Artist and producer Corey Pavlosky may be used to crafting tracks for other artists, but he’s taking this time to create something personal, and that is found in his new single “Out of My Head”, which shines the frustrating and possibly even embarrassing moment when you profess your love to someone who would rather just stay friends. Despite the heartbreak, the tune is a more enthusiastic approach to figuring out what to do when facing such a rejection, opting for a frolic through flower meadows type of therapy instead of crying on your bedroom floor. Still, the track sees Pavlosky struggling to come to terms with how to move on, a common sentiment that could benefit from a playful track like this one. Eventually, you learn to be alright given the circumstances and that alone is cause for celebration. The world needs an optimistic look on an unfortunate situation, and “Out of My Head” is the perfect place to find it.
Pavlosky says of the inspiration behind the track: “[The rejection] was obnoxiously painful, but I’m gonna force myself to be happy.”
If 2020 has taught me one thing it’s that I don’t have a lot of ancillary sound in my daily life. All of the music, news, podcasts, and conversations are chosen by me. Since I am not going into stores, restaurants, and theaters this year, I am also not in my car very often so my exposure to seasonal music is only what I am hearing at home. That is a great thing! I am able to listen to holiday music, knowing that I won’t have to hear the same 10 songs in a loop. I can also throw in favorites that, although aren’t strictly holiday songs, have the same spirit.
Are you spending time this month organizing, baking, or decorating?We’ve all got those menial tasks this time of year that could use more joy and movement, and these songs will do just the trick without being loaded with too many holiday frills. (You know what I mean.)
Christmas in Hollis – Run DMC Grey In LA – Loudon Wainwright III Carol of the Bells – Los Lonely Boys Little Drummer Boy/Hot Hot Hot – Wyclef Jean What Christmas Means to Me – Hanson Raise Your Glass – P!nk God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings – Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan Merry Christmas Baby – Otis Redding Oh How the Years Go By – Vanessa Williams O Tannenbaum – Vince Guaraldi Trio (A Charlie Brown Christmas) Somewhere Only We Know – Keane Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie & Bing Crosby Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love
Orla Gartland returns with a bold indie-pop single & music video for “Pretending“. Dublin-born and London-based, she writes & co-produces all of her music and is the creative visionary of her videos. The visuals of “Pretending” start and finish within a costume party’s bathroom, where Orla herself is dressed as a clown amongst various party-goers who enter the bathroom throughout the night. She’s got one point to make – she’s done with pleasing others by losing sight of herself. Orla stares at herself in the bathroom mirror during a song of true self-reflection singing, “All of my heroes are way sadder than me / Am I the only one pretending, pretending / One pretending?” Her use of a costume party is the metaphorical visual that more often than not, we either hide behind a facade or act differently in order to engage and socialize with people.
While Orla is being as self-reflective as one can be in a time where there are so many distractions to hide behind, she recalls what it was like to pretend when she was younger, “I used to make up lies to make myself seem more interesting. I’d tell people at school I broke my arm on the weekend or all of Westlife came to my house for dinner.” But nowadays as she continues to build her music career, there is definitely no need to stretch the truth to make herself, or her music more interesting. After building a buzz online by posting cover songs to YouTube, Orla ventured out on her own, crafting a distinct musical voice along with debut single, “Devil on my Shoulder” in 2012. She released her debut project, Roots, the following year, with subsequent EPs – Lonely People, Why Am I Like This? and Freckle Season – arriving in 2015, 2019, and 2020, respectively. Her music has amassed over 45 million Spotify streams, which is impressive, considering she hasn’t released a full-length album. With “Pretending” as the lead track off her forthcoming debut album expected in 2021, fans can only anticipate what other treasures and indie-pop realness awaits that album.
Although 2020 hasn’t been the best year, there have been some good things. What I mean by those good things is great music and the rise of many new artists. Among those ranks is Dava, a Los Angeles-based artist who isn’t afraid to tell her stories and blend different genres. If you are looking for a sound similar to artists such as Benee and Lolo Zouai, look no further. Dava’s latest single, “Papercut”, is out now accompanied by a music video with trippy visuals. In an Instagram post she spoke about the meaning behind the song and left a message to fans, “I hope this song speaks to whoever needs it.”
“Papercut” is impressive on its own for the clever lyrics, but the icing on the cake is Dava’s voice bringing them to life. You cannot ignore the emotions behind her voice and the talent she has. The Pre-chorus, “when my heads in the clouds and my hearts in my gut / keep your eyes on the prize and your hand on the gun / gave you all that I had but it wasn’t enough,” is something a lot of people will be able to relate to their own experiences and feelings. Her debut EP, Sticky, is set to release via Sony this year. This may only be the beginning for Dava, but she is off to a great start.
This playlist is a compilation of many of the songs that played a major role in developing The Waking Point’s dark and high energy signature sound. The music from these artists inspired a guide for expression, while the engineering on many of the tracks are goals for future productions.
Ever since he was a kid, Salim Nourallah has had a deep appreciation for English rock ‘n roll music. As he grew up and cultivated a career as a musician into the 90’s, he found his life intertwined with two other multi-talented individuals: Chris Holt and Paul Averitt. The trio started bands together, played on each other’s albums, and got involved in many of the same collaborative projects. The two decades of shared respect and friendship along with Nourallah’s love of English rock have culminated in a new project that celebrates a reenvisioning of old music, called A Break in the Battle. The name comes from the Pretender’s “Back on the Chain Gang”, the words fitting to Nourallah, Holt, and Averitt’s belief in music as a respite from the toil of life. Like a giant love letter to their heroes, each song is stripped back to the essentials, which are then illuminated by the guys with a loving hand. The first round of tracks came out in 2017, with classics like The Replacements’ “Kiss Me on the Bus” and The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry.” After a two year hiatus following the death of Nourallah’s mother, the trio is set to release the second collection of songs later this year.
Kicking things off for round two, the boys have released Nick Heyward’s “Kite.” The original features a full sound, punchy beat, and a complex web of sounds including metallic guitars, warm horns and strings, and twinkling bells. The tone Heyward’s voice vaguely reminds one of Billy Corgan’s, but instead of the patented and glorious harshness that the Smashing Pumpkins’ lead singer is known for, Heyward’s voice is pleasant and earnest. A Break in the Battle’s version maintains that humble, earnest tone in the vocals, and has the same overall spirit as the original, but it achieves this using a different instrumental blueprint. The iconic waterfall-like guitar picking remains in the intro, but in the 2020 version it’s backed by prominent acoustic guitar strumming. The track is less punchy and more dreamy, complete with gentle harmonies and dazzling combinations of metallic guitar and reverberating piano.
One of the biggest pitfalls to avoid when making a cover is trying to sound like a carbon copy of the original. Nourallah, Holt, and Averitt’s version of “Kite” successfully sidesteps this stumbling block. It carefully preserves the essence and integrity of Heyward’s song, but approaches it from a different direction. With “Kite”, we see that the boys’ imagination is just as finely tuned as it was three years ago.
While the rest of the collection will be out later this year, in the meantime there are 16 opportunities on the first collection of A Break in the Battlefor you to experience your favourite English rock tunes like it’s the first time.
