Just as I sit here on the train back from Peterborough – I have no voice, I have strands of a rainbow flag printed on my face and I feel tired beyond words; but I have no regrets (even though Monday is looming).
It’s Peterborough Pride…an annual occasion (my second in attendance) and also my friend Teddi’s birthday…so we all knew it was going to be a camp event but I’m getting ahead of myself…Friday night was Alphabeat…that was fun. Their track ‘Fascination’ was the theme song of the club scene in 2007 (yes I was not 18 at the time!) and to be in the presence of the band who created the track was strange but comforting…they’re very in tune with themselves musically and seem very musically aware…they’re not just some pop puppets…Their live set was energetic and fun and had an array of fan favourites and hits…It was the perfect pre-party to Pride.
It’s my first Pride of the year (and tbh it’s probably going to be longest Pride as the rest are the one-off days). We marched, we danced, we drank, we drank, we drank and there was a lot of love. The weather was gorgeous, my shorts were short and there were Pride flags printed everywhere. It was the beginning of a wonderful few Pride weeks.
Meghan Trainor – ‘Hurt Me’
Meghan Trainor needs to be stopped… she is dropping tunes left, right and centre and it’s beginning too difficult to keep up. Every week she’s giving us a taste of something new and quite frankly…it’s not fair! ‘Hurt Me’ feels like a throwback to her ‘Title’ era and the song is perfection…the track came about from the TV show ‘Songland’ where singer-songwriters pitch their tracks to different pop stars and ‘Hurt Me’ is Meghan through and through “don’t be so bitter / how bout we keep it sweet” she sings on the chorus and the track has this familiar backing track to it that is radio ready.
Ellie Goulding & Juice WRLD – ‘Hate Me’
Ellie is making her comeback known…she’s made a fiery comeback last year with Swae Lee-assisted number ‘Close To Me’, broke hearts with the beautiful ‘Flux’ and now she’s back with the urban-pop bop ‘Hate Me’ and I’m unapologetically besotted by it… The track details a scorned lover recoilied at their ex-lovers’ new lover “I bet you don’t kiss her with your eyes closed / I bet you’re still walkin’ on a tightrope”. I have to be honest that I’m also absolutely obsessed with the way Juice WRLD sings his verse “damage my brain” especially has me hooked. Ellie’s been receiving a bit of hate over the commercial aspects of this track and really; I don’t understand why…the track feels like it’d sit comfortably on her sophomore record ‘Halcyon’.
Adam Lambert – ‘Comin In Hot’
Also serving the comeback train is Adam Lambert… like ‘New Eyes’, he has really taken on a much more sexier and soulful sound…‘Comin In Hot’ sees Adam flirting his male lover with “I want your touch, come put your hands on me / I want my love to feed your vanity”…Adam’s vocals soar over the soulful number as he ranges from falsetto to his normal, distinguished tone…it’s a great song and serves it purpose well to entice us listeners for the forthcoming ‘Velvet’ project.
Madonna – ‘God Control’
Credit where credit’s due…‘Madame X’ has about 5 good songs…‘God Control’ being the main one and Madonna’s recently dropped a great music video for the track highlighting the overbearing number of deaths due to gun violence; using the incident of the Pulse Nightclub as the backdrop to the narrative. The song itself is weirdly wonderful; although it starts off with a strained vocal where I believe Madonna is meant to sound angry or informative, but it just sounds painful…however the track turns into an uptempo disco number with a dubbing of a choir behind her and is simply put…a wonderful and thought provoking track “people think that I’m insane / the only gun is in my brain / each new birth, it gives me hope / that’s why I don’t smoke that dope”. A gem among a web of rubbish.
Jedward – ‘Born To Touch Your Heart’
Jedward have made a welcome return to the music scene with their first album in seven years, ‘Voice Of A Rebel‘, and it’s quite the anthology of over 20 songs…a lot of people may not see past the reality television image of Jedward, however there is a lot of empowerment featured within their discography, and musically they play up to their fun personalities…‘Born To Touch Your Heart’ starts off with a sweet, honky tonk piano before transitioning into a synthy-pop number where Jedward sing “you’re perfect forever with all your scars”. I can guarantee this one’s uplifting message will convey to the Jed fans (read more here).
