Já de regresso aos Estados Unidos, partilho convosco uma artista que descobri ontem – Charlotte Spiral. Talvez por o tempo por aqui estar tão frio, “End of Summer” pareceu-me um espelho perfeito da melancolia que por aqui se faz sentir. Gosto muito da voz de Charlotte e a composição instrumental também está muito bem conseguida, com uma energia muito orgânica e ao mesmo tempo a puxar pela efemeridade das coisas. Maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be. Ora ouçam  

Mais novidades fresquinhas na playlist do Spotify.

Apresento-vos Unknown Neighbour e o seu tema “Home”. Nem sabia bem como começar porque esta música tocou-me no coração de uma maneira muito íntima e familiar. As cordas estão muito bem exploradas e conjugadas, mas é a voz que dá aquele toque extra fazendo com letra e parte instrumental nos invadam e nos remexa nas emoções. Para mim, em particular, e dado tudo o que tem acontecido na minha vida, esta passagem comoveu-me “It felt so rough / To stand on your own / With no scope for / Somebody to moan / It’s been so rough / To have a room but no home /A room but no home. Deixo-vos com uma declaração do artista sobre o significado da música para si. 

I wrote this song a while ago and I think it’s my most intimate one. The lyrics kind of summarize my music – my songs, my message, my artist name – but also me as a person. Writing, producing and performing “Home” has been a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s a pile of hope for those who always had a room but no home. Music gives me so much strength and I hope that this song will do the same for some of you!

Mais novidades fresquinhas na playlist do Spotify. 

You’ve been brought up

In an unfamiliar town

And boy you got used to

Strangers and their frown

They brought you up

By holding you down

By holding you down

It felt so rough

To stand on your own

With no scope for

Somebody to moan

It’s been so rough

To have a room but no home

A room but no home

But you grew up and you swore

To add chapters of ease

May they cover your core

Like the rings of old trees

I will hold yours

And you will hold mine

I’m gonna hold yours

And you’re gonna hold mine

Quem não adora saber sempre novidades da nossa querida Jenny Kern? “Now We Know” é o seu mais recente single e, segundo a artista, é também a sua canção mais honesta ate agora. 

“Now We Know” is my most honest song to date. This song was different for me. My process is usually finding a melody and then the words follow but with this song I wrote the lyrics first. It’s literal. Every line is literal. As you read the words, there’s nothing poetic there. It’s about self-realization, admitting to mistakes and accepting the end of a relationship.

I was working creatively with someone and we developed a very close relationship. One that was founded on understanding and support. I was dealing with a lot of depression, health issues and change, which lead to mistakes that I’m not proud of.

I wrote this song shortly after we parted ways. I was feeling a lot of guilt and shame about what happened and I was trying to understand it. At first I was in denial about the whole thing but eventually I was able to come to terms with my mistake. That said, I was still very much struggling with the fact that we would never be able to make it right Even when I tried to make it right they didn’t want anything to do with me. So I had to walk away. Learning to accept that something is broken and dealing with the fallout is incredibly powerful. The last line of the chorus “Now We Know” is meant to represent a sense of understanding and acceptance.

Ultimately, we’re human, we’re flawed and it’s okay. We’ve all got things to work on, we’ve all got problems and we’ve all experienced a broken heart. It’s easier to talk about it and be vulnerable than to keep it in and pretend like you’re doing well because that does no one any good. The first step is acceptance and you grow from there.

Se ainda não ouviram “Now We Know”, assim que ouvirem vão perceber, não só pela melodia como pela voz de Jenny Kern que estamos perante uma canção que nos toca e nos fala ao coração. Uma das coisas que mais gosto na artista é precisamente a sua honestidade e a forma como as suas canções não são apenas mais uma, mas antes uma nova história, uma nova partilha que tem tanto de especial. 

Esta e outras novidades recentes na playlist do Spotify.

It broke my heart to hear the words

Cut right through wish I misheard

And I bet it tasted sweet

Coming out so easily

Don’t come around again

Is what you said

I know you didn’t stutter

Was it meant to be this way

Was I ever meant to stay

So the story goes

Now we know

Now we know

It was an awful thing to do

Oh I know you played the fool

When I danced around the lies

It’s something that you can’t disguise

Don’t come around again

Is what you said

I know you didn’t stutter

Was it meant to be this way

Was I ever meant to stay

So the story goes

Now we know

Now we know

Don’t come around again

Is what you said

I know you didn’t stutter

Was it meant to be this way

Was I ever meant to stay

So the story goes

Now we know

Now we know

Volta e meia o estado de espírito leva-me para atmosferas menos evidentes, mais introspectivas e a precisar de uma maior expansão emocional. Quando ouvi Glow, the Ocoeur, artista francês, senti que enveredava precisamente numa viagem desse género. Começa de forma subtil, mas quando damos conta somos levados pela mão para uma combinação de ritmos que se entranha de forma quase solene. A maquinaria electrónica é usada quase como que em forma de um pincel cuidado, mas também feroz, numa tela abstracta, propensa à interpretação de cada um. Gostei muito de descobrir este tema e decidi então partilhá-lo convosco. Espero que gostem. 

Mais descobertas fresquinhas na playlist do Spotify.

Quanto de nós, para além da nossa profissão diária, temos hobbies em que projectamos muitos dos nossos pensamentos e emoções? Muitos, com certeza. Cruzei-me com a música de Andreas Fröberg e fiquei logo fascinada pela associação que fez entre a sua profissão (médico e psiquiatra) e a sua paixão pelo piano, usando-a para expressar tudo aquilo que vai testemunhando no seu trabalho.

I have played the piano and composed my whole life, but chose another professional path in my twenties, namely becoming a doctor and psychiatrist. My album Medications reflects the meetings and experiences I have made in my work, including all dispair, fright and sorrow but also hope, trust and happiness. I have named all the songs from psychotropic medications. Zopiclone is a pill used for sleep onset. The song itself, I would say, is well suited for night time.

E a verdade é que o piano, para mim, sempre foi terapêutico. Acho que nunca vos contei, mas enquanto estive nos EUA, nos meus momentos mais solitários e de maior saudade, sentava-me ao piano da casa onde vivi até Dezembro, apenas imitando (com a ajuda do youtube) algumas composições. Dito isto, para não me dispersar, decidi partilhar convosco o lado artístico de Andreas Fröberg que nos faz sentir tanto à medida que o ouvimos. Todos nós temos a nossa pequena montanha russa de emoções e é tão bom quando a música nos proporciona um canal para as libertarmos. 

Para mais novidades, não se esqueçam da playlist FreshFindings do Spotify.

Hoje trago-vos um estilo um pouco diferente do habitual, mas que já foi o estilo que ouvia diariamente. É com “Mechanical Eyes” que vos apresento Orochen, uma banda de rock progressivo nórdica (da Suécia), que nos traz uma epopeia sonora, com uma letra mordaz.

The backbone of Orochen is Jonas Mattsson’s songwriting. Dark contemplations of a world where both man and matter are considered an economic resource. A demystified, post-capitalistic wasteland where nothing is allowed to live if it doesn’t provide an economic value. Existence is sold and bought with a shared belief, the utmost common myth of our time – that money equals value.

Para além de uma arte gráfica impressionista, o que me levou a fazer esta partilha foi em parte a nostalgia de sentir uma maior expressão de emoções mais negras, mais críticas, através da música. Existe sempre uma reivindicação e uma espécie de procura de redenção que nem sempre tem um final feliz. Acho que ficou uma música muito interessante. Ouçam por vós mesmos. 

Mais novidades fresquinhas na playlist do Spotify FreshFindings.

Blissful hands with roses

it is what it seems

and it lies only to be forgiven

A comeback from death but a spiral that leads back underground

It is here to save us, it is here to be

The lie that will be forgiven

A passing through grasslands and trees

and it meets the sea

And look through mechanical eyes of

zeroes and ones

Broken down on a piece of paper

Leave all wet faces of concrete

like in a cows last breath

Hidden beside the highway to be lost

Everything they gave us, everything we own

It lies, only to be forgiven

It’s a cage of time and a designed desire just for you

It is here to save us, it is here to be

The lie that will be forgiven

A passing through grasslands and trees and it meets the sea

And look through mechanical eyes of

zeroes and ones

Broken down on a piece of paper

Leave all wet faces of concrete

like in a cows last breath

Hidden beside the highway to be lost

The knifes edge in the fire, all warm and red as it makes an entrance in your chest

And it flows through your mind and leaves a touch of despair

And the struggle has claimed a patch of land inside your head to grow all them seeds

Just meet them with those brand-new mechanical eyes

The knifes edge in the fire, all warm and red as it makes an entrance in your chest

And the struggle has claimed a patch of land inside your head

Just meet them with those brand-new mechanical eyes

Desde os primeiros segundos de Are You Gonna Be Okay que houve uma empatia imediata. Por vezes cruzamo-nos com estas canções assim, que nos dizem algo, não sabemos bem o quê. Não é só a parte instrumental, mas um pouco mais. Depois ouvimos mais uma vez e outra, a letra começa a fazer ainda mais sentido e não tarda sabemos a linha do baixo de cor e já estamos enamorados pela atmosfera que se faz sentir. É assim que vos apresento Stray Fossa, uma banda de Charlottesville, Virgínia, EUA. Curiosa, perguntei-lhe mais sobre a origem da canção: 

The original melody to the song felt a bit lethargic and slow, so Will and Zach suggested Nick revisit it. Nick went on a run to think things over. He hates running, and the melody came to him quickly. The instrumental had a bit of a plodding, melancholic feel so Nick wanted the lyrics to reflect an internal narration one may have when wandering alone out and about in society. All of the external stimuli cause your thoughts to spring around, but you are still very much in your own world.

Are You Gonna Be Okay evolved from a previous song that we had played live but which never felt completed. The song came about originally from a guitar arrangement by Will with Zach’s bass being written on top.

We wanted to revisit this old tune and decided to start over. We came up with this arrangement with a completely new verse/chorus structure and outro in one single take, everything coming together instrumentally in our attic studio seemingly out of nowhere.

Essentially we spent 5 minutes revisiting an old song demo that had staled in our minds, and a new song was born. Songs don’t always happen that way, but we they do you’ve gotta run with it.

E nós estamos muito felizes que esta música surgiu nesses 5 minutos, sem dúvida alguma. 

Mais FreshFindings na playlist do Spotify. 

I wanted to get out there anyway,

try to catch a cold in for the day.

To see a film meant more decisions,

and no one watches television.

It’s not that I could help it; to start

I was a kid and cut my own hair in the dark—

belief I found annoying.

The talk of death could get so boring.

Time goes to waste in a year,

and I’m hoping

that we’ll remain friends.

Are you gonna be

okay?

Bet you’re thinking that there must be more to this,

window shopping in a life that you made of glass.

Oh won’t you tell me what you’re feeling,

not another reason.

Look around a land of fibers at the cars,

at the stores all pushing nothing and at once;

hope that you enjoy it—

not that you can own it.

Smile, are you really there,

and you’ll give it

everything that you can?

Timeless and mean in the end,

and you dare it,

all we left unsaid.

A adição seguinte à novas descobertas consiste em Wooly and The Uke, com a colaboração de Poor Rich Boy, e o tema “Watch”. Se criei empatia e uma espécie de ligação mais emotiva com esta música, muito se deveu ao seu desenvolvimento, da forma cândida como começa, à explosão de ritmos, sentidos e a belíssima combinação de vozes. Para além de uma letra que ecoa no nosso peito, a parte instrumental fica cada vez melhor ao longo da canção, tornando-a uma espécie de banda sonora emocional. 

Playlist FreshFindings aqui.

[Verse 1]

Here goes

The highest high

Here come

The lowest lows

Bang, bang

Baby got shot to the sky again

And again

Here goes

The highest high

Here come

The lowest lows

Bang, bang

Baby got shot to the sky again

And again

Come down

We’re watching you

Take your fill and come through

In our hands

We’re the new

New men

[Chorus]

Where is the

Rest and the best

Of me?

Where is the

Rest and the best

Of me?

[Verse 2]

Here come

The feelings

Here come

The waves of a lonely mind

An only mind

A sick mind

[Chorus]

Where is the

Rest and the best

Of me?

Where is the

Rest and the best

Of me?

[Outro: Umer Khan]

Gaslit nights light up the darkness

Nervous till it disappears

Shadows merge with every moment

And dissipate all fear

Words betray us in the end there

Like traitors whisper in our midst

A letter sent, but meant for no one

The only message you’ll need

À playlist FreshFindings junta-se agora Kid Nobody com uma música que fica rapidamente no ouvido. “Ready or Not” começa com um piano ao qual se junta uma voz cujos efeitos adicionam diferentes texturas emocionais. Não tarda temos várias componentes electrónicas a juntarem-se à festa e num instante nos vemos numa dimensão lânguida e atraente.

Sobre a inspiração por trás da música, o vocalista Michael Wilson explica: “It’s hard for me not to love the lyrics and poetic nature of this song. I wrote ‘ready or not’ for my then girlfriend (now wife). Our first few dates ended with us driving the canyons in the Santa Monica Mountains. There was just something so simple and pure about hitting the road with someone and having this shared anticipation, tension even, and then that being met with fading city lights, a dark open road, and just heading for an unknown horizon — it was thrilling and unexpected.”

Sigam a playlist aqui: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6BMhkAAHPxCEeBb2zodTUt?si=9XP-SYPyRPqH0cRFJH11rg

Já alguma vez partilhei o quanto gosto do som de um baixo? Escusado será dizer que havendo uma música que começa com uma linha de baixo que me fica no ouvido, provavelmente tornar-se há num vício muito rapidamente. A música que vos apresento hoje – “Sister” – do projecto The Feather, não só tem uma linha de baixo que fica no ouvido, como toda a composição da música nos coloca a mexer, ao mesmo tempo que nos faz reflectir com a sua letra consciente. A cereja no topo do bolo é o vídeo a preto e branco que tem um trabalho artístico admirável. Em relação ao tema, o artista declara: 

With “Sister” I wanted to describe how I – and the others around me – relate to screens. How social media affect us all, how we are connected at all time while deeply disconnected from reality. Does social media connect or disconnect us? The contradiction between having the ability, the ‘power’ to know everything about someone in just a few clicks.. while having the feeling of being watched ourselves. Musically this song marks a turning point in my writing with the use of bass as the main instrument of composition, which is the case of other pieces of the upcoming album’.

E a verdade é que a inspiração para “Sister” acaba por ser algo em que, tendo um blog lido por milhares de pessoas e tendo que gerir as suas redes sociais, acabo por pensar muito. Muito obrigada por esta belíssima peça de arte a tantos níveis! 

Mais descobertas fresquinhas na playlist do Spotify. 

Control yourself

There’s nothing to see here

Harden your shell

The other’s always near

Listen to the words your read

it’s hot air

City never goes to sleep

It shares

Always captive in the screen

You’re losing

I will never reappear

So, well…

My sister’s in love

Brother’s laughing when he’s down

I enter your soul

Don’t you feel this thing

just give it away

Control yourself,

Why do you scratch my back ?

You’re sitting on my shell,

I can’t even go out

My sister’s in love

Brother’s laughing when he’s down

I enter your soul

Lying on the background

My sister’s in love

Brother’s laughing when he’s down

I enter your soul

Don’t you feel this thing

Just give it away

Hey sister,

Stay hide in your bed

Resist her

Then, go back to sleep