HAIM - I want you back

Hey,

Hope all's good wherever you find yourself today! I feel like I have to write a post as I've just listened and watched the new music video for HAIM's "I want you back" and oh my God. It's incred. Not only is the song going to be my fave definitely for the rest of the week, I'd say it's my fave HAIM song ever, and after "falling" that's saying something.

The band only released the song on the 22nd of this month but I think I must've been living in a cave (well with studying, pretty much.) so I'm a few days late to the scene but if you can watch the video, it's really cool and composes of the three sisters walking and dancing down the street. It feels original but at the same time new and edgy, very cool.

I'm just chilling today and getting started on the massive pile of books my friend brought round yesterday along with a lovely chai latte (thanks again Phil!! You know me too well dude). I've started with Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451", a science fiction classic from 1953 that I'd never heard of and already loving 30 pages in. It's set in a future world where reading books is forbidden, and firemen illegally burn the books. Of course it has more story arcs and twists than that, along with some of the best use of metaphor I've ever read so far, so I've got to say I'm hooked.

Anyway, if you watch any music video today, I'd recommend it be this one.

Have a lovely evening,
Molly x

Nina Nesbitt - Way in the world

Morning!

(Had to check it was still morning then, I'm always doing that). True story; when I used to do the afternoon shows at Hospital Radio, I used to do the jingly intro, lift the mic up and always, ALWAYS without fail say "Good Morning!". The thing is with radio is obviously it's live so you can't really re do it and it got so bad that my chief in command, Stewart started writing "GOOD AFTERNOON" whilst my mic was on and then shoved the paper in my face.

Ah well....

I feel like writing a post today as I feel like I've got the energy, after having a few days of payback from exams where I literally feel like I'm in the body of an 80 year old.. Fun times. I'm currently in the coolest room in the house as if you don't live in England you may not know that we're having a massive heatwave at the moment. Us Brit's love a bit of sun as much as the next sun-denied person, but you should also know that as much as we moan when it rains, we're not used to the sun in excess either, so you can't win really.

Anyway, with the breeze pleasantly reminding me that I'm not in a massive oven, I've been listening to a singer that I can remember absolutely loving when I was about 16 and that's Nina Nesbitt. I always do this thing when I find a singer or a band that I love. What I do is: listen to them and only them, for a solid week, (or maybe even two or three if I really feel like I haven't heard anything like them before) before going back to my normal ways until a few days pass and this process happens again with another band or artist.

It's like as soon as I hear something that I like or that's a little bit different to what I've heard before, I have to dedicate my time completely emersing myself in it, rather like that scene out of 'The Vicar of Dibley' where Dawn French completely emerses herself in that chocolate fountain. That was me with Nina Nesbitt's music when I was 16 and it's so weird as I haven't really listened to it since. It was only when skipping through songs 'I may like' on Spotify that her album 'Peroxide' flashed up and then I found some of her other singles and I remember listening to this one song repeatedly, that being 'Way in the world'.

I remember really relating to the lyrics a few years ago and I think there's stages where I still feel the same, especially as a young person. Whereby you may be doing something, studying or a job, that you like but in the monotony of it sometimes you forget that this isn't your whole life, it's just a stepping stone to where you want to be and this song is all about that. Kind of clinging on to your original dreams whilst you're in the process of trying to reach them.

I think I like this idea so much as, I think everyone has felt a little bit like they're drifting or plodding on at some point and before you know it things change and you're doing what you want. It just takes time.

Look at me talking like I've got it all figured out, when I still haven't mastered how regularly I should re apply suncream..

Have a lovely day and I hope it's filled with icecream and shade!
Love,
Molly xxx

Night natterings

Hi,

This is the weirdest and officially the latest time I've ever written a blog post, I must say. Apparently it's 2.38am and I really can't sleep at all.

At the moment I'm in the middle of exams, and whilst I'm keeping my head down and moseying along with it, I find I'm much tireder and when I'm tireder ironically I struggle so much to sleep. It's one of the many conundrums of the condition I have, POTS. Anyway, it is what it is and who knows? Maybe writing will help me nod off...

Anyway, perhaps I should post a song, so tonight it will be by an artist I know I definitely haven't blogged about before and that's Lana Del Rey. A friend recommended that I listen to "Love" amongst some of her other songs and I'm hooked. Obviously I was aware of Lana, but had never really listened to her music much, I'm not really sure why. Alas, I'm so glad I've started as love is so beautifully bittersweet and unlike anything I've ever heard before really.

I'd like to fill you in on many adventures of late, but with exams I have to take it so steady. I'm not complaining at all though and only have one left in under a week. The strange thing is as well, I want to try and enjoy it in a weird way, so I really don't mind spending my time resting and revising in the hope that over summer I can let my hair well and truly down :D.
I can't believe I turn 20 in just over two weeks, that's crazy, and although part of me is uprooted at how quickly I find time passes, I can't say I'm not really happy and blessed and feel like I've made the most of every day in anyway I possibly can up to now, so bring on 20! What's an age but a number ey?
Hope you're all tucked up in bed having the deepest sleep whilst I hit publish :)
I'll try and get some shut eye now I think,

Thank you for reading!!
Molly xx

Mandy Harvey - America's got talent audition

Hello,

I hope this post finds everyone really well! Unfortunately it's not going to be a very concise post as I've sat my media a level exam today and I'm really struggling with tiredness, although I'm so proud I got through it. Anyway I would normally explain how much I love what I'm explaining in detail but I can't as the words don't come easily when I'm like this. I just saw this audition by the wonderful, beautiful, totally inspiring lady that is Mandy Harvey earlier and I honestly have struggled not to stop crying. She's so wonderful and has overcome such adversity and I have such admiration for the way she has decided to go and pursue her dreams even if she is scared. I found the lyrics of her song so relatable as even though her illness left her deaf, I understand the pain of accepting what your life is now and it's limitations compared to what it was with an illness. I understand that life is as beautiful as you chose to see it and that on the whole it's a choice to look at what you can do rather than what you can't. But I feel she'll have a depth of understanding of things I have not ever had to. She's amazing. I'll leave her video here.

Sorry if this post has spelling mistakes or isn't clear. I think I'll leave it as I think it just shows everyone has good and bad times (as long as you can read it! Ahaha)
Thank you so much for reading xx

Cleopatra- The Lumineers/ Cover by Sarah Carmosino

Hi,

I think I'll blog every day this week or attempt to, as, well I've got the time and it's such a lovely week that I've been listening to so much music. Today's been somewhere between busy and quiet for me and I guess that's the best place to be. I had college this morning and then came back to study with my windows open with the sunlight streaming in. I'm pretty sure the sun is the thing that makes my day better, more so than anything and I love the little things like hearing the birds outside. It's like the sound grounds me enough to not feel too serious about revision, but calms me enough to focus in a weird way?

Anyway, writing tonight's post I can still hear the array of birds calling distantly to each other through the trees and sitting in the conservatory, soaking up the last of the rays, I'm listening to Cleopatra by The Lumineers. With a cup of tea in hand and a dog sprawled next to me, I can say I feel very content  and ready to listen to the different guitar rifts that are easy to miss when multitasking. It's such a beautiful song, but one I have to say, for me doesn't have a clear message, it is only in research I've realised that the song is actually a modern telling of the story between Mark Anthony and Cleopatra. But then again without knowing anything about the pair, I suppose the story wouldn't make sense... But still, I should've guessed really shouldn't I?

If, like me, you aren't clued up on the history of the Egyptian queen, the song is written from the perspective of Cleopatra herself. She is dismayed because she doesn't like the suitor she is supposed to marry, and because her lover Mark Anthony "has left town". Mark Anthony at the time of her reign, was one of the most powerful men in Rome, so whilst they met and fell in love in Eygpt, he had to leave Cleopatra and return to work in Rome. However, according to Shakespeare, in his play "Mark Anthony and Cleopatra", upon returning to Rome Mark married another powerful Romans' sister.  Yet, according to the tale, Cleopatra isn't phased by this, the lyrics stating "damn your wife, I'll be your mistress, just to have you around".

However, Cleopatra's heartache and despair is presented in the chorus "But I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life".

Cleopatra is a song from The Lumineers second studio Album, entitled of the same name, and was released on the 26th March last year (which is crazy as to me it feels like it's been around wayyyy longer). I'm pretty sure most people will have marvelled and rejoiced at the incredible song "Ho Hey", but if you're unfamiliar with the band, they're an indie/folk band from the US.

Cleopatra was a four song album, intriguingly containing three songs named after females "cleopatra ","Ophelia" and Angela", with the fourth song added after entitled "Sleep on the floor".

The song really is beautiful, so give it a listen, but rather than put the original on here, I'd love to put a cover on that I find just as beautiful by a lady called Sarah Carmosino.



Enjoy and have a lovely evening <3

Molly x

The Sweet - The Ballroom Blitz

Afternoon,

I feel as if I'm blogging loads at the moment, but with chilling in the house more and revising it's probably a good way of doing something to stop my mind numbing too much, without getting so distracted I feel it's good to watch trashy daytime TV.
I feel like I haven't posted actual music in ages and seen as this was intended to be a music blog, and really just a way of throwing all my opinions on music just randomly onto a page, I seem to have been talking an awful lots about serious things lately. So let's change that ey and go back to tradition ;).

I've also been told I need to paragraph more in my posts (well, not so much told, but being shouted "How am I meant to read this? It's too wordy" from my Mum and you know what she's so right). Sorry about that, I'm the sort of edgy-boundary pushing teen who writes blogs on her phone (edgy meaning stupid in this case as it is a bit silly writing blog posts on your phone as you can't lay it out effectively), so I'll do my best to change this.

Today's post is about one of the best glam-rock bands (well, in my opinion anyway) there is and that's The Sweet. If you don't know much about the band they're a British glam-rock band that rose to fame in the seventies, originally under the name "Sweetshop". The band consists of Brian Connolly as vocalist, Steve Priest as bass player, Andy Scott as guitarist and Mick Tucker on drums.

Forming in London in 1968, their first hit was "Funny Funny" in 1971 and after that they rose to worldwide fame after producing thirteen top 20 hits in the UK in 1970 alone. Probably their most famous song "Blockbuster" topped the chart in 1973, whilst many songs produced consecutively reached number two. One of these is "The Ballroom Blitz", a song that's mental and cool and crafted all at the same time, so here it is:

Have a lovely day,
Thanks for reading,
Molly x

A post in dedication to Ernest Hemmingway

Hello,

It's so dreary today, I'm really not liking it. I love England and rain comes part and parcel of English weather, it is a necessary ally in helping the plants to grow, but it doesn't half make everything look dowdy does it?!
I'm in the middle of revising today, with only a few weeks until my first exam and I have to say I actually quite enjoy it in a strange way. Sure, going on holiday or to a festival would obviously be more preferred, but I actually like chilling in these weeks and just helping my brain to learn all that it can. I don't know, as long as I give myself plenty of time and don't cram too much, with music (or like this) writing breaks, I'm alright really. I just hope to do my best and if resting helps me just do my best then I'm happy to.
Anyway, after trekking into town, equipped in quite an unlike way for me with an umbrella; I'm not usually that organised; I've returned home with cake and continued reading a book on my wider reading list for literature. This is "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemmingway. Now, as a literature student who in the most geekiest way possible loves Lit (I know how can you love a subject really??), I can say I don't actually read a lot. I love studying what I've read, I love understanding the motives of the characters, of the author, I love understanding the inward thoughts of people that can only really be achieved through reading, but I actually find it hard to read. I can read fairly quickly, but I find to actually read is one of the most tiring things ever. I can kind of understand this, if you think about reading, you've trained your brain to scan a page from left to right. In that time of picking up, I don't know, say twelve words to the line, your brain has to then in a matter of seconds deduce meaning from this and move onto the second line. If you think about it this is absolutely amazing and I think it's something we all take for granted after passing whatever reading tests we pass after primary school. Anyway, I'm digressing as per...
What I intended this post to be mainly about is how amazing I find Ernest Hemmingway's writing. Without wanting to sound like a pompous (bloody hell stop talking and switch on the TV or something) Lit student, he is incredible. Like I say, I don't read a lot, I reckon, without exaggeration I've probably read 25-30 books fully in my whole 19-20 years and then a lot of paragraphs, books unfinished, poetry and articles and so many of you reading this will be a lot more wider read than myself, but I simply wanted to post to say I think Ernest Hemmingway is brilliant. I can say, even though I am only half way through the first book I've ever read that he's written, he is my favourite author ever and I wouldn't be suprised if this doesn't change. I know it sounds narrow minded and unintelligent to deduce such sweeping statements, but I just think I can as he's amazing. I realise I've now spent a lot of time saying "he's amazing" without actually explaining why...
For me, it is because of how simply he writes. I've heard that this style of writing is controversial what makes him so famous, and known as one of the classic authors of American literature. Some state the way he writes is too plain. I shall argue to the heavens that this is not the case. Sometimes, it is only in the plainness of statement, that it is clear how many elements to what is being stated have already occurred up to this point, and the simplicity of what is said is only in order to present just how complex life is. If we think in clear direct thought (most of the time one would hope), why not write without elaboration? I don't know if that makes sense but Ernest Hemmingway puts it (ironically) much simpler than myself:
"If I started to write elaborately...I found that I could cut the scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away", also stating "There is nothing to writing. All you need to do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed".

I know its wishful thinking to think I could be anywhere near as good a writer as Ernest Hemmingway, but his style and perspective had has taught me that's ok, as long as you write honestly about things that matter to you, you can technically write however you wish to.
I find this so freeing and fascinating and I definitely reccomend reading "A farewell to Arms" or really any Ernest Hemmingway books. I wasn't disappointed anyway.

Thank you for reading :)
Molly