NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

It’s been an interesting year for The 1975 , to say the least. While frontman Matty Healy ’s habit of shit-posting and provocative goofball answers in interviews had been a norm for the band, polarizing fans of the band, earlier this year Healy’s alleged relationship with Taylor Swift made the band even higher profile. While the two are (supposedly) no longer romantically entangled, last week Healy’s controversial antics made global news headlines again. I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT YOUR NAME. Last weekend, Matty Healy and the 1975 had a festival in Malaysia canceled and the band, including Healy, was banned from the country. The reason had to do with protesting the country's controversial anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Following a rant about the laws put in place by the country's Muslim majority, Healy took bandmate Ross MacDonald and kissed the band's bassist. Reactions around the world to Healy and the company's protest have been mixed. First to criticize the band was Malaysia...

Music critics weren't expecting much from Carly Rae Jepsen when she released her third studio record, E-MO-TION .  Her second record Kiss contained two top-10 hits, " Good Time ," a duet with Owl City , and the number 1 song of 2012, " Call Me Maybe ." But Kiss was immature as was the lead single from E-MO-TION, " I Really Like You ." However, the parent album of the single was much more grown up than Kiss. And while Jepsen may no longer be a hit maker on the Hot 100, her fan base and critical acclaim has remained consistent since releasing her pivotal third record E-MO-TION. Today we take a look at the original track list. We'll look at the deluxe editions and bonus tracks later.    1. " Run Away with Me " is perhaps the best Carly Rae Jepsen song. It's the beginning of an adventure, even if its just a weekend trip. The music video for the song features Jepsen and her band on their off days on tour, running around the cities of Par...

Many of the songs on Tove Lo 's Dirt Femme are inspiring songs that pack a lot of meaning into a 3-minute pop song. Whether it's feminism, sexual liberation/ inhibition, relationship dynamics, eating disorders, Dirt Femme is certainly not the stereotypica shallow pop record. In May, Tove released a post-album single, "I Like U," that was in many ways the opposite of the record. However, the single will be included on an upcoming reissue of Dirt Femme.  I RUN INTO YOU EVERYWHERE. I heard "I Like U" in May or June. I think Tove has every right to make whatever music she wants to. She gave us an incredible issue-heavy record, so a playful song about a longing for a taken individual is certainly warranted. It's just there isn't much to talk about other than this song is a bop and that it's a nice club song. So, being an un-hip, non-club goer, I thought I'd make a soundtrack for Saturday nights. Here it is:   Read “I like u” by Tove Lo on G...

Earlier this month Pvris released their anticipated fourth record, Evergreen . Starting with their 2019 release of the EP  Hallucinations , Pvris began a departure from hard rock into Alternative dark pop. This departure was partly due to producer JT Daly encouraging the band to experiment with pop hooks. The band's 2020 release Use Me was an even greater realization of the vision set forth on  Hallucinations ; none of the songs were straight rock songs with perhaps the exception of " Dead Weight ."   PRAY FOR BETTER TIMES. Between Evergreen and Use Me, Pvris shifted from being a band to a one-woman moniker, or as cleverly stated in the song  " GODDESS , " not a woman or a man but a "motherfucking brand," with only Lynn Gunn remaining on the band's roster. Over the years, band members dropped off, with guitarist Alex Babinsky forced out after allegations of sexual misconduct just prior to the release of Use Me. As of earlier this year, bassist...

Today is a perfect day to revisit Kodaline 's In a Perfect World . The cover of the album reminds me of a summer day at the lake. The music soundtracks the drive to that lake outing as well as the lazy afternoon you spend in a coffee shop with a friend to beat the heat. However this summer is finding you; indoors or outdoors, rain or shine; I hope that listening to Kodaline's first album is the perfect accompaniment to these hot days! 1. " One Day ." The album starts with a radio-ready track. We're immediately drawn into Steve Garrigan 's unique vocals. Sometimes his Irish accent comes through, particularly on "through the eyes of someone else." The song builds from a simple guitar to more climactic backing vocals on the final chorus. The band re-recorded the song in 2014 , a year after the album's release, short-cutting the build, making the backing vocals even bigger. Both versions of the song are worth a listen, but the original fits better wi...

  After 20 years, an album and a band can become legendary. However, in the case of The Postal Service , the legacy is attached to one album, Give Up , even centered on one single, " Such Great Heights ." The Postal Service was a side project of Death Cab for Cutie 's Ben Gibbard , producer Jimmy Tamborello , and backing vocals from Rilo Kiley 's guitarist and singer Jenny Lewis . But like older Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service and "Such Great Heights" is a bigger hit in the nostalgia of eventual fans, as Death Cab for Cutie's heyday with Plans in 2005 and being featured on television shows like The O.C. EVERYTHING LOOKS PERFECT FROM FAR AWAY. Ben Gibbard's venture into electronic music is a musical arc at least as old as The Beatles . But unlike The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Strawberry Fields Forever , Gibbard didn't take the electronics to Death Cab for Cutie in 2003. Instead the same year that Death C...

In 2023, so many hit songs come from what we call "bedroom pop" artists. It's been that way for several years. Bedroom pop refers to artists who get famous from self-releasing music, recorded in a home studio using equipment and software that was once prohibitively expensive.  In 2009, Owl City released their breakthrough album Ocean Eyes , which contained their number one single " Fireflies ." Although the record was released on Universal Republic Records , the song came from singer-songwriter Adam Young , a 22-year-old composing melodies in his parents' basement while he battled insomnia when working at the local Coca Cola plant.  I'M FAR TOO TIRED TO FALL ASLEEP . Owl City, Adam Young's musical alias, posted his compositions and blogs on MySpace and started gathering a following. Young's following, according to a 2011 interview in  Hit Quarters  with manager Steve Bursky , was based on the singer-songwriter's engagement with fans. Bursky ...

In 1958, Connie Francis released the song " Stupid Cupid " written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka . The song-writers were part of the historic Brill Building in New York City, which churned out pop and rock standards for a post-Jazz age music scene. With a few charting hits before, 21-year-old Connie Francis delivers the upbeat song with a youthful rock 'n' roll energy. The rhyming of "stupid" and "cupid" makes listeners think back to schoolyard chants they sang back in elementary school. But the juxtaposition of the god of love and the quality of lacking intelligence are not exclusive to a 1958 song.  I GAVE A SECOND CHANCE TO CUPID. Earlier this year, a new K-pop group  FIFTY FIFTY (피프티 피프티) released their second single, " Cupid ." Like many K-pop groups, FIFTY FIFTY were trained for two years before their debut in 2022. The girl group consists of four members, signed to a small Korean label Attrackt . Being a startup with onl...

Ariana Grande released her third studio record, Dangerous Woman , in May of 2016. Originally titled Moonlight, Grande spent a lot of time promoting the record before it was released. Songs like " Problem " and " Bang Bang " had solidified the singer's career in pop hit-making with a reputation for the sweet and sexual with varying layers of covertness.  The lead single of her 2016 project, " Focus ," however, while charting well, was actually removed from the standard edition of Dangerous Woman. The title track , though, became the new lead single and " Into You " was the second single from the album. Today, I'm making a playlist that perhaps follows up yesterday's songs about drinking at the bar. Today, it's a hot summer day, I'm presenting Sexy Singles , songs that have to do with sex. Again, enjoy responsibly!  

Ashley Cooke is an up-in-coming country pop singer. Yesterday she released her 24-song debut album shot in the dark . Cooke says the album was "inspired by true love, heartbreak, and the moments between." A duet with Colbie Caillat, "mean girl," deals with some honest advice for dealing with a man who doesn't really love the listener. The title track is a fun song about a hook up at a bar that turns into true love. This Friday in mid-summer, I'm releasing a playlist of songs about hitting the bar. I'm going to keep it mostly positive, focusing on those good times with good friends or meeting someone. Please, listen (and drink) responsibly. 

Bananarama  formed in 1980 when childhood friends  Sara Dallin  and  Keren Woodword  moved from Bristol to London and met  Siobhan Fahey . Dallin and Woodword lived in the WYCA and were out of money until  Sex Pistols ’ drummer  Paul Cook  offered them a place to live above the band's old rehearsal room. Bananarama took their name from the  Roxie Music  song " Pyjamarama ." The trio were fans of the punk rock and post-punk scene in London and ultimately became a New Wave hit making machine lasting from 1982 with their breakthrough hit as a featured artist on  Fun Boy Three 's " It Ain't What You Do" (It's How You Do It)  to the early '90s. IT’S TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.  Bananarama   were on the pop side of New Wave along with some of their friends in the music industry  Wham!  and  Duran Duran . In 2020, the remaining members of Bananarama, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodword wrote a book about their expe...

I have many fond memories of my first Cornerstone in 2007, seeing a lot of the bands that I loved for the first and only time. There was a lot of effort to see as much as possible--looking at the pamphlets mailed when you purchased your tickets, trying to synchronize them with friends, and inevitably being unable to see everyone you wanted to see because of scheduling conflicts. But there was one stage that took the least effort--The Gallery.  SCATTERED IN AMERICAN CROWDS.  In the back of The Gallery stage was the coffee shop, or I should say the coffee canteen. Depending on the year, it was hot and dusty or wet and buggy, but cheap refills if you bought that year's mug early in the festival before it sold out and the music in the mornings just quiet enough to have a conversation made the stage my favorite. The evenings got a little crowded with some of the mellower hippy crowd or sometimes a CCM band that wasn't quite big enough for the main stage. But in the morning, crowds ...

Around 2007 Internet bloggers started sharing a song by an edgy new pop star called " Ur So Gay ," a song in which  Katy Perry  complains about her metrosexual, emo boyfriend who is more feminine than she wants in a man. The song was one of many cringe-worthy homophobic, sexist, or otherwise problematic songs that could exist only in the noughties, the UK pronunciation for the time period of 2000-2009. I think that it's apropos when talking about this era of music. While "Ur So Gay" never impacted radio, other head-scratching lines littered Perry's major label debut  One of the Boys .    YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND LIKE A GIRL CHANGES CLOTHES.  Katy Perry broke through with the single " I Kissed a Girl ." After the 2004 Super Bowl incident involving  Janet Jackson 's wardrobe malfunction, the Bush-era FCC heavily censored the television and radio waves. While there were edgy hits from that time, "shock pop" seemed to abound at the end of Geo...

  After a successful career with the '90s boyband B2K , Omari Ishmael Grandberry , known by his stage name Omarion , began a solo career. Omarion's career was at the center when R&B and Hip-Hop started dominating  Billboard 's Hot 100. The podcast Hit Parade discusses this phenomenon when looking at how three artists helped to create the hip-hop sound from 2000 to even today in the episode " Flip It and Reverse It ." I GOT MEMORIES. THIS IS CRAZY. Chris Molanphy described Virginia-bast artists Pharrell, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot as three nerds who "added quirk" to the modern hip-hop sound. These talented musicians didn't just work in hip-hop, but also helped to craft pop and R&B. Take for example Timbaland 's contribution to pop music. From creating a mature sound for former *NSYNC leader Justin Timberlake to reinventing Nelly Furtado, to introducing the world to OneRepublic, Timbaland's production skills in the '00s were like...