What I've Been Listening To (Vol. 2)

Why hello there! It’s been a while since I wrote my last blog post (don’t I always say that?). I was so astounded by the positive feedback on my personal The Voice audition account, I wondered how I could top it. Sadly, due to not doing anything particularly interesting lately, I couldn’t come back with another great “Let’s Get Personal” post. But if there’s one thing I always do even when life slows down, it’s listen to music. So here’s volume TWO of “What I’ve Been Listening To”!

The theme of this list is songs that I often catch myself humming or singing. I do this a lot not only because I’m a singer, but I’m looking to upload YouTube covers in the near future, so if I feel that a song I sing/hum fits my voice, I definitely want to write it down for reference.

1. “KISS THE RAIN” – FEMM (FAR EAST MENTION MANNEQUIN’S AGENCY SYNDICATE)

I know, I know, I already included FEMM in my last “WhatI’ve Been Listening To” post! At this rate, I should just do an “Artists You Should Know” post on them so you won’t have to see them featured here anymore! Actually no, I want to continue featuring them on my blog as often as possible because they just keep surprising me. This is one of their “older” songs, but one of my favorites right after “Fxxk Boyz Get Money”.

photo cred.: lettersfromsociety

Looking at the lyrics, this song is about being in a long distance relationship. And anyone who’s been in one can tell you this: it really, really sucks sometimes. The subject, combined with the gorgeous melody, made me feel connected to this song in a way I didn’t think an upbeat, electronic pop song could.

Can you imagine how he would react to an acoustic cover of this song?
photo cred.: jakesjohnson

2. “GET FREE (FT. AMBER COFFMAN)” – MAJOR LAZER

This is quite an old song in terms of “pop music years” (2 years, gasp!) and I only found out about it thanks to it always popping up in different, unrelated Spotify radio stations. Surely there exists a marketing scheme behind this phenomenon, but it ended up working on me because I really like this song now! It’s an odd one, I’ll admit, but the sparse production and easygoing vibe make it one of the more listenable Major Lazer songs. As much of a jam “Bubble Butt” is to play at parties, I don’t often find myself gravitating to it when I’m listening to music in my headphones…unless I’m at a silent rave.

"LOOK AT US PARTICIPATING IN A SOCIAL ACTIVITY THAT'S ALSO, PARADOXICALLY, UNSOCIAL! WE'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!! Oh wait, we don't have to yell because the room is completely silent."
photo cred.: Cornell Chronicle

3. “HOT BABY” – BESTIE

How could I not hum kpop to myself? It’s impossible! I even hum kpop songs that I don’t like! Darn you, kpop, and your catchy songs!!

Great movie, by the way.
photo cred.: alan950217

But in all seriousness, “Hot Baby” is one of the better kpop releases this summer. It’s not my most favorite song by BESTie (that belongs to “Love Options”), and I don’t think it’s as fun as “One More” by Fiestar, but this is still such a fun song to try to sing (key word here: try. I still don’t speak Korean fluently…yet). The main vocalist, Uji, has such an impressive range, it’s fun practicing my mixed belting to BESTie songs. Plus, I’m a sucker for pastel clothing, and this kpop concept is full of them.

I want all of these clothes. You hear me, Forever 21?! ALL OF THEM.
photo cred.: balifor

By the way, the litmus test in order to figure out if someone is a "good singer" is to see if they can sing "Let It Go" from Frozen, right? Is it not??

4. “WAITING GAME” – BANKS

This is another one of those songs that popped up a lot in Spotify radio, but I’m so glad it did because it introduced me to this spectacular artist. A lot of music critics call Banks “the female version of The Weeknd”, and it’s hard to not agree with that statement even just a little bit. Her music is reminiscent of The Weeknd’s stuff from his Trilogy days, but their vocal styles are vastly different. Whereas The Weeknd's voice has a smoother tone to it, Banks’s raspiness and her subtle use of vocal fry is more akin to Fiona Apple than The Weeknd.

You can if you listen to this song, Fiona.
photo cred.: Degrassi Wiki

5. “CHANDELIER (COVER)” – POSTMODERN JUKEBOX FT. PUDDLES THE CLOWN

I have no reason whatsoever to share Sia’s “Chandelier” in a post on my blog because literally everyone already likes it in one way or another. Try to find one person who absolutely despises this song. Try to find one person who actually goes out of their way to change the station when this song comes on the radio. Try to find that one person who doesn’t even enjoy singing along to mock Sia’s vocal style. Go on, I’ll be waiting. While you do that, I’ll be playing this video of a sad clown with a golden voice singing this song on repeat because it’s oddly therapeutic.

Though, this picture of Puddles certainly isn't therapeutic. Apologies in advance to those who have a fear of clowns.
photo cred.: Dante Rants

Many thanks to those of you who not only read this post, but also gave each of these songs a listen. I hope I helped you discover your next new favorite artist, but even if I didn’t, I hope you enjoyed my meticulously-selected reaction gifs (I’ve got a whole folder full of them).

Such as this one.