SONG OF THE DAY

SONG OF THE DAY

Day #37

Today's song is ‘Everything’s Beautiful’ by Australian alternative Neo-Soul Jazz/Funk band ‘Hiatus Kaiyote’ from their 2024 album ‘Love Heart Cheat Code’. This four-piece from Melbourne is best described as a dynamic relief from the bland monotony of top forty radio hits, ‘Hiatus Kaiyote’ are an auditory delight. This song is an effervescent celebration of life and sound, with the band's leading lady Nai Palm stating that the song is “a testament to the importance of finding simple joy in your day… not the delusion that we live in a utopia... But rather about actively looking for the beauty, grace and joy in life,” (Clash, 2024). I was so lucky to see them live last weekend at the Fortitude Music Hall and it was a religious experience. To quote my dad while exhausted at the end of the night, with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face: “It was a mess, I can't describe it, they were great.”

“Didn't you notice?

Don't you know, love?

Don't you know everything's beautiful?”

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.

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 #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”

I don't know how this happened, but I now have a backlog of albums to listen to. First world problems that's for sure. It's now 20 projects deep, like, how the fuck. I'm blaming Discover Weekly and Soundtracks. I am officially over whelmed.

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”