Hello. Thank you for “tuning in”.
In this section, I will mostly write about music albums I listen to and I will talk about them, and the meaning that I understand from those albums.
Well then. Let’s get started.
Twin Atlantic: Power
Twin Atlantic are a Scottish alternative rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. They began working on their music in 2007 and in 2009 they released their first album known as “Vivarium”. The band itself mostly did Alternative rock. However, with the release of their new album on 24th January 2020 they started to experiment with electronic music.
With “Power” I believe they wanted to surprise their listeners with something new, yet very original. From the first song “Oh, Euphoria” we hear electric guitars with an electronic voice and synthetic drums. The album itself has 10 songs lasting 34 minutes and 23 seconds (according to Spotify). The music is lively and quite energizing. Maybe not the best album to listen to in the morning, but quite helpful in doing sports or just thinking intensively.
It’s not difficult to listen to this album, although it may get quite repetitive after some time. The songs themselves are not so different from each other and the electronic sounds may start to irritate after a while. Still, the album itself deserves to be recognized. It may prove useful in energizing a group of people.
Angel Miners & The Lightning Riders
AWOLNATION is known for songs such as “Run”, “Windows”, “Jailbreak”, and “Fat Face” or “I AM”. The music of AWOLNATION is made up of synthetic sounds with drums or guitars. This album connects everything at once. Firstly, we can get blasted with quite a fast song entitled “THE BEST” which sets a certain pattern for other songs which use the same or quite a similar chord combination with the same drum beats. What makes this album bizarre is that every song has something familiar in it. Whenever I listen to one of the songs on this album I feel as if I heard some of those combinations before.
In my personal opinion, AWOLNATION is always a good choice for meaningful songs that sound very different from any other. So I highly recommend listening to them. The new album has an intriguing message behind it. When we listen to the music it's more of a disco party, but then we may start to wonder: Who are The Lightning Riders? Who mines Angels and why? What does the face of the album represent? It’s half blue with great white light coming out of it. A face of a monster under our bed only waiting to become an angel in the day? Or maybe… It's us humans that change so much that we wear many masks but maintain one face?
The Hu: The Gereg
Quite a different addition to the previous two songs but I believe that it fits just fine to the beginning of the segment. The Hu is an eight-person music group that makes “folk-metal” music. The interesting fact is that the band is made up of Mongol people. The songs themselves aren’t translated into English or other languages due to the difficulties with the sole translation of Mongol language to any other language.
This fact makes me connect this band to BTS whose songs aren’t translated from Korean. Of course, both groups make different types of music but this feature unites them. The Hu makes mostly songs revolving around Mongolian culture which is most visible in the album “The Great Chinggis Khan”, and “The Gereg” isn’t much different being more of an extension to the previous album. I would say fans of Folk music and fans of simple metal will enjoy this album.
In my opinion, it is very interesting to listen to. Of course, the main problem may be with the lyrics that many people will not understand. Unfortunately, the meaning of those lyrics is challenging due to the Mongolian language being very difficult to translate. At the same time listening to the language itself is uplifting and feels powerful. It is a weird sensation yet really worth it.
Żywiołak: Wendzki Sznyt
For a change to something less English than the rest of the albums. Żywiołak is a Polish folk music group that makes old Polish/Slavic songs. Their band focuses mostly on old Polish tales from times before Poland got baptized, or in other words, they take Slavic legends and turn them into songs. In this album, they mainly focus on a group called “Wendowie” who were Baltic Slavs, and the word “Sznyt” meaning “ a scar”. It all sounds very odd and creepy but some songs are more powerful with old drums and violins or bass guitars. The lyrics are fully in Polish and some of them contain old Polish words or proverbs. The whole album itself tells a story of Christian religion crushing upon Wend Slavs and how it impacted them. It’s hardcore in the message but if it weren’t for that, the album would not have its prime energy.
I am a big fan of Żywiołak’s music. I often left it as a noise in the background while I was doing something else, but with this album, I feel as if I took part in what was told in the songs. I feel as if I was truly watching the wars or the romances, the dramas, and the destruction presented within the music. It’s another powerful album and its power lies in words that are energized by the instruments.
Lady Gaga “Chromatica”
Lady Gaga known mostly for her song “Pokerface” or “Bad Romance” created Chromatica for her fans and it was more than a simple music album. It was a statement for every Pop-Music star. Chromatica showcases the life of a musician who is pressed by the media, forced to act or behave in a certain way. Lady Gaga steps up to this oppression and loudly says “no” in various songs expressing different aspects of that oppression. It’s yet again more than just the music, but the message which gets to the listener after a few listens. It may be more far-fetched than any of the previous ones, yet it’s simply interesting to understand the meaning of the songs and know that it’s a protest against the media and the pain that it causes. I listened to the album because a friend showed it to me. Later on Spotify, I noticed that the album includes short films in which Lady Gaga talks about her album. It is something new due to the division into three parts which talk about different aspects. It’s worth a listen.
Mikołaj Dyczak
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