Dan Says – Week Seventeen

I had the greatest pleasure of attending the 30th anniversary of the West End show ‘The Woman in Black’…now this is a show I have a bit of history with…my Drama GCSE class all went and I didn’t go and they all went to see the show and still to this day…the individuals speak about it and all the mysteries that surround it. The best part is they spoke about it so much that they’re under the pretence I was on the trip with them, when in reality, I wasn’t…I was in Cornwall minding my own business haha. The play itself is daring and jumping…translating horror on stage feels like quite a difficult aim because it’s not a horror like slasher killings with blood and gore…this is a different kind of horror…it relies more on what you think is going to happen…one of the actors explained to me in a pre-show Q&A that the audience gets more scared about the perceptions their leading themselves onto when watching…than the show itself and he wasn’t wrong. You don’t know at what point you will meet The Woman in Black…but you’re on edge throughout; imagining her coming out and appearing…

Otherwise, it’s been a quiet week…I moved house…living in Muswell Hill; which is cute because it’s 10 minutes walk away from a house I used to live in during student days and all the old haunts are nearby (except Kennedy Chicken – that appears to be long gone!)

Mark Ronson – ‘Find U Again’ (Feat. Camila Cabello)

After the triumphant ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’ featuring Miss Miley last year, Mark returns with a soul-crushing, ice-pop number ‘Find U Again’ with Camila Cabello… the track features heavily vocodered vocals from Camilla and the absolutely heart-wrenching line “this crush is kind of crushing me / I do therapy at least twice a week”. It’s a completely sound for Mark, in terms of being quite synthey and less instrumental but nevertheless; the theme of heartbreak is still evident.

Meghan Trainor – ‘Badass Woman’

‘Badass Woman’ serves as the soundtrack single from the Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson movie ‘The Hustle’ and the track is deliciously everything you want from a Meghan track…it serves attitude, self-love and a killer middle “I am smarter than you give me credit for” serves as a pre-chorus lyric throughout the track; however there’s something about the way the breakdown builds into it later on for the middle eight (around the 2.16 mark). It’s about time for MT3 (as I’m calling it now because it feels like ‘Treat Myself’ may be sitting in the same bin that Nicole Scherzinger’s ‘Her Name Is Nicole’ and Paris Hilton’s sophomore album is currently sitting in).

Adam Lambert – ‘New Eyes’

‘New Eyes’ serves as the first OFFICIAL single from Adam’s forthcoming album and as always with Adam… he’s branched out to a new style… ‘New Eyes’ feels very 70s and holds a similarity to the Niall Horan track ‘Slow Hands’ however I’m partially fond of Adam’s slurring vocals throughout the verses… it’s a nice softer vocal; which is unusual for Adam because he’s normally giving us a whole range of Theatre and bombastic vocals… The track is certainly a much riskier lead single than he has given us previously and it pays off… it’s a slow burner but nevertheless it’s catchy and you’ll have the “without your new eyes” melody stuck in your head.

Charli XCX – ‘Blame It On Your Love’ (Feat. Lizzo)

If there’s one thing to describe Charli XCX as… it’s an opportunist…she knows who the current internet fad is and gets them on board quickly – Brooke Candy, Troye Sivan, Pabllo Vittar, Cupcakke…nd now Lizzo. ‘Blame It On Your Love’ is honestly… a radio remake of her ‘Track 10’ (the last track on her last mixtape ‘Pop 2’) with a thrown on verse from Lizzo that kinda makes no sense in context of the sense… the track details falling in love with someone and not quite adapting to them too well… however Lizzo’s verse feels like a concerned friend or aunt or something… like in context of the song… her verse makes no sense and serves as more of a rent-a-rapper approach than a viable, credible track.

Will Young – ‘My Love’

‘My Love’ is the second release from Will’s forthcoming ‘Lexicon’ record and I couldn’t be more excited for an album this year than Will’s. ‘All The Songs’ was absolutely fire and ‘My Love’ isn’t too dissimilar…the one thing Will really manages to capture musically is these heartbreaking vocals over a bombastic beat and ‘My Love’ is no different. Lyrically, the track sees Will pleaing to a lover to get back together… like we have this beat disguising the pain and angst of Will’s lyrics “please give me one more chance to prove my love?”.