Best of 2015: Albums

There have been so many fantastic albums this year, it's genuinely been a good year for music. Here are my top 15 albums of 2015, along with a notable song from the album.

Best Of 2015: Songs

So many brilliant songs have been released this year, here's my top 25 tracks, along with a Spotify playlist at the end so you can listen to them all!

My November Soundtrack

Hello! Welcome to 'My November Soundtrack', a monthly feature on Totally Culture where I list 10 songs I'd been listening to that month, some old, some new. Let's get started. I think this might be my favourite soundtrack so far, particular favourites being Zibra, Andrew McMahon and Billie Marten.

Adele '25' Review

Hello. It's me, I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to read... my review of ADELE'S NEW ALBUM. YES YES YES!

'Hello' is, of course, the best known track from the album, but in the context of the album's narrative it's an intense and moving introduction to the next stage of Adele's life and musical career. It sets the theme, this being reflection on relationships and the past in general, yet successfully re-establishes place in the music industry. The track itself is truly emotive and powerful, although the opening lines are tender and careful which provides a nice contrast when that develops into the aforementioned emotional power of the song. I do believe that 'Hello' will remain one of Adele's most popular songs for years to come, and rightly so, as it's a brilliant song. 

'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)' manages to combine sass and strength in the best possible way. Upon first hearing the track, I wasn't too sure if it worked. After a few more listens, I warmed to it. I was surprised at the musical direction, the initial indecisiveness being that I was expecting ballad after ballad on this album, yet 'Send My Love' is upbeat and fresh. This works in the songs favour, while it could have easily been a ballad, it seems Adele wanted to show strength in this song, and does so successfully by adding some funk and sass. It's a great song, and could very easily be successful, however I feel it may take a few listeners some time to warm to it. 

'I Miss You' also surprised me, in a sense that it's sultriness was completely unexpected. I genuinely thought I had somehow started listening to a Beyoncé song instead of Adele until the vocals kicked in. Yet, again, Adele manages to give an abundance of emotion and sense of connection in this song, or perhaps a desire for connection in the case of this song.

Check that high note though, because 'When We Were Young' is one of the most touching and magnificent songs Adele has released. Adele has a way of intriguing you with a simple 5 seconds of introduction, and with this song especially you know that it's going to be that Adele song that makes you tear up. This is the epitome of reflection in this album, focusing on the glamorisation of young relationships, when actually, it's broken and painful to experience. Adele's vocals are at an all time high in this song, and it's easy to disregard the emotion she puts into this song. Take some time to listen to the lyrics, listen to her voice. It's awe-inspiring.

When I first heard 'Remedy', this was the song that got to me the most. The story Adele tells in the song is heart-breaking, it resonates with everyone. "When the pain cuts you deep, when the night keeps you from sleeping, just look and you will see I will be your remedy". How vulnerable are those lyrics? She's giving her time to help somebody, she wants to 'cure them'. It's something we all experience. The song itself is wonderfully produced, a simple piano, no backing vocals, a stripped-back Adele song that still manages to be poignant and contemplative. Adele really hits the mark with this song.

'Water Under The Bridge' is my favourite song from '25'. I went for a walk earlier (writing this on the day of release) and had this song on repeat for the entire 40 minutes. The song is epic, production-wise, lyrically, vocally, it's simply epic. The lyrics are sincerly heart-breaking - "don't pretend that you don't want me" being a prime example. The production on 'Water Under The Bridge' is deceptive, disguising the sadness of the song behind a fun and hip stylised song. Dare I say it, but this is in fact my favourite Adele song of all time, and easily has potential to become my favourite song in general if I don't overplay it due to loving it so much. Would it be weird to say that I'm actually thankful for this song, because it really is stunning. 

'River Lea' is slightly gospel-like which works in the songs favour, because it makes the song much more easy and comforting to listen to. It's a fun song, 'River Lea' manages to be empowering and defining for Adele in her new artistic direction. It's definitely a song not to be missed.

Similar to 'When We Were Young' and 'Remedy', my first impression of this song was that it was going to be a heartbreaking song. Perhaps this song has the potential to be ignored when placed against songs such as 'Water Under The Bridge' and 'Remedy', but it does deserve recognition for remnants to Adele's past music.

'Million Years Ago' is another stripped-back track on the album, with Adele's vocals being tender and almost considerate. Similar to 'Love In The Dark', my initial thoughts were that this song could be pushed aside for the 'bigger' songs on the album, but the reaction to 'Million Years Ago' on social media, Twitter especially, has glorified the song, which I found interesting. Perhaps a song doesn't need huge production to be a hit with the listeners, sometimes it's nice to sit back and listen to a stripped-back song (it'll still make you cry though).

While 'All I Ask' is another stripped-back song, it stands out on the album because of it's story. One last night with her lover - "what if I never love again", perhaps something that resonates strongly with listeners. I wouldn't know, personally, yet it still gets to me. The heartbreak heard so clearly in Adele's vocals have a huge impact on the song. 

How do you end an album about reflection and heartbreak? With 'Sweetest Devotion' of course, a song about the present. Adele's found happiness, and you can really hear that in this song. She's found her sweetest devotion, what Adele says is "the one that I belong to". 'Sweetest Devotion' is a fantastic way to end the album, and a reassuring confirmation from Adele that one can actually find happiness, three albums later. 

To summarise, '25' does well with reflecting on the past, the narrative of the album is set clearly from the offset which is pleasant. While some songs can be lost due to the strength of others, when put together the album is powerful and exceeds the high expectations it has had for two long years. Standout songs include 'Water Under The Bridge', 'When We Were Young' and 'Remedy'. Welcome back, Adele. 

5 stars

That's all for now.

Bye!

Totally Culture

Curtis

My October Soundtrack

Welcome to my monthly soundtrack, featuring 10 songs I've been listening to during those 30/31 days. Dare I say it's been a slightly slow-paced month for music, although it would be fair to say it's been a rather slow year for the music industry (how much Justin Bieber can we take, seriously? Pls Justin just stop). However, mid-October to late October had some really good music. You might have heard of this person called Adele? Yeah, she came back, with a fantastic song. Let's get started. 

1. Hello - Adele (of course)

This is truly a masterpiece, I first came across that snippet of the single on Twitter and instantly fell in love. As Adele has stated, her upcoming album is a 'make-up' album, and we truly get a sense of that in this song. It reflects on the idea of what happens after the breakup, how they're mending and reflecting on what could've been. Simply wanting to say 'hello', simply wanting to say 'sorry'. The sombre tone and real lyrics are what makes this track one of the best of, not only October, but the year. 

2. Alive - Sia

Funnily enough, this song was meant for Adele's upcoming album 25, but it didn't make the cut. You can definitely hear Adele's impact on the song, with her being a co-writer on the track. This is a nice departure from Sia's 1000 Forms of Fear, yet still manages to stay very Sia. Those high notes though, unachievable for any ordinary human being. Sia proves yet again that you don't have to twerk and sing about drugs to make a killer song.

3. Love Me - The 1975

Can I make you all hate me by saying that I didn't really 'get' The 1975 the first time round, but their first single from their second album suddenly appealed to me. Love Me of course sounds like it was created to bring back the attention of the fans, but it also got my attention (not being a fan of the first album bar one of two select songs) because it's slightly different, it's fun and it's quirky, it has a really infectious 'youthful' feel to it. I think it's safe to say I'm now a fan. 

4. Rollercoaster - Bleachers (and Charli XCX)

This song makes me feel nostalgic for the 80s, despite me being born in 1997. I'm not entirely sure how that even works, but it's a thing apparently. This is simply a really, really nice song to listen to. Yet, it makes me want to run around an American high school in a montage set in the 80s. 

5. Wings - Hurts

This is possibly one of my favourite songs from 2015, already, and with Hurts' newly released album Surrender I found myself having the majority of this list being songs from that album, I refrained and decided to have my absolute favourite from the album on here. For reference; two others that I really like are 'Rolling Stone' and 'Nothing Will Be Bigger Than Us'. Wings is a truly beautiful song, the chorus itself is a 'raise your hands dramatically in the air and sing your heart out' moment. It's just a very much cooler and better version of a Westlife song and I definitely appreciate that. The story of the song is another thing, it's moving yet so very touching, reflective yet makes you want to go outside and hug everyone you see. 

6. Shine A Light - BANNERS

BANNERS' Shine A Light is a feel-good, starting off slowly and quietly, quickly becoming a lively yet tender song. First hearing the song, I admired the blend of tender lyrics with the feel-good, anthem-like sound. You could definitely imagine this being sung at Glastonbury on the main stage at night, everybody singing along to the chorus. It's simply a really great song. 

7. Fashion - The Royal Concept

I'm only now realising the potential context of this song, I should really listen properly sometimes. But, heck, it's a good upbeat song. Take this scenario, you're walking down the street in the early 90's with your group of friends and you're being all cool and 'hip' (perhaps use My Mad Fat Diary as a reference for this) and this song plays. It's the ultimate 'cool kids' music, right?

8. Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1) - Aurora

This is a really, really dark song with a flowy, nice and airy sound to it. I first heard it played by Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1 and loved it, I looked into the song and read the lyrics and found it to be the perfect contradiction. It's a beautiful sounding song, but the lyrics are so haunting and, perhaps even scary, that it combines to make a surprising song that's both tender and heavy. Ever since hearing Aurora, I've become slightly obsessed with her work. I'd definitely recommend checking her out. 

9. Seventeen - Sjowgren

This is a really cool song, it makes me feel nostalgic and chilled. You know, like, driving down the coast in a super cool convertible with your friends (not like that Friday video by Rebecca Black, imagine it a bit more cooler), hands up in the air, so much excitement and fun. This song makes me feel good about life. 

10. Beat of My Drum - Powers

This is simply just a feel-good song. I want to shimmy and do all the cool dance stuff when I listen to it. It's fun, it's energetic, it's about doing your own thing (hence the title, beat of my drum). This is truly just a fantastic song that I've really enjoyed listening to, heck it was the first of these songs to make it onto my iTunes, usually I listen to music on Spotify unless I really want to commit to a song. Thus, this is a fab song.

 

P.s. there's a really good remix of this song (The White Panda Remix), which makes me want to dance and shimmy even more than the original (which I thought wasn't even possible). Check it out below:

That's all for now. 

See you soon!

Byeeeee

Totally Culture

Curtis