- Chloe Moriondo’s album “SUCKERPUNCH” (released on Oct. 7)
The sounds of a camera flash open pop artist Chloe Moriondo’s latest album “SUCKERPUNCH.” Immediately, listeners are hit with references about Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
In the 2000s, Spears and Aguilera were popstars with vital voices. They made waves with their bold music which talked about all things women were not allowed to speak about, including sex.
“SUCKERPUNCH’s” first song is “Popstar,” named after the trailblazing women who have inspired Moriondo’s sound.
While her previous 2021 album “Blood Bunny” took a more pop punk route, “SUCKERPUNCH” is more risqué with its lyrics.
Moriondo no longer feels the need to follow in other popsinger’s footsteps to prove herself as an artist with pitch perfect vocals as she plays with auto-tune.
“Knockout” still features Moriondo’s feisty lyrics, usually aimed against toxic men, and features the sound of a boxing bell ringing in the background.
She sings “Punch guys, win a prize, I'm the pinnacle,” turning the machismo wrestler image on its head.
“SUCKERPUNCH” positions Moriondo as one of the most exciting voices in pop music today, not because she caters to trends, but because she has the courage to explore her sound. She truly “knocks out” listeners with her highly-malleable, transformative sound.
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Easy Life’s “MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE” (released on Oct. 6).
The track “BASEMENTBasement” off of Easy Life’s latest album “MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE…,” starts off with faded noises of a party next door. You can hear muffled chatter and the dampened sounds of music, getting louder and louder.
All you want to do is crash this party or risk the fear of missing out.
The British band consists of Murray Matravers on vocals, Sam Hewitt on saxophone, Olly Cassidy on drums, Lewis Berry on guitar and Jordan Birtles percussion and keyboard.
Easy Life doesn’t take the ups and downs of life too seriously and confront difficult emotions with an overwhelmingly positive outlook, whether it's through their lyrics or carefree production.
Their music is a blend of genres that combine funk, jazz and hip-hop.
“BUGGIN” starts with a school bell ringing that then transitions into an extremely funky, wavy melody. Throughout the song there are high-pitched voices singing “shut the fuck up” and the outro is simply a repitition of those lyrics.
Easy Life truly flourishes when leaning heavy on comedy. They address serious topics including mental health but are always cheeky in their delivery.
“MEMORY LOSS,” a song about forgetting parts of your life, features a healthy amount of sarcasm as Matravers sings “Think I lost my virginity/Under a tree/Now that's some achievement.”
The song has Easy Life’s classic groove, compelling listeners to sway to Matravers’ lyrics about trying to remember his childhood.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition that speaks well to Easy Life’s general outlook: to have an “easy life,” sometimes all we need to do is laugh at our pain.
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Joshua Bassett’s “would you love me now?” (Released on Oct. 6)
Singer-songwriter and actor Joshua Bassett’s music is profound and evokes a beautiful feeling of melancholia. There is no shortage of sad songs that make you cry your eyes out at 2 a.m., and Basset has perfected that sound.
His latest track, “would you love me now?” is an ode to anyone who has failed to confess their love for another.
The song navigates emotions like a character in a romance film, who's at the door of the person they admire, hand hovering just above the door in a paused motion. Or laying in bed about to send a text confessing their love but is never able to go through with the action.
Bassett lets the emotion of the lyrics speak for itself and includes minimalistic production. It’s just him and the piano. At the chorus, he hits a stunning falsetto as he questions whether someone would love him despite missing his chance in the past.
His high-pitched voice sounds like he is pleading, begging to know if there is still an opportunity for someone to love him.
While the song speaks to the heavy feelings of regret, it could very well be about Bassett asking listeners whether they could love him given the drama surrounding his previous relationship with fellow musician Olivia Rodrigo.
It can be so easy to make someone a villain on the internet and much of the hate was directed at Bassett, who was accused of breaking Rodrigo’s heart.
Bassett’s music speaks to the complexity of what it is to be a human in the age of the internet. Whether you are famous or not, we all face the pressures of social media.
I have often thought about whether the people I know online would love who I am in real life. Bassett’s single makes me question, “Would they love me now, without the facade of social media?”
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Saumya’s album of the week: Riz Ahmed’s “The Long Goodbye” (released on March 6, 2020)
British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed is one of the most prominent South Asian actors in Hollywood.
He starred in the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated 2019 film “Sound of Metal” and received his first Oscar for best live-action short film for “The Long Goodbye.”
While most people may know Ahmed as an actor, he was first and foremost a rapper. His 2006 track “Post 9/11 Blues” was a sign of what his music would continue to address: identity, race and discrimination.
His second studio album “The Long Goodbye,” named after his film of the same name, was released on March 6, 2020.
The album proves Ahmed as a potent wordsmith, rapping against racism in Great Britain and painting vital pictures of what it means to be brown.
On “Mogambo,” Ahmed raps “Pick a side, do or die/'Cause all we ever do is die/They either bomb us or we suicide.” It is a brutal reflection on how the world perceives Muslims.
Ahmed isn’t interested in creating digestible narratives for audiences. Being brown comes with being constantly discriminated against and it can be exhausting for South Asians to constantly mold themselves to make white people comfortable.
That is why Ahmed is widely respected in the brown community. His music is tailored to them with subtle references to their culture.
On “Fast Lava,” Ahmed proclaims “I spit my truth and it's brown” and it’s time the world realizes that the truth is uncomfortable.