Unpeeled by Cage the Elephant - Music Reviews for the Siblini Journal (2017)

The first song I heard by Cage the Elephant was “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked.” I was in the car with my then-roommate, blasting Radio 104.5 through the staticky speakers of her minivan. This song came on, I asked her who it was, and after she told me, I was a little confused. “But they’re covering it, right? This isn’t their song, I swear I’ve heard it before,” I insisted, but a quick Google search shut me down. The song felt so familiar, but I was hearing it for the first time. I felt like I was listening to an old record from my dad’s 70s rock collection, but alas, I was really listening to a song crafted in 2009 by a band of people who were still alive. That’s precisely the sound Cage the Elephant captures beautifully: the sound of familiarity.

Their latest work, Unpeeled, takes that familiarity to a whole new level of memorable comfort. Composed of hits from their four previous albums, and three new covers, Unpeeled strips down the sound of Cage the Elephant to the bare minimum, aiming the focus at the sheer talent of the band, rather than the elaborate production most studio albums push to the forefront. The entire record was recorded live at shows across the U.S. as the band toured. Applause, adlibs, mess-ups, and voice cracks are left untouched, taking the band off the stage and into your living room for a personal, one hour and twenty minute show.

Even prior to the release of their newly stripped down music, Cage the Elephant was never an overproduced band. Their sound is already fairly rugged—with Matt Shultz’s raspy wails, supported by shredding guitars and soulful drums, it is clear that the band intends to be honest about their music and transparent about their passion for it. However, by transforming pre-existing songs via string instruments, zero autotune, and the pressure of a live setting, they hold that honesty and transparency to the highest standard, ensuring that their true selves are seen and that their keystone message is heard.

Unpeeled takes the time to bring old Cage the Elephant songs back to life, with a revitalized excitement that radiates from Shultz’s enthusiastic vocals and the band’s vehement playing. The record takes “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” one of the band’s oldest hits from their first album, and makes it as fresh and intoxicating as it was when it was originally released. There’s a new, gritty twang present in the guitar hook, and a steadier, louder drumline that carries the song into a devious melody with lyrics that ring with the struggles of us all. Shultz howls to a hand-waving crowd, “Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked / Money don't grow on trees / I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed / There ain't nothing in this world for free,” a message reaffirmed by millions of listeners across the globe, singing along in their cars, showers, and bedrooms.

But Cage the Elephant songs aren’t the only ones getting a makeover on Unpeeled. Three tracks are covers, including “Golden Brown,” “Instant Crush,” and “Whole Wide World,” the first single off the record. “Instant Crush” stands out as the most dramatic remake, with Cage the Elephant’s signature rock and roll ambience being a far cry from the digitized sounds of Daft Punk, the original artists of the song. The beat takes a backseat in the cover version, placing attention on the romantic strings that have replaced the synth refrain from the Daft Punk rendition. Shultz does well at imitating the voices of the duo’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, nailing that intensely baritone, defeated cry that makes “Instant Crush” the emotional powerhouse that it is. By turning this electro-pop jam into classic rock and roll, Cage the Elephant has bridged a gap between genres, highlighting the connection all music lovers share despite the categories they are placed into.

Unpeeled is required listening for anyone with a taste for honest music. It provides a rawness often unseen in today’s music scene, putting the naked talent of Cage the Elephant on display, and taking their performance right to the frontdoor of any fan who may have missed out on concert tickets. Each previous record now appears as a build up to Unpeeled, the new pinnacle of Cage the Elephant’s musical conglomerate. This record is purity, quality, and simplicity at its finest—true rock and roll in its most genuine form.

Long Live Happy Birthday by The World Is A Beautiful Place & I'm No Longer Afraid To Die - Music Reviews for the Siblini Journal (2017)

In March of 2016, Connecticut-based band The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die released a new EP, titledLong Live Happy Birthday, that marked the beginning of their musical transformation from basement punk to mature emo-indie. More recently, on June 1st, the EP was released on Spotify.

The EP features only two songs, “Even More Forever” and “Katamari Duquette”, clocking in at a combined time of roughly eight minutes; a surprising turnout for a band that often crafts single tunes of the same length. Though song duration is only one small marker in a long list of changes TWIABP has introduced on this new record.

Long Live Happy Birthday begins with familiar notes in “Even More Forever," as slow guitar strumming gently leads into a lyrical spill of emotion from lead vocalist David Bello. Freshly added violins creep their way into the ensemble, intertwining with eerie synths to create a grown up version of the melancholic melodies this band is known for. Further hints of maturity come as the song intensifies, with violent violins and well-rounded vocals replacing the usual guttural wails and heavy guitar riffs TWIABP utilized on previous records, such asWhenever, If Ever andHeartbeat in the Brain. Long gone are the days of screamo breakdowns mid-song, the ones that got teens on their feet in the basement mosh pit–now, this band is reaching for the attention of older listeners, the ones who will toast their beers to the strong emotions they can relate to.

“Katamari Duquette” showcases even more maturity, peeling back layers of passion and feeling with each change in tempo. Bello’s vocals are reminiscent of an early 2000’s Silversun Pickups, but the music as a whole is unique in its fashion. Frustrated chords lay the basis for this intense tune, carrying it with an irritation that’s bound to seep into the listener, forcing the feelings of the song into their brain. String instruments fall in, filling out the forte and finishing off the completed atmosphere of desolated rage. There are few ways to encapsulate the true emotion this song invokes; listening is the only way to understand.

Lyrically, Long Live Happy Birthday certainly took a turn for the negative. Despite the emo undertones, hope was always found in the songs of TWIABP, set in place to remind listeners that even with sorrow, the sun will rise again. However, this time around, the air among the record is too filled with clouds to show any light. Bello says it himself in “Even More Forever”, when he sings, “We haven’t seen the sunrise in twenty seven years”.

The poetry of the lyrics makes this EP almost painful to listen to, in the sense that it unravels deep-seated sentiment through penetrating harmonies combined with powerful instrumentals that, simply put, make feeling unavoidable. Said poetry also perfectly captures the essence of this EP, specifically in the lines that end the record, with the repetition of “Away with god, away with love / Our hands are tied and stepped on." Long Live Happy Birthday is beautifully melancholic, romantically sad, forcibly nostalgic, and a promising portrait of what to expect from TWIABP in the future.

Melodrama by Lorde - Music Reviews for the Siblini Journal (2017)

Lorde is quickening her climb up the ladder of pop stardom with her latest release, Melodrama—a collage of young adulthood and summertime beats that are sure to grant her a steady spot on Top 40 radio this season. A clear step away from the teenage dreams of Pure Heroine, Lorde’s new record fully reveals her hidden talent of hit-making and emotional intelligence, cranking up her sound and omnipresence in the pop landscape to an all-time high.

The starting track, “Green Light,” has already reaped success as a single on the charts, with a catchy piano hook and an earworm chorus. It is certainly not, however, the strongest song on the album. What the track does is create a new persona for Lorde, one that has experienced more of life and thus, by way of protection, dons a fresh coat of reinforced armor. This sets her apart from the wide-eyed teenager we came to know through Pure Heroine. Although "Green Light" is successful in grounding Lorde in a person more self-actualized, it still that uniqueness which makes the artist stand out from the rest of today’s pop category - her tendency to contrast house-inspired, darkly ambient beats with heavy, but often hopeful, emotional intelligence.

Track two, “Sober," takes advantage of the bongo beat that’s grown popular on the airwaves in recent years, creating massive potential for major radio play this summer. Through this track, the album begins digging deeper into the mind of Lorde, or Ella Yelich-O'Connor, peeling back layers of her young life in the spotlight to show the vibrant individual at the bottom of it all. The repeated line, “What will we do when we’re sober?," asks the questions any young adult with liquor on their lips has probably asked themselves at some point: how do we handle the low that comes after that high?

The next track is one of the strongest on Melodrama. If Lorde wasn’t coming back full force already on this sophomore debut, she proves her drive with “Homemade Dynamite," a powerhouse pop melody that forces the listener out of their seat and onto the dance floor. The surreal synths and encapsulating production of the piece as a whole makes it unlike any other song you’ll find on the charts today. The song is catchy, upbeat, funky, and a combination of cool and new that’s just perfect enough to make it an irresistible jam for the teenage crowd, or the ideal backdrop for Millennials in the club. Seriously, who doesn’t want to blow “shit up with homemade d-d-d-dynamite?”

In a rather contrasting matter, next comes “The Louvre,” a confessional love letter that mixes emotional guitars with ethereal house beats. Slower, heavy bass underline the harmonies that lead into a chorus which strays away from the emotion built up in the song’s verses. The hook, “Broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom, and make them all dance to it," forms a clashing juxtaposition between deep-rooted emotion and dance club lyricism that exhibits the ways in which fame tends to turn the personal into the public. The line, “Can you hear the violence? / Megaphone to my chest,” further showcases how, as an artist, Lorde’s emotions are spoken loudly and clearly to her audience, putting her life up for communal examination.

In “Liability,” the intimacy of Lorde's psychological self is revealed, as if she's casually dropping lines from her diary for us to catch and grapple with. Piano notes lull the song into a melody, where her baritone voice hums words from the deep crevices of a songwriter’s heart: “he don’t want to know me / said he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm / says it was poison.” This song stands out as having the most lyrical depth on Melodrama, as here, Lorde seems to truly speak her mind, and lets go of any reservations that kept the previous songs on the record more ambiguous in regard to deep emotional development.  

Then, the album sets off on a sort of dull streak in regards to song production. “Hard Feelings/Loveless” features cool, ghostly beats, similar to the sounds of Pure Heroine, and although it is quite catchy, it somewhat lacks the instantaneous encapsulating blare notable of a more memorable track. The streak continues with “Sober II (Melodrama)," which again lacks the intensity that could immediately capture a crowd and yet also falls short in the nostalgic teenage lyric department. It is almost as if Lorde has become too intimate through this track, talking in tongues only discernable to her own ear, which puts “Sober II” in an empty space between songs that seems impossible for audiences to reach.

The dullness endures with “Writer In The Dark," as Lorde steps back into the ballad region with this song. Her voice sounds screechy and otherworldly on the high notes, and creepily dim on the low ones. The song itself, however, is intricate and interesting, and is lyrically a step toward the levels of “Liability," as Lorde opens the curtain on her “darkest hours” and shows the world the depth with which her love can take hold.

Then comes “Supercut,” which is a slow burn. It is definitely not as stellar and shattering as the beginning hits of the album, but after a few listens, it becomes addicting, revealing the feelings of young love that most anyone can relate to. Lyrics such as, “I'll be your quiet afternoon crush / Be your violent overnight rush,” are evocative of the ways love tangles up our hearts and makes us feel wildly out of our control. But, as Lorde says, those are just “supercuts” of relationships, framing only bits and pieces of the true complexities love creates.

The tenth track on the record, “Liability (Reprise),” just seems like Lorde taking some time for exploration on Melodrama by playing around with her voice and various experimental beats and synths. There’s not too much to grab onto, but hearing the ominous noises emitted by music machines provides easy listening and an entrancing experience to ease audiences into the final song.

Melodrama comes to an end with yet another quintessential summer anthem. “Perfect Places” has it all—the lyrics, the beats, the hooks—everything it would need to be the song that carries us through the dog days of heat waves. It showcases Lorde’s true musical and emotional intelligence. 

Lorde has emphatically made her return to the stage known through Melodrama, while molding her new sound with house beats and pop riffs that will unquestionably stick out in the minds of listeners across the globe. It is reminiscent of summertime love, of sun glares on sticky days, of sweaty palms that melt together, of long, hot, sleepless nights, and the cool breeze that tickles warm skin under frail bedsheets. It is loss, passion, pain, hope, misunderstanding, and a thirst for the future. It is Melodrama, in every sense of the word.