I have this cactus that a friend bought me as a moving in gift and I can’t for the life of me get it to grow…I’ve thrown it under sunlight, blessed it with water and nothing happens…it just sits there…it’s not lifeless but that’s the expression I want to describe it as…a friend has suggested leaving it to it’s own devices; and I don’t really have any other option for it…I just want it to grow into a magnificent, prickly cactus and right now…it feels like a delirious wallflower…sat there, minding it’s own business…I need some tips and tricks to get the cactus bigger.
I’ve been on a real diet the last few days to try and shift some pounds and I swear it gets harder everyday…I live in this cosmo city and I can’t enjoy any of the finer diners around…instead it’s powdered soup and grilled chicken I’m living off (separately of course). OH and the odd diet drink…maddening.
The weather’s got a lot nicer towards the end of the week and I managed to sneak out to a luscious café – Yeo Valley Café. Yeo Valley are known for their yogurts and my friend Lora invited to a wonderful brunch / lunch there where I had a gorgeous aubergine tagine with chickpeas (I’m not really a chickpea lover but this was particularly delicious!) and I had a strawberry smoothie which was choc-a-block full of yummy yogurts…we sauntered around Hyde Park with an ice cream afterwards and took in some rays. Such a pleasant Saturday.
Zara Larsson – ‘All The Time’
‘All The Time’ serves as the latest release from ZL3 and I can honestly say I think this is the song of the summer…It’s a pure pop euphoric moment from Zara and it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting from Zara…don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved everything she’s dropped thus far from ZL3 but this track just feels more complete and what I want from her…the melodies, her vocals, the video…the entire package just feels so perfectly placed together and whilst the chorus is super catchy; the lyric “I don’t know what I’m doing in New York” serves as a hook…even though it’s only one line…I want to caption all future Instagram pictures with this particular line. It’s a pure 10/10 moment from Ms. Larsson and the vocodered backing vocals just add to the song’s perfection.
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – ‘Senorita’
‘Senorita’ is the newest release from Shawn & Camila and works as their second duet…after 2016’s ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. The track is super instant and you can’t rate it as anything more than a summer bop…Camila leads the track, in all honesty, as she purrs over the chorus “I love it when you call me senorita”…it’s quite an odd track in reality as Camila seemed really anti being known for Spanish bops and seems like the driving force to not release album track ‘She Wants Control’ from her debut album, even though it was screaming to be released in favour of less-radio friendly tracks, but oh well.. the track is a sure fire summer bop and we can’t take that away from the duo.
Kesha – ‘Rich, White, Straight Men’
‘Rich, White, Straight Men’ is the newest release from Kesha and it’s possibly her most unique track thus far…it’s certainly feels like a demo but the narrative in the track is highly political and will certainly cause a stir as she details the injustices that minority groups suffer – women, health care, the LGBT+ community…the lyrics aren’t overly obvious…for example, the lyric about two men buying a wedding cake is a direct reference to a gay couple who were refused a cake for their wedding as the baker saw it was against her religion…it caused quite the backlash. As Kesha sings on the track; there’s this deceptive male voice who contradicts what she says before she softly pleas “twinkle twinkle little star / how I wish the world was different”. If I’m honest, the track feels like a demo from her debut album but the sentiment is there.
Brandon Rivers – ‘Girlplay’
‘Girlplay’ is quite a refreshing additional to my playlist this week…it boasts itself as this cool and quite current track; with it’s trap-esque beats and ethereal vocals from Brandon but he sings on the track “they just think were fucking / you just think were loving”. The track has quite an easily-read narrative – boy meets girl in a club and they romance away… Brandon actually wrote the song about a particular female’s narcissism when she was using her sexuality as a way of enticing people…including Brandon. The track is super sexy and Brandon’s vocals will send you into a state of pure, sexualised trance where we feel like the girl he’s talking about in the song…The girl from the East London club.
Austin Mahone – ‘Dancing With Nobody’
‘Dancing With Nobody’ is the latest release from Austin Mahone and I have the track on loop…It’s dance-y, it’s funky and will get you up ready to move! Austin is one of the more underrated male popstars and has been teasing new music projects for a while and drops the odd track here and there but is yet to make a proper album (I believe he released one in Japan)…‘Dancing With Nobody’ is a pretty simple narrative – Austin has his sights set on a particular girl and wants to dance with her…simple as. The dancing here probably works as a metaphor for dating but the track does feature another future Instagram caption from me “I don’t feel like dancing with nobody else”. This is actually one of three other tracks that Austin dropped but I haven’t really given the other two tracks much listen as I’m too hooked on this particular track.
