Hi! Sorry for the long hiatus between posts - something something John Lennon "life happens when you're making other plans" blah blah blah. TL;DR I've been busy with not a lot of time for hobbies, except for today when I'm consciously carving out a little bit of time to do some light music writing (and if I'm feeling esp. daring, creative writing, but let's not get CRAZY). And what perfect timing, as two of my favorite singers - Annie and Lana Del Rey - have new projects bubbling. I try to highlight lesser-known artists when I can on this blog (I have tried for years) but sometimes you must feature well-known artists that you nonetheless love. So here we are.
First up, the new Annie single is actually a collaboration with Alan Braxe. I honestly had no clue who Alan Braxe was until "Never Coming Back" dropped about a week ago. He is a French electronic musician responsible for plenty of remixes over the years, such as one for Annie's arguably most famous song, "Heartbeat" (linked to her name above). Annie and Alan joined forces on "Never Coming Back," an incredibly catchy kiss-off. The sound is irresistibly slick, and her vocals have never sounded more seductively chill. I've had it on repeat since I first heard it, and you can hear it for yourself below!
In other news, Lana Del Rey's 9th studio album is coming out on March 24th, and the third single "The Grants" got an unexpected debut this past week. The album is "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard" (sidenote her titles lately are giving me lots of Fiona Apple flashbacks) and we've already heard the very beautiful title track as well as the wonderfully jarring "A&W" (which isn't about the root beer brand; I'll leave it at that!) I have to say that, ahem, "DYKTTATUOB" (I know I forgot a letter) kind of wore off on me after a while. It's a gorgeous song, but it's not one I can often revisit. This isn't the case for "The Grants" and "A&W," though. "The Grants" is an intensely personal song for Lana wherein she contemplates mortality, recollects meaningful family moments, shouts out John Denver, and kicks off the song with her gospel-esque background singers' endearing flubs. A lot of fans seem to gripe about how Lana has become very fond of piano ballads lately, and "The Grants" seems to follow this vein, but at the same time it feels like a bridge between her most recent work and the "Paradise"-era "Bel Air." Much like how "A&W" seems to hearken back to the "Born to Die" era, too. Honestly, I think "The Grants" is a standout in her intimidating canon, and I have high hopes for "DYKT... forget it," which will be available worldwide this coming Friday!
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