#literally everything but the instrumentals & album videos

[synthshenanigans]

Hey do you wanna test if you know every chonny jash song? Like EVERY chonny jash song? Like all 107 songs on his channel?

Well now you can :}

[reysdriver]

Rockstar!Sirius

headcanons of Sirius as a rockstar/musician — rockstar!sirius x fem!reader

warnings: some sexual headcanons so minors dni cus it's not for you

words: 0.4k

a/n: I will be writing more of this AU, I just realized I hadn't done anything for rockstar!sirius so I had to do some quick hcs

- The band is The Marauders of course (I've said this for every rockstar headcanon list so far lol)

- Sirius is 100% the lead singer; he loves being the center of attention and this is the best way for him to get that

- He does play some instruments like guitar or keyboards if the band needs, but his main role is vocals

- Glam rock aesthetic, like he LOVES the makeup, the jewelry, the flashy outfits, everything 

- I could see him in a classic rock 'n' roll look, but for the band's peak, he's wearing those platform boots and glittery clothes

- Remus writes most of the songs for the band, but Sirius writes some too

- And most (if not all) of the songs he writes are about you, and I'd say about half of them are sexual

- Insists that you're his 'muse', says he can't be a star without you there

- So he'll bring you on all the band's tours, and dedicates every concert to you because 'without you, I'd be nothing'

- You'll even have your own little something in the band's contracts (like your favourite candy in the dressing rooms or just anything like that) because Sirius insists you be treated like part of the band

- And speaking of 'part of the band', he takes you on shopping sprees to buy matching outfits with him so that the entire world knows who you are because he just wants to show you off in the best clothes his rockstar money can buy

- Wants you to star in the band's music videos and be on their album art

- The entire fanbase knows about you (how could they not? do you really expect Sirius to keep you a secret) and they love you 

- He will talk about you in every interview he does

- I picture him super tattooed (like he was after azkaban but like in a good way)

- Honestly just rockstar!sirius is Damiano David like literally same exact person

- If it's modern, he'll post pictures on social media like Jennifer Lopez using Ben Affleck's cropped nudes for a father's day pic

- Or like post-sex selfies like his smug face after eating you out that you equally find so embarrassing and flattering 

- And when you tell him (only partially seriously) to keep those pictures private, he just teases and says 'how else will the world know how much I love you if I don't show them?'

[toomuchracket]

lovers' quarrel (ross x girlband gf!reader angst)

day 5 of valentine's week. schedule clashes are getting to you. enjoy <3

you haven't spoken to your boyfriend in a week.

you're sleeping in the same bed as him, yeah, but ross is always asleep when you let yourself into his house at 11pm, body aching after a 12-hour day of dance rehearsals and video shoots and last-minute touch-ups to the instrumentals and harmonies and mixing on your band's new album. and you're always asleep when he leaves at 8am to drive to the studio to finish recording the new 75 LP (scheduled for release a month after yours), a kiss to your sleep-messy hair the only real bit of physical contact he gets to give you.

even your phone calls during studio breaks keep missing each other; you only hear your boyfriend's voice filtered through crackly phone lines, an obvious reminder that you're apart. in fact, the closest you've felt to ross in about eight days is when you use his body wash, in the freezing shower you take to soothe your screaming leg muscles before you get into bed with him.

you hate this. you miss him, so much.

ross misses you, too - he tells you at the end of every voicemail he leaves, paired with a “love you”, in such a defeated tone it brings tears to your eyes. you call him back, leave a similar message of your own, and go back into the rehearsal room and dance your heart out, as if it isn't breaking more with every passing second. 

is this what life is always going to be like for the two of you, a loving relationship reduced to fleeting moments of getting to spend time with each other in between tours and shows and recording sessions and writing and promo? you're not sure how long you could take it, if it is.

but you love ross. so fucking much. surely you can do something to make it better for both of you.

the question is… what?

you're mulling over that on your lunch break, sat alone outside the studio complex with your tofu bowl and lucozade, thinking about how thursdays have always been the worst day of the week (double maths back in the day, and now the final full day of work left before you can actually maybe talk to your man for once), when the answer appears through the summer drizzle. well, actually, it's gabbriette who appears, dashing over to you from her (matty's) car and screeching as the rain hits her hair.

you laugh, standing and letting her barrel into your arms. “hi, wifey.”

“baby girl!” she kisses your nose. “you look gorgeous.”

“gabs, i've been dancing for three hours straight. i look like shit.”

“but hot shit. like, super sexy shit,” she grins. “how's everything going? do i get a sneak peek of the new video?”

you smirk. “depends. did matty send you down here to spy on us?”

gabbriette laughs. “he's too stressed to even think of suggesting anything that smart. no, actually, i'm just here to see how you're doing,” her beautiful face shifts into a more serious expression. “because when i asked your boyfriend how you were, literally thirty minutes ago, he very cryptically said he didn't know.”

“ah.”

“he did then explain that you guys hadn't broken up, but it scared me,” she squeezes your hand. “you okay? like, i know you're both so busy - george is literally pushing the guys to the limit in the studio right now - but…”

you sigh. “yeah, we’re just so busy that we keep missing each other, that's all - i get home when he's sleeping, he leaves before i wake up, and we're never free to call at the same time. like, i didn't even know that thing you just said about george, because we haven't talked for days,” you slide down the wall to sit, and gabbriette follows. you sniffle. “he sleeps right beside me, but i miss him like he's continents away. and i hate it, gabs, i really hate it.”

“oh, baby,” she puts her arm around you and kisses your head. “it'll get better soon, though, won't it? you finish here tomorrow afternoon, right?”

“yeah, but,” you wipe your eyes with the sleeve of your hoodie. “then the boys get to this manic stage i'm in now, then i have to do promo, and they have to do promo, and i just don't know when it'll end.”

“i know the feeling,” gabbriette sighs. “it's not easy, us being us, loving the people we do. but that's the way it is, i guess. we just gotta,” she half-heartedly punches the air. “push through it.”

“mmm,” you take a drink of your juice. “what i wouldn't give to just have dinner with him, you know? go somewhere nice for a night, and think about nothing but the two of us.”

your friend turns to face you. “so, why don't you? make a reservation for tomorrow night. surprise him when he gets home. clichè, but,” she winks. “i'm sure ross won't complain about coming home to you all dressed up and gorgeous. i know i wouldn't.”

you burst out laughing. “you're gonna lose your shit when we go inside and you get to see my album cover outfit, babe.”

“oh my god,” she presses her face into your shoulder, then sits up with a smile. “but seriously. i know you're exhausted, and so is he, but plan a date, have fun, make it a regular thing. you guys are perfect together; don’t let that slip away.”

“alright. thank you for the support,” you hug her. “i love you.”

“i love you, angel girl,” gabbriette pulls back and kisses your nose again, before standing and helping you up. “now, i am dying to see what you and the girls have been cooking up. shall we?”

you link your arm through hers. “let's go.”

***

when you hear the key in the lock, you brush down your dress a final time and hurry into the hallway. your heart skips at the sight of ross - clearly exhausted - stepping through the door; you can't keep the smile from your face, and one appears on his after he kicks his shoes off and turns towards you.

he exhales. “god, you're a sight for sore eyes. hi, love,” his arms open, and you run into them and allow yourself to be wrapped up in your boyfriend. “missed you this week.”

“missed you, too,” you nuzzle into his neck. “how are you, darling?”

“perfect, now that i've got you in my arms,” his smile is audible. “not letting you out of them for a second, by the way. need to catch up on holding my girl.”

you giggle. “what about dinner?”

“i can eat pizza with you on my lap on the sofa, can't i?”

oh. your heart feels slightly heavier than it did a second ago. “that's… what you want to do for dinner?”

you do your best to keep your voice light, but ross doesn't miss a trick. he pulls back, frowning slightly. “yeah. something calm, after us both being so busy this week,” he seems to notice your dress for the first time, brow furrowing even further when he takes in your polished appearance. “but that's not what you want, is it?”

“well, baby,” you let go of him, wringing your hands nervously. “i’ve, um, made a reservation at that place you like down the street. for tonight.”

ross pinches the bridge of his nose. “why would you do that, sweetheart?”

your jaw falls open. what? “oh, i just thought it might be nice to go out. save us doing the washing up,” the joke falls flat, but you clear your throat and continue. “and, you know, i’m home now, not coming in exhausted at midnight or whatever, for once, and i-”

“oh, okay,” ross laughs mirthlessly, and your blood runs cold. “just because you're not tired, i should forget my own tiredness and force myself to go out for an overpriced meal i don't even want to eat right now? just because?”

you don't think you've ever felt smaller in your life, and your voice shows it. “no, i just thought-”

“exactly. you just thought, about yourself, not me,” ross hangs up his jacket, shaking his head. “i mean, really, love? you of all people know what it's like, burning yourself out in the studio every day. is it really so surprising that i wanted to come home, to my own house, and just spend the night there?”

something inside you just snaps, and your next words shoot from your lips like bullets. “no, i fucking know the feeling, ross,” you glare at him when he turns to look at you, slight shock on his face at your sudden aggression. “66 hours i've worked, this week, across five days, and at the end of every single one of them i've wanted nothing more than to go straight home to my flat and collapse onto my bed. but d'you know what i've done instead?” you laugh, manic. “i've driven here and stayed with you, because i thought that even if we couldn't spend time together properly, at least we were with each other in some way. and you can't even be nice about the fact i wanted to do something special for us tonight. because, yeah, i was thinking about us when i did it.”

ross looks at you for a second, then shrugs. “well, i didn't ask you to do any of it.”

you nod, biting your trembling lip. “right,” you squeeze past him, picking up your handbag from the console table. tears prick at your eyes as you open the front door. “enjoy your fucking pizza, then.”

a sob escapes your lips as the door slams behind you, tears hitting off the steps as you hurry down them towards your car. with shaking hands, you rifle through your bag to find your keys, unlocking the door and climbing inside so you can cry in peace and figure out where to go. you half-expect ross to follow you, knock on the window, apologise… but nothing. the front door stays closed. even the blinds in the front room don’t move.

you're tempted to wait to see how long it would take him to come after you. but it's not a great look for you to be sitting outside his house in tears, and - to be honest - you don't really want to see him right now, anyway. you need to go somewhere. not your flat, because that's the first place he'd look for you - if he even decides to bother, that is. no. you need to go somewhere else, be with other people, people who love you. but not your bandmates, because that would be ross's next point of call.

and then, it hits you - gabbriette. you scroll through your contacts until you find her number, and hit call; what you don't expect, however, is for her boyfriend to answer. “hi, darling!”

“oh, hi, matty,” you sniffle. “did i dial you? i thought i'd called gabs.”

“no, you did, she just got me to answer because she’s making dinner,” he replies, his girlfriend audibly yelling in greeting in the background. “speaking of dinner… i thought you and ross were meant to be out right now? everything alright?”

you don't say anything in response, just burst into tears down the phone. matty sighs. “oh, fuck. come over, darling. i'll open the wine now.”

“thank you,” you say between sobs. “i'll see you in a bit.”

when you get to his house twenty minutes later, you reckon the two of them must have been standing at the door waiting for you; as soon as you ring the bell, it opens, and you're enveloped into a group hug so tight you can't tell who's who.

matty kisses your head when the hug ends. “just wanna say,” he begins, passing you a ridiculously large glass of red wine. “that while ross is my best friend, he will hear nothing of what's about to be said tonight. so… yeah. rip him to shreds.”

“oh, i intend to,” gabbriette squeezes your hand. “he came home to you looking like that and he didn't wanna go out with you? stupid boy.”

you wince. “gabs…”

“sorry, sorry. but i'm right,” she turns to matty. “don’t you think, baby?”

he nods. “he's an idiot,” something beeps in the kitchen, and gabbriette squeaks and runs towards it. matty puts an arm around you. “come on. we'll have a seat, and you can tell us everything.”

“okay.”

and you do just that, settled next to matty on the kitchen counter so gabs can hear and react while she cooks; you aren't quite sure you'd be able to make it through reliving the argument without the plates of focaccia she keeps laying on your lap, to be honest. anyway - both of them react quite accordingly to your story, dropped jaws and wide eyes and utterances of “he said that?” punctuating your words.

matty shakes his head when you finish talking, putting a hand on top of yours in a brotherly way. “i'm sorry, darling. he can be a moody bastard at times, i know, but that's… that's awful.”

“i get that he's tired and he didn't want to go out,” you sigh, taking a drink of your wine. “but he didn't need to make me feel like a stupid bitch for suggesting it,” you well up again. “and now i don't know where i am with him.”

“oh, baby,” gabbriette runs over to kiss your hair and hug you. “listen, you'll stay here tonight - we'll have a good time, talk shit, have some wine, and then we can figure your love life out tomorrow. cool?”

you look between the two of them, nervous. “i don't want to intrude…”

“oi, none of that,” matty squeezes your hand. “what kind of brother would i be if i didn't take of my little sister?”

“love you, mate,” you hug him, then turn to gabs. “both of you.”

“and we love you,” she kisses your cheek. “me more than him. seriously, i love you so much.”

matty laughs. “she’s right, actually,” he says to you. “came home raving about the sneak peek of the album she got yesterday,” he looks at you pointedly.

you roll your eyes. “fine, i'll tell you about it.”

“fuck yeah!”

you're still telling them all about the album and its processes when ross makes contact, almost two hours after you left his house. matty's phone rings, the contact photo (an old selfie of the two boys) visible to all three of you; the atmosphere changes from buzzy to sombre when you see it.

matty looks at you. “i don't have to answer it if you don't want me to.”

you look at the buzzing phone, the picture of your boyfriend on the screen filling you with a weird mix of emotion. “no, it's ok.”

“you sure?”

you nod. “if he asks where i am, you can tell him,” you murmur, looking at the floor. “i don't want him to worry.”

“right, darling,” matty takes your hand, and picks up his phone with the other. “alright, mate?”

gabbriette hugs you as ross speaks, inaudible to you; you're thankful for her support, because your stomach's in knots waiting for matty to reply. his eyes flick to yours, nervous. “yeah, she’s here,” he says, squeezing your hand. “she’s alright now, but… she really wasn't when she first arrived. surprised she managed to drive here, to be honest - that's how upset she was.”

you chew your bottom lip as ross says something else. matty quirks his eyebrows. “depends if your girlfriend wants to see you or not, mate.”

gabbriette squeezes you tighter. you shrug, and mouth “need to get it over with anyway”; matty grimaces, and relays the message to your boyfriend. “she's not opposed. but,” he shifts in his seat. “don't expect a warm welcome. that includes from me, too - it's none of my business, and i love you, but seeing my friend cry like that was fucking heartbreaking. i can't believe you could be so cruel.”

god, you love your friends.

you smile as matty wraps up the call. “yeah, i can imagine you feel awful about it; i'd be worried if you weren't. and yeah, i'll tell her, alright?” he gives you a thumbs up. “see you soon.”

“he's on his way?” you ask once the call ends.

“he went to yours. freaked out when you weren't there. so, he'll be here in five,” matty looks at you tentatively. “and i've to tell you he's extremely sorry and also that he loves you more than anything and finally that he’s a cunt for what he said.”

“i coulda fuckin told you that last bit,” gabbriette mutters. she smiles at you, though. “but the other bits are, you know, promising.”

“yeah,” you murmur. “shall we go and wait for him, then?”

she kisses your cheek. “if that's what you want, sure.”

true to his word, ross knocks the door five minutes later; you sit on the stairs in the hallway, gabs in front of you protectively (at her insistence), while matty answers. “hi.”

“alright?” ross's face isn’t properly visible from the angle you're at, but you can hear from the scratchiness of his voice that he's been crying. it hurts you to think about that. “can i come in?”

matty nods, stepping back to let him in. ross follows, an awkward dance, and immediately sees you. his face crumples. “hi, love.”

you wave. you're not sure if you can speak.

ross looks at gabs. “can i, um, talk to my girlfriend alone for a second?”

she turns to you. “you cool with that?”

you nod. she kisses your cheek and stands, staring ross down as she walks over to matty and they leave the room. once they've gone, ross flinches. “has she always been so scary?”

“you would be exactly the same way if she hurt matty,” your voice is hoarse, your crying just as obvious as your boyfriend's.

“yeah, s'pose,” ross takes a tentative few steps towards you, gesturing towards the stairs. “can i sit?”

“mhmm.”

“thanks,” he takes a seat on a step a few down from you, turning so he can talk to you properly. “i'm sorry, love, i really am. and i don't really have an excuse for being such a dickhead, other than tiredness, which isn't even an excuse because you've been more exhausted than i am and you still made the effort to do something nice for both of us,” he takes a shaky breath. “you look beautiful, by the way, even now; slightly off-topic, i know, but i just had to say it.”

“thanks,” you say quietly, picking at your cuticles. “thought you'd like this dress.”

“i love it,” ross smiles sadly. “i love you. and the fact that i hurt you… i feel fucking terrible about it,” his lip trembles. “i love you more than anything, or anyone, and i don't want to lose you. the thought of it fucking terrifies me, and,” he begins to cry, and your heart aches. “i worry that i'm not enough for you. i worry that i don't do enough for you, take you out enough. i worry that you'll get bored of me, bored of making all the effort, bored of sitting at home watching football or films, and one day you'll just leave me.”

what?

“oh, ross,” your heart shatters, and you scooch down to sit next to him and hug him.

“m'sorry, i know i'm the one in the wrong, but i have to be honest,” he cries into you. “when you said you wanted to go out instead of stay in, i freaked that i was boring you. and then when you brought up staying at mine instead of yours…”

“you thought it was me saying i was fed up.”

“yeah.”

“oh, baby,” you start to cry, too. “no. it was me just being pissed about you trying to say i didn't know the feeling of wanting to go home when you're tired. i didn't mean it in any other way, honest.”

“no, i know, my love. i was just scared.”

“why, though?” you look him in the eye. “you're the love of my life, ross. you're more than enough for me - everything i need, and more.”

he sniffles. “did you mean to quote beyoncé there, or…?”

“well, no, but it was apt,” you giggle, stroking his dimples when he smiles. “look, i was hurt by the way you reacted to me - an ‘oh, that's nice, love, but could we go out tomorrow night instead?’ wouldn't have gone amiss. but,” you kiss his nose. “i accept your apology, and i love you and our relationship very much, just as they are. just don't ever fucking treat me like that again, alright?”

“i promise you i won't, love,” ross kisses your nose in return. “i love you. and i'm sorry i was a grumpy shit about dinner, because i'm fucking starving now.”

you laugh, kissing his neck. “i reckon gabs has got us covered there. but if not,” you grin. “we can always get a pizza.”

“you're never letting me live that one down, are you?”

“not a fucking chance.”

[shineemoon]

KEY ✨ (Snippets of) BILLBOARD Interview

✨ “Gasoline” is quite different from your last records. Was the transformation from “Bad Love” to “Gasoline” what made the release later? Even when I was promoting my previous album, Bad Love, I thought of doing something that’s very much in contrast and very different from Bad Love. Something that only KEY can do. And I felt like the timing is now with this second album. So, you could say more so than the changes I’ve gone through; it’s kind of about the thoughts that I had back then to show off that more powerful side of myself. I already had the concept in mind so that’s why I said maybe we could have kind of shortened the time in between and it could have come sooner since I already had the thoughts back then. And you know, that doesn’t mean that I don’t like “Bad Love!” They’re all like my children.

I get it, it sounds like a lot of thought went into this album! Why was “Gasoline” the song to make the album’s title track single? It was difficult to pick a title track [single]. While we were looking for and discussing songs, there wasn’t one that stood out to me so I spoke with the writers [and producers] Kenzie and Moonshine as well to ask them to write the title track. Everything was in my brain. I explained the instrumental that I wanted, literally, with my mouth [makes beat sounds] and imitated the sounds. I explained all the concepts of the music video. And they made it into “Gasoline.”

✨ You’re also known for being boundaryless with your fashion and I see those elements here too. Tell us about the fashion in “Gasoline.” Specifically talking about this track, it was about figuring out fashion that can go both ways, creating a look that can impact and influence all genders when it came to conceptualization. That’s something that I always think about. I’ve always wanted to be able to bring that influence on the world and that was reflected especially in this song’s fashion as well.

✨ You shared how you wrote “Gasoline” with Kenzie. What did you want to show through its lyrics? It’s about building upon confidence. Taking the word “Gasoline,” saying, “Hey, if you light a spark to me, I may explode.” If you’re confident, give it a try and see the reaction—that’s the message I wanted to share because I’ve never included my autobiographical stories and experiences within a title track.

So, you feel quite confident in yourself these days? It’s really just a statement saying, “Hey, this is who I am. I am me.” Just being confident in that and not being bound by the thoughts or opinions of others. Standing strong on my own.

✨ Is there anything else you want to make sure we know? I’d like to say that music is something that I’m always going to continue doing. Something that I always keep in mind is that I can be an influence to others and have an impact on other individuals’ life. It’s my passion and I want to continue to show the better side of myself through various colors. Anyone that’s just getting into my music, don’t hesitate—please listen to it more.

FULL Interview → HERE

[mingisdoll]

Ateez as Bryson Tiller songs

Listed below are the Bryson Tiller songs I associate with Ateez. This includes his albums and any singles he has released

Hongjoong: Inhale

I had a hard time choosing something for the captain I'm not gonna lie. I compared a lot of songs, both released and unreleased, and tried to see which one fit his vibe the best. After much deliberation, I finally settled on this one. Like Crazy Form, Inhale is not overwhelming with the noise genre that Ateez is used to. I can see Joong chopping up and playing around with the instrumental on this song and maybe add a bit more layering and depth to this song. Knowing Hongjoong, he'd use that brain of his to produce something immaculate yet stay true to the original.

Seonghwa: Overtime

My brainwaves naturally associated this song with Seonghwa ever since I came across an edit that used this song in the background and the edit contained clips of this fuckface show off his grills in the behind-the-scenes video of Matz.

Yunho: Losing Focus

Heavy 808s, thumping bass, and an overall danceable beat? I immediately thought of Yunho for this one. I'm also taking into account the way he acts. I picture his face contorted into one that is actually losing focus or already has lost focus. I can picture him looking troubled as he rides the beat of this song. That's pretty much all I got for him lol

Yeosang: Canceled

We all know that Yeosang is the most savage member of the group. So of course I had to pair him with this song. He hates the fried chicken he got (which is a lie since he loves everything lol)? Cancelled. Wooyoung being Wooyoung? CANCELLED. Any bitches that wanna hate on these eight literal fucking angels? CANCELLED!!! Anyways

San: Exchange

Good. Fucking. God. I have been manifesting this cover of this song ever since I got into Ateez. I even fucking put this song in my Valentine's series! You cannot tell me that San's voice would be perfect for this song. The airiness in his tones brings a different timbre to this otherwise aggressive song and it almost gives the song a bit more seduction rather than reminiscence. With the way San's stage presence is, you'd most likely be lured in since he is a siren and you are his prey.

Mingi: Let Me Explain

Mingi is my ult. And this song is my all time favorite out of all the songs that Bryson has released. So naturally, I paired these two together. Ever since I heard Mingi's solo song, I cannot get his raspiness out of my head. It's forever glued to my brain cells. Now imagine the raspiness making an appearance again in this song. How he's begging for you to come back and hear him out before pleading for you to stay. You don't have to forgive him. As long as he explains his truth, he'll be content.

Wooyoung: Just Another Interlude

The more I listen to this bonus track off of Trapsoul, the more I realize that Wooyoung actually represents this song. As the lyrics go, Woo can be a freak and a friend too. He's someone you'd see yourself leaning on yet get a good fuck out of him. However, this doesn't mean he's fitted for friends-with-benefits. Good God no. He's way too good for that. This just means that when you get into a relationship with him, he can either be a friend, a fuckbuddy, a lover, or all three.

Jongho: Next to You

The maknae. The 'hyung' maknae. The maknae with strong hands and even stronger vocals. We all know he loves to scream out his high notes. As it says in a guide I watched, Jongho's voice is so powerful that when you hear his harmonies, you'd think it was another instrument. I jokingly posted a Jongho pic on Instagram with this song in the background, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that he does have the potential to sing mainly in his lower register. It would be a nice contrast to everything else.

[netherfeildren]

just listened to fourth of july by sufjan and now i’m crying. that hit home with me and my mother. how beautiful and sad and I love it for joel and ellie

i’m curious to know if any other songs have inspired you for writing, tlou or otherwise. you have lovely taste.

isn’t it so them 🥺🥺🥺 not to be gauche but my best friend made me this edit to fourth of july and it’s everything to me (she also happens to be the person who made my little TCC masterlist video talented wench that she is!) but that song the sound of it the lyrics everything will always be ellie and joel’s song the last of us song it’s the end of the world song everything it’s just them to me

other influential music — i know the end by phoebe bridgers is another important fear of god song the title was literally pulled from it but also! there’s this band called the heartless bastards and their record arrow reminds me so much of joel in general like soooo much that sort of bluesy folk rock sound. it’s such an amazing album and i always listen to it when i’m writing for him

and again come on over was the album someone’s wife was literally written to it reminds me so much of the good parts of my childhood and also it’s just so much about becoming a woman and being confident and yourself and finding love amongst that

i also listen to a lot of instrumental music when i’m writing susanne sundfør has several instrumental pieces that i literally play over and over and over again lene and lys i think they’re called as well as emile mossesri’s music who’s been discussed many times on this blog. i love the minari soundtrack but also his songs infinite love and our love have been on repeat while i’ve been writing tcc lately. okok and one more i listen to soooooo much big thief when i’m writing like so much — adrianne lenker’s voice just does something good to my writer brain i like all their albums and their newest one is so wonderful

[h-f-k]

what did you think of the album? Any standout tracks for you?

spoileeeeeeers and long ass raaaaaaaant

okay so... i have MANY thoughts and none of them make sense so i'll try my best

I liked the album. It's a vast improvement from midnights but it's just that, a small upgrade. Production wise i feel like Aaron borderline saved the album from being another midnights, ttpd suffers from what i call 3AM Bonus Tracks Syndrome which is that: Aaron providing a breath of fresh air which was incredibly needed after having jack produced 99% of midnights. I love jack and i love his solo stuff but for me the formula swift-antonoff doesn't work as well as it used to and if it does it gives one great song and the rest are just there.

There were three or four songs that really stood out for me. Florida!!! doesn't make any fucking sense to me (i literally had to ask in the gc what the song meant bc i was like huh????) but the production is extremely cool, THE DRUMS????!!!!! GIVE ME REAL INSTRUMENTS!!!!!! I really liked it, it grew on me and now it's one of my faves. So long london is another gem and i remember really liking down bad upon first listen. The smallest man who ever lived is also a song i like. But the rest is just there, my only thoughts while listening to them were "oh... this is cool. i can't wait to never hear it ever again".

Lyric wise... oh boy. Now i don't like to pretend i'm a poet (i'm looking at you taylor) or that i'm extremely well versed with words or that i have an literature degree because i don't, metaphors sometimes are hard for me to understand/grasp and i relegate that to the people who know best bUT the lyrics are all over the place. Again, an improvement from midnights but they still felt clunky and very surface level. Some of them had great concepts but terrible execution and some of them straight up suck. My main issue was that the album felt super repetitive. When i first started listening i really felt bad for taylor, it was painful even but then... the same concept and words kept popping up and it's just more of the same. like i get it, she's sad, she's depressed and i'm not expecting her to write about other stuff if the main subject of the album is being heartbroken or shit. when i started listening to the album i was like 'oh, that's sad, i feel for her' but halfway through it i was like girl if you don't shut up and stop trying to feel sorry for yourself... like there's a moment where the constant repetition of the same thing makes me roll my eyes, especially because she doesn't know how to express it in a different way. it's all pretty much straight forward "we were gonna get married" "you were the love of my life" like i know you can communicate these concepts, these words in a different way!!! why are you repeating yourself so much!!! if you remove some of the songs it makes no difference, it still gets the point across.

as a whole this is probably her messiest album, because nothing, and i say NOTHING makes sense when you put it all together. i know she's not known for making concept albums or for being a visual person, but this album feels incredibly disjointed, it doesn't feel like an album, it doesn't feel like a body of art that was well thought out. the most satisfying part about an album cycle is when you connect all the pieces like the photoshoot, the music videos (sometimes, not all the time), the art direction and overall aesthetic you create for the mkt campaign the pop up shops etc etc, the music, the lyrics, the general concept/theme of the songs and it all makes sense. it's an eureka moment, it's a moment where EVERYTHING makes sense to you, it answers every question you had, why the physical cd is blue, why the booklet uses helvetica instead of times new roman, why the color palette is dark, etc etc. tortured poets department doesn't do any of that, in fact it confused me MORE because with the album art she said one thing, in the lyrics she said another thing and with the promo videos we've seen she said another thing and it'll probably happen the same with the music videos. Which is fine i guess she can do whatever she wants but to me it feels like there wasn't a clear vision, i think it was a bit clearer than midnights but not by much.

overall it's an ok album. i'm pissed because i know she has the potential to do more, ESPECIALLY this being her 11th studio album and the insane amount of resources she has at the palm of her hand. i'm not asking her to create a new music genre, to come up with a screamo album, because that's simply not what she wants to do which i respect but it's so frustrating to see her have all this success and "power" and do absolutely nothing with it, like just call at least ONE more person that isn't from your inner circle to produce your music, at least do that!!! and this is why her last albums felt so repetitive.

idk i was hoping that this album would make me fall in love with her music again but idk, i'm drifting away more and more which sucks but i really can't help it. i might save the songs i like to my spotify and that's it.

[starlost-lix]

SKZ 5 STAR COMEBACK THOUGHTS

first, a review of the songs and then my overall thoughts!!

song review

Hall of Fame: from the get go, it establishes the space vibe with the opening tune! a great opening love the galileo and armstrong references etc, although the 'one small step' quote from armstrong, while it does fit the theme, kinda breaks up the song for me so it's not my favourite part. the build up in the prechorus is SO GOOD! the chorus is really punchy and i'm so in love with felix's little rap verse he really does make it iconic.

S-Class: so so so COOL!! the whistling part is so awesome and it starts with guns blazing with changbin's rap. HYUNJIN SLAYED THAT VERSE!! i really love it. all the raps are so good and the serpent road melody is so good?? THIS CHORUS IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!! the switch to a slower beat and the hip hop vibe was very unexpected but very welcome :) the buildup to the second chorus is so great omg i love how its the same but different! seungmin was really good in the we're special part ughhhh the dance break slayed so much as well i just have positive things to say about this song except maybe the ending i don't hate but also don't love how it ends

ITEM: GAMER ERA!! it's 'funnily annoying' just like they said in the intro video really does give video game vibes! super addictive and i love the diction as changbin focused on it really levels up the song. ITEM ITEM I ATE THEM PAC MAN!!! han's rap >>> i also like felix's celebrate we gonna elevate line that was so good i ate that shit up. EVERYTHING IS AMAZING NO WORDS!!! the bridge isn't my best but i really like the buildup to the final chorus and it overall slayed so hard. mv maybe?

Super Bowl: omg. literally. i can see how it was meant to be the original gods menu but im glad they saved it for five star because it honestly just fits so much better with this album and it feels a lot more cohesive. ENGLISH SONG KINGS!! every line is just pure mastery ugh i'm so hooked onto this song and the way chan says ruULes like >>>> changbin's rap ughhhhh and then jeongin saying the everything you're craving its all me like TOAST?? BABY BREAD WHO? and then the stunner HELL OF A LINE I KNOW ITS HELLA FINE HELLS KITCHEN TASTING DIVINE!! the backing instrumental is quite simple which works well because the singing isn't overshadowed. never thought i'd live to see the day hanji said 'bussin' but WHO ELSE?? such a killer like omg and then the chorus UGH I DIED the whispering the word play the seductive vibe with the urge to shake my ass off and ugh i can't compute. heyday reference by changbin!!! lee know's prechorus was so good ugh i really would like a mv or smth for this as well. the bridge was really good imo!!! and the transition from the 'bring the rain' to 'cooking up a storm' and having the same semantic field UGHHHH the ending with felix was so fine as well 🤤

TOPLINE (feat.Tiger JK): love love love the instrumental!!! braggadocios as they should be 😤 THE PRECHORUS IS MY LOVE I ADORE IT AN UNGODLY AMOUNT!!! SEUNGMIN'S VOICE!!!!! lmaoooo chan dropping in the 'we don't give a f***' i see now why he was so surprised with the Xdinary Heroes and their supposed uncensored swearing whereas he had to blur it out haha. the chorus DELIVERS! BOM DIGI DIGI BOM BOM BOM BOM! tiger jk is a rlly great rapper and i'm so happy that han gets his dream to rap with him bcs his rap slayed! and then the 'ain't nobody can do it like us' reference to circus!! >>> lee know slayed the second chorus ^^ great song :D the ending was so great <3

DLC: THIS IS SO GREAT!! the instrumental is so nice, a lot lighter than the previous songs and a nice break from the heaviness hehe. the tune is so addictive and i love the SUNRISE part <3. even if the lyrics are a bit sad, as @oh-the-aster-blooms put it, 'sometimes when you are sad, dancing all night sounds better', and i totally agree :) everything just kinda flows so well and their voices work really well together. i really adore i.n's 'run away run away' part my baby has such an angelic voice. the bridge is also cool :)

GET LIT: idk is it just me but for some reason get lit just brings worth it by 5th harmony to mind with the jazzy vibes at the start, but like...better (no offence to 5th harmony) this is such a swag brag song! the raps are so great to start off omg and then the sudden transition to seungmin's beautiful voice ugh THE CHORUS!!!! i love how felix does his line and it drops into the vibe. the next verse is so like subtle brag idk how to explain it but the swerve swerve part> i do feel imo that the bridge is bit disconnected at the beginning but when changbin does his 'speaker' part it flows really well. i like the dance break! it is a bit repetitive but oh well it slays anyways.

Collision: i saw someone somewhere say it was like chill on steroids (idk who u are sorry for not giving credit 🙇‍♀️) and its so true. it really has the same vibe like sad but also like vibey idk i think the instruments help a lot with establishing that mood. vocalracha slayed in this >>> so did hyunjinnie and lee know <;3 babe i loved you that line is so good felix >>> and BANG CHAN IN THE VERSE AFTER THE FIRST CHORUS?? so good ugh its like a rainy day kinda song when u just feel a bit sentimental. also felix and...was it lee know? in the second pre chorus? that sounded so amazing ughhhh i really like that metaphor of crashing its very bittersweet <3 han slayed again

FNF: such a strong start with chan!!! changbin and han's raps were so great and the prechorus was really like heart rending idk thats jsut the power of vocalracha ig and again as @oh-the-aster-blooms and i were discussing the chorus does have a great pace which does give the impression of trying to catch up! it gives off movie soundtrack vibes imo. the way they blended their voices with felix was so cool!! hyunjinnie slayed that rap damn. the bridge was so good as well. the meaning behind this song >>

Youtiful: such a sweet song showing their love for stay! chan's explanation was so TT i love my boys so much the instrumental is so soft and soothing and the lyrics >>> listening to this just made my heart warm. its the audio version of chan's big hug <3 this was a very good song for chan. also seungmin, lee know and i.n as well!! i could listen to my babe jeongin saying 'you are a miracle' for ever. the chorus slaps.

i don't really count these two as part of the album as they were already released/just a translated ver so its a lot briefer

THE SOUND (Korean Ver.): the Japanese version slayed, so does this. i liked how they changed the chorus, and everything just fits well idk sometimes i find the translated versions a bit jarring after being used to the og one but this is really good!

Mixtape: Time Out: so great i just love it sm <333

overall!

such a great album omg. i love all the songs!!! the line count has improved quite a bit (although lino is lacking in some parts) but overall its pretty fair imo factoring the roles different members play. they've definitely shown us a different facet of their music which is so cool and innovative! love love love

ranking

this was so hard omg its going to keep changing but as of right now it is:

ITEM

S CLASS/Super Bowl

TOPLINE/Get Lit

DLC/FNF/Hall of Fame

Collision

Youtiful

as always, every song is amazing and these are my opinions so please respect them! 3RACHA production kings 👑 stream 5 STAR and s-class! yet another amazing comeback <3

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[autisticempathydaemon]

For the Redacted Audio match-ups

I feel like I've just shown my entire soul here. Wow.

I get fixated on a different song like every-other-day so I'm not sure... Maybe the line "Please give me the strength to be able to believe until the end, even if it is a lie" from "Itoshi kimi yo" (To the one I love) by Moriyama Naotaro. This song NEVER FAILS to make me cry.

97% Enneagram Type 6 (maybe 6w5)

I used to love watching like hour-long YT documentaries but my attention-span has severely gone downhill since the panorama... but I enjoy Bernadette Banner's analyses of historical clothing, Implictly Pretentious' deepdives into the psyches of comicbook movie characters, and NativLang's video essays on various languages and their histories and characteristics.

I never had an imaginary friend as a child (excluding the man-thing that runs alongside the car). Although for a time (in my teens) I had a vampire that would sit by my bedside and protect me as I slept (NO, I was NOT a twilight fan! I was a Vampire Knight fan)

My go-to way to fall asleep is listening to redacted audio. Basically any playlist, any audio (excluding inversion, yandere!ivan)

I don't/hate my name. I just don't associate with it beyond it being what people call me irl. I would change it to either Teigan or Ruri (the former was a cute name I found (and have claimed it in my family should I ever adopt a child) and the latter being the Japanese for the stone lapis lazuli, which I like very much)

...If I was forced to pick only one redacted audio... it'd have to be... Comforted and Cared for By Your Incubus Boyfriend it hits ALL the feels and literally sounds like one big hug that goes straight to my heart.

(Honourable mentions have to go to basically the entire playlists of Vincent, Gavin and Avior; they are my comfort bois despite the various angst in their stories)

I understand but don't personally get the appeal for Lasko. Like we'd get on as friends, but /I need to be the submissive, nerdy, soft one, y'know.

Aside from a number of redacted audios, I tend to not read/watch things multiple times apart from maybe Avengers or Iron Man 1. Those were my comfort movies for a while.

Platonically, I'm attracted to Damien. I am also a perfectionist with a strong sense of justice so I feel we'd get pretty well. Also he's a sarcastic mf-er too and no one can tell me otherwise.

Hmm my go-to ramble topic when tired... I ramble about various things. I wish I was someone who had a singular topic. I'll talk your ear off about Language, Japan, various anime/manga, The Mortal Instruments, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, F1, nail art. I'm that scene from The Avengers [Maria Hill : When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics? Tony Stark : Last night.] I'm a walking encyclopedia of useless (to other people) information and I enjoy info-dumping on people, but I try to not do that so much, so when I do I tend to go overboard...

Go-to gas station snack and drink combo: I don't frequent pretrol stations, they're expensive... I'd probably choose crunchy m&ms and a non-carbonated drink that isn't too sweet. (Unrelated but related, my st*rb*cks drink of choice is a match frappuccino, extra matcha, no syrup)

Favourite Redacted playlist: Vincent (I can talk along with about half of his audios at this point)

Favourite music playlist: I don't really make playlists, I either just listen to everything on one big shuffle or I listen to an album in order on-repeat.

My media choices change depending on my mood, my most "guilty" pleasure media at the moment would have to be NA fiction. If there's no spice or morally grey MMC, I don' want it.

Whatever else you think tells me about who you are.

MBTI type: INFP-T.

I'm a chronic procrastinator.

I have RBF but crack into a smile at the tiniest joke, I have no poker face (but won the only game of poker I ever played).

I'm the older sibling, the 2nd oldest grandchild and often am the "Parent-friend", but I actually act like the youngest and teamed with my (lack of) height, people often mistake me for much younger than I am.

Thanks for reading my ramblings... 😶

Oh, this was easy-peasy. You know what a Type Six parent friend could really use? A stable, secure, Alpha- the wolf equivalent of a dad friend.

I don’t know who started it, but there’s this delightful headcanon of a bookish, reader Angel that I can imagine for you. It’d be so cute, him stealing your book and holding it out of your reach, asking who the fuck is “Grim” and what is his deal with the chocolate. He’s the type of partner who would make fun of your possible book hoarding but still buys you everything you touch at the local Barnes & Noble with that good, good Shaw Security money.

Also, he’d- lovingly, adoringly but so meanly- give you hell about your imaginary vampire friend watching you sleep. You’ll so regret telling David that every time he asks if you can make do with a werewolf or if you’d rather him call one of the Solaires.

Song:

Hey, boy, where do you get it from?/ Hey, boy, where did you go?/ I learned my passion/ In the good old-fashioned/ School of loverboys

Everything about David is very old-fashioned, old-school romantic to me, down to his pet name, his proposal, and his music tastes. He likes the classics, music Gabe would play on their drives up to the campsite, and he’d like playing it while he cooks for you.

Runner-Ups:

I like pairing parent friends with parent friends; it just makes sense. James gives me bossy, dad friend vibes, the kind of partner who knows you procrastinates and plans accordingly. Sam, I like because he is the protective vampire boyfriend who’d watch over you while you sleep, and that’s adorable.

Notes: I hope that reference isn’t too niche you’ll have to forgive me I’ve watched no joke ten hours of video essay about Lightlark by Alex Aster in the past three days

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[girlreviews]

Review #295: Random Access Memories, Daft Punk

It sort of blows my mind that this album is already over a decade old. It’s been out long enough that I listened to it too much, let it live in the wilderness for a while, and then fell in love with it again. I kinda think it might have been a little critically divisive at the time. Some people thought it was very commercial and really far away from what they had come to love about Daft Punk. But a lot of people didn’t mind the direction they had taken because it was still artistically really good. I definitely think it holds up. And I liked their older stuff a lot too. It’s okay to like both, not sure if everyone realizes that. We actually don’t have to fight about it guys! Not only did it have a lot more emotional and lyrical substance to it compared to previous work, but they were really adding in a lot of complexity with more mainstream instruments through their collaborations. It was really cool, what those robots did, man. They really did a lot for music in the 2000s. Even with their music videos and shit. Thank you robots.

This record came out in late May of 2013. I left the UK and moved back to the US in late June of 2013. That last month was spent with friends, spending quality time before we said goodbye, and we happened to get a few weeks of sunshine. Get Lucky had been released in April ahead of the full album, and it felt like a breath of fresh air. I remember my boy bestie sending it to me and being like, hey, fuckin’ listen to this, yeah? It had Nile Rogers from Chic in it! Fuck yeah! We fucking love some Chic! It’s about time people realized they were cool! By the end of the week our group chat was just back and forth of “We’re up all night to get [insert literally any two syllable word]”. It got old quickly to be honest, and eventually so did the song. But I still do melt right at the very end when its tiny little guitar riff gently repeats and fades out. I will always let the song play all the way through just so I can hear it end so perfectly. It never bothered me that it got so overplayed on the radio, it bothered me that on the radio, that guitar riff got talked over by the DJ EVERY FUCKING TIME. Criminal.

Then the rest of it came and every meetup or long weekend together was a lot of dancing, alongside a heated debate or deep and meaningful conversation about which track was the best. There were only a few people who were just too cool to admit that it was simply a great album. Always the usual suspects. I was always an outlier with my thoughts on the best track, which in my humble opinion is Touch, featuring Paul Williams. The same Paul Williams that wrote Kermit the Frog’s Rainbow Connection, and the entire Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack. I imagine other people might cite other more famous works of his — but I really love the Muppets, and I’m proud of my choices. I think that fact alone is enough to make it the best track truth be told but it also happens to just be absolutely incredible. Lyrically, it actually blows my tiny mind. Multiple times throughout, actually. But musically it’s just out of this fucking world. Someone had this song in their mind, and brought it into existence so that it could be heard and witnessed by us all. I can listen to the piano alongside these electronic space travel noises gently lead into two robots beautifully singing to me, like a lullaby, until it descends into a whole-ass choir:

“Hold on

If love is the answer

You’re home”

On repeat. For awhile. Just long enough that you’re like. Wow yeah, I’m home! Everything’s gonna be okay! Thank you kind robots and children apparently in space! And then some violins are gently floating you back down to earth, with an up-tempo and assuring drumbeat. The children are still singing, but they’re getting further away. Suddenly. Paul’s back. And his voice is alone, eventually joined by the piano, which is somber. He’s very serious:

“Touch, sweet touch

You’ve given me too much to feel

Touch, sweet touch

You’ve almost convinced me I’m real

I need something more

I need something more”

WHAT? ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS? WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHERE HAVE I BEEN? AM I OKAY? WILL I EVER BE OKAY AGAIN?

I will, you will, we all will, but what’s just happened is, we have all just listened to an absolutely perfect and incredible work of pure emotional and artistic genius. When I hear this song it feels like my muscles relax. It makes my ears warm. It moves me. I’m not really joking when I say it’s literally a journey — no wait, a Broadway performance, featuring Nile Rogers — through time and space.

I believe we all agreed that Giorgio by Moroder was outstanding. I still agree with that. In fact from my love of the track I have gone on to listen to a lot more of Giorgio Moroder’s work, or maybe discovered that I had listened to a lot of it without really realizing. The part about the “click”, and the Moog modulator. I love thinking about this time in music, because there would have been this time where people heard sounds they had literally never heard before. I went to the Moog factory in Asheville, NC and it was the coolest shit ever. Nerdy, cool ass shit. Like Giorgio Moroder, and Daft Punk.

Random Access Memories was just the perfect soundtrack to that very sunny, sweet, and sort of sad time. I was gathering up my belongings and delivering the most special items to my friends (my records, my guitar, art, books), things I couldn’t bring with me, so that they could look after them until I got everything figured out. If I were to look at any pictures from those last few weeks in the UK, I know we would were all super fucked up in every single one. In our defense we were all 24/25 years old, and I don’t think we wanted to deal with our big feelings. I most certainly didn’t. And it was really fucking fun. We all felt the love. They are happy memories. Those are still my people. They still have my stuff. We all still love this record. It’s just that the last time I spent New Year’s Eve with them, we played nerdy board games, watched Jools Hollands Hootenanny, had a cheese plate and some wine and went to bed by 1AM. And then on New Year’s Day we went on a “lovely nice walk”.

At one of my friends 30th birthdays, and this was well into my living in the states, everyone was really hammered and the playlist was pretty all over the place. A lot of very millennial emo, Blink 182, you know. But suddenly Instant Crush from this album, the collaboration with Julian Casablancas came on. I swear to god, the weirdest thing happened. It had been pretty rowdy, we were all drunk and singing along to whatever was on and getting pretty silly, but when this song came on. Everyone stood in a circle, and sang it really sweetly doing tiny little robot wiggles. It was so pure. It ended, everyone cracked up, and then resumed the chaos. The next day I had one of the worst hangovers I’d had in a fucking WHILE and had to go to a pretty fancy brunch with my brother in law and his wife. I had to excuse myself from the table to barf SEVERAL times. I regret nothing.

I feel really sentimental about this record, it just makes me think of summer, friends, sunshine, being fucked up in a fun way, and goodbyes — but the kind that are okay because it’s with your ride or dies who you know are always gonna be there. It’s twelve years later, I’m listening to Random Access Memories as I write this, and we are all still besties. I do probably need to get my stuff from them though.

In 2023, to celebrate 10 years of Random Access Memories, Daft Punk released the drumless edition of the album. This one didn’t seem to be such a universally adored hit among all of my pals. But I gotta tell you, I loved it just as much. It feels totally different and I was here for it. Check it out, maybe you’ll hate it, but keep an open mind. I admit, it’s likely that I have rose tinted glasses on about it. That’s fine with me.

[synthshenanigans]

Its been over 2 months but finally

One hundred and fifteen songs & I remembered them all

[thesinglesjukebox]

LEXIE LIU - "DELULU"

For Katherine (and many of us), delulu really is the solulu...

[7.53]

Katherine St Asaph: Reviewing "SuperShy," I wrote: "this is not what a crush feels like." This is. The arrangement sounds more like Britney's Blackout than anything I've heard since, in its chilly sequencer, its vocal distortion, and especially in its urgent dispatch from a mental hell of one's own making. (Amazing/unsurprising that despite/because of the album entering canon via ruthless memeification, no one's done a real homage. All that came close were club remixes.) Blackout often felt, as Isabel Cole wrote here, like "a blur around the edges of reality that makes it impossible to discern the intentions of others and even ourselves." So, too, with this. The headspace "Delulu" plumbs is the emotional equivalent of making up a guy. "Clueless" sounds like the wrong word at first -- too Cher, as if. But heard literally, it captures the deadly-stakes ambiguity of a crush when you're alone with only you and it, as well as the asymmetry: the abjection of knowing that the interior of your mind sounds like this, while the interior of theirs might sound fine and also might not; and they might know this about you and also might not. When everything feels like a clue, nothing is one. The situation is Lovecraftian, almost: having your thoughts replaced and your reality fucked by some cosmic horror much stronger than you that no one sees or maybe even knows they've summoned; where you always know it's there but never how close, and the more you acknowledge it or even try not to, the more it pulls you toward escalation and destruction. The song ends quickly -- not even 2:30 -- and abruptly. Crushes often do. [9]

Michael Hong: Consider those first thirty or so seconds a contextualization of "delulu" within Lexie Liu's career. Her oldest tracks, the ones that caught 88rising's attention, were stylish but anonymous, built around her futuristic aesthetic like trendy clothing for an anonymous model. With 2021's "ALGTR," she let some personality cut through her instrumental, rendering the in-vogue synthwave sound jagged; a year later on her promising full-length, she allows personality to come out of her performances: on "DIABLO," she drags across the verses in Mandarin, howls impassioned screams of desperation in English, and mewls a sultry narration in Spanish. On these first few seconds, "delulu" goes from catwalk synths to heart-palpitating drum 'n' bass, listless croon to bratty snipe. But she still takes it further as she waits for a reply -- zealous and obsessive, it's unlike her previous controlled poise. "delulu" is delightful and messy; the various synths with staticky fuzz and turbulent beeps are like a robot processing emotions, yet Liu delivers her most girlish performance, raging fanatical as she waits for a text. "Nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing, no reply I scream," she sings, the words mashing together as it all detonates around her. Taken with its outlandish video where she cosplays as various personas, it remains uncompromising of her innovative vision, while still furthering the surprising revelation that beneath it all, Liu is just as human. [9]

Nortey Dowuona: It's odd that '80s pop drums have survived so long. You'd think that Lexie Liu, a Mandopop artist who composed and produced this song with RadioMars, would have other choices from drum sounds even and especially on the chorus drum breakdown which send a flurry of kicks and wet snares with a dribbling synth line at the next side of the second chorus under the high synth riff that is pushed even father into the back. But since they aren't meant to be too big in the mix, they don't even hit as hard. Lexie's voice is so small it slides right through, unable to be crushed. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: As a Chinese American who used to live in Changsha, I desperately want to love this more than I do. "Delulu" is ambitious, breathlessly paced, and brimming with manic sonic ideas. What's missing for me is an element of fun; after two minutes, my biggest emotion is relief. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: There's this one TikTok-brained co-worker I have who says "delulu" all the time, and I don't know if I've ever encountered a slang term that I love and hate in such equal measure: hate because of how it trivializes, infantilizes, romanticizes this that and the other thing; love because it's just so darn fun to say, or at least to imagine myself saying if I had less shame. It's for that reason that I wish this song made better use of its title (in some way other than its hilarious single art). The word is processed and iterated beyond easy recognizability, a move that's intended to mirror the racing thought processes of an overactive mind, but which ends up turning an evocative neologism into a muddled soup of phonemes. As an illustration of the concept of "delulu" it fares better, though, and maybe it's my fault for going into this expecting a lighthearted meme song instead of a sweetly discordant slice of digital anxiety. In any case, I'd like to thank Liu for convincing me that I should be trying out for the HSK level 4 instead of level 3. [6]

Hannah Jocelyn: I almost just copied and pasted the lyrics from "Speed Drive" for my blurb, I'm getting sick of motorik new-wave. But!!! This is one of the better new-wave bangers I've heard post "Blinding Lights" and "As It Was." Chopping up the meme word "delulu" is an ingenious hook, and marrying that hook to escalating breakbeats leads to something engaging enough that the song already feels complete at 1:22. I'm happy it keeps going, because I love the synths that suggest Lexie Liu and Zeng Yu definitely heard "Megalovania" at some point (complimentary) [8]

Alex Clifton: Man, I wish my mental breakdowns sounded this cool. [7]

Ian Mathers: Songs that make me feel like I'm about to have a panic attack/songs that make me feel better when I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack >>>>> [10]

Micha Cavaseno: Apparently, there is a market for "One"-era Sky Ferreira delivered at ADULT. tempos for the nervy and neurotic, and of course 88 Rising has scouted and scalped it already. I can imagine this would be super fun for me once upon a time, and it still is in parts. Sadly I just wish it had the slightest bit of fat and girth on it, both in the tone of the bass and maybe just the actual song length. [5]

Brad Shoup: Outside of that DJ Mustard intro, it's a compact synthpop ball hitting escape velocity. A lot of songs depict the menace of paranoia, a lot fewer can get at the tail-chasing feeling of obsession. The way Liu's breakneck vocal falls into some programming and collapses on itself gets pretty close. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Lexie Liu's fractalized vocals make "Delulu" feel fuller and faster than it actually is. It's a potent depiction of spiraling: sometimes, your breakdown is only as overwhelming and unrelentingly maniacal as you let it get. [7]

Dorian Sinclair: For twenty-two seconds, Lexie Liu lets you think "Delulu" is going to be a sleek, minimal, conventional pop song. Then, you get a full minute of the whole thing chaotically unraveling. It's a very effective rug pull on its own, but the real magic is in the second half, where she pulls exactly the same trick and it still rules. I'm almost disappointed the song is so short, so we can't find out if it would work a third time, but perhaps it's better to be left wanting more. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Does a lot with a limited set of tricks -- mostly this is just an absolutely thumping bassline, a few increasingly unhinged synth lines, a footwork-leaning drum loop, and Lexie Liu herself, distorted and doubled and delusional in two languages. It all moves with the frantic energy of the people in my life who like to call themselves "delulu" -- Liu jitters and paces through her lines, channelling Debbie Harry at her archest and most paranoid. It's a joke and it's very real, all turning around a genius double-edged use of the word "clueless" so subtly struck that it took me three listens to realize where it had unnerved me. [9]

Frank Kogan: Perfectly catchy hooks with bouncy beats that announce "playfulness" -- but the rhythm feels pushed fast, though that's by mainstream American pop standards (as opposed to "Eurobeat" not to mention the last 40 years of electronic dance), so the result feels edgy and uneasy, which makes the hooks sound even better. [8]

Will Adams: Oh, so this is what "Speed Drive" could have been! [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[twinkskeletons]

thoughts on smfs?!!?? any favorite tracks??!! I want to hear any and all of your thoughts!!

ough it’s probably my fav ever fob album? at the very least second place :] on like my fourth or fifth listen while i answer this and i am usually not much of an album listener. every instrument sounds insanely good. fave songs rn are probably heaven iowa, stardust, love from the other side + hold me like a grudge ? impossible to really choose favourites though. desperately hoping for some kind of behind the scenes video like that little church one but one million times more in depth lol i need to know every part of making this. i kind of suck at talking abt music but some little moments that i really love are patrick going off over the choir at the end, literally everything abt the second half of heaven i could list an abt it, SP STYLE VOCALS in hold me like a grudge, also not really one thing but some of the songs sound a lot like musical numbers which is a very different vibe from basically every other album of theirs which i really like :] i’m not usually a fan of interludes/not really real songs but the orchestration on them is soo nice i don’t mind it. one last thing i’ve noticed is a little text painting :3 there’s the really obvious “down down down” part in heaven and again in the “cut myself down” line in so good right now. i’m sure there’s more but i’m pretty stupid abt music theory so haven’t noticed any more complex ones yet lol

[sunburnacoustic]

Attempting to make some sense of the Madness on here because I've got a minute...

Tagging system (it is held together with duct tape and is borderline functional when I don't do like Muse Blackout-Reblog Saturdays or whatever)

Muse, Muse band: this tag will literally not help you find things on this blog, it's basically everything that has been tagged. It's more for finding posts outside of this blog than it is to find stuff successfully on this blog

Matt Bellamy/Chris Wolstenholme/Dom Howard/Tom Kirk/Morgan Nicholls: self-explanatory. I tend to not do a general tag where a post e.g. where Dom isn't involved with Dom, so anything that's tagged will just be because the tagged band member is in the post (or at most, being talked about in the tags)

{Matt, Chris, Dom} from Muse: three tags encompassing all the Muse Madness! Taking inspiration from the one and only "Hi, my name's Matt from Muse..." All the Muse silly moments. Some will also be tagged "silly hours", "silly moments", "sillies" or thereabouts, it's not really a robust tagging system lol. Some of those are more chit-chat/vibes based

Muse live: Now I wish I'd separated this out into two tags because right now, it's gig pictures and also any live performance videos. I briefly tagged live stuff with something like "Muse live gigs", but seeing as how I can't even remember the name you can see how well that went... (there's also "The Muse live experience is something else", and you tell me it isn't!)

Muse interviews: interviews copied and pasted, linked, gifs/videos of the band in interview if there's text of them actually saying anything. Quotes from interviews too.

Muse in magazines: written interviews, but also just photoshoots in magazines. I'm old enough to remember NME, Kerrang, Q etc. being print magazines, so I don't make a distinction between digital mags and paper scans. Many scans should also be tagged "mag scans" hopefully. Specific magazines are also often tagged (except Pitchfork probably lmao but that's because I simply don't post their stuff here, it is not worth it)

Muse audio: audio, usually from studio recordings, live gigs, sometimes interviews/radio performances, etc. Isolated tracks, instrumental tracks, vocals only, hyper-specific-'Undisclosed Desires vocoder (?) backing vocals on the last verse only' tracks, all covered here, but also there are more specific tags: "muse isolated audio" for all your analysis needs, "Muse instrumentals", "Muse isolated vocals" (<- don't remember this 100%)

Album tags, song tags, eras/tours tags: I'm so sorry this is a mess. Albums and songs are either tagged "Muse {title}" or "{title} Muse" sorry. "{Album} era", "{Tour name} tour". Knock yourselves out.

Musers: all fan-related stuff! Fan chatter, us all analysing and crying over a single song in 1500 words, fan artwork, gig pictures, the new polls, etc. all under the overarching Musers tag. I do tag fanart though: "Muse fanart" and also just generally art because why would I limit the amazing art people here make to just the 20 Muse fans here? Polls are specifically tagged "Muse polls".

band pics: usually press/on the road, etc. pictures of the whole band. Not super comprehensive lol I often forget to use this tag. 'the early years' -> baby era stuff, usually pre-Showbiz so I have no idea what else to tag them because 'Random 1-8 era' would be such a pretentious tag I'd have to punch myself.

anything with the word "collection" in it: we sure do love our collections here on muse tumblr - off the top of my head, there's a Matt Hawaiian shirt collection, Matt drinking things on camera collection, dedicated wardrobe collections (-> the legendary @wtfismattbellamywearing and @wtfisdomhowardwearing) and the sunglasses-on-head collection (dangerously close to 100 pictures...) "mum with sunglasses on her head lives!" Reason? Matt wears his sunglasses on his head a lot, he looks like my mum doing this, and it is the normalest thing you could see a Proper Rock Star like him do and it's just sweet and silly and we all have collector's disease what can I say. (My mum has responded "😍" to the collection so far)

Muse lore: all the band history, and commonly referenced memes amongst fans. Expect to see the 'fucking little fucking fuckers, yeah' Feeling Good performance, 'Hey you crazy kids!', 'The Muse' live on Italian football tele, idk, lots more I guess: 'Hi my name's Matt from Muse' (entire composition of the band dissolving around this), brie, trousers, showers, pwoper fishing, qua at aol dot com, weird interview quotes, various times Muse rebelled against being asked to mime. Lots of fun stuff.

faffing about - just posting!

Other than that, specific things might be tagged on posts, "pianos", "synths", "Manson guitars", "Mirror Manson" (big apologist here), specific weird quotes. Try a search if you need anything lol, good luck to you!

[j3tsabyss]

My review of Hotel Kalifornia I already heard the album on the app but I waited until today to reveal my track by track review

Chaos/CHAOS-this is still a certified banger. I just love the energy in this song and everyone sounds so good. And I love how Johnny suddenly is like “I’m your fucking saviour” despite what he says in Idol from New Empire Vol 2 lmao. This was such a great opening track too

Also I’m still recovering from Johnny’s infamous “alpha omega meet your maker” line but it’s still a great song…

World War Me-THE WAY THIS STARTS OFF?? Holy frick I love it. There’s so many good lyrics in this song. And Danny screaming is SO GOOD. Johnny sounds so good in this song too. J-Dog’s random “bleh bleh” noises were kinda funny tho. World War Me was nearly my most favourite song if it wasn’t for Lion Eyes (see below)

Ruin My Life-ok initially when I first heard this song I sorta didn’t like it and it was surreal enough to me that I just didn’t know how to feel. I guess it’s because with a title like “Ruin My Life” I thought it was gonna be a serious song and they kinda pulled a “War Child.” But after listening to it more I actually love it now. I think I just love the instrumental and energy in this song. I’ve never been to a party but I’m turning this song up like I’m in one

Hourglass-I like how the song started off somewhat relaxing then the instrumental kicked in. Also it’s funny that this song is the first ever song that actually mentioned Danny by name. Also ending with Funny and J-Dog is pretty nice

Go to War-I confused this with World War Me HU why you gotta do this to me. Not to mention Johnny already had a song called this but anyway, I love the way this starts off and how Danny sounds during that chorus he just 👌 put his whole chest into that shouting. Also J-Dog saying “it’s on sight” is funnier than it should be to me. Also I didn’t know Charlie said “ain't your idol” that’s a nice callback. AND ALSO that bridge with ALL OF THEM was great I loved it

Alone at the Top-the way this starts off is so good. And Charlie singing “I can make the pain stop I'm talking but you're not listening” is just satisfying to hear. Danny singing the “when it feels too late to be saved” is just amazing

Wild in These Streets-I STILL think the title is “Wild in The Streets”. The “it’s me against the world fuck your friends” line is still kinda funny but FunnyMan’s verse in this song is so good. “Haunted by tainted love” is still my favourite line. And “KING KONG STEAMROLL THESE MOTHERFUCKERS” is still one of the best lines

The GTA theme was funny tho because it appeared like once then suddenly it’s like it disappeared after like Hotel Kalifornia

Dangerous-the song starting off like that sorta caught me off guard. BUT Danny yelling “dangerous” is good. And FunnyMan speaking Spanish is AMAZING. Funny please do that in more songs it’s great. Also that brief line with FunnyMan then Johnny that was great

Lion Eyes-oh my god LION EYES LION EYES LION EYES. THIS IS LITERALLY THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM HANDS DOWN. I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH IT REMINDS ME OF AMERICAN TRAGEDY’S MOTHER MURDER. THE INSTRUMENTAL THE LYRICS IT’S SO CATHARTIC TO LISTEN TO PLUS I LOVE HOW THE TITLE BASICALLY SOUNDS LIKE LYING EYES LIKE IT’S AMAZING 👌

Sorry when I say I love Lion Eyes I MEAN I LOVE Lion Eyes. I did not expect the song to sound this good I love this song so much that I need to make this my personality. I need to make edits of it I need to put the lyrics for some quotes Lion Eyes is everything to me this song needs a great music video this is a literal masterpiece

Trap God-ok I didn’t really listen to this song when it first came out but for some reason before the album released I ended up listening and repeating this song. I think I love Trap God for the energy like it just gets me hyped up. Also I love that J-Dog does the chorus. Ultimately I think it’s solid

Happy When I Die-hearing “CHARLIE WAIT WHAT HAPPENED?” took me out but that was an amazing reference. FunnyMan literally sounds so good in this song and the instrumental is great. Actually both Funny and Charlie sound great in this song they just put their whole chests into this song

Reclaim-the way it starts off is fricking so good. Johnny’s verse is just chef’s kiss. And the chorus is just so catchy and beautiful to hear. Not only does Relciaim make me get energized but it makes me feel so powerful it’s amazing

City of the Dead-out of all of the Hotel Kalifornia singles I think City of the Dead is still my most favourite one. I still love the “there goes the sun I’ve come undone” that Charlie sings and I love J-Dog’s singing here

Alright-woah this sounds so 2000s in a really good way. Also JOHNNY SINGING?? The fact I recognized Johnny singing instantly because of Sing from DOTD he actually sounds so good with the clean vocals. I also love the “waaa-aayy” lyric better than I thought. Also J-Dog singing is just… so 👌 Alright is such a fantastic ending track to Hotel Kalifornia

In general this album is so amazing that I need to make it my personality thank you Hollywood Undead

[nayeonline]

BLACKPINK - 'Pink Venom' Review

After two long years, its blackpink season and we are all ready. I was expecting a lot from pink venom, and tbh I was extremely nervous that it would be another d4/ktl/hylt type song. Then the music video dropped, and... omfg.

The song opens with an ominous chanting of 'blackpink', which is so fucking cool. The traditional korean instrumentation is genius, it's unexpected, but will retain longevity more so that a sliding synth like in ddu du ddu du for example. and then everything changed when rapper jennie attacked. Her verse is short and sweet, and the lyrics are good, nowhere near the heights of her d4 rap, but good nonetheless. Lisa immediately follows, introducing herself with a rihanna interpolation, and delivering a rap reminiscant of her solo era.

Rosé and Jisoo deliver the prechorus, as usual, but Rosé's voice in particular shines over the instrumental. Jisoo always sounds like a goddess, and imo her parts play to her strengths.

Followed by Rosé's 'I bring the pain like', the chorus I was expecting was not there, and for once, I'm beyond happy about that. This chorus is languid and addictive, and OMFG ITS HYPERPOP. I am such a hoe for hyperpop. I saw people saying blackpink were copying aespa's savage, which is literally only a product of them both being hyperpop songs. I do think the chorus could have been longer though.

The chorus is immediately offset with another rap, a jenlisa duet. This is leagues ahead of the mess that was the jenlisa ktl rap, and its so good. The energy felt straight out of boombayah, and thats not just bc of lisa's 'rambo' lyric reference.

Rosé and Jisoo trade lines in the bridge, which I think could have been revised a little - it feels like a verse. Rosé's 'i'm so rock and roll' is iconic though, why lie. The finale is powerful and SO blackpink, and while I think it's less anticlimactic that hylt, I think it could have been a million times better with some vocal layering of the main chorus.

The music video was good, and I loved Rosé and Jisoo's sets particularly, but Lovesick Girls still reigns supreme as their best music video, at least visually.

Overall, this comeback is everything I wanted from blackpink. It's a little jenlisa centric, but that was unavoidable as it's a rap centric song, but Jisoo and Rosé still get their moments, even if they are limited to the prechoruses and bridge. To me, this is the first blackpink song in a while that feels like the full package. This song has no sections i actively hate, or even dislike. In a vacuum, this is an excellent, world shattering comeback, but after two long years of waiting from a company with an essentially limitless budget, world shattering was expected, an YG would have no excuse for giving blackpink anything less. I'm beyond excited for the album now, and im praying for more hyperpop songs, and for the next single.

9/10, one of the best blackpink comebacks in a while.