NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Last October,  Troye Sivan  released his first full-length record since 2018's  Bloom .   While other pop stars have entered prolific eras with frequent releases, fans have had to wait a long time for new music from Sivan.   His last major release was an EP in 2020 titled  In a Dream ,  but the singer has been releasing singles since then; however, whether or not they will be part of the upcoming work is yet to be disclosed. Sivan's sophomore LP,  Bloom , was a celebration of love and gay sex; however,  In a Dream  is an introspective collection of songs--with the exception of " Stud "--dealing with heartache and a failing relationship.  TELL ME WE'LL MAKE IT THROUGH.  The single " Easy " is the second track on  In a Dream.  The song was  remixed  by producer  Mark Ronson  and features a verse by  Kacey Musgraves . Sivan had appeared on Musgrave's  second Christmas album  in 2019, and the reunion between the two singers on the 2020 single not only co

In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian experimented with tape speeds in the recording studio. He learned that if he sped up the tape, the vocal performance would sound high-pitched and would play at a faster tempo. He used the effect he had learned on a novelty single, “ The Witch Doctor ,” under the name David Seville . The song reached number 1 on Billboard Hot 100 and laid the groundwork for Bagdasarian’s next single, in which he used the effect more than just for a “witch doctor voice.” Ross thought that the voices of the sped-up tape sounded like chipmunks, and with some tweaking of the tempo, requiring him to sing at about half speed, he was able to make his chipmunks sing along with a human, a fictionalized manager of the mischievous rodents, David Seville. Bagdasarian founded the fictional band David Seville and the Chipmunks when he released his second single titled “ The Chipmunk Song ” (Christmas Don’t Be Late). The song topped the newly created Billboard Hot 100 chart and would be t

In 2020, MUNA was dropped by their label RCA for “ not making enough money .” The queer-identifying trio had modest success with their first two records,   About U and Saves the World , but they would actually achieve a higher level of success on an indie label. The key to this renewed success was by partnering with an indie rock darling who had come to be known as a “serial collaborator” due to appearing on a range of projects from Paul McCartney to Taylor Swift . Phoebe Bridgers signed MUNA to her label Saddest Factory and functioned as the trio’s A&R person. MUNA quickly expanded their listener base with the hit featuring Bridgers, “ Silk Chiffon .” The song preceded  MUNA’s eponymous album by more than nine months and became the band’s most-streamed song. In March of 2022, MUNA released the second single from the album, “ Anything But Me .” YOU’RE GONNA SAY I ASKED FOR THE MOON. While MUNA is certainly overshadowed by Phoebe Bridgers and her own trio, boygenius , touring

  Some of the best musicians work in Nashville. Country music is famous for some of the best musicianship, and whenever a rock band or pop act wants some of the cleanest tones, they’ll record in Nashville. There’s certainly a community in Nashville that seems to be extending far outside Country music, but at the core is an ill-defined genre that is more of an identity. Unpacking that identity in a post-George Floyd America, though, is tricky. There are at least two popular models Country music is taking: 1) protect the status quo and 2)inclusion and diversity. The first model is rarely overtly racist or trans/homophobic, but when an n- word slip up happens the status-quo warriors are quick to defend themselves with arguments “This is just the way we talk.” This is often met with pushback from the second camp. THE PAINT COULD PEEL; THE GLASS COULD SHATTER. Maren Morris is an artist firmly in the second camp. Much like pop stars Kacey Musgraves and early Taylor Swift , Morris has flirt

  In October, Troye Sivan will release his first full-length record since 2018's Bloom.  While other pop stars have entered prolific eras with frequent releases, fans have had to wait a long time for new music from Sivan.   His last major release was an EP in 2020 titled In a Dream , but the singer has been releasing singles since then; however, whether or not they will be part of the upcoming work is yet to be disclosed. Sivan's sophomore LP, Bloom , was a celebration of love and gay sex; however, In a Dream is an introspective collection of songs--with the exception of "Stud"--dealing with heartache and a failing relationship.  TELL ME WE'LL MAKE IT THROUGH. The single " Easy " is the second track on In a Dream. The song was remixed by producer Mark Ronson and features a verse by Kacey Musgraves . Sivan had appeared on Musgrave's second Christmas album in 2019, and the reunion between the two singers on the 2020 single not only coincided with S

If you can stomach Tom Hanks ' fake Dutch accent for 159 minutes, I'd recommend watching Baz Luhrmann 's latest film,  Elvis . I watched the 2022 musical biopic on a sixteen-hour flight this winter, so I was kind of a captive audience even though I've never been into Elvis Presley lore. Of course except Australia , viewers probably don't come to expect historical accuracy from a Baz Luhrmann film, which mashes the contemporary and the period in a kind of Bollywood-inspired steampunk. Elvis is no exception as the soundtrack for the film juxtaposes the classic with the anachronistic.  LIKE A RIVER FLOWS SURELY TO THE SEA. Like many of Elvis Presley's songs, the king of Rock 'n Roll didn't write " Can't Help Falling In Love with You ." However, being one of the singer's later hits, the song was not a popularized classic like many of Elvis' early big hits. Instead, the song was written for one of Elvis' films, Blue Hawaii . The 196

Only for one week cherry blossoms bloom. The sakura or 벚꽃 are a delicate flower that is quite a spectacle both where they naturally occur in East Asian and where they have been planted. The peach and plum trees and magnolia trees are also beautiful, but the cherry blossoms when they fall like snow are quite stunning. But unlike the other flowers, cherry blossoms are the most delicate. Heavy rains, winds, unseasonable hot or cold, improper pruning of the trees all could be reasons for an uneven sakura week. And if the weather permits, the week ends with the flowers blowing in the wind like snow.  EVEN IN NATURE TIMING IS EVERYTHING. The third track on Kacey Musgraves ' star-crossed , " cherry blossom ," compares the singer and her love to the delicate flowers that are supposed to bloom in "early April" but now earlier due to climate change. The cherry blossoms bloom for one week every year and then blow away in the breeze. Love too can disappear if it is not nurt

  About a month ago, I was in America. It was a Friday night at my sister’s house. My sister’s wife had just made a delicious risotto and we had a bottle of wine. We had been talking about what music we had been listening to before dinner, and as we were sitting around the TV wondering what to watch. I said that at some point I wanted to watch Kacey Musgraves ’ star-crossed on Paramount+ because the film was not available to stream in Korea.   THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. One of the reasons I wanted to watch Kacey Mussgraves’  star-crossed was that I thought that the film would give me more context for the songs. Kacey*, my sister’s wife said, “The film provides less context,” and “You’ll probably be more confused after watching the movie.” And half a bottle of wine later, nothing was making narrative sense. Not every track on the album is illustrated in the form of a music video, but the songs that are are treated immaculately. The loose narrative follows an unhappy M

Following up a Grammy-winning record is a daunting task.  Kacey Musgraves ' fourth record Golden Hour was just a collection of simple pop songs with a twinge of country. For her fifth record, Musgraves attempted a concept record, chronicling her divorce and healing process on  star-crossed . But fans and critics have responded to the record with mixed reviews. In his review of star- crossed in Pitchfork , Sam Sodomsky writes:  " While Kacey Musgraves ’ fourth album intends to guide you from the early stages of a marriage through the aftermath of a divorce, the East Texas songwriter barely mentions the other person at the heart of her story, and her narrator doesn’t seem all that surprised when things start heading south." KICK IT AT THE MALL LIKE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG.  While star-crossed may have missed the mark as the next great American divorce record, the songs on the album capture glimpses of what a divorce feels like. However, not every song is specifically ab