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themousai · 5 years

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2018 Favourites: Helena Barnett

Singles

1. City of the Sun - Ventura If you’re familiar with ‘Sofar Sounds’ on YouTube you may have heard the melodic groove of City of the Sun during their cover of The XX’s ‘Intro’. A few years since their cover hit the internet, the New York band has been cooking up some insane acoustic tunes. Their instrumental sound has become almost a cinematic soundtrack throughout the past few years for me. Ventura is definitely one of their more mellow tunes but the layered percussion and strings creates an atmospheric mood and narrative that drifts you away from reality for a few minutes. If you’re into Chon, or Covet definitely check these guys out.

2. Citizen - Open Your Heart Guitarist from Citizen, Nick Hamm, said this track "was left on the cutting room floor because we thought it was a little disruptive to the album as a whole. But looking back and listening now, it’s such a nice little curiosity in the Citizen catalogue.” I am really stoked they decided to release it as a single because it really holds itself on its own. Open Your Heart takes you on a journey and kicks off a little darker with some heavy guitar that fades into emotional vocals by singer, Mat Kerekes. A mesmerizing string symphony ends the song in a sweet spot, making me wonder what other masterpieces were cut from their 2017 album ‘As You Please’. I’d say if you listen to The Story So Far or Turnover you will most likely dig this track too.

3. Disclosure - Where Angels Fear To Tread Drawing you in like the beginning of your favourite childhood cartoon, Disclosure fills this single with samples of the popular track ‘Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread)’. The vocals sound most similar to the Ricky Nelson’s 1963 version but has the tempo of Bow Wow Wow’s 1980′s version. This track was originally made popular with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Doris Day also making it their own. It’s really interesting to hear Disclosures Synth-Pop take on it, they add a modern twist that brings the song into a whole new realm. The vocals go through a panning filter around the middle of the track, making the sound atmospheric with the way it almost travels from one side of your headphones to the other. It’s a great pick me up track that holds a lot of history and soul but the Disclosure brothers do it so much justice, definitely worth checking out.

EPs

1. Lennon Stella - Love, Me This artist is only 19 but has been through some insane heartbreak and emotional pain which you can hear throughout this pop EP, Love, Me. In opening track, ‘Bad’ she explains an ex of hers “forgot to tell me you were seeing someone else for 6 years” yet the song has an uplifting beat that still makes you want to dance along. This contrast is done really well with the emotion in Lennons voice balanced against some more electronic pop melodies. I really dig the vulnerability in the lyrics. The combination of honesty with this beat reminds me of The 1975 or Nina Nesbitt. Fortress is probably my favourite from the EP. I am not too sure if it was intentional but the intro reminds me of that viral video trend where people used cups to do covers of pop songs. I thought this was nostalgic throwback as Lennon had a video in 2012 with her sister covering Robyns ‘Call you Girlfriend’ using the cups trend. Definitely expecting big things for Lennon Stella this year.

2. Ben Howard - Another Friday Night / Hot Heavy Summer / Sister Technically this counts as a single but with 3 tracks I feel like it fits into the EP category a little better. Ben Howard has been a favourite of mine for many years, with his dreamy folk sound that transcends you to a different universe, his music always finds a way into my playlists. Hot Heavy Summer is my favourite track from the 3 on this EP, it was a track recorded during the creative process of Ben Howards third album, Noonday Dream. Ben’s vocals are paired by some hypnotizing harmonizing from the stunning Sylvan Esso. During an interview he mentions that “the recording sessions for Noonday Dream were so varied and over quite a period of time. There were little gems that we didn't know what to do with but it felt right to put these three together, both separate and a part of the album so to speak.” The whole EP is super chill and sounds best late at night when you can’t sleep or paired with the ocean waves during a sunset beach trip. If you’re into acoustic folk soundscapes definitely check this EP out.

3. Hail The Sun - Glass: Half Empty Mid way through the year Spotify suggested I listen to Hail The Suns 2016 album, Culture Scars. I really enjoyed the soft vocals and heavy guitar, it reminded me of Saosin or Circa Survive, I added a few songs to my playlist but never spent much time listening to it properly. A few months later they released this EP, Glass: Half Empty before releasing their full length album Mental Knife. This EP really put them on my radar finally. Everyone around me was talking about how the vocalist from Hail The Sun is also the Drummer, so remembering that while listening to this EP added a whole other element. This EP is packed with post-hardcore melodies and interesting beats that keep you guessing. The lyrics, the vocals, the drums, the strings, every element in this EP astounded me the first time I listened to it. The next few times you still seem to find riffs and vocals that make you question whether or not the band is real but after watching a few live videos I can confirm they are in fact human. I really appreciate the passion in the vocals, Donovan Melero has an impressive control over his voice, going from soft harmonies to borderline screaming with ease. When you see the live footage of Donovan singing and drumming, he showcases a groove that not many musicians can pull off. The Stranger In Our Pictures is a definite favourite.

Albums

1. Basement - Beside Myself Basements 2016 album, Promise Everything, has been a huge favourite of mine since its release so it was a damn good day when Beside Myself was dropped in October. Their sound reminds me of Jimmy Eat World, Oasis and Incubus which brings back a beautiful nostalgia in itself. The familiarity in their sound almost gives their album a sense of comfort while listening. It sparks memories and moments that I cant seem to recall without the help of some classic Alt/Emo Rock melodies. This album packs a punch from the first single, Disconnect, all the way to the closing tune, Right Here. I really appreciate how each vocal and instrument is presented to you in full force, there’s no element that distracts from the other. No messing around here, just great track after great track.

Top picks are ‘Stigmata’, ‘Disconnect’ & ‘Keepsake’

2. Ryan Beatty - Boy in Jeans For his first album, Ryan is doing pretty good. He’s like a young Frank Ocean giving us some chill vibes that still make you groove. You may recognize him from the chorus in Brockhamptons ‘Bleach’. I would say Ryan still has a little way to go in terms of finding his specific sound but I really dig what he has created so far and can see huge potential for his future. The vocals are pretty dreamy and the visuals are super relaxed but I really appreciate that simplicity. The pop element causes these tracks to get stuck in your head but in the good kinda way. If this is his first album, who knows what will be next.

Top picks are ‘Euro’, ‘Camo’ & ‘Cupid’

3. The Story So Far - Proper Dose Probably a predictable choice but it’s just that good. The Story So Far never fail to disappoint. I mentioned earlier that comfort you get when you have heard a specific sound for a while, it starts to feed into your memories. The Story So Far have been a music staple for quite some time now, and their sound hasn’t drastically changed over the years so I always get nostalgic when I give them a listen. It might be the fact they hadn’t released any new albums over the span of 3 years but honestly, the wait was worth it. When this album came out it almost felt like looking through a photo album, all these events and emotions came flooding to my mind. Their classic pop punk sound is unbeatable. The vocals from Parker Cannon are always so insane, he manages to get those high notes but bring it back down through the softer parts like in ‘Line’ and ‘Growing On You’

Top Picks are ‘Proper Dose’, ‘If I Fall’ & ‘Need to Know’

Special Mention

DMA’S - For Now Imagine Oasis and The Stone Roses went surfing in Australia and bumped into The Beach Boys; That is DMA’s. Whenever I hear their music the mood just improves by at least 20%, even during the softer tunes. The buttery vocals from Thomas speak to your soul or something I swear they just know how to validate your emotions and pick you up.

Top Picks are ‘Dawning’, ‘In The Air’ & ‘Tape Deck Sick’

Feel free to check out my top 10 2018 Favourites playlist on Spotify, you might hear something you recognize or maybe something new! Why not right?

Quick Fire

One band I would love to photograph is... The Story So Far

Three things I can’t live without are... Music, my people & a camera (although the coffee addiction would be damn hard to kick lets be honest)

If I could only shoot one venue for the rest of my life it would be... Galatos, Auckland

Three adjectives that describe my life are... Unbelievable, Whimsical & Creative

If I held a world record it would be for... Most things dropped or lost in a week

My first memory of loving music is... Mum used to blast Robbie Williams and Shania Twain in the kitchen while she was baking and you know we had to always have a groove to ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’

One photo I’m really proud of is...

One band I could listen to forever is... Basement

My biggest musical guilty pleasure is... Sleeping With Sirens, but if you know me I aint hiding this from anyone haha

If I could create a lineup featuring any 3 bands it would be... Basement, The Story So Far and Mayday Parade would be insane and probably make a lot more sense as a whole compared to my previous thought of Blink 182, Fleetwood Mac and The 1975.

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