It's All In My Head, It's All In My Heart

Ok, I realize I'm two days late, but whatever, I'm still gonna have four posts for this month!

And before I get into the featured artist(s), I just have to share this song that has just been stuck in my head non-stop, that will hit the radio waves soon if not already, as well as da clubs :)

And that covers what's in my head.

What's in my heart is a little duo that goes by Frank + Derol. It's two girls with guys' names. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!?

Anyway, they can get away with it because they're rather good! I would describe them as Tegan and Sara meets Lights with a dash of Tatu.

Their real names are Codi and Brandi. Brandi, believe it or not, is the older sister of Miley Cyrus. She began touring as a guitarist and after one show Brandi met Codi, another tour member's sister and it was a match made in music nirvana. You can read more in-depth about their bios here.

They joined forces and began to write music that literally anyone could enjoy. It is candy-apple pop, it is slightly electronic, rocking keys laden with a marvelous soprano voice, sophisticated melodies, and some pretty raw lyrics. Frank + Derol's inspirations include Smashing Pumpkins and Merle Haggard.

My first exposure to the duo was their song, "Apparition":

Then I was like WHO ARE THEY I NEED TO HEAR ALL THE THINGS THEY'VE MADE!!

So I then came to "Lightning + Gold" (not exactly sure what's up with the plus signs), and was just drawn to the xylophone in the beginning and it just stayed the entire time. And then the repetitive and just catchy chorus: "Don't stop, baby don't stop."

But these next two songs are what made me fall in love:

"Barely Love You Too"

This one is just cool because it is so haunting how you can identify with it!

"Let It Go"

I feel like "Let It Go" could easily be on the next playlist for Hollister. It just screams beach anthem!!



Their self-titled EP is out now and you can get it here. And their LP will be out this year!! I'm super excited!!

Favorite lyric: "Even if this road leads back nowhere, make it count for now"

Hold My Hand

It's a long way down to the bottom of the river.

And it's also been a long little while since I have posted on here. However, SURPRISE!! New year's resolution: 1 post a week!! So good thing I'm procrastinating and waiting until the 7th day of the new year to make my first post :)

Anyway, I discovered this band through a friend early this past December and I feel like you need to know about them:

This little sextet is known as Delta Rae. They started out as 3 siblings from North Carolina and added a childhood friend and then two others later on. They are an American folk rock band that encompasses so much soul and sound - touching on bluegrass, gospel, blues, pop, Southern melodies, west coast harmonies - that just tell such stories of passion. Delta Rae's influences include James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, and Paul Simon. They sound so beautiful together and you can just about feel what they feel in their songs by the inflection in their voices (if you don't already identify with their music; which if you don't, then you're probably not anywhere being an adult). If you want their full biography you can check it out here.

Now for the music! The first song I heard from these cats was a song that uses chains as an instrument. And daggumit if it ain't catchy!

Then the next song I heard was "Dance in the Graveyards":

And this is rather uplifting despite the seemingly morbid title. It's kinda like Delta Rae's version of YOLO or "We Are Young."

Other songs to note are: "Surrounded," "Hey, Hey, Hey," "Morning Comes," and "Holding On to Good."

You will fall in love with their voices and harmonies in 2.8 seconds. So please, if you haven't already listened, please do your ears a favor and get to list'nin'!!


All of these songs can be found on their debut album, Carry the Fire, which is out now and you can get it from iTunes here.

Happy 2013! Get ready for some great new music this year! Stay tuned ;)

"We only get so long on the earth, so all we can do is carry the fire."

I Can Feel The Rise Coming

I heartily apologize to my faithful readers who have been wanting to hear some new, up and coming artists. It has been a busy summer working 3 jobs and moving from Virginia to Austin. But I'm back! And here is my newest obsession: Erin McCarley

This little gem was iTunes' free single of the week and I hopped on it. Because the song "Amber Waves" is where it's at! Take a listen here:

I believe it was paired with the release of her new record "My Electric Stadium." Which itself, is freakin' awesome.

It is a project that screams fun, feel-good, love, growth, and life. This is Erin's sophomore album which has a heavier influence of "mainstream" type sounds, but the singer/songwriter doesn't sell herself out. She remains true to her sound and style from her debut album, "Love, Save the Empty," but is a little more polished. She collaborated with producers and songwriters that worked with the likes of Adele, P!nk, Train, Fiona Apple, and Animal Collective (to name a few). I share this to just give you an idea of where the influences are coming from.

To me, "Amber Waves" is a song about just letting yourself fall into a new relationship. She sees it as a cup "overflowing with gold. It's ours to have, yet to unfold" so you should "wave your hands out to get caught up in the tide" and "feel the rise coming, I can feel the ride." After you listen to it you'll want to find yourself in this situation. But if you're not there, you can totally just roll your windows down and blast this at full volume.

Another notable track includes "Just Another Day" where she describes how she's just going through life and it's super easy to identify with; thoughts we all go through in the day-to-day. I also love "Elevator," "What I Needed," "Rearrange Again," and "Pop Gun."

Take a listen and fall in love! Erin probably won't be rocking out the Top 40, but you'll more than likely catch her on some coffee house and store radios. I would love to see her break through like Ellie Goulding and really get noticed for not being typical pop. Her slightly grainy, but not raspy, voice is beautifully weaved in with some heavy piano, percussion, and indie beats throughout!

Seriously though, take a listen and just "feel the rise."

My favorite lyric: "It's ours to have, yet to unfold."

And THIS could get BIG, so watch out for indie pop songstress Erin McCarley!

Wasted Tears

This is Haley Reinhart. Some of you may have heard of her or are familiar with her from American Idol 's 10th season (and her 3rd place finish). I unfortunately did not get to witness her on there, or I would have been obsessing sooner.

A way that I have been describing Haley Rienhart is that she is basically the blonde younger sister of Amy Winehouse that didn't get caught up in drugs. She has the same soulful voice, throwback sound, and sings a lot of love and heartbreak, but it's got a raspy-ness to it. It is so clear and powerful it just hits you.

Back in March, she released the lead single from her debut album Listen Up!  titled "Free." Click here to take a listen. It has that bouncy piano that I love and talks about that inevitable break-up that needs to happen, and how you should just break free from it and both parties will be better off for it.

But the song that I have been HOOKED on is the song "Wasted Tears":

All of the soul. All of the jazz. All the trumpets. It has a 40s vibe to it. And the lyrics! They got me and I've been hooked. Unless you are happily married to your high school sweetheart, I think you can identify with this song.

The entire album is laced with songs that have an addicting melody made up of so many instruments that will get stuck in your head. Her sound is an overall, mainstream jazzy/soulful sound. And I've been meaning to talk about this shift in pop music. With breakthroughs being made into the pop music scene over the past couple years by songstresses like Amy Winehouse and Adele, there seems to be an opening for shift to what popular music will be down the road. I think in the near future, many more artists like Haley Rienhart, Esperanza Spalding, and Rebecca Ferguson will make up a significant portion of what you'll be listening to. It will lend to a more soul and jazz-influenced music scene. The music scene is currently flooded with a lot of synthetic beats and pulse pounding tunes (which isn't bad); I just think it's happening a bit too much. There will always be need for dance songs or club hits, but I personally believe this is a shift that will be (and is slowly) taking place in the popular music scene.

Ok, now that I got that out, here are a couple others that I love from Listen Up! - "Oh My," "Undone," "Now That You're Here" <--Live version (aka she can really sing and it gives it a piano bar feel), "Keep Coming Back," and "Hit the Ground Runnin'".

I realize that is a lot (and almost the whole album), but they're all so good. If you only wanna listen to two, I'd recommend "Undone" and "Hit the Ground Runnin'".

THIS could get BIG. So watch out for Ms. Reinhart. I have a feeling she's gonna do some big things :)

Favorite Lyric (from "Wasted Tears"):
"I can see now that the clouds have clear, I've been crying wasted tears."

Is that the lead singer from Coldplay?

The answer to the question is no, but if you took a listen to Stephen Wrabel without any video, one could easily mistake him for Chris Martin.

Stephen Wrabel released this video a little over a month ago and, as a Coldplay fan, was quickly drawn in.

I love the sound, I love the piano...you know what? Why don't you just take a listen here:

It's a very toned down version of a song about having that "I'm on top of the world" feeling thanks to a certain someone in your life.

Another song of his that I think is amazing is "Jupiter." I think it shows that he's got more power to his voice and can rock out on the piano. Here he doesn't sound as Chris Martin-y, but a little more Bublé. It's definitely a little more soulful. Check it out. Also check out "Still Standing."

I don't see him on pop radio, but I definitely think: this could get BIG in his genre.

Favorite lyric:
"I've been trying so hard not to let it show"

Enjoy!

Explosions

This is Coco Morier:

When you look at her, what do you think? Gaga, right? WRONG!! Although when you google her name and look at some pictures of her, you might say, "Oh, she's a Lady Gaga clone." But you'd be wrong!

If you take a listen to her music, it is far from Gaga. It is plain and simple. It's Coco.  And she is on the verge of blazing the trails for an indie-pop synth wave. One possible contemporary could be Little Boots (here is an example), but Little Boots is more in just the pop category.

Even still, Coco is very unique. Many are dubbing her "The Indie Britney." I mean she has aided in vocals for the princess of pop on her last three albums including the songs "Heaven On Earth" and "How I Roll." And no, these weren't lead singles, but Ms. Morier has been developing her own songs and sounds since working on a couple different projects and is now flying solo and released a five song EP, which you can take a listen to here.

My favorite is the title of this post, "Explosions."

It's super catchy! And it's not only synth, it's disco/clap/garage rock. It's an interesting blend and I like it a lot! My fear is that she'll get overlooked in this current music scene. If people can put down their Maroon 5s, One Directions, and Lil Waynes, then she COULD get big.

The other song I like a lot is "My Satellite."

Check them out, check her out!

"I'll light the fire inside of you and we can make an explosion!"

A Recollection + Synonym for Home

Or otherwise known as Memoryhouse is an awesome Canadian duo whose most recent single I cannot stop listening to; especially as the weather is getting warmer and I blare this as I'm driving with the windows rolled down, sunglasses on, arm out the window and thinking about the lyrics of the song, "The Kids Were Wrong":

"Come sleep, nothing's changing, I'll be right here by your side." I love that reassurance, I want that in my life, someone to keep me assured. A person. To see daylight come in through the blinds with. Someone to share life with and care about the things that nobody else would care about.

Either way, these guys have caught my eye, with their chill, indie music, as well as thoughtful lyrics. This song is a little more upbeat than their previous stuff, which is still good, but I like this more upbeat turn they seem to be taking. I also like her voice because it stands out from all the others out there and doesn't necessarily remind me of anyone.

Memoryhouse COULD get big. I think they need to keep away from their mellower past and keep things upbeat!