SONG OF THE DAY

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #30

Today's song is You’ve Got The Love by UK band Florence and the Machine from their 2009 debut indie-rock album Lungs. The track is an adaption of Candi Staton’s 1986 dance number You Got The Love, but Florence and the Machines track is its own beast. The song was first performed for festival sets early on in their career, and Welch has described how “even in rehearsals, playing it was just the most euphoric feeling. Then playing it live... was like tearing ourselves open and just exploding on the crowd.” As Welch describes, it is an emotionally charged number with its dainty harp, melodious guitar, and of course soaring vocals. It pulls you in with its strings, ensnares you when it expands after the first verse, then unleashes like a top spinning with Welch’s spiritual chants into a glorious run at 1:58. It is cathartic, it is brimming with love, it is a lightning strike of joy… it’s everything I love about music.

Lungs was the first CD I ever bought when I was a teen, and I cried and screamed whenever I made eye contact with Florence Welch when seeing the experience live for the first time in my 20s. I truly believe my life winds and unfurls with Welch’s music since her songs are so tied to many of my life's moments: from playing Cosmic Love while getting ready for a school dance, playing What Kind Of Man while dealing with hormones and heartbreak, playing Hunger as I was becoming my own person, to playing Free while moving out of my parent's house. I know I am coming across as ridiculous, but Florence and the Machine have defined who I am as a person the same way performers like Queen, Radio Head, My Chemical Romance, or even Taylor Swift may have for you.

“Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air

'Cause I know I can count on you

Sometimes I feel like saying ‘Lord I just don't care’

But you've got the love I need to see me through”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #29

Today's song is Exit Girl by New Zealand artist Sophie Brown, known professionally as Ratbag. Released in 2023 and on her debut EP Why Aren’t You Laughing? the track is eclectic matching her chaotic energy. This song has quickly become one of my favourite tracks since first hearing it (thank you Discover Weekly). I love its manic and anxious energy during its chorus and its angsty vibe during its lows. Ratbag is also a visual artist experimenting in multiple formats from fashion to digital art to gritty sketches. Her surrealist characters and designs are featured in her music videos and promotional artwork, with the cover of her EP being her work as well. Her band of emotion-emulating monsters are a key part of the ‘world of Ratbag’, where music and visuals are combined to create a theatrical experience of her ideas made tangible. I'm super excited to see what Ratbag makes next, and I hope we are continuously invited to experience her enigmatic creations.

“Where is the exit girl?

Where is the exit girl?

Put down your drink and help me get

Home”

I've read some amazing fics with beautiful and healthy relationships and messages about mental health that have made me the person I am today. I wish I had half the courage fanfic writers do so take this post as a blanket thank you ❤️

Some fanfictions have left a more profound impression on me than published literature, and I want to encourage every fic writer: Write and write from the heart. Don't let fear stop you, because your impact is bigger than you think💜

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #35

Today’s song is ‘Golden’ by American Soul/R&B artist Jill Scott from her 2004 album ‘Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2’. Scott’s vocals are velvet smooth over a funky kicky beat, jazzy keys, and a touch of synth. With lyrics full of praise and confidence and a sing-along chorus, the track is celebratory, resulting in a retro feel-good mood setter that glides, rollerblading a relaxed joy through any room.

“I'm taking my own freedom

Putting it in my song

Singing loud and strong

Grooving all day long

I'm taking my freedom

Putting it in my stroll

I'll be high-steppin' y'all

Letting the joy unfold”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #31

Today's song is ‘The Doll People’ by Australian Indie/Alternative artist Sofia Isella from her very recently released 2024 EP ‘I Can Be Your Mother’. Unsettling yet captivating, her sound has a similar quality to and takes inspiration from artists such as Billie Eilish, Nine Inch Nails, Caroline Polachek, Lorde, Imogen Heap, and Fiona Apple. The track is very dark exploring gender, sex, and identity with unflinching and purposefully crude lyrics. The track feels more like an avant-garde fable with its blend of conventional yet grand piano and strings with unconventional vocal work, such as her goosebump-raising runs, breaths, and clicking. At only 19 Sofia Isella commands your attention akin to a more established artist, so it's no wonder she was invited to perform as an opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and is fastly emerging into the mainstream.

“To be admired takes precedence over admiring

To be desired takes precedence over desiring

Drink the dolls

Legs spread like butter

We are wife, whore, mistress, maid, mother”

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #23

Ocean Grove and Sneaky Sound System, whats not to love? Today's pick is Ocean Grove’s cover of Sneaky Sound System’s UFO for Tripple J’s Like a Version April 2021. UFO was released in 2006 and was featured on their self-titled album, the track then climbed charts hitting platinum here in Australia. Ocean Grove is an Australian Nu Metal band that flit towards grunge and punk, and with their use of eclectic samples in their production they make some fun heavy tracks. Their best album in my opinion is 2020’s Flip Phone Fantasy and its definitely worth a look. Ocean Grove’s cover of UFO is different from their usual sound due to its simpler production but it's still very much them in the sense that you can't help but tap your foot or bop your head along to the track. It's a great cover to kick your shitty mood to the stratosphere.