Trending Tunes
Leon Bridges - “Coming Home”
When listening to Leon Bridges’ music, you may be surprised to discover that his debut album came out just this year, as his distinctive sound seems like it could have come straight out of the sixties. “Coming Home” opens up majestically, with beautiful guitar chords complemented perfectly by a walking bassline and emotion-filled vocal harmonies. Bridges’ soulful and pure vocals come to the forefront of the song during the verses. Overall, it is a fantastic and well done song, a reminder of a previous era of music.
Jon Bellion - “Human”
Jon Bellion is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from New York who makes catchy and infectious pop music that can get stuck in your head for hours. “Human” is one of the best examples of this. Its chords and vocal melody are anthemic and catchy, yet emotional at the same time, and numerous vocal samples coming into the background of the song help to add spice and variety. Even though “Human” is a pop song, I think that anybody can find something that they like in the song, even if they don’t usually listen to pop, and I would recommend it to all.
Lana Del Rey - “Off To The Races”
While “Off To The Races” ended up as one of the songs on Lana Del Rey’s breakout album Born To Die that got ignored in favor of hits such as “Video Games” and “Summertime Sadness,” I think it holds its own on the album. Del Rey showcases her full vocal range on the song, both her high notes and her impressive low register. Additionally, she flaunts some very poetic lyrics in the verses of this song. While some may consider Lana Del Rey very 2013, her music has not lost anything with time and is still worth going back and listening to every now and again.
Mac Miller - “Perfect Circle/God Speed”
It is difficult to think of a musician in recent years who has changed his or her sound as drastically (and, in my opinion, for the better) as Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller. In 2011, Miller was known as a “frat rapper,” famous for making simple, catchy party songs such as “Knock Knock” or “Donald Trump.” Miller was generally frowned upon by more serious listeners of hip-hop as his lyrics typically lacked depth and introspection. However, in the past two years, Miller has released three projects that have managed to wholly shatter this perception of his music, showing his incredible growth as an artist. Last month, he released his newest project, “GO:OD AM,” as the fourth installment of this new phase in his career.
The album has received a lot of good reviews (although Miller had a difficult task at hand following up his other recent work,) but for me, there was one clear standout from the album, which was the two-part song “Perfect Circle/God Speed.” The first part, “Perfect Circle,” sees Miller showing off his gritty and witty punchline raps over a stellar beat, and the second part, “God Speed,” shows Miller’s more emotional side, as he pays his respects to his friends and family who have been by his side throughout his career. Overall, it’s a great song that shows Miller’s skill and versatility and a listen that I would recommend for any hip-hop fan.