Music James: Parson James

Parson James. You may have not heard of him yet, but he is the newest gift to the music world. I first heard his voice on Kygo’s song “Stole the Show”. Truth? “Stole the Show” is a random song that I stumbled into so at first I thought Kygo was the one singing, when I did my research I figured out that the one with the soulful voice was Parson James. After finding this out, I went on a long and stressful google search. It was long and stressful because there was no information on this guy. No other music, no other song! Who was he? Where did that voice come from? Would he be releasing more music?

His voice is what truly captured me. Anyone can have a nice voice, but it takes somebody who is truly special to draw an audience in because of the passion in their voice. This is what I felt when I first heard “Stole the Show”, I immediately felt drawn to his voice and the obsession slowly began. I mean obsession, in a completely healthy way! (I am definitely responsible for more than half of the streams that “Stole the Show” has acquired.)

Cut to a few weeks ago, when my lovely Spotify app came through for me, yet again. There it was, while a playlist was on shuffle; “Sinner Like You” by Parson James. At first I didn’t realize who the singer was but the song caught my attention, his opening line made me take notice:

“Mama, I sinned again, I went to bed with another man
Know the town won’t understand, are you still gon’ hold my hand?“

My favorite part about this is that this artist, who is brand spanking new to the scene, is hitting us with all of the brutal honesty that we can take and I LOVE HIM FOR IT!

In an interview that I found on noisey.vice.com Parson James explains, ” I just think when listening to the song, it can be applied to a very general and broad range of topics. If you want to think you’re better than me, well, the Bible says no one sin is worse than another one. So I would love for you to open your eyes and see that I’m just a sinner like you.”

[Speaking of the interview, it is a brilliant read and I recommend you take a look. You can find it HERE!]

My favorite kind of music is the music that comes from honesty, maybe a little pain, and a lot of bravery. This song is all of that and more. I encourage you to take a listen to his music, he’s about to take over!

What new music are you obsessed with right now?

REMEMBER TO FOLLOW THE BLOG 🙂 

Music Monday: Rachel Platten

The only thing I can think right now is: I should have written this post sooner. I should written this post the moment I heard a Rachel Platten song. I should have giving her all of the praise before EVERYONE knew who she was, now I just look like I’m hopping on the bandwagon.

I promise I’m not.

A few months ago, on a Tuesday, I was listening to Spotify’s “New Music Tuesday” playlist when “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten came on. I immediately took notice and saw that she had recently released an EP and as I played it, I knew I would become obsessed.

Rachel Platten has been releasing music for a few years now, but she finally got her break and I am so happy that my ears stumbled upon her wonderful music. The entire EP is about perseverance and strength. No matter the situation this four-track EP has a song for you. The best thing about Rachel Platten? You can tell this girl has worked her ass off to get to where she is. This hasn’t been an easy journey, but taking note of her recent success, it was probably a journey that was completely worth it. 

Each song in the EP is wonderful but I am naturally inclined towards Fight Song. Give me a catchy chorus, an empowered feeling, and lyrics that I can tattoo all over my body and you’ve got a fan for life. 

So on this tiring Monday I encourage you to go listen to Rachel Platten and I dare you to not feel motivated. 

 
Remember to follow the blog. 
Ps. I’ll be posting every day this week, so get ready for a lot of feelings coming your way!  

Music Monday: Los Angeles

I have been living in Los Angeles since October 19, 2014 and let me just say: I LOVE IT! I have always felt an attraction to the city, even when I lived in Orange County, I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles. Now that I live in the city, I completely understand why so many people want to move here. The city has a sort of magical energy to it. Now, don’t get me wrong, the city is full of rejection. Move here and I guarantee you will feel pain, you will get rejected, you will doubt yourself, you will want to move back home. With that being said; you will also feel inspired, you will network, you will meet like-minded people, and you will feel motivated.

Mat Kearney, perfectly sums up the city in his new single, ‘Los Angeles’. The song takes you through the journey that his musical career has taken him through, but it also serves as a beautiful love letter to LOS ANGELES. I have been listening to this song non-stop and I am ridiculously obsessed with it.

I officially reviewed it HERE (please read & comment). << Can I officially say that I’m a writer? WOW! *insert ridiculously big smile here*

Guys, this year is starting off to be a great year for music and that makes me EXCITED. We got new music from: Mat Kearney, Kelly Clarkson, The Lone Bellow, and so many more.

I don’t know about you but I am still feeling the high of the New Year, and it is strong!!!!

Remember to follow the blog ❤ 

Tunesday – FOUR

I’m 90% sure I will be posting a blog every day this week – I can sense your excitement from here.

 

Now, let’s get down to business.

I have never been shy about my love of everything One Direction, but my love may have just turned into obsession. In a state of daze and confusion at 2 am the other night/morning, it seems that I bought a One Direction pillowcase off of Amazon. Why am I telling you this? I just want you to know how I listened to the new One Direction album: cuddling with my One Direction pillow, headphones in my ear, and a smile on my face.

In all seriousness though, I do thoroughly enjoy One Direction music (and yes I actually did buy a One Direction pillowcase.) So you can imagine my excitement when they announced that a new album would be released. FOUR was the perfect start to my Monday morning this week. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, since the album is called FOUR I thought I would review each song using only FOUR words. (I would love to take credit for that brilliant idea but in all reality I got it from youtuber storiesinthedust.

1. Steal my girl – I love dance parties.

2. Ready to Run – Lets have an adventure.

3. Where do broken hearts go – Number one Karaoke choice.

4. 18 – Ed Sheeran is perfection.

5. Girl Almighty – Is this my anthem?

6. Fool’s Gold – The pain is real.

7. Night Changes – Remember my first love.

8. No Control – One Direction. Growing up.

9. Fireproof – It’ll grow on me.

10. Spaces – Real relationship roller coaster.

11. Stockholm Syndrome – Harry Styes, you’re creepy. (If I may add. This may be my favorite off the album.)

12. Clouds – Sing it live. Now.

13. Change your ticket – Changing room movie montage. (Do you get it?)

14. Illusion – Singing in unison. LOVE!

15. Once in a Lifetime – A beautiful love song.

16. Act my age – The best dance party.

 

To sum up, I have been listening to the album non-stop. It’s a fun pop album and I appreciate that they write most (if not all of their songs.) Do you like dance parties? Then I recommend you go buy the album 🙂

Have you heard it? What are your thoughts?

Music Monday: New Music

On February 28th, 2014 Lea Michele released her debut solo album; Louder.

I got the album as soon as it was released and immediately fell in love with it. Prior to the album being released I had already listened to  Cannonball and Battlefield and really enjoyed both of those songs. The album itself takes you through a wonderful journey. It starts with  Cannonball which immediately empowers you. I’m a sucker for songs that are meant to inspire and this is definitely one of those songs. On my way is definitely a dance-in-your-room-and-sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs kind of song. It’s your typical; girl wants boy, girl knows boy is bad, girl doesn’t care, girl is ON HER WAY song but Lea Michele sings it beautifully. Burn with you is the song girls will listen to if they’re in a toxic relationship. The kind where you know you’re both bad for each other but “Daddy I love him!” Battlefield is the perfect heartbreak song. It’s that song you’ll lock yourself in your room for, hold the picture of him and cry for hours … just me? I also think Lea Michele’s vocals are flawless in this song. This may possibly be my new favorite song. You’re Mine it’s an okay song. I feel like this is a song that anyone could sing though. It’s not particularly unique, which I hate saying because I know that this album is fairly autobiographical. It’s a good song but not one of my favorites. Thousand Needles another good breakup song and now I’m sounding like a broken record: her vocals are flawless. Louder THIS is the song you will blast in your car and sing at the top of your lungs pretending no one can hear you. Cue the rain I have listened to this song 3 times and I honestly can’t tell if this is a love song or a heartbreak song does that make me stupid? The lyrics are fairly vague so I’ll be honest, I’ll probably be skipping this song more times than not when it comes on shuffle. Don’t let go a good dance track. Empty Handed prior to knowing this to be a reality, when I first heard this song I thought it was very Christina Perri. Turns out Christina Perri had a hand at co-writing this song. No surprise I love it! Possibly my second favorite track. If you say so also known as the song that made me cry at my desk at work. Lea Michele co-wrote this song with Sia and Chris Braide. She’s been very open about this being the main song that is about Cory Monteith. Her pain is palpable. If anything I highly recommend you go and listen to this song. This is songwriting at it’s best.

As a whole I thoroughly enjoyed the entire album. This is what a debut album should sound like; a little bit of love, some heartbreak, and a touch of dance, with a whole lot of passion in between. Lea Michele, has had a tough past year, which is even worst she had to go through it all in the public eye. She powered through the pain though and created a beautiful album.

American Authors released their album Oh What A Life on March 4, 2014

I’m not even sure when American Authors got in my radar but I am OH SO HAPPY they did!

Believer immediately I knew I’d be hooked on this album, if I had to pick a song to be featured in the soundtrack of my life this would be the opening track. Think about it a fun song used to shamelessly dance in my car. Best day of my life this song always gets me in a good mood, no matter what I’m doing. Whenever I hear this song my life becomes a full on dance party. Luck I’m not sure why but this song reminded me of old school Simple Plan, in a good way! Trouble another typical boy likes girl, girl is trouble kind of song. It’s a good song but not one of my favorites. Hit It I LOVE THIS SONG! It feels like a song that should be featured in an 80’s movie montage. If clubs played this kind of song, I’d actually enjoy going to clubs. Home I enjoy when bands sing a song (or part of a song) as a chorus 3:00 – 3:18 is my favorite in this song! Love pretty self-explanatory, not one of my favorites, but not bad by any means either. Heart of Stone this is another song that I feel needs to be featured in an 80’s movie which subsequently means this is another song I’ll be having a dance party to. Ghost a fun song, nothing particularly special about it though. It’ll more than likely get lost in my shuffle. Oh, What a Life please forgive me for getting a bit morbid but, this is the song I want them to play at my funeral. I LOVE IT! The drummer in this song is great! It is a perfect song to close out the album.

As a whole this is a great album, it’s upbeat and positive, which I think is something that the music industry needs more of.

What’s some new music that you guys are enjoying? Have you heard either one of these albums?

xoxo