Tropicana Jan-Feb 2018 #116 A Start from the Heart

NEWS | MUSIC
Familiar Names, New Tunes
Highly anticipated new releases from some of the biggest names in the scene.
“If you’re old enough, you remember a
different JAY-Z, the JAY-Z who became king
of New York through sheer, sneering, cold,
unemotional, arrogant confidence,”
- Tom Breihan , Stereogum
High Flying Birds
Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher’s third
solo album with High
Flying Birds, Who Built
The Moon? has already
garnered some great
reviews ahead of its
release in November 2017.
The former Oasis
member took two years
on this album as a follow
up to 2015’s Chasing
Yesterday and features
collaborations with Paul
Weller and former The
Smiths guitarist Johnny
Marr who plays guitar
and harmonica leads in If
Love Is The Law.
While Gallagher’s
latest album provides
a more upbeat tempo
compared to his previous
solo works, it still carries
the same bold voice,
rhythms and sing-along
anthems familiar to Oasis
fans.
Red Pill Blues
Maroon 5
Three time Grammy
award winners Maroon
5’s latest album Red Pill
Blues doesn’t disappoint.
With special appearances
by A$AP Rocky, Julia
Michaels and Kendrick
Lamar among others, the
15 track album features
catchy singles such as
What Lovers Do and the
mega hit Don’t Wanna
Know which was ranked
top 10 in 10 different
charts in different
countries.
The album stays true
to the band’s upbeat,
dance driven tunes but
with a bit more electronic
inspiration thrown in this
time.
Songs of Experience
U2
As a follow up to their
2014 hit album, Songs of
Innocence, U2 is releasing
their 14th studio album
taking inspiration from
Irish poet, novelist and
Trinity College Dublin
Professor Emeritus
Brendan Kennelly’s advice
to lead singer Bono to “write
as if you’re dead”.
The result is an album
with tracks that are a lot
more personal and intimate
than the band’s former
work. The album is quite
melancholy too, especially
on tracks such as You’re the
Best Thing About Me and
the opening track, Love is
All We Have Left. It’s a new
yet familiar side to U2 that
will definitely be a delight
to their loyal fans.
Our Pick...
Pacific Daydream
Weezer
One year after the
release of their
White Album,
Weezer has released
Pacific Daydream,
their 11th studio
album filled with
lyrics reminiscent
of days spent at the
beach with track names like Mexican Fender, Beach
Boys and Feels Like Summer.
In the opening track, Mexican Fender, Weezer
frontman Rivers Cuomo was inspired by a cute nerdy
girl at the popular musical instrument repair shop
Truetone in Santa Monica, only to find out she isn’t
single. Such is the emo-pop lyrics and melodies that
remain true to the American band’s alternative rock
tunes from their previous work, only this time, with
a heavier Californian pop-rock influence that almost
mimics Beach Boys-esque riffs.
Curated by Sharmini M.Rethinasamy
25 january/february 2018 | TM