Month: September 2019

#MusicMonday: The world is caught in the Mania of a musical masterpiece with FOB’s seventh studio album

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Debuting as an alternative rock/pop punk group, Fall Out Boy has always been progressive and experimental with their sound yet they have never disappointed with their music.

Debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart, Mania is Fall Out Boy’s seventh studio album and was released on January 19, 2018. It shows continuous progression as musicians and artists by changing things up from pop punk and alternative rock sound to an experimental rock and electro-pop feel.

Song by Song Review

Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea:  An opening track with strong “punk rock” musicality with themes of celebrity culture and the madness that spawns from the culture.

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The Last of The Real Ones:  My instant favorite off this album for it’s piano ballad meets rock song musicality and celestial themed love song showcasing the narrator’s devotion.

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Hold Me Tight or Don’t:  This track shares that “pinch me I’m dreaming” feeling to the beginning of love until the person with these feelings realizes they played up the memory in their head and the other person doesn’t have the same feelings.

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Wilson (Expensive Mistakes):  A reference to Tom Hanks character in Cast Away. It lyrical explores the curse of fame, how everybody loves you but yourself and the person fame makes you, or even the person you want to love you.

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Church:  A song utilizing organ instrumentals and hymn like musicality to create a love song comparing the person they love to a holy relic or sacred space.

Heaven’s Gate:  A 50’s crooner style musicality paints this love song that compares the person they are pining for as too good to be true using angelic imagery and statements of devotion.

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Champion:  My favorite single off the album because of it’s fighter musicality and lyrical depiction of what it means to be a champion.

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Sunshine Riptide (ft. Burna Boy):  The gentle pull of a tide that rolls over and over again and by sheer nature of its essence it becomes an indestructible will.  An overdose of dopamine – we are living inside of MANIA right now. The never sleeping, never blinking – caught forever in the sunshine riptide. The musicality contains powerful vocals, a tropical island dancehall feel and a smooth rap verse by Nigerian born artist Burna Boy.

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Young and Menace:  “The weirdest song the band has ever made”-according to members of Fall Out Boy. It is a lyrical depiction of feeling like an outsider within your community having a love for punk rock.

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Bishop’s Knife Trick:  A reference to the movie Aliens and a paraphrase of a Bible used in a real life couple’s vows. Wentz asked their permission to use a piece of their vows in this song.

Mania will have you hypnotized and in a punk rock trance for Fall Out Boy’s constant growth as artists as well as people, and for this album to stay on repeat. If you ask me, whether you or I are the last of the real ones or champions, I’m okay staying stuck inside the sunshine riptide of this entire album.

#MusicMonday: West Unashamedly Shares His Proud Declaration of Christian Faith with ‘All In.’

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Matthew West is no stranger to Christian Contemporary Music. The first time I saw him perform live I went home and bought some of his music and felt my faith strengthen every time I listened to it. Now, West is back with his seventh studio album and it stayed at #1 on the Billboard Christian charts for 17 weeks. Instead of using other people’s stories to create an album, West returns to sharing personal anecdotes from his own life.

Song by Song Review

All In: A personal anthem with lyrics that illustrate a “no turning back” declaration of faith. Not wanting to waste your life; avoiding a simply comfortable life.

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Broken Things:   A song showcasing the unfathomable mercy and graciousness of God. Those the world thinks are useless or mismatched are the people he calls His and uses to accomplish his plans for a hope and a future through them.

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Mercy Is A Song:  A song specifically highlighting the “come as you are” truth to God’s love and mercy.

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Amen:   Reminiscent of Mercy Me’s “Happy Dance” with a baptist church feel, dancing in the aisles at Sunday service sound. A song about God’s great grace.

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The Sound of a Life Changing:  A song about how God’s grace overwhelms your life and takes the black, white, and grey into bright and beautiful colors.

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Something Greater:    My favorite song about how there are moments in life or even people you meet who you feel were definitely part of a bigger plan than anything you could have fathomed. How God’s plan is bigger and more intricate than you even realize.

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Jesus & You:   A song where West shares his love for Jesus and how his love of Jesus helps him love his wife that much more because in some ways, they are both helping him become a better man.

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Beautiful Things We Miss:  

A song about how life goes by in the blink of an eye and if you don’t take the chance to cherish the moment in front of you, the people around you, before you know it they will be a thing or someone in your past.

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1 Song:  If he was leading up to his final few breaths, he would sing a song for the Lord to praise him from this life into the next.

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Power Love Sound Mind:  A electropop musicality makes up this contemporary christian song based on 2 Timothy 1:7 about the battle in life between choosing faith and fear.

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Never Give Up:  My second favorite off this album about the true fighting spirit of a believer.

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Dream Again: 

A warrior cry anthem that shouts into the dead and dying hopes of a hurting world about the power of having a dream in your heart and not stopping to achieve it.

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Becoming Me ft. Lulu West:  A song about the hands that feed you, dress you, and build you up, and how they help you become the person you are.

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You are Known:  A song about how the world make you feel anonymous and unwanted, but God sees you and wants you to know he knows you and loves you for all that you are and can see all you can be, and believes in that greatness he placed inside you.

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Overall, West wows with his seventh studio album that makes any and all believers learn about different aspects of the God they serve and are known by. His songwriting will break through all the noise to share a truth that needs to be spoken to the heart of each and every person alive.

 

#MusicMonday: Holding My Breath showcases McLaughlin’s breathless songwriting

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

McLaughlin is no stranger to taking anyone’s breath away. The first time I ever saw him open for Kelly Clarkson I was unfamiliar with his music or even who he was but was instantly drawn to his honest, heartfelt lyricism that he penned on his own and his expertise with a piano. He made playing the piano seem as cool as being a drummer or an electric guitar player.

He quickly got a lot of attention and even appeared in the Disney movie Enchanted as himself. He even dueted with pop songstress and Broadway legend Sara Baraielles.

Holding My Breath is McLaughlin’s fourth studio album and was released on September 24, 2013.

The album was made exclusively for the fans and created with the site Pledgemusic. It got #8 on the Billboard Top Christian albums chart and #141 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Song by Song Review

Above The Radio:  A piano rock track about slowing down and listening to the music of life

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Hallulejah: A fun jazzy like track about not losing your soul in the pursuit of material things

Doesn’t Mean Goodbye: A piano ballad about fighting through the rough patches of the love between you and that special someone.

Anybody Else: A piano pop song about seeing someone you used to be involved with and how it brings back all the memories

Oh, Jesus: A heartfelt promise to Jesus that no matter how black and blue life gets, he will thank God for Jesus.

Broken Hearted: A song about how even though a broken heart is painful, the sun will warm the cold desolate pieces of it’s brokenness and you will love again because you can’t love again until you’ve been  broken hearted.

Fire Away: A slow song about a stillness between you and another because of tensions between you

Oh!: A pop rock track about someone pulling away from a shot of love between the two of you

Imaginary Tea: A song McLaughlin wrote about a tender father-daughter relationship.

The Truth: A song with a mysterious jazzy blue feel about someone who spread lies and was found out

Throw It On The Fire: A song about a love that still embers but no longer burns bright enough to survive.

At Night: A final instrumental piano track

Holding My Breath is a effortless peek into this musician’s heart and all that keeps him breathing. Some of these items include: staying true to himself, his faith, his family, and love with the right person. McLaughlin’s independent project was crowd funded for good reason: he was meant to sing a breathless song.

#MusicMonday: William’s personal struggle with depression brings themes of the realities of adulthood with ‘After Laughter’

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Paramore has been one of my favorite bands since high school. I would ride to school listening to “Misery Business,” and relating to everything on Riot! I also found it entirely bold and daring of Williams who was only 16 when the band got it’s start wore bright orange hair. Williams songwriting spoke to me as an angsty teenager who felt misunderstood, undermined, and never ever good enough, it helped me cope through all those feelings and become a writer myself, and later a teenage author at only 15.

Released on May 12, 2017 as follow-up to their 2013 self-titled album comes a huge change for the band both sonically and lyrically.

The album contains dark lyrics over fun and poppy melodies Williams has been very open about her struggles with depression: “It means that look on a person’s face when they laugh really hard and then there’s this moment when they come back to reality.”

Drummer Zac Farro rejoined the band in 2017. After Laughter debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Song by Song Review

Hard Times: A playful eighties vibe contrast hard hitting lyrics showcasing growing up and Williams’ personal struggle with depression.

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Rose-Colored Boy: A song about feeling pressure to look at the world with blind optimism when you actually feel very hopeless about the world and your part in it. There is so much social pressure to be “happy” that we can actually feel shame when we aren’t.

Told You So: With a central theme is built around the common phrase, “Hate to say I told you so” which is typically said in a condescending disapproving manner. A track about struggles faced when people watching your every move waiting for you to make a mistake.

Forgiveness: Throughout “Forgiveness” Hayley talks about forgiveness and redemption between her and the other band members and troublesome moments with her partner at the time.

Fake Happy: A song showcasing how much we as humans can hide underneath our smiles. Despite being bright and bubbly at our best, there are some moments that you can’t fake the happiness.

26: About not losing hope and staying a dreamer, the musicality is acoustic and very authentically transparent.

Pool: 80’s new wave synth pop musicality creates a cool but dark love song about the highs and lows of loving someone

Grudges: A song about Zac Farro’s return to the band in 2017 after he left in 2010.

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Caught in the Middle: Williams confronts the concept of getting older. Combined with a contrasting light and danceable beat, Paramore shares the harsh feeling of seeing the years piling up. This song can also be seen as a fight with depression. Sometimes, the simple act of moving forward in life is a tedious task.

No Friend: An outro track to “Idle Worship” containing spoken word poetry from Aaron Weiss from MeWithoutYou.

Tell Me How: The final track about being at a crossroads in life. It’s a slow moving laiden track showing optimism toward the band’s future.

Paramore shows us that whether you are looking at the world with ‘Brand New Eyes’ or allowing the ‘Riot!’ within to speak up boldly. ‘After Laughter’ showcases a brand new maturity toward the realities and struggles of being a thirty-something adult in today’s world. And I am enamored by all that the band puts out both sonically and lyrically.

 

#MusicMonday: Sheeran showcases the ‘divide’ between human and musician with third studio album

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Ed Sheeran has always known how to make me smile. His songwriting has never left me disappointed. This English showman has always been able to enrapture all those that listen to his music with just him and his guitar, and a peddle machine.

Divide debuted at #1 and stayed there in its second week.

Eraser: A fun opening track to the album; a declaration of intent mixing hip-hop with a chorus.

It discusses Sheeran’s upbringing and his small town beginnings singing in the choir in the Catholic church and then being a busker during his teen years. It also references the temptations artist’s face whether it be drugs, girls, etc.

Castle On The Hill: A love song for Sheeran’s hometown of Suffolk, England. Guitar driven it is a “life affirming pop rocket.”

Dive: Written about his wife with themes of vulnerability, a sense of devotion and emotional reflection, with a musicality that emulates the classic fifties and early sixties soul/stax ballad arpeggio and time sequence. It was co-written with Julia Michaels.

Shape of You: Originally written by Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC and meant for pop singer Rihanna, the track is about a strong physical attraction. Musically, it is based around a tropical-house inspired lead melody and dancehall beat. A rhythm is given by xylophones, guitars, and percussion.

Perfect: A love ballad written and inspired by the love between him and his wife Cherry Seaborn. It was written remininscent of Sheeran’s song he wrote for One Direction, “18.”

Galway Girl: My favorite song on the record for its fun Irish folk musicality. Musically influenced by Van Morrison’s Irish Heartbeat, A “Galway Girl” describes a black haired and blue eyed woman from the city of Galway.

Happier: A standout ballad with mature lyrics about a failed relationship who has already found a new man.

New Man: A fun fast-flowing song about an ex who has changed because of him and these toxic changes have led to her looking for satisfaction elsewhere.

Hearts Don’t Break Around Here: A ballad for his wife Cherry Seaborn, showing Sheeran’s softer side.

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What Do I Know?: Despite not having the education or being the smartest, he uses his music to change the world.

How Would You Feel: A paen is a work that praises or honors its subject and also the middle name of his now wife Cherry Seaborn. A really emotional song about realizing how much you love someone.

Supermarket Flowers: A tribute to Sheeran’s late grandmother, comparing her to an angel.

Barcelona: Ode to the great Spanish city’s vibrant history and culture contain Latin musicality and Spanish guitars.

Bibia Be Ye Ye: A song written in Ghanian dialect meaning “everything will be alright.”

Nancy Mulligan: Full on Irish traditional song that pays tribute to Sheeran’s paternal grandparents, Anne “Nancy” Mulligan and William “Bill” Sheeran. His grandparents had a Romeo and Juliet romance.

Save Myself: A final song speaking to the importance of self-care and self-love. A soft song with a strong piano musicality.

Sheeran’s third album seeks to showcase him exploring both sides of himself, the musician side and the human side but seeks to bond the world with it’s wholesome themes of spreading love and recklessly falling in love with yourself and when the time comes, someone who accepts the entire you that you are and will be.