Top 5 songs of the week (14/7/14-21/7/14)

Firstly, I apologise for the late (and lack of) blog posts this week, I have been rehearsing and performing in a few dance shows which is where 2 of this week's top 5 have come from!

So to get straight to it, in at number 5 is a rediscovery of mine whilst I was scouring the Topshop sale (a regular occurrence), my friends and I were just about to walk out when the unmistakeable opening of Two Door Cinema Club- What You Know blared out across the store. We all turned to each other and did the 'ohhhhh what a tuuuune' face (I know you know the one I mean) and started bopping and nodding our heads to the exceedingly catchy rhythm. I don't think the sales assistant standing by the entrance was as enthusiastic as this was most likely, the tenth time he had heard that track that day..

4th position is taken by the incredible James Bay with his James Morrison doppleganger track If You Ever Want To Be In Love, a song that is so uplifting and consequently great to sing along to during your morning shower (this has been tried and tested by yours truly, much to both my family's and the neighbours' delight.)

Third position has also been awarded to James Bay, with his beautiful track Let It Go. I won't say too much about both of these tracks as you can read about them in my previous blog post on the man himself, here. However I have had them on repeat ever since I discovered them last week, so I just had to include them in this week's top 5. To those of you wondering why Let It Go is placed higher than If You Ever Want To Be In Love, it is simply due to the unprecedented tone that he carries when performing this song. His voice is one of very few that I can listen to with complete ease, repetitively, without getting the slightest bit sick of it, so congrats James!

Getting to the nitty gritty of this world renowned top 5.. falling just short of the top spot, is Paolo Nutini and the truly beautiful Autumn. Written in dedication to his grandfather, Paolo has written a song that is so lyrically and emotionally, on point, that it seems it can be applied to almost any situation or person and will never fall short of reducing them to tears. I discovered this song, during the dress rehearsal of my dance show and I immediately recognised Paolo's distinctive voice, but I 'Shazam'ed' it so that I could find out the name of the song and more importantly, so that I could include it in this blog post. (I strongly recommend the Shazam app, it has saved me on numerous occasions from nameless songs on adverts or on the radio) Just a truly, truly, beautiful song.

And finally, in at number 1, another song that I discovered during the dress run of the show and consequently via Shazam is the breathtaking Jamie Woon- Spirits. I have been infatuated, encapsulated even, with this track. In the live version of this track, his loop pedal, beatboxing and harmonising is exceedingly reminiscent of an Ed Sheeran track, however the voice that is to follow, is  just f**king amazing! This song was released over 2 years ago, and how I haven't discovered his voice before now, is completely beyond me! In my opinion, the harmonies are on par with those of the harmony king himself, Craig David. I can't seem to pin point what exactly it is about his voice, maybe it's the simplicity, there are no complicated riff's or run's, just beautiful harmonies and layered instrumentation in support. I kid you not when I say that, since I first discovered this song on Friday, it has been played over 50 times on Youtube.. Like James Bay, I don't see how anyone could ever get sick of listening to his voice because it has totally mesmerised me.
Look out for a Jamie Woon review very soon (probably later on today knowing me) as I'm sure I will become hooked on the rest of his music.

As usual, I don't own the rights to any of the videos or songs that I have linked in this post. The rights are completely those of the artist.

Top 5 songs of the week (7/7/14- 13/7/14)

I have been having a little think about what sort of content I could put up on here that would allow me to be more regular with my posts. So consequently, I deleved into the dusty corners of my (rather frazzled) brain and came up with the simple idea, of my "top 5" songs of the week (as you can obviously see by the title of the post, duh.)

So without further ado, at number 5 are The Vamps and their cover of The Neighbourhood's-Sweater Weather. Although, frustratingly, we have only be presented with a 2 minute teaser, the accompanying video of the adorable Bradley Simpson, lip-syncing in the middle of a bustling Times Sqaure (as you do), in his cute little fedora hat and circular sunnies, TOATLLY makes up for it. This version is basically a stripped back, acoustic version of the original with the added twist of Brad's cheeky and thankfully, British accent. (I say thankfully as there is nothing more annoying to me personally, when a British singer sings in an American accent is it just me?!) Rant over.
A very chilled/relaxing track that seamlessly repeats over and over as I get on with the mountain of homework that I have left until the last minute.
Here's the link to the video featuring Brad in his fedora/sunnies xoxoxo
(Lets all pray for the full version to be released VERY soon.)

Next in at number 4 is one of my newer discoveries this week and thank goodness I did find this little gem. It's Ed Sheeran and the indescribably beautiful Thinking Out Loud. Never did I think that I would find a replacement so soon for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Releasing his globally-renowned hit All Of Me , John Legend took the top spot in August 2013 with this lyrical and visual masterpiece, his inspiration for this power ballad and also, the love interest in the video, comes in the shape of his beautiful wife (back then fiancée) Chrissy Teigen. However Ed's lyrically gifted mind, has yet again churned out another tear-triggering hit. He has optimised the 21st century love song, so consequently (and most importantly of course) he is in pole position for my 'Most Beautiful Love Song Of The Year.' Undoubtedly worth a listen.

Number 3: A song from a genre that has yet to be featured on my blog! Hoorah! Personally I would class Example as an Electro/Dance/House artist, but I'll let you decide for yourselves! Getting an honourable mention, is his new tune One More Day (Stay With Me). Simply put, the ultimate feel-good banger for this summer. Killer beat throughout and very reminiscent of what I would imagine a DJ in Ibiza to put on in the midst of their set.

Coming a very close 2nd are my new little secret obsession, also known as up and coming boy band Rixton. I vividly remember where I was the first time I heard their debut single (and my 2nd placed song) Me And My Broken Heart, I was slouched on the sofa flicking through the Virgin Media Music on Demand's playlists as the repeating advertisements for new releases and monthly favourite artists droned on in the background. Then suddenly, I heard what I immediately thought was Maroon 5's lead man, Adam Levine's voice. How surprised I was when I looked up to find that my judgement had failed me and instead I caught a glimpse of the cute little faces of a nameless boy band that were supposedly part of the new releases folder. In a desperate attempt to put a name to this Levine-esque voice I scoured the new releases folder (unsuccessfully), waited for the cycle of adverts to come back around (I gave up after 15 minutes of impatiently waiting),  and I even tweeted Virgin Media to see if they could help me, but no such luck. After some strained recollection, I remembered hearing the lyrics, "It seems like we've been losing control" so in a very savvy and professional way, I typed those lyrics into Google.. (I know I'm not the only one,  c'mon now we've all done it before) and there it was 'Rixton-Me and My Broken Heart'. An exceedingly catchy song with beautiful instrumentation throughout and a uniquely effortless tone in lead singer Jake Roche's voice. But irritatingly for me, this track very hard to sing along too, as some of the notes that he hits are just that bit too high for me, *cries* but attempts nevertheless.

AND FINALLY (thank you for making it this far) IN AT NUMBER ONE: Magic!- Rude. This song just screams, a chilled out, Jamaican jam (yes you did just read the word jam). It is just such a great song! I really don't know what else to say about it, it is ultimately a feel-good song that will definitely make you get up and start moving those hips!
These words do not do this song any justice, just click on the link up there and give it a listen, I mean it would be RUDE not to.
Get it?


Yeah.. I'll just end the post here.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the video's linked in this post, all rights are those of the artist.