Dan Says – Week Six

Hello readers,

Can’t believe we’re already in March and with Easter basically round the corner and pancake day hitting us soon; it’s a super busy time! I just got my new job confirmed and I’m not gonna say much about it except that it starts in four weeks and its with my current company I’m with but at a completely different office…you can imagine how strange it is…I literally started my job the first week of January and five weeks later, I’m off elsewhere…but I love a challenge.

I went out to celebrate on Thursday night with a good friend…we had Nandos and then went for what-should-have-been-one-drink at The Yard, but it turned into eighteen drinks at G-A-Y and then followed onto G-A-Y Late…All i’m gonna say is the best thing about being gay is when you do do a walk of shame…you never need to wear the clothes you had on from the night before…

Anyway…enough about non-virtuous behaviour…

Ellie Goulding – ‘Flux’

When Ellie came out in 2010 with her quirky debut album ‘Lights’ I knew she was one to watch and weirdly…I met her at an album launch for Clare Maguire and she was super great…’Flux’ serves as the current single from her forthcoming album and I have to say its a breath of fresh air…her last album was slightly disappointing for me…it was super long and incredibly disjointed…however ‘Flux’ is a stripped back ballad and really gives me a glimpse into her ‘Halycon’ era; it’s a little bit darker and very beautiful and features my current obsession in a song lyric “would we be living in Camden? Getting a ticket to your bed?”…it’s a bit like my mom’s obsession with ‘Super Trouper’ (she’s Scottish, so when she hears them exclaim “Glasgow” it’s super exciting)…as I know Camden super well…hearing a shout-out on the track beams my heart with excitement.

Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘No Drug Like Me’

‘No Drug Like Me’ is one of two releases from Carly, alongside the not-a-Britney-cover ‘Not That I Found You’ however I find ‘No Drug Like Me’ a little bit more interesting…it feels like a little nod to her track ‘Roses’ from ‘Emotion: Side B’ and is slightly alternative in sound; whilst it maintains her 80s pop sound, it’s a little bit more weird and I like that about it…Lyrically the song is interesting as it seems to detail a meeting of two people and Carly insisting to her potential spouse “you ain’t tried no drug like me”.

Emma Bunton – ‘Baby Please Don’t Stop’

Baby Spice is back and she’s just as great as ever! I’d be lying if I didn’t say how much Emma’s small discography was one of the my Spice Girls highlights – ‘Maybe’ is undeniably one of the best (if not THE BEST) solo Spice moment (besides the ‘Life In Mono’ record). ‘Baby Please Don’t Stop’ stays in Emma’s solo lane – 60s, laid back with gorgeous breathless vocals from the lady herself and like a friend of mine said recently “it’s just nice to hear Baby’s voice on the radio again” and he’s not wrong…Every time I listen to the song; I feel like I’m transported back to an Austin Powers movie and I absolutely love that.

Slayyyter – ‘Mine’

I’m not gonna lie…I saw this pop up on my Twitter a few weeks ago and thought it sounded catchy but I left it there as I focused on other things; however I gave it a proper spin and the song is a BOP! The girls tone is slightly Britney, slightly Heidi Montag with a bit of Tinashe in there.. The song has a real 2010 vibe to it… think Wynter Gordon ‘Dirty Talk’ meets anything from the 2010 era… it’s cute, it’s catchy and I want to dance to it and the fact she says “Oh me. Oh mine” throughout the track is actually really great.

Clare Maguire – ‘Heavenly Disaster’

“feels like 1966, diamond shoes and a long green dress”, Maguire sings over a beautiful piano composition and has me struck in with her unique, deep tones… the track marks the second release we’ve had from Clare this year after last week’s experimental ‘Bring Me Flowers When I’m Alive Not When I’m Dead‘ and whilst ‘Heavenly Disaster’ feels much more familiar to what one could expect from a Clare Maguire track… there’s no denying the beauty in her lyric and vocals… The imagery that Clare sings about in the track is extremely layered… you could ultimately take away that Clare is making a comment about reality starts… this is just my little observation however the fixation of being publicly noticed for showing your best side is a theme that is apparent in the track and the time limit that these types of celebrities experience “you know you’re running out of time / violet eyes”.