NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

After incredible success after releasing their comeback single last fall, " This Is Why " which would be the title track to the album the band released in February, Paramore released their second single, " The News ." Both singles prepared the listener for a Paramore album unlike anything that the band had recorded before. "This Is Why" featured the self-defeating lyrics fans have come to expect from lead singer Haley Williams and the song had a certain Paramore catchiness, but the funky bass and classic rock guitar explored musical territory the band had not yet shared with their listeners.  A WAR RIGHT BEHIND MY EYES.  "The News," however, was a hard rock socially-conscious track, darker than most of the band's prior songs. The same day that Paramore released the single, they also released a video for the song. The video (see below) features Haley Williams hypnotized by a television, which becomes a catatonic state in the video. As the s

Last week, I was listened to a kind of discover music podcast just to hear some takes that the commentators had to say about another artist I was preparing to post about. I didn't actually end up writing about that artist, but I inadvertently discovered a few new artists to add to my AppleMusic library, one of which was Filipina-British singer-songwriter Beatrice  Kristi Ilejay Laus , better known by her stage name beabadoobee . BUILDINGS AND RUST.  With nearly 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify, it seems that the bedroom pop singer beabadoobee is blowing up in popularity these days. Could it be her opening on the current leg of Taylor Swift 's Eras tour? Born in Iloilo City in 2000 and relocating to London with her family at the age of three, Laus was influenced by indie rock from an early age. At the age of seventeen, she learned guitar from YouTube tutorials after having played violin since the age of ten. In September 2017, she released two songs on YouTube, a cover of

Two years ago, I taught a lesson on Irish music to my students. I played examples of Celtic instrumental music. I showed videos of  River Dance . I played sad songs like " The Parting Glass " and " Danny Boy ." Then I played some famous Irish artists like  Enya ,  U2 , and  T he Cranberries . Then I played  Kodaline 's " High Hopes ." When I asked my students which they liked the best, they said Kodaline. But that was  kind of a stupid question for a music lover. There are times when I want to listen to Celtic bagpipes and jigs. There are times I want to go out and have fun in an Irish pub and hear Celtic punk rock. There are times I want to listen to U2, and it's certainly not the same day I want to listen to Enya, but those days happen too. But like my students, I think Kodaline's first album fits more into my everyday listening habits. BROKEN BOTTLES IN THE HOTEL LOBBY.  While  In A Perfect World   is a great everyday listen, you have to be

Few songs are as recognizable from their piano introduction as Journey 's 1981 hit, " Don't Stop Believin' ." Television in the 2000s may have played a role in why the song is still so iconic. From appearing as the emotion ending sequence to the critically-acclaimed HBO series, The Sopranos to the phenomenal performance by the teens at McKinley High back when Glee was still novel, "Don't Stop Believin'" is probably the first song that comes to mind when you think of Journey.  JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL. Well, of course I have to play my hipster card for a minute. In the age of Limewire and from the rare occasions that my mom would listen to classic rock stations, I fell in love with two of Journey's rockers: " Separate Ways " (Worlds Apart) and " Wheel in the Sky ." And then there was when my music teacher had me playing " Open Arm s" when I played wedding music. But twenty years after that, Journey's number 9

Spring is a time of youth and renewed life. Flowers are blooming and pollen is swimming in the breeze. We have seen this happen year in and year out, perhaps never really thinking about how Mother Earth is regenerating herself. Indeed sex is all around us as the bees inseminate the flowers in the garden. The vibrancy of springtime in a garden is an appropriate cloak for today's song as Troye Sivan wraps the metaphor of young horniness in the beauty of the natural world in the title track to his second record Bloom . While Sivan's track is undeniably queer, the journey into the garden feels universal--a trip that all will take when leaving youth behind. TAKE A TRIP INTO MY GARDEN.   Troye Sivan's sophomore record, Bloom, takes the singer-songwriter into more adult themes. The singer's previous work Blue Neighbourhood intentionally steered away from overtly sexual topics. When Sivan made the music video trilogy "Wild," "Fools," and "Talk You Dow

Park Jinyoung   is a 28-year-old singer/actor who shares a name with one of the most famous entertainment mavens--a singer and founder of the record company JYP , which also happens to be the label that the singer of today's song is also signed to. Jinyoung started his entertainment career as an actor in 2011 and quickly began sharing his vocal talents by contributing to the soundtrack of the drama Dream High 2 , which the singer also stared in.  FEEL SO HIGH LIKE THE SKY. Jinyoung   was born in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Korea, which coincidentally is home to one of the most famous cherry blossom festivals in Korea. The singer had dreams of appearing on television since elementary school. He auditioned for SM Entertainment while he was in sixth grade, only with the promise to his mother that if he failed the audition his parents wouldn't support him. Jinyoung didn't win the competition, but made it to the third round, winning an award for his popularity in the competition

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