The first Mic Recommends of the autumn semester sees our writers review Laufey, The 1975, and Lorna Shore.
All I Need to Hear - The 1975
The 1975’s Matty Healy isn’t one for sentiment: for a man who’s immense ego is only equal to his immense sense of self deprecation, his 80s synth pop tunes are often about drugs, heartbreak, or “jacking off” (his words). Thats not the case so far with this newest album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, each track as sincere as can be, and their latest ‘All I Need To Hear’ is (excuse the crudeness) truly caked in it. In reportedly one take, Healy laments his distant relationship before his words becomes a plea for love, insincerity permitting. AINTH never enters the realm of Maximalist Pop 1975 fans are used to: it builds and swells into a beautiful bridge, with light but emotional string accompaniment. The track almost feels like a ‘75 live lounge session, as if they’re reinventing Adele or Lewis Capaldi’s latest ballad. The song permeates a real sense of restraint, each part trying to capture the timidness of Healy’s lyricism and vocal delivery. I’m a sucker for ad-libbs, so their drummer George being asked to “do the high hats now” at the beginning of the 2nd verse adds to the track’s almost home-brew feel. It’s corny sure, something quite foreign to the band, but given the album title maybe that’s the whole point. AINTH sees Matty Healy prove once again that the way to his fans’ heart is his band’s bread and butter: a damn good love song.
Riley Backler
Medicine For The Dead - Slipknot
Starting with an ominous synth driven intro, what may be the best album track on Slipknot’s
latest LP is a slow burner that builds up into greatness. Once the guitars hit, the band are in
groove mode and let themselves flow, not rushing into anything. The verses have much cleaner
vocals than the average Slipknot track, but with the harshness of Corey Taylor’s bridge vocals
and scattered yells the song more than makes itself known as a heavy banger. Lyrically, the
song revolves around typically dark themes, as we are used to with Slipknot. The refrain is
about being given the titular ‘medicine for the dead’ and the whole song seems to hinge on the
idea that no one wins, and we are all living to die. With such a depressing concept you may be
forgiven for thinking this song would not be very enjoyable, or too morose for a crowd to mosh
to or sing to, but give it a listen and you’ll realise it’s custom built for the live arena.
Jake Longhurst
Everything I Know About Love - Laufey
A guide to the hopeless romantic. Laufey’s debut album explores the subject of love. Falling
in and out of love, the magical possibilities of day-to-day life, the awkwardness of first
meeting, all the ups and downs, she has covered it all. She has created the perfect
soundtrack to romanticise the everyday. Her tapestry of sonic influences is vibrant and
enhances her incredible storytelling. Drawing upon her upbringing, she has seamlessly
blended Classical, Jazz and Pop, threading them together to give the music a vintage and
cosy feel, while also keeping it fresh and modern through the production and mastering. It is
refreshing to hear music that uses orchestral and jazz instruments as a primary thought in
composition, instead of an add-on post-release. In her single also titled Everything I Know
About Love, Laufey played a Bach excerpt on cello, alongside her mother and sister giving
the Classical fans among us an Easter egg! For the Jazzists, the song Just Like Chet refers
to the great jazz musician Chet Baker and one of his most famous songs from the 1940s, I
Fall In Love Too Easily. If you’re looking for a sweet and masterful album to lose yourself in,
this is the one.
Sophie Kozlowska
Pain Remains II: After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear - Lorna Shore
Your favourite deathcore band is back again, and oh boy have they returned with yet another
ridiculously good symphonic deathcore riff monster. The genre as a whole is generally not very
focussed on the emotions of love and loss in the same perspective as Lorna Shore, so for them
to not only provide a new spin on something that’s all too often untouched, but to also make it a
three part epic (this being the second part) is unheard of. The song itself is as good as any
they’ve put out since bringing the incredible Will Ramos into the fold, with his ludicrous vocals
being displayed prominently throughout the whole song, but the band also know when to let the
emotion take the centre stage, with a powerful and technical guitar solo midway through the
song allowing Will to breathe and also opening the song up into a whole new beast. After having
seen this amazing band on Sunday, I can safely say they are on track to global domination of
the heavy community.
Jake Longhurst
Edited by: Caradoc Gayer
In article video courtesy of The 1975 via YouTube. Image courtesy of Lorna Shore via Facebook. Cover image courtesy of Laufey via Facebook.
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