Review: DNA (Deluxe Edition)

Do you remember Little Mix? If not, you should brush up on my thoughts on them on their original post. (But in case you don't wanna do that, just know that the most important take away was that I was excited to hear their album and see if they would unlock the potential that I saw in them.)

NOW

I know, I know. The album doesn't actually drop until November 19... in the UK. Not the US. The UK. I actually don't think they have a US release date? Anyway, so... take that as you will. I'm not gonna say I did illegal things to get this album buuuuut, if I did, it was for the greater good, so I could bring you lot a review on whether you should spend the money on said album. (Or chance heavy fines or incarceration for it. You know, whatever strikes your fancy.)

Anyway, all that aside, Little Mix blew this album out of the water. Completely, and totally achieved the greatness that their "Cannonball" performance hinted at. Is it a perfect album?

No.

Is it a perfect first album?

Hell. Yes.

Every single song showcases every girl and proves that they aren't just four pretty faces with fabulous clothes, but four completely stunning voices. Not only that, but the album just breathes girl power. Tracks like "Change Your Life" and "We Are Who We Are" just make me feel good about myself, and I'm not even the self-conscious type. But dear lord, yes. I'm gonna shine like a star, Little Mix told me so. (Though, girls, you all do look like beauty queens already, so that line about not looking like one is a bit moot, yeah?)

Arguably, the best track on the album is the ballad "Turn Your Face." When I listened to the album for the first time last night, I actually had to stop everything I was doing and just listen to it because I found it so heart wrenching and beautiful. There is so much power in their voices and so much pain that the song just leaves you slightly breathless from it all. In fact, I'd say that if there was one track you invested in on this album, it be this one. It validates their win on The X Factor, it truly does. They're such young artists that their voices shouldn't be able to sound like they do on this track. Can you just imagine what they're going to sound like by their second one? (Fun fact: As I listen to the album again, this song is giving me goosebumps. Again.)

Now, there are some songs that should have been cut, or made into bonus tracks. "How Ya Doin'" comes off a little TOO Spice Girls, and to be honest, these girls have voices that are far superior to that of the Spice Girls and they could do so much better than sounding like one of their cover bands. And the following track, "Red Planet" just doesn't sit right with me. It is neither bad, nor is it good. But they make up for it with the following six tracks. (Well, six if you invest in the deluxe edition, which you should. Technically only two tracks if you have the normal edition.)

Lastly, one of the best aspects of this album is that so many of the songs were made to be played live. The song "Madhouse" practically oozes with performance possibilities. I can practically hear the crowd cheering in the arena as they sing this song, running around fighting off the villain much like N'Sync did in their Popodyssey tour. (You know, when they're fighting the video game bad guy? No? Am I really that old?) It's going to be brilliant live, and I would do a lot of things to witness it, to be honest, ESPECIALLY if they run with this film noir theme that runs throughout the album. ("DNA," "Madhouse," and bonus track "Case Closed" all are begging to have a dark, detective themed tour.)

All in all, an album well worth the wait from this female group. Maybe I didn't understand the hype while they were on TXF, but I fully understand now. Keep up the good work, girls. I want you stateside so I can actually invest in this spectacular release.

4/5

Standout tracks: "Turn Your Face," "Case Closed" and "We Are Who We Are."

'DNA' drops in the UK November 19 via SyCo. (And hopefully eventually in the US.)

Olivine

http://weareolivine.tumblr.com/

Oh wow. It's November 16 and it has been a REALLY LONG TIME. Like... a really long time. I am so sorry that I have been MIA. It's just been a pretty hectic semester, what with it being my last one and all and discovering new music wasn't exactly the highest on my to do list, if ya feel me.

But have no fear! Because I'm bringing you guys a good one!

Meet Olivine. Now, they kind of helped me in my band search, because they're the ones who found me on tumblr and followed me. Now, I check out every single person that follows me because I figure if they are, we must have similar interests, right? And to be honest, the second their autoplay started, I almost left because my sound was all the way up and autoplay is never kind to those with their volume on max. Of course, it only took about 4 seconds into the autoplayed song for me to realize leaving the page would be a horrendous idea.

"You just might break a billion hearts tonight." That's the first line listeners hear from singer Jake Mai and lordy, it is a damn good line sung by a damn good voice. And he's backed by a damn good band. So it doesn't shock me at all that they managed to snag the attention of John Feldmann, who has worked with just about every band I have ever loved. (No seriously. All Time Low, The Used, The Cab, Foxy Shazam, Neon Trees, Blitz Kids, Good Charlotte, Story of the Year. The list seriously goes on and on.) Feldmann then invited the band out to his studio and well, have you listened to the four songs on their website? He did a damn good job of producing them, that's all I have to say.

This Dallas based band-- TEXAS REPRESENT!-- has some talent, and if you enjoy bands like SafetySuit and Go Radio, chances are you are going to fall head over heels in love with Olivine. Actually, you're probably going to love them anyway, just because they remind me so much of the music that I obsessed over in the early high school years. (We're talkin' Yellowcard and Dashboard Confessional, and who didn't love Yellowcard and Dashboard Confessional?)

Olivine is definitely a band to keep your eye on. Mark my words. If we're going to see the alternative scene of the mid-2000s come back, it's gonna be spearheaded by this group. And I can only hope that people get on that, because I would LOVE to hear these boys on the radio.

Go Download: I'm gonna be that person and say to download the title track from their debut album 'Drift' (which you can pick up now on iTunes) just because it is a REALLY good song. BUT, you should also check out "Without You," because the strings are phenomenal. In fact, just listen to all four songs they have up on their tumblr page.

Review: Take Me Home

By this point we all know One Direction. Whether you like it or not, you’ve heard at least one of their songs and you’ve found yourself with it stuck in your head. Now, hear me out when I say that that isn’t a bad thing. The 1D boys may produce candy coated pop tracks on a (double) platinum platter, but they do it with a lot of talent. Don’t write them off just because they’re perfectly coiffed, don’t pen their own stuff and spend their time on the Top 40s charts. 

While ‘Up All Night’ was a piece of solid pop dynamite, it left fans wondering about this band’s shelf life. (After all, the boy band life expectancy isn’t exactly the longest in the music industry.) Could they create another album with the right amount of head bobbing pop beats that didn’t sound like UAN 2.0? Or would they find themselves the victims of the sophomore slump?

Well, 1D fans, it is safe to say that the boys managed to pull off a piece of perfectly polished pop perfection. (I do so love alliteration, don’t you?) Boasting the likes of tracks like “I Would,” “Heart Attack,” and “Kiss You,” the boys show just how much they’ve learned from their boy band contemporaries. (Is it just me, or does it feel a helluva lot like the ’90s again?) ‘Take Me Home’ does what any good pop album sets out to do, and that’s make listeners want to dance. But it’s more than that.

With two songs from Ed Sheeran, the album manages to also create downtime for fans to catch a breather from the faster, punchy songs that surround them. They will also end up as fan favorites given it seems the popular consensus that Sheeran is a lyrical genius. 

It’s every bit of catchy as one would expect from 1D, and shows just how much the band has grown. Pulling from the likes of Queen for songs like “Rock Me” and Michael Jackson for “Heart Attack,” they manage to show, for lack of a better word, haters that they are more than just kids who listened to heavily synthesized pop music of the early ’00s. (A common misconception given the artists the boys actually listen to.) 

It does need to be said, however, that the ending track— at least the normal, not deluxe or yearbook edition ending track— isn’t one of the best album closers out there, leaving listeners, at least this listener, like they’re missing something. It’s a nice track, sure, but definitely one that could have been left on the cutting room floor, or at least made into a bonus track.

Maybe it isn’t mature in the fact that they didn’t decide to suddenly change genres, but the album does show that they’ve grown up quite a bit from the doe eyed, long haired teens of “The X Factor.” Fans of the band are undoubtedly going to love it, especially since they could probably release covers of The Wiggles and some listeners would still eat it up. (Okay, maybe not that far.) But what’s best is TMH will— or at least should— gain them respect from those who signed them off as a band with their fame handed to by Simon Cowell. 

‘Take Me Home?’ It’s an accurate title given that’s exactly what you’re going to want to do with this album.

4/5

Standout Tracks: “I Would,” “Kiss You,” “Heart Attack,” and “Over Again.”

‘Take Me Home’ drops November 13 via Syco and Columbia. 

Update

I HAVEN'T DIED!

It is my final semester of college and things have been quite hectic. (There's apparently a good reason you aren't supposed to take more than 9 hours of journalism courses at once.)

But this weekend I have some downtime, so keep yours eyes peeled!

I'll be making a comeback :)

Singers to Watch: X Factor UK

Oh, it has been FAR too long! Things got pretty hectic for awhile. I had to move back to Austin for school. Then I had band. Then school started. Basically, something had to go on the back burner, and unfortunately, finding new music to contribute to society had to be what got pushed back.

BUT I'M BACK NOW!

And I have got to tell you that when I was able to find the time, I've been searching for what exactly to bring to the table and I think I've figured it out.

You see, I don't know if you pay as much attention to singing shows as I do, especially since most people are getting tired of singing shows, but I've been pretty keyed into the X Factor UK auditions and I have got to say that they have some pretty stellar talent coming through. There have been multiple auditions that have given me goosebumps and made me fall in love, and I'm just rooting for all of them to make it through. The chances of them making it through? I don't know since I'm pretty certain I'm cursed and anyone I like in a competition loses (save American Idol. I have an uncanny ability to predict the winner based on their first song during the live shows. I've guessed the past five winners this way. It's a gift). We also have to take into account that they don't show us everyone that comes in. So who knows what other talent we're missing!

But that doesn't really matter, because I do know what we've seen and I know that if at least three of these people don't make it, I will go to England and give the judges a piece of my mind.

Week 1:

Curtis Golden- This 18-year old self proclaimed nerd (or geek, because he isn't sure) was set up to be that awkward audition. You know which one I'm talking about. Where they come in and they're all awkward and it's their dream to sing and then they sing and it makes the audience cringe. It doesn't help that he dropped that bit about having a Mel B cutout... with Mel B there. But then the boy whips out the acoustic guitar and starts singing this bluegrass version of "Candyman" and... well, check it out for yourself, yeah? (Warning: Mel B makes things rather awkward near the end, and I felt so bad for the kid.)




Ella Henderson- This girl is only 16 you guys. SIXTEEN. Not only is she trying out for the X Factor, but here she is singing a song she wrote herself about her grandfather. Now most people don't perform songs they wrote themselves because, well, you can be a good singer and a terrible songwriter and then bam, you've shot yourself in the foot. Luckily, that is not the case for young Ella Henderson. The moment she started singing, my jaw dropped. Her words aren't cheesy, they're emotional and relatable and she has a voice that is so strong, at SIXTEEN. There are grown women who strive for a voice like this. Honestly, she was my first set of goosebumps for the audition round, and listening to her now, I'm getting them again. I truly believe that if they don't put her into the live shows, they'll be making a terrible mistake. Because she is brilliant.




Week 2:

Kye Sones- Firstly, I knew of Kye thanks to Sugarscape and their live tweets about the show. So I'd be lying if I said I didn't check him out because I'd been promised a cute guy. That isn't why he's on the list though. (Well, it helps because you have to have the look too, but... let's just keep going, shall we?) Also, the guy is a chimney sweep. A CHIMNEY SWEEP! I didn't even know those were real! My mind was blown! Basically, I had a lot of excitement going into his audition, especially since I knew he was going to do a mash up that included Rita Ora's R.I.P. (You lot know I love Rita, yeah?) Anyway, so when he started to sing, I fell in love. Is he the strongest? No, but he has that something about him, and DAMN did he make me smile with that audition. (He also made Rita smile. At one point I'm pretty sure she was about to jump up on that stage to get him. Which, I mean, can you blame here?)



James Arthur- James Arthur is THAT story. The rough story where music saved his life. The story where he could have either become another hoodlum on the street, or he could have made something of himself, and luckily, for him and for all of us, he chose to make something of himself. And boy am I glad he did. He was my second set of chills for the season, and watching his audition video now, I'm getting chills and it hasn't even reached the singing part yet. He did an acoustic version of Tulisa's "Young" and it blew me away. If I had to give you a reference of what he sounds like, I'd say he's like James Morrison and Ed Sheeran's love child. If THAT isn't awkward. Anyway, now I'm just rambling, you should really just go watch his audition. He is another one that I believe would be a huge mistake if they didn't bring him onto the live shows.



Week 3:

Jake Quickenden- He's a lifeguard with a slightly crazy mom. If anything, I loved him because his banter with his mom reminded me of me and my mom. (And maybe it helps that he's a lifeguard. Maybe.) But I didn't expect him to come out with a soulful rendition of "Use Somebody." Maybe the original rock version, sure. I could even see him coming out with some R&B, but not this. It was a pleasant surprise, and I would be able to listen to this audition over and over again. (I should also probably tell you that I haven't found a cover of that song that I don't like yet. So maybe I'm biased.) I completely agree with Tulisa in this one. His voice isn't perfect, but he has room to grow, and yeah. The ladies do love him :3



Joseph Whelan- Let's be real. When I saw Joseph Whelan, my very first thought was Charlie Simpson. He reminds me so much of him, so I expected the same sort of indie voice as Charlie and his solo stuff. THAT, is not what I got. What I got, was so much more. It was like someone unleashed a can of pure rock onto the X Factor stage. He is straight up 80s rockstar voice, and I looooooove it. We need more rock voices like this in music, and I think he delivers. I hope he makes it to the live shows so we can see what else he can do. (Also, the fact that he's a dad and just obviously loves his son so much made my heart melt.)



Melanie Masson- Last, but most CERTAINLY not least, is 44-year old Melanie Masson. Now, the intro to her audition may have you a little iffy. Married mother of two who runs an under five music class where she dresses up as a fairy. Yeah, I made that look first. But I promise you, you do NOT want to turn away just because of that. This woman started her audition strong, there was no lead in. She hit you with the strength of her voice, and then didn't back down. It's hard to do Janis Joplin and not only make it your own, but not be put to shame, but Melanie did it. People were giving her a standing O like, halfway through her audition. Wow, if there is any audition you take the time to watch on this page, make it this one.



Now, auditions aren't completed, so we still have time to discover some more amazing talent! I'll make sure to keep my eyes open and get them out as well, but there was no way I could keep these guys to myself. They need to be known, and they need to be known now.

So learn to love them! And if any of them make it into the live shows, then you UK readers should vote for them for me ;D

Update on Life

I'm currently in the middle of Hell Week for band, so I haven't had the ability to get on and write up something, but I promise you I have something in the works.

<3

Solo Artist of the Week: Rita Ora

http://www.facebook.com/RitaOra

We continue Girl Power Week here at Bands That Need Love Too with our Solo Artist of the Week, Rita Ora! I've seen her name here and there, pretty much on tumblr because a girl I follow is quite a big fan of her, and I always make a note to myself to give her a listen, and then never do. Luckily, thanks to The Hits Radio (again) I finally heard her.

I honestly didn't know who I was listening to when the song came on, probably because I was only half paying attention (you know, because I listen to the radio when doing homework) but I quickly switched my attention because, wow, how boss is this girl's vocals and her track?

Admittedly, she's a little more known than I like to write about, what with her twitter having 900,000+ followers, but I can justify it if we pretend no one in American knows her. (Which, isn't a LIE per say. I mean, I did have to listen to British radio to hear her.) But I digress.

After falling in love with the song, R.I.P., I took to youtube to find all I could from Ms. Ora. What I found was a strong, soulful voice backed by rockin' dance beats that'd make anyone wanna move. I mean, that's kind of the main requirement for Girl Power Week if you haven't noticed. Rita Ora is the music you put on when you just want to have a good time. Her music is the music you blast while driving downtown through the city you love.

One of her singles, "How We Do (Party)," lyrically reminds me of Katy Perry's TGIF, only I personally think Ora rocks it so much better. Why I never heard it on the radio is beyond me. "R.I.P." is a harder song with heavier beats and showcases her voice better, which is probably why I love it so much. That, and it just makes me feel like the biggest badass.

In my own, humble opinion, Rita Ora has everything to make it big. She has the voice (as is apparent in her acoustic stuff), she has beats, and she has the looks. (Honestly, the girl is freaking gorgeous, and much like with Little Mix, I would LOVE to go on a shopping adventure with her.) That, and she just seems to be a pretty cool person. I mean, she cites Tina Turner, Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie and Gwen Stefani as some of her influences. That's just... boss.

Let's just add her to the list of awesome talent coming from the UK, yeah?

America, you'd be remiss if you didn't learn to love her, like... now.

Go Download: Here in the US of A, you can pick up her single "How We Do (Party)" on iTunes! And if you're in the UK or Ireland, you can preorder her debut album 'ORA' which is set to drop August 28. No word on when it'll be out in the US though :(

And in case you needed proof of how amazing her voice really is...