Well, it’s been a while. Assignment season is well and truly upon us and, on top of that, there haven’t been many noteworthy releases in the last couple of weeks. Luckily, that’s all changing. Not assignments, I still have loads of those, but at least there’s some tunes to get us through the day. This week we have the questionable new release from Coldplay, and album previews from Stormzy, Harry Styles and Edge fave The Japanese House.
Coldplay – Everyday Life
Can’t say with any confidence that many people were excited for this one. But, to be fair, that means that Coldplay didn’t disappoint me with their eighth studio album – it’s just as underwhelming as I thought it would be. Sorry Coldplay. I respect everything they’re doing about climate change and all, but I won’t be listening to this again.
Everyday Life really puts the ‘soft’ in ‘soft rock’ – this rock is the softest around. Frontman Chris Martin’s vocals remain annoyingly unemotional throughout, so the album doesn’t really go anywhere. In this respect, they rely too heavily on other people – the gospel-influenced ‘BrokEn’ is the only time things get vocally interesting.
On other tracks, they try mix it up a little with hymn sounds, whispers of jazz and even, briefly, a bit of French. But, all in all, this was a very forgettable album (seriously, I just had to google ‘Coldplay gospel sounding song’ to remind myself what it was called).
Coldplay’s Everyday Life is out now via Parlaphone Records.
Nina Nesbitt – The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change & The Flowers Will Fall
Nina Nesbitt is back with some super emotional lyrics and a super long album title, which will be shortened to The Sun Will Come Up for the sake of a word count. It’s an album of two parts, the first contains all of the new songs, and the second acoustic versions of them.
The album starts with ‘Scared’ and ‘The Moments I’m Missing’, two particularly striking tracks for the retrospective emotion held in their lyrics. ‘The Moments I’m Missing’, in fact, is a look at her whole life, all the experiences she has had that have made her who she is today. The songs on The Sun Will Come Up have a real ethereal quality, the kind of pop that makes you relax while it makes you think. Also, her dark cover of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ is haunting and I love it.
The title track, ‘Chloe’ and ‘Last December’ are some of the other especially memorable tunes on the album, sweet and strong at the same time. This is a lovely pop record from Nina Nesbitt, with its lovely melodies and a general feeling of hope.
Nina Nesbitt’s The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change & The Flowers Will Fall is out now via Cooking Vinyl Limited.
Harry Styles – ‘Watermelon Sugar’
Right, just a heads up, I’m writing this from a real place of despair. Harry Styles tickets were a lot more expensive than my student budget and I were counting on, so it turns out I will not be one of the lucky people seeing him live next year. I’ll try my best to stay upbeat about this.
If it feels like this was released a while ago, you’re right. It just missed the cut off for last week’s releases, after Styles debuted the new track just before his iconic performance (in both music and comedy) on last week’s Saturday Night Live. ‘Watermelon Sugar’ has those nostalgic summer vibes, taking us back to long romantic nights that feel so far away now.
This is an incredibly catchy track, and makes me even more excited for the release of Fine Line in a few weeks. It’s not ‘Kiwi’-tier (in my eyes nothing is) but it is a fantastic follow up to ‘Lights Up’. We’re in for a treat with this album.
Harry Styles’ ‘Watermelon Sugar’ is out now via Columbia Records.
Stormzy feat. Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy – ‘Own It’
Yes, you guessed it, I’m back to reviewing Ed Sheeran. Although, it’s Stormzy that saves this song. Here we have another massive artist who has just announced a new album, so these long winter months might not be so cold after all. ‘Own It’ is very catchy and has caught the attention of music lovers across the country. Stormzy has had quite the 2019, and the year’s not over yet.
Stormzy’s ‘Own It’ is out now via Hashtag Merky Music.
The Japanese House – ‘Chewing Cotton Wool’
The Japanese House is a firm favourite here at The Edge, and it seems we’re getting ready for something new and fantastic. Her vocal style on ‘Chewing Cotton Wool’ is truly gorgeous and really works alongside the chilled-out sound of the backing music. The lyrics are equally lovely on this track. The Japanese House is rising to the top, and the upcoming project is definitely one to keep an ear out for.
The Japanese House’s ‘Chewing Cotton Wool’ is out now via Dirty Hit.
Other Selected Releases
Singles
Alicia Keys – ‘Time Machine’
Blossoms – ‘The Keeper’
Circa Waves – ‘Jacqueline’
HAIM – ‘Hallelujah’
IDLES – ‘Television’ (Live)
JC Stewart – ‘The Wrong Ones’
Kesha – ‘My Own Dance’
Little Mix – ‘One I’ve Been Missing’
Mabel – ‘Loneliest Time of the Year’
Maggie Rogers – ‘Love You For a Long Time’
Sports Team – ‘The Races’
Albums
Beck – Hyperspace
Girl Ray – Girl
Nasty Cherry – Season 1
Robbie Williams – The Christmas Present
This Week In Records: Playlist Edition
Need a weekly music fix of all the songs you should care about? We’ve made a super handy playlist of all of this week’s biggest releases, so just sit back, relax and listen to the good stuff. Updated every Friday.
