talk about. I am currently using this method for my solo EP and it is really fascinating where you can go by just reading other people.
Faust: Life is pretty much what inspires me, my experiences, my demons, my fears, my happiness…There are no rules really of where I take inspirations.

What’s your usual process for writing/recording?
Charly: In Charly&Faust, Faust is the one coming to us with lyrics and then we are working all together on the structure and the melodies. For the recording part, we are usually starting with the rhythmic section (Coralie Hervé on Drums and Eric Reymind on Bass), then we are recording my rhythm guitar, Jefferson Fichou does the lead guitar and finally Nathan Lorber comes in for the keys. After all that we are focusing on the lead vocals with Faust, which can take some time because we are always trying to improve our harmonies and melodies. After all that recording part, we are producing the songs by adding several other instruments with Peace S. Nistades.
Faust: I like to be by myself usually when I’m writing a song, in a quiet space. I need to be in my own bubble. When the lyrics are ready, I work on the melody with Charly. This part is so important in our band. We need to be just the both of us first to really be able to present a piece that Coralie, Eric, Jeff and Nathan can work on. Because of all that preparation and work, the song pretty much ready before we get to the recording session.

If you could do a collaboration with anyone, who would it be and why?
Faust: I’d love to do a collaboration with Lana del Rey! I love her style and she inspires me lot as well
Charly: Tracy Chapman, P!nk, Tegan & Sara!

What music have you been listening to most recently?
Faust: For the last few days, I have been listening to James Brown.
Charly: We just lost a wonderful French artist called Johnny Hallyday. I am rediscovering his music now. He was an extraordinary singer and an amazing showman.

If you had to cover a recent chart song, which song would it be and why?
Charly: ‘Dommage’ from Big Flo & Oli, or ‘What About Us’ from P!nk.
Faust: I don’t know if ‘Stay’ by Rihanna is recent enough but that would be a good one for a cover. I just love the vibes and the melody of that song, I can already see how to make this one with Charly&Faust’s style.

What makes a great show for you?
Faust: Connection with the band members and the audience.
Charly: A stage, an audience, and a lot of alcohol and cigarets *laughs*.

Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals?
Charly: Having a drink with the band, jamming with them, and Faust doing our tribal make ups. You are going to be able to discover all that in our Vlog #2 on our YouTube channel!
Faust: I like jamming before a show and doing some warm up voice exercises.

Has anything scary ever happened to you on tour?
Faust: Not really because I haven’t done a tour with Charly&Faust yet, but maybe soon!!
Charly: Couple of stuff happened when I was touring for other artists, but not with Charly&Faust yet. My biggest fear would be to loose my guitar during the trip! It would be a real nightmare!

Do you have any other passions outside of music?
Charly: Food, gardening, my pets! I know I am already a grandma!
Faust: I love dancing, this is the best way to actually express yourself universally. You don’t need words! But I love writing songs though *laughs*.

What really grinds your gears?
Faust: Violence towards animals.
Charly: Tags! Who needs to be tagged by someone else to find who they really are?

What’s the best film you’ve seen lately?
Faust: Logan Lucky by Steven Soderbergh.
Charly: The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix Van Groeningen.

If, in say 20 years time, a film was made about your life, who would you want to play you?
Charly: Myself! I think nobody else would be interested in the role *laughs*. My life is boring and I am working hard to keep it this way!
Faust: Alicia Vikander.

If you could be any chocolate bar, which one would you be?
Faust: Dark chocolate almond.
Charly: A chocolate bar from Switzerland because they make the best quality chocolate. And I’m half Swiss.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Charly: Do what you want to do and if someone is judging you they can go fuck themselves!
Faust: Never have any regrets!

Charly & Faust‘s releases are all available:

To purchase on iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/charly-faust/1295394591
To listen to on Spotify –

Tag: tracy chapman