Author: DJ lil witch

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New Album Review

Alice Phoebe Lou – Glow Reviewed

ALBUM: “Glow” by Alice Phoebe Lou

RELEASE YEAR: 2021

LABEL: Self Released

RATING: 9/10

BEST TRACKS:  “Mother’s Eyes”, “Dirty Mouth”, and “Lovesick”

FCC: None

Alice Phoebe Lou pours out her heart on her newest record “Glow.” The South African artist wrote on her website that her third album was “An outlet. A place I blew off steam. I poured my most personal feelings, experiences & realizations into it and I stand before you completely naked, encouraging you to go to that place within yourself.” You can feel the earnestness throughout the album. Lou’s soft vocals belt out heartfelt lyrics backed by soothing keys, guitar, and bass. The album was recorded purposely on older equipment to give the songs a vintage sound. Lou sings about love for the first time, bringing us into her psyche. 

Here are my favorite songs from “Glow.”

Mother’s Eyes

This track has a slowed-down groove, giving Lou plenty of time to work her lyrical magic. Delving into post break-up insecurities, this song ultimately speaks to self-confidence and self-reliance. She acknowledges it is a process with her lyrics, “feels like I’ll get there one step at a time”. Even without analyzing “Mother’s Eyes,” it is still a sultry track that has lyrics catchy enough to belt out in the car. 

Dirty Mouth

The single, “Dirty Mouth,” might be my favorite from the whole album. Lou sings energetically and with the bouncy guitar, and the highs of the song are impactfully paired with the slower lulls of the track. This track has a punk/garage influence that you can hear in Lou’s rousing vocals towards the end of the song. “Dirty Mouth” has been my get-up-and-go track for a while now.

Lovesick

With a swinging beat, this track ends the album with a bang. She sings about an unrequited romance with such hope and wild abandon. I can’t stop thinking about the bridge of this song and the lyrics, “Would it be alright if we sat side by side and didn’t say a single word? Just let ourselves drown in the sweet sunny silence.” Lou is such an evocative songwriter, you feel drenched in the feeling of a short-lived summer romance.

9/10 amazing summer album!

-DJ lil witch

Categories
Miscellaneous

Mindfulness Music Exercise

Listening to music is a great way to relax and unwind after a stressful day. Art therapy is a practice of using music and art to examine and communicate your emotions, which leads to positive psychological effects including reduced stress. I found an art therapy exercise that is very simple to do, and will give you a time to listen to music and work towards a sense of calm.

Music Free Association Exercise

Materials: you will need something to play music on (record/cd player, speaker, headphones), paper (light enough in color so your art will show up), pens/pencils or other materials you have available (paint/oil pastels/crayons/colored pencils) 

Either by yourself or with a small group, play either a song or playlist. Close your eyes or turn down the lights. Let yourself relax and try to feel the music. Take what you’re hearing and translate it into the page in front of you. 

After the song is over, open your eyes. Look at what you just created and see if there are any patterns, specific shapes, or anything that stands out to you. Think about what parts of the song manifested onto the paper, like if the track had an instrumental break, what did that look like to you? What were you thinking about while you made it? Did the song make you feel specific emotions or remind you of anything?  

You can repeat the exercise with other songs, I recommend using ones with very different genres. A house/electric song might end up looking differently than a classic rock song. It could be interesting to discover what your favorite genres look like on a piece of paper. Or how they make you feel while you listen to them. 

You can return to each of your creations and work on them more. You could emphasize or define parts that stand out. For example, if a shape looks like a bird, you could run with that and give it eyes and a beak. You could also change parts you don’t like. 

Photo taken by author, example of a finished exercise

This exercise is an excuse to relax, listen to music and create art. Making things can be healing and a good time to practice mindfulness. I really like this activity as a way to connect with your friends or family, it can be fun to look at the art everyone made while listening to the same song together. Or by yourself, it can be a way to see a song you love in a new light. 

For more information on art therapy you can check out The American Art Therapy Associations website or check out this blog with art therapy exercises 

-DJ lil witch

Categories
New Album Review

Album Review: Female Species – Tale of My Lost Love

ALBUM: “Tale of My Lost Love” by Female Species

RELEASE YEAR: 2021

LABEL: Numero Group

RATING: 9/10

BEST TRACKS: “Tale of My Lost Love,” “Bye Bye Bye” and “Till The Moon Don’t Shine”

FCC: Clean

Review

The new release of Female Species album “Tale of My Lost Love” follows the band from California to Nashville. The tracks on this album start with their garage 60s/70s sound which gradually transitions to 80s/90s country folk-pop. The compilation allows a listener to dive into the whole story of Female Species.

The Female Species started with two sisters, Vicki and Ronnie Gossett. In 1966, as teenagers, they released peppy pop in their home in California. With the culture shift in 70s, they moved into more psychedelia, experimenting with their sound. In the 80s the sisters moved to Nashville and began songwriting in the industry.

It’s so special to be able to see them transform their careers from swinging girl group to prolific songwriters in the Nashville scene. You can hear how Female Species evolves on “Tale of My Lost Love”. For example, the tracks “Chinchilla Hat” and “Chinchilla Cat”. The two songs have the same lyrics but in the second version you can feel the vocals are more soulful and almost bluesy. I really enjoyed how retrospective the compilation is, it feels respectful of the Female Species 55-year journey.

I first heard of the band from La Luz’s cover of their song “Tale of My Lost Love”. The cover came out April 16, 2021. I was enthralled by the harmonies, minimal drums and swinging guitar. After finding the original, I was taken aback by how well the two bands fit each other; La Luz with a fresh modern surf rock sound and Female Species with classic garage rock. I hope the cover increased awareness of Female Species, they deserve all the recognition.

-DJ Lil Witch