The R&B superstar releases her sophomore album, and she’s back with a vengeance.
Two years after Over It, Summer Walker has returned to the music scene in full force. Her latest release, Still Over It, can be seen as the follow-up to her last project. This is Summer’s second studio album and it’s brimming with incredible tracks.
Summer Walker continues to prove through and through in each of her projects that when it comes to R&B, she understands the assignment.Still Over It is the perfect album for listeners who love the early R&B themes of heartbreak and betrayal but also love modern beats and melodies. Tracks like “Constant Bullshit,” “Reciprocate,” and “Broken Promises” are all easily some of the best tracks in her entire discography thus far. Summer knows how to tear her ex-lover apart on one track, revel in her pettiness on another, and cry about it on a third — all while maintaining a palpable cohesion and flow throughout the LP.
Still Over It has a running time of just over an hour and contains 20 songs. It chronicles the public downward spiral of her relationship with producer and rapper London on da Track over the last two years. Summer has accused him of being a deadbeat dad, of not respecting her or their baby, and of mistreating her. Although this entire project revolved around criticizing London, he is nevertheless an accredited producer on half of the songs. The couple is no longer together, but they maintain a relationship professionally and they also co-parent.
If Over It was about needing love and finding intimacy, Still Over It is about coping with infidelity and embracing vulnerability. The album is chock-full of heartbreaking lyrics, zippy one-liners, and melodies that warm the soul.
Out of 20 tracks, eight contain features. A voicemail style recording by Cardi B plays at the top of the album, and one by Grammy award-winning R&B artist Ciara closes it out. Summer teams with SZA for the petty anthem “No Love,” and joins forces with Ari Lennox on the smooth and jazzy “Unloyal.” The project furthers its range of collaborators with Pharrell Williams and The Neptunes on “Dat Right There,” one of the danciest tracks on the album.
This album, at its core, is an homage to women struggling with disloyal partners, all while trying to find themselves. If there is a singular moment that captures this, it is on “4th Baby Mama,” where Summer sings “Telling people that I’m your queen / But all you mean is just of R&B.” After this release, it is safe to say that Still Over It is one of Summer Walker’s strongest projects to date.
The 26-year-old is fresh off the release of his debut project.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Peter Takis, better known by his stage name Takis, has always had a love for music. In high school, he absorbed as much knowledge about the industry as he could during his internship at a local radio station.
As many paths follow these days, Takis started off his career as a DJ before expanding into music production and songwriting. Although it came with its fair number of challenges, Takis took a leap of faith and ventured beyond his hometown.
He gained his software and production knowledge through collaborations and online tutorials.
2020 brought us his debut song, a star-studded collaboration with Tory Lanez and Goody Grace, called “Wait for Me.” The following year, he collaborated with Jamie Fine and Brandyn Burnette for the Billboard-charting hit, “All Time.” With the success of these songs, it piqued many ears and interests in what he had coming next.
On Oct. 22, via Armin van Buuren’s label, Armada Music, Takis released his anticipated debut EP, Season 1: Welcome Home.
The Concordian chatted with Takis about his musical journey and new music.
TC: Where your songs used to be a bit softer, a bit more pillowy, the newer music has a bit more grit to it, some more bottom end. How do you feel you’ve evolved musically in the last few years, and what brought that on?
PT: To me, writing honest music means creating in the moment. How do I feel when I sit down in front of my MacBook on that specific day? A bright song like “All Time” or even “Wait for Me” happens when I’m pretty optimistic or content with my personal life, and on the flip side a song like “Don’t Say I Love You” comes in moments of frustration. So I’d say beyond evolution, it’s more based on present emotion.
TC: Being from a smaller town like Winnipeg, did you find it difficult to expand out of just being a local artist?
PT: For sure, there were many cases where I didn’t feel like I had an example of someone who “made it out” if that makes sense. Thankfully, now there are a few examples for kids back home but for years it felt like I had to be that example which led to a lot of self-doubt, but this is a feeling most upcoming artists deal with as well.
TC: What was your first leap outside Winnipeg?
PT: My first leap was signing a record deal at age 21 and moving. It was scary but exciting. I always felt like I had to take the leap of faith to grow as a person and an artist.
TC: As someone who spent time as a radio station intern, is there a “full-circle moment” feeling when you hear your songs on those same stations?
PT: It’s surreal, to be honest. Going from interning at pop radio trying to figure out how to pay my bills, to hearing my song play every hour, was one of the coolest moments of my life.
TC: Where were you the first time you heard your song playing on the radio?
PT: It would have been when I was younger and coming up. Thankfully my hometown radio stations were always very supportive of my music, but I remember walking into my local gym in Toronto last year hearing my song playing on the radio thinking, “Wow this is incredible.”’
TC: You recently released your anticipated debut EP Season 1: Welcome Home. You describe the record as being an “emotional rollercoaster.” Tell me a bit about your highs and lows of the EP, and when you felt it was ok to let go of the safety bars, throw your hands up, and enjoy the ride?
PT: Creating my debut project took my entire life to figure out. While the writing process was two years, it took all 26 years I’ve been alive to navigate just to get to the point of making a project that matters. Everything from my team to the collaborators, it was a rollercoaster to attract and build all of that.
TC: Welcome Home features collaborations with Ant Clemons, Shaun Frank, and Always Never, among others. How do you go about selecting the people that you feel comfortable enough to create with?
PT: I have to start off as a fan. Creating a song takes time and effort so I have to feel genuinely inspired — every single person who is on Welcome Home I can honestly say I’m a fan first, friend second, and collaborator third.
TC: Riding on the name of your EP, you also started a podcast called Welcome Home. What can listeners expect from the show?
PT: The podcast has been a fun little side hobby for me to learn and enjoy myself. Music is my main priority and passion but doing the weekly podcast has become a really cool side project that I enjoy. I try my best to have on interesting guests and honest conversations.
TC: What has been your highlight moment of the podcast so far?
PT: The fact that over 150,000 people have tuned in is the coolest highlight so far.
LP! is JPEGMAFIA’s most unique collection of tracks
JPEGMAFIA is back with his second release in 2021 with LP!, following up the release of EP2!, a tight seven-track EP that dropped in February. When I think of unique artists in hip hop, artists that push boundaries and explore sounds that go beyond the imaginable, JPEGMAFIA is one of the first names that comes to mind. One of the most intricate figures in the game, he is a true pioneer in the new experimental hip hop universe.
LP! is not as abrasive and rough as Veteran and All My Heroes Are Cornballs are, but it’s definitely more experimental in the sense that he’s trying so many new things on this record.
LP! is filled with unexpected production choices, but it’s to the record’s benefit. You never know what’s coming next and that is what makes it such a special listening experience. One example of this is the heavy metal type beat with tons of echo in his voice like on “END CREDITS!” More surprisingly is the homage to Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” that sees him crooning parts of the chorus with his voice being submerged in autotune on “THOT’S PRAYER!” you never know what direction he’s going in, which makes every track its own unpredictable journey.
The mixing of vocals on LP! is one of the most impressive parts of this album. An average listener may not catch it at a first listen, but it becomes evident when paying close attention. JPEGMAFIA’s voice is constantly changing throughout the album. Sometimes he screams and sounds as aggressive as ever, other times he will simply rap with an inexplicable quirky effect on his voice like on songs like “ARE YOU HAPPY?,” or on moments of “THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD.” He will always manage to make it sound appealing and interesting.
While not super focused in terms of themes and lyricism, LP! contains a handful of clever one-liners. Bars like “And we got straps as big as Dugg in my apartment,” referring to the 5”1 rapper 42 Dugg on “SICK, NERVOUS & BROKE!” or “I might just ghostwrite a hit” on “NEMO!” are both showcasing JPEGMAFIA’s witty sense of humour.
The track sequencing on this album is also off the charts, with most of the songs having a bit of a random beat switch. Yet JPEGMAFIA always finds a way for it to make sense, something mostly attributed to his attention to every little detail and irreproachable work ethic. Despite the tracks sounding different from one another, they all flow pretty well together.
LP! is a mind-boggling, all over the place experience, but it’s the work of a true genius and no other human being could have done this album. JPEGMAFIA once again proves that he truly cannot miss.
Loveless, the seminal shoegaze record, turns 30 this November
1991 had a lot going for it. From Nirvana’s Nevermind to Pearl Jam’s Ten to The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991 is possibly one of the single most important years in rock music. Despite the competition, the album from that year that arguably has remained the most influential to this day is Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.
Loveless was like nothing before it. Sure, through the album you can faintly hear frontman Kevin Shields’ influence from bands like The Cure, or The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Hüsker Dü, but what My Bloody Valentine created from those predecessors helped to spur a whole new genre of its own.
One of the pioneers of shoegaze — jokingly named for band members’ habits of staring at their feet to control multiple effect pedals while performing — My Bloody Valentine’s sound is loud and distorted, full of the hazy vocals and driving guitars that continue to define the genre to this day.
Yet this sound didn’t come without a great deal of work and turmoil. Loveless took almost three years to finish, cycling through eighteen studios, sixteen audio engineers, and ended up costing somewhere between $230,000 to $500,000 — figures noticeably higher than other independent releases of the time. On top of that, the mental and financial stress from the years-long production led to the emotional breakdown of band members and Creation Records executives, who ended up being the label to release the project.
Shields, often described as somewhat of a perfectionist artist à la Brian Wilson or Syd Barrett, has gone on to claim this production length as on par with other similar acts, and that the price estimate has been inflated.
Regardless of the record’s inception, once it was released, it started making waves.Loveless emerged from the studio as a record full of abstract melodies, blown-out noise, and androgynous, sensual vocals. Despite its griminess, the attention to detail employed through the production saga is always evident.
Loveless opens swinging right out of the gate. The first track, “Only Shallow,” grabs you within the first few seconds as lurching guitars reverberate and then give way to smooth, feminine lyrics about thirty seconds in. The song paints a picture of the dichotomy between the abrasive instrumentation and production, and the ethereal vocals present through the whole album.
Around the halfway mark you’re met with “When You Sleep,” the earworm of the album. “When You Sleep” is something of a perfect song. As catchy as it is blurry and distorted, there’s a love song in there, but that’s not really the point.
This vagueness is the case for many My Bloody Valentine songs; the lyrics are more of a gesture to an emotion that the instrumentation accompanies, rather than a story within themselves. As Shields told The Guardian, he wanted My Bloody Valentine’s music to sound like “the most beautiful songs with the most extremeness of physicality and sound.”
The frontman added that, in fact, many online resources have the lyrics all wrong. Shields explained that many are “completely wrong, sometimes in really key areas. Part of me really likes the folk song element of that — people changing things, having their own version of reality — and part of me thinks I should go through them like a teacher, correcting them.”
The tenuous connection between the lyrics and sonic quality is possibly most evident in “Sometimes,” one of the band’s most famous songs. There’s the sense that the song is telling a story of a love lost, but even a look through Genius.com will leave you unsatisfied with that simple of an answer. Even only making out one of every few words, the track envelops listeners in a sonic blanket that is distorted yet comforting. A song for walking through a brightly-lit city at night, “Sometimes” uses its melody alone to create a dreamy atmosphere of angst and yearning.
On closing track “Soon,” the sounds of both shoegaze and dreampop’s future are on full display. First appearing as the opener to the band’s 1990 EP Glider, “Soon” is a hypnotic, danceable track that spans nearly seven minutes. Ambient music pioneer Brian Eno even labeled “Soon” as “a new standard for pop”. He was right. Give the track a listen and you’ll hear its direct influence on bands like Radiohead, Ride, Lush, Smashing Pumpkins, and many more.
Loveless is an album with few peers. Thirty years on, itcontinues to stand alone as a monument to its genre, and to independent music at large.
After calling it quits in 2012, the band behind hits like “Summer Girl” and “Turn It Up” is back.
The Canadian band, Stereos saw their rise to fame after appearing on the MuchMusic show, disBAND back in 2008, which ultimately won them a record deal with Universal Music Canada.
For a while, the band was truly living the dream. From releasing two albums and touring the country, to getting nominated for several JUNO awards in 2010, Stereos found early success in their work. However, after experiencing problems with their label as well as creative differences, the band decided to part ways in 2012.
In the years that passed, the members explored different projects apart. But in 2019, the band reunited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album “Stereos”. It was their first time performing together in what seemed a different lifetime ago. This show sparked something in every member that day, and like that, Stereos were back.
Many promoters and booking agents didn’t hail the reunion show as a success, but with the help and belief of Andrew Valle, the band’s manager, they were certain they could make a genuine comeback. To critics’ surprise, they sold out a 500-person venue, proving to the doubters that they still had what it takes. With the success and the adrenaline that came out of the comeback show, the band decided that it was time to officially get back together.
The only major change from their inception comes with the departure of Daniel Johnson, who played bass, but still remains on great terms with the band. Since then, Stereos have released five new singles, and a new album is hopefully on it’s way. Lead singer Patrick Kordyback wasn’t able to release any concrete details about their future plans, but assured fans that the details will be coming out very soon.
The Concordian chatted with Kordyback about the band’s reunion and their new music.
TC: Your song “Look Good” talks about self-love and empowerment. Is this a song taken from a real life event, or written with a purposeful message in mind?
PK: It’s honestly a mix of both. The lyrics definitely reflect the place I was at personally when it was written, but it was also very much intentionally driven towards being something we hoped every person out there could benefit from. It’s not always easy to feel confident in who you are, but it’s so important to try and get there.
TC: How do you think you guys have changed the most in the last decade?
PK: I think we’re just more well-rounded people and musicians. I think we’re better at even listening to music and that has come out in how we’re able to write and record music. I think our sound is still Stereos, but it just has the added perspective that inherently comes along with growing up a bit.
TC: Off the heels of “Hands Off You,” comes a new single called “Way Back Home.” How would you compare the two?
PK: Well, one thing I love most about this band is how you honestly can’t really compare them aside from them both just sounding like us. I love “Way Back Home” because for me, it’s almost impossible to even know what genre the song is. There’s so much dynamic to it and I feel like it’s hard to tell what will happen next. It’s super fulfilling to have so much variety as an artist.
TC: After an over seven year hiatus, what was the decisive factor to get the band back together?
PK: It all came down to our 10-year reunion shows in 2019. When we were able to sell those out and feel the love of our fans even after disappearing for six-plus years, it was a no-brainer to try and get this thing going again.
TC: Back in 2019, you celebrated the 10-year anniversary show of the release of your debut album , and you performed together for the first time in a while — what happened during that show that made you guys decide to give us new music?
PK: It was just seeing the crowd react to those songs and then meeting people afterwards who told us how much we meant to them. That love and support is intoxicating and impossible to ignore.
TC: If we were to go back and think of the moment that the band broke up, is there anything you wished you would have done differently?
PK: Oh absolutely, I really wish we would have just taken some time apart and then reconvened as opposed to just ending it all so abruptly. All we can really do with it now is learn from it, and I’m thankful for those lessons, but I do think breaking up was a mistake.
TC: As you do in your feel-good song “Glory Days,” and as we reminisce about the band’s past, what are some of your fondest offstage memories as a band?
PK: There are literally way too many to even remember. But I will say that getting to sing the anthem at the Edmonton Oilers game and having the team host us was one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. The Oilers were our first love, so the fact that our band brought us to working with them was incredible.
TC: Your fans are thrilled that you are back together. What can you tell me about your future plans as a band?
PK: All I’ll really say is there will be a lot more details coming out very soon about our future plans, and we are so excited to finally be back together and stronger than ever.
The With You singer is back with a new record and will be touring this winter
Tyler Shaw has come a long way since his “Kiss Goodnight” days. Nine years later he is now a husband and a father, and has released three studio albums. This latest record, Tyler Shaw, represents an evolution of himself, drawing inspiration from his personal experiences.
Throughout COVID-19, Shaw recorded the album in his home studio, connecting with songwriters and producers from around the world. Although some challenges presented themselves, Shaw saw this as a learning experience, and felt that a shift in perspective was exactly what he needed to perfect the sound of the album.
Shaw is set to join Canadian pop opera group The Tenors on their Santa’s Wish Tour across Canada. Excited to get back out there and perform in person, Shaw is also offering VIP experiences before each show, giving fans an opportunity to connect with him in a more traditional way. The Tenors and Shaw have also collaborated on an old holiday favorite, “O Holy Night.”
On Nov. 5, Shaw hopes to spread more holiday cheer with the release of A Tyler Shaw Christmas, a holiday album which he spent most of his summer recording. The album features covers of Christmas classics as well as originals, and Shaw even shares a heartfelt song about his daughter, Everly.
The Concordian spoke to Tyler Shaw to dig deeper into his new album and upcoming tour.
TC: With so many changes in the world and your own life, whether it be COVID or your journey through fatherhood, what are you saying on this record that you haven’t said before?
TS: I think every album I write is an evolution of myself. I pour a lot of who I am in from my personal life, my own experiences, the highs and lows all into my artistry and creative writing process. I would say that my lens certainly changed through becoming a father for the first time. I wanted to articulate myself in a way that mattered. Most of the material I wrote for my sophomore album Intuition was from a perspective of being in love and imagining what my future and what that would look like, but also the growing pains of writing a sophomore album. Now I’m living out what I had manifested just a few years ago. This new self-titled project is a lot more of speaking my truth. I didn’t want to over complicate anything and overthink lyrics, I just wrote from a vulnerable, honest place.
TC: The video for “I See You,” your new single, is filled with beautiful, colourful shots. What is your favourite visual from the video?
TS: This video turned out so beautiful and I loved the post-VFX. I think my favourite part is the flurry of butterflies emerging from the well and then swarming around me in the open field. There’s an underlying metaphor about beauty and self-love that translates from the song into the creativity of the video. It was an interesting experience filming all of these shots and having the fate of the video in the hands of a post-VFX team I’d never met. They did an incredible job. I also loved the shot in the overgrown garden with the piano.
TC: This album has a different sound than the first two. How did you approach the songs differently this time around?
TS: The past year provided a unique challenge, in that being isolated at home didn’t allow for the traditional method of getting songwriters in the same physical space to create. I was connecting virtually with all types of songwriters and producers from around the world on this project, virtually. I think those global perspectives really contributed to the overall sound and I think the evolution you’re alluding to is really a concise choice. I wanted some of the instrumentation in the production to almost mimic emotions. I wanted the strings to evoke the warmth and sadness of some of the lyrics and I wanted big drums to stir up the energy and drive in other songs. I was creating an album that I can’t wait to tour in a live setting. Because the world came to an abrupt halt, I knew that it would take a while to get back to touring and live performances, so when the time came, I wanted to have epic and anthemic music to fill the room and be a release for my fans.
TC: What was your biggest takeaway, good or bad, from creating music throughout COVID-19?
TS: I learned a lot about patience and creating boundaries. I have a home studio where I recorded and wrote the majority of this new album. Living in such close quarters with my family, I had to create time to focus strictly on my project and move to a new environment. I was connecting virtually with songwriters and producers from around the world on different time zones and who were also complete strangers. It was like speed dating with creatives. Traditionally I would get into a physical room with other writers and there’s a period of time at the beginning of a session where you get to know each other but in these virtual sessions you’re baring your heart and feelings to complete strangers. It just accelerated the whole writing process, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but just different. It challenged me to write more directly and avoid being fluffy. Just say what you mean was the mission.
TC: With all of the holiday albums that come out every year, what makes A Tyler Shaw Christmas unique and special?
TS: I’ve taken some of my more successful Christmas covers from years past and combined them with some new covers and originals to round out the project. The way I envisioned this album is that when your family comes over for Christmas Day that you stream or play this album from front to back and it helps narrate the perfect Christmas. It has a little bit of something for everyone in the family. One of my favorite songs on the album is an original song called “Christmas In Your Eyes” that I wrote for and also features my daughter, Everly. The song is written from the perspective of me reliving the magic of Christmas and holidays through my daughter’s eyes. Everly was born just before Christmas last year so this, in theory, will be her first time really experiencing Christmas and I think it’s something special we’ll share for years to come. You’ll hear her voice in the song, and I even cut her in on the publishing.
TC: You’re hitting the road this November with The Tenors to spread some holiday joy. What are you most excited for on this tour?
TS: Honestly, performing in front of people. While I loved staying connected with fans virtually over the past two years, there’s nothing better than a live audience singing along and feeding off of their energy. The Tenors put on an incredible live show and I’m happy to be joining them. I’m also offering my VIP experience for fans as well, which looks a bit different than the traditional meet-and-greets but it’s a real opportunity to connect with my fans before the show, so I’m looking forward to that.
TC: You’ve also worked together with the Tenors to bring back an old holiday favourite, “O Holy Night.” What was it like reworking a classic?
TS: I was working on my new Christmas album most of the summer, which seems strange but that’s how far in advance you need to craft music for the holidays. When I was putting together the project, I really wanted to have some type of holiday classic and make it a collaboration. There’s something so warm about voices blending and harmonizing. I landed on “O Holy Night” as one of those staple holiday classics that I felt everyone knew would be this big moment on the album. I called on my friends The Tenors, who I had coincidentally met a few years back at a Santa Claus parade performance. We recently worked together on the ArtistsCAN cover of “Lean On Me” for COVID relief last year. I’m a pop artist and The Tenors are classically trained so that was a learning curve for all of us in the studio in terms of how we orchestrated this song and made it happen. It took a minute, but I think the final version is absolutely incredible. I remember playing it for a few people when the final mix came in and people were getting emotional. I don’t want to make people cry for the holidays but the emotion this song draws from people is really special. I feel this version is timeless.
TC: If you had to get rid of all the Christmas songs in the world, except one, which one would you keep?
TS: One of my all-time favourite Christmas songs is “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé. If he’s the king of Christmas, I want to be the prince! You can hear the magic in his voice.
Photo courtesy of Justin Wu for Sony Entertainment Canada
Adding a few more tracks and repackaging an album is often a gamble
The deluxe album trend has seen an increase in popularity in popular music over the last couple of years. It’s a way for artists to extend an album’s length by adding some tracks later after the initial release. Some artists have profited from releasing a deluxe album while others have seen their record affected negatively, but at the end of the day it’s more of a gamble than people think.
When deluxe albums were first around, artists were releasing special editions of their albums, which contained other recordings and live versions of songs. Nowadays, you have artists, especially in the hip hop field, that have been re-releasing full records just days or weeks after the initial release, calling them deluxe albums. Usually, a deluxe album contains two to four bonus tracks, which is a reasonable amount of added songs. However, artists like Lil Uzi Vert and NAV have both released 14-track deluxe albums following up the release of their 18 track album.
An argument can be made that this is just too much music. For example, listening to a NAV record on its own is painful, but he should be locked up in jail for dropping another horrible album a couple of days after the release of Good Intentions. Unless you’re a stan of the artist, I don’t understand why someone would release another project right after dropping a long-awaited album.
A reason as to why artists are leaning towards dropping deluxe albums is that releasing more tracks equals more money in their pockets. By releasing a deluxe album, it creates an opportunity for artists to have two album-release sale weeks instead of one, which can be a good way for them to generate more money off of streams and to give more visibility to the initial record as well. With shows being cancelled due to COVID-19, artists have struggled a bit more with making money since performing live is usually their main source of income. The solution to this is to release additional tracks to their records in order to make a little bit more money. Whether it’s Pop Smoke with Shoot For The StarsAim For The Moon and Faith, Lil Baby with My Turn or even Aminé with Limbo, they all benefited financially by releasing longer deluxe albums.
An important point to keep in mind about deluxe albums is that when an artist releases one, it will likely have a negative influence on the overall quality of the record. Some songs don’t make the final product for a reason. They might not have been as strong as other tracks or maybe didn’t fit the overall aesthetic or theme of the album; other times the tracklist was already bloated. If the bonus songs added to the record don’t add much to the overall experience, it will sadly drag the quality of the project down.
While it is fun for fans to have additional music from artists they enjoy, it is also fun for artists to financially profit even more from their music. Releasing a deluxe version of your album is always a gamble since it can severely alter your record’s perception and drag the quality down by a fair amount. In the end, it’s not a risk worth taking for artists because overall, it will have little to no effect on how the album will be remembered.
Get ready to dance, cry, unwind, and vibe –– all within twenty minutes.
PinkPantheress has arrived. The viral TikTok musician released her first mixtape, to hell with it, on Oct 15. One of the standout voices among Generation Z musicians, the British pop singer blew up on the platform in early 2021. Although she is quite new to the music scene, she already has over ten million monthly listeners on Spotify — and her mixtape is quickly raising that number.
In total, to hell with it contains ten songs, but its entire running time is only just over 18 minutes, showcasing what has come to be a theme in PinkPantheress’ music: songs under two minutes. Although the songs are short and the pace of the mixtape may be quite speedy, the production quality does not suffer because of it.
The project itself can be classified as a bedroom pop album — it also borrows from hyperpop, lo-fi, hip hop, classic pop, and electronic music unique to the U.K. scene. The uniqueness of to hell with it is in its cohesion and diversity — the entire mixtape has a similar sound. One of the hallmarks of any PinkPantheress song is her use of samples: she loves sampling songs from the ‘90s and 2000s, remixing them to her liking. Some samples include Crystal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” and Linkin Park’s “Forgotten.” What is impressive about the project is how different each song is — while they all have a similar feel, they could not be more different from one another.
The mixtape has its highs and lows, both in mood and quality. Songs like “Passion” and “I must apologise” have an upbeat energy and make you want to bop around your room at 3:00 a.m. Other tracks, like “Noticed I cried” and “Pain” will make you want to curl up under the covers and reimagine old dramatic scenarios in your head. PinkPantheress is a master of sad music: as she explained in a TikTok video, “plz understand I don’t write sad lyrics in an actual ‘sad’ way but in a studious, unlucky in love main character in a y/n x Harry x Zayn Wattpad love story way.” Even so, some tracks like “All my friends know,” are filled with an inexplicably vibey energy.
Despite all the fantastic bits and pieces that are so well put together, something is still missing. Fans of PinkPantheress love her Y2K, early 2000s energy, but almost every single track features a sample: in 18 minutes, she somehow manages to sample six different songs. It feels like the real PinkPantheress is still waiting to shine. Her voice is quite melodic, and her lyrics have weight to them, but this mixtape leaves more to be desired. Granted, she is only twenty, so there is no doubt that her sound will continue to come into its own.
PinkPantheress has put out a real gem: to hell with it is the deep and alternative breath of fresh air needed to shake up pop music right now. Her impact can already be felt on social media — the artist’s songs have been used by hundreds of thousands of creators on TikTok, serving as backdrops for dance trends, makeup videos, fashion lookbooks, and so much more. Young people love her sound, as it seems to take them back to their childhood in an enchanting and psychedelic manner. This is PinkPantheress’ first ever project of this size, and it is quite the promising prelude to any of her future works.
Music is often criticized for being too mainstream, or straight-up weird, but an individual’s favourite music usually boils down to its uniqueness or simplicity
Today’s musicians juggle an oversaturated market, leading them to question how they can stand out among the herd. With Apple Music and Spotify playlists updated weekly, musicians clash as they struggle to reach for the top of the list.
Artists who can incorporate popular and inventive elements in their music offer new, palatable experiences to the average listener. When a new track sparks discussion, whether it is outlandish or watered-down, it often still plays a pivotal role in the progression of music culture.
Here are some ways artists can navigate the vast landscape of the pop industry.
The popular and the experimental
Experimental music is a genre in itself, but if we look at Fiona Apple, for example, we find an artist who is innovative within the popular scene. Fringe music, another label for this category, may be too inaccessible and isn’t a realistic approach for budding musicians hoping to make a living off of their music.
We can take a look at Hallin’s spheres to better understand the spectrum of modern music. Named after Daniel C. Hallin, this communications theory is defined by Oxford Reference as a negotiation between three concepts of journalistic objectivity. In this diagram, the centre circle refers to the consensus of public opinion, the middle circle follows ideas of legitimate controversy, and the outermost circle describes fringe society.
If we repurpose this diagram, we can look at how music can be received by an audience. That is: music in the mainstream, music that tests what a listener can enjoy, and music that is disliked or misunderstood by a large audience.
When music is labelled as artistic, it is usually because it strives to add something that has not existed before, or improving on something performed in the past. In contrast, the popular artist is hoping to gain recognition for a widely accepted sound.
Art music may be an appropriate way to label it, then.
Lady Gaga, for example, who has ruled over the popular scene for the last decade, recently dropped a reimagined look at her 2020 album Chromatica. One year later, Dawn of Chromatica takes the core structure of her popular dance hits, and reinvents it with help from extraordinary talents like Dorian Electra, Mura Masa, Rina Sawayama and many other experimental artists.
This eclectic album redux broadens Gaga’s audience and takes a real turn towards the eccentric. For Lady Gaga, her embrace of the weird isn’t abnormal, but it gives us the chance to explore Chromatica’s “what if” moments.
So, in my definition, art music represents a form that leads away from wide recognition in the hopes of finding new and refreshing avenues for a song, style, and genre.
Music stuck somewhere in the middle
Between charting music and music far outside the mainstream exists the middle, where we find music that aims to entertain the listener and also test their limits.
Within the genre of pop, we find new approaches from artists like Billie Eilish, who makes pop music stylized by her dark, carefree personality, and Hubert Lenoir, who brings a free-spirited, offbeat energy to his pop music.
The rise of music curation in streaming services has also created new opportunities for musicians to stand out, even in an oversaturated market.
Due to numerous specialized playlists and radio stations, listeners can find more and more unique music experiences. This wide-ranging curation tends to favour popularity but highlights emerging artists or bands as well. Under streaming services, there is a renewed desire to find obscure music that does something novel.
It’s worth noting that music evolves, and so does its audience. What may be received at first as fringe music can become accepted over time. Playboi Carti’s discography, strangely enough, shows this within a short timeframe. His singles and albums have often been received as underwhelming at first listen, but increase in popularity over the following weeks.
Virality plays a role in music progression too, as one single can establish a new music style and become a highly sought-after product. One example is Justin Bieber’s remix of “Despacito,” which brought forth a wave of reggaeton music to North America. Recently it has become equally important for record labels and streaming services to care about both experimental and popular music.
The scope of music
Upon observation, art and pop music function as a dichotomy. Together, they add balance to music culture with a centralized approach that places the audience first. You couldn’t have smash hits from Doja Cat without Nicki Minaj paving the way, and there also wouldn’t be an Anderson .Paak without pretty much any R&B or funk artist ever.
Releases that are too accessible can quickly start to feel commercial, as if it were a product. Oftentimes, artists are hired to make promotional music for a movie, which usually leads to safer music that panders to an audience. One example is the soundtrack for Suicide Squad, which featured a diverse range of artists but led to music with small thrills and inconsequential impact.
Music that is too experimental is susceptible to gatekeeping and can distance and confuse a fanbase. The reason why a fanbase becomes confused arises when an artist chooses to reinvent itself to the point of a loss of identity. For example, after nearly 15 years of transformations, Ye’s last three albums have left many longtime fans feeling left behind.
More generally, pop cannot continue existing without innovation, however minimal, and too much attention to experimentation can unravel a demographic. Therefore, both streams of thought cannot live without the other.
In the end, consider what you would like from your own music favourites. Do you want your music to be at the cutting edge of the industry? Would you like it to continue perfecting sounds you have grown to love?
Regardless, music pushes forward and it’s interesting to remember what your favourite artists contributed to the ongoing evolution of music.
The remastered project has its quirks and differences, but it’s still Mac
Over seven years after its release on Mother’s Day 2014, Mac Miller’s Faces has come to streaming services. The initial tape saw a free release via DatPiff, but this remaster via the family estate has brought about a version that is different, not better. Along with the remaster is a short film, a handful of animated music videos, and an officially pressed vinyl.
To put Faces in a box is the wrong way to write this article. The main differences sonically between this Faces and the original are slight. In terms of mixing, 2014’s Faces had a bit of a static-like quality to many of the tracks and sometimes had Miller’s voice low in the mix of his songs. This version sees most of the tracks adjusted to bring Miller’s vocals to the forefront, along with tweaked instrumentals. A good example of these changes can be observed on “New Faces v2.” On the latest release, the drum loop begins much earlier than it does in the initial release.
Part of what made Faces such a revered project amongst fans was the use of various samples in the original release. Having released it for free and not profit, Miller was able to use an abundance of samples throughout the project without needing to pay the originators to license their use. With the re-release, many fans were expecting most of the samples to be butchered or removed, which is only mildly the case.
Some of the samples that were kept were those on “Here We Go” and “Diablo.” The sample used in “Here We Go” was a paraphrased speech from a 2005 movie, Kingdom of Heaven. Another sample which was retained was the interpolation of Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood.” This sample is the heart of the beat in “Diablo”, so it was only right that it stayed.
Some samples that were cut from this remaster of Faces were those from the original versions of “Wedding,” “Funeral,” and “Grand Finale.” Whether it was a money or a licensing issue, this remaster saw the removal of multiple audio clips. Namely, a clip of a Charles Bukowski interview, a passage from a Hunter S. Thompson interview, and a clip from the 1980 film, Where the Buffalo Roam.
While these are not a big deal overall, they did play big roles in furthering the segue from one track to another throughout the project. Although they will be missed, having the mixtape on streaming is bigger than a few samples that didn’t make it (though hardcore fans will probably maintain their position that the underground version is superior).
One major difference between the original Faces and this re-release is the addition of “Yeah,” a five-minute bonus track that was not available on the 2014 DatPiff release. The track originally leaked in December 2019 under the name “8:21 AM.” The song itself is a haunting slow burner that rifles through nihilism and existentialism over a simple beat. While Miller never had a fantastic vocal range, this song may just be one of his strongest vocal performances, if not the best.
Remastering Faces is not going to be detrimental to a legacy that was already solidified. It would be easy to write this off as a money grab, but that is not accurate to everything that the estate has done after Miller’s death. Money has been spent on remastering the project well, and on producing and creating music videos and the short film that had no necessity to be made.
Without a doubt, this tape being more widely available will make sure that it finds its way to new listeners. At its core, this re-release is for the fans, and even if it isn’t perfect, it’s an acknowledgement to those that still love his music.
Friends That Break Your Heart is a continuation of the sound he was surfing on his last record, Assume Form
James Blake is one of the more interesting names in the pop and R&B field. His last record, Assume Form, was a big departure from the sound that first got Blake onto the scene. Despite being a popular figure in the genre, the enigmatic singer approaches the style in a way that stands out from your average artist, blending elements of electronic music and R&B in a refreshingly experimental form.
Friends That Break Your Heart is an intimate listen that all starts with the gorgeous opener “Famous Last Words.” This song sees Blake opening up about a relationship that ended, feeling like he should have forgotten about that person by now. This is accompanied by a stellar instrumental, with an absolutely breathtaking string progression at the end.
Blake’s self-titled debut veers more towards the experimental while including esoteric sound clips in a Björk kind of way. This might not be for everyone at first but once you get used to it, it’s actually quite pleasant. Friends That Break Your Heart borrows a lot of trendier elements that are easier on the ears. The production of the record is extremely atmospheric with songs such as “Life Is Not The Same” and “I’m So Blessed You’re Mine,” showcasing Blake’s somber and more ominous instrumentals. The Metro Boomin produced “Foot Forward” is also another cool highlight with its bouncy piano chords. These production choices instantly captivates listeners into his own world. It truly feels like it has been meticulously assembled in a genuinely delicate way with every single sound on the record having its own purpose.
Blake’s voice also adds a lot to the experience and his vocals throughout the album can be described in two words: hauntingly beautiful. His rich and high-pitched delivery provides a profound sentiment of melancholy, and when this is paired with his lyrics about losing friends, it all makes for one truly magnificent experience.
This album doesn’t have a lot of features, but the few that are included all enrich the overall experience. Blake has a knack for choosing quality artists to be on his songs, and this album makes no exception. From the likes of SZA on the utterly pleasing “Coming Back,” or even JID and SwaVay on “Frozen,” both delivering explosive verses — they all add up to the overall experience of the album.
Friends That Break Your Heart is a breath of fresh air in the mainstream pop and R&B branch and is one truly hypnotizing listen that you will come back to more often than not. Ten years after the release of his first album, this is definitely his best album to date.
Evan H. Clarke is making his return to releasing music all the way from Austria. The Concordia graduate is back with Nighthawk USA, Pt. II, the second installment of an initial vision for a double album.
Nighthawk USA, Pt. II marks Clarke’s third release in 18 months, following 2020’s Maverick, and Nighthawk USA, Pt. I, released earlier this year. Instead of releasing one album with 20-plus tracks, the original idea will see light via three separate releases.
“I was like, ‘What am I gonna do? A double album?’ No one listens to albums these days, let alone double albums, so I’m gonna release it as three EPs and figure out what’s the best way to sequence them so they worked in the album but also as three separate EPs,” said Clarke.
Creative space is not a problem for Clarke, who says he tends to write songs in batches. This batch, the second part of his double album, is one that borrows inspiration from different parts of the globe. Its roots as demos and ideas were in British Columbia, but these only wrapped up recently after settling into his new European groove.
If this new release can be summarized: it’s mellow, full of life, and an easy listen.
Whether it is the folk-pop feel of Maverick, or the folk riffs on these Nighthawk projects, what is being done is being done well, but it’s not a limit. According to Clarke, his next project is an electronic one — something fun just to get it out of his system.
The Concordian to Evan H. Clarke about his latest release, and what’s next.
TC: How do you differentiate this project from Nighthawk USA, Pt. I or Maverick? Is this an improvement?
EC: I feel like every time I make something, record, produce, release, I learn and I get better for the next one. So I feel like for this one, in terms of sequencing the songs, mixing, even honing in on my writing, I feel is potentially stronger than the other two just because I’ve learned from that, in terms of working on my proofreading and my editing and making sure that the lyrics are the best that they could possibly be.
Compared to the other two, lyrically, sonically, it is better. I think it is also more emotional. The first couple tracks on the first EP and Maverick, there’s some emotion, but a lot of it is just kinda rocking out and having fun. […] I think that with this one I’m very proud of it because I’ve allowed myself to be more vulnerable than before.
TC: Where did you finish the making of it?
EC: I wrote all of these songs around the same time when I was living in the Okanagan, so the sound of it, the content, the lyrics, the direction are all very much influenced by that landscape. […] I did some of it in Montreal, some of it in BC, some of it in Austria, so it’s been cool to see how the tracks evolve depending on where I am and what kind of instruments I have access to.
It was a lot of fun to do, but it is a lot of work. Particularly when you’re either finishing your degree or starting a new full-time job in a new country, you don’t always have a lot of time to work on it. So every now and then you have an hour or an hour and a half to work on the mix, but this whole project is just me having fun.
TC: How does your new life affect your creative output?
EC: Last time we spoke, I talked about wanting to do more electronic stuff. When I was in Osoyoos I was like, “Man I need a banjo,” because it suited the landscape. Now that I’m here I’ve been producing, I don’t know if it’s going to be an EP or an album yet, but more like a sample-based electronic project. I feel it’s directly influenced by being in Vienna, I don’t know what it is, whether it’s being in the city, having more technology, I don’t know. That’s just how my creativity is manifesting in the city, more electronic.
I’ve still got the third part of Nighthawk USA to finish, I’ve got all the music done, I just have to record the vocals and stuff. I think I’m gonna try and do this electronic one first, to get it out of my system, then go back to the folky stuff.
TC: In our past conversations, we’ve talked about changing directions towards electronic. Where do you go from here?
EC: I just started making this beat one day, and it sounded awesome. Then the next thing you know, I’ve got three or four of them going and I’m thinking, “Maybe I’ll focus on this for a little while.”
When you’re recording acoustic folk music, you have to worry about your neighbours being loud and, I live near a street which is like super loud, so that stuff can be kind of frustrating as well. So I figure for a little while now, until I get some kind of booth set up in my apartment, I’m just going to focus on electronic. It’s funny how that kind of stuff is influenced by your surroundings.
Clarke’s musical career shows no sign of stopping regardless of what his life looks like.
