Songs of Love; Songs of Loss: Music Review

I have never done a music review on the blog, but a couple of new releases have me extremely impressed, so I wanted to share.  I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift, but I don't hate her either and it seems like (or at least the media wants us to believe) that all people must fall into one of those camps.   I loved Blank Space, video and song, still do.  And I wouldn't skip it if Style came up in the shuffle.  Shake It Off wasn't a favorite, but it was catchy and I did like the message.  My personal opinion of Swift is that she is beautiful, talented and she works very hard.  I'm happy she's happy and I hope it lasts.  I've heard people slam her for repeating lines across multiple songs, but that's what happens when you write your own music; You repeat yourself.   Have you ever watched some pop-whore like Katy Perry or Beyonce try to explain what a song means?  They stumble because, they didn't write it.  They just sang the words with no feeling behind the voice.  I admire that Swift did or does write much of her own material.  And, yes she's taken criticism for releasing albums directly after break-ups, but strong emotion tends to need an outlet. 

By strong contrast, her new album, Life of a Showgirl, has just released with a solid love song entitled The Fate of Ophelia, which I really liked.  It was lovely and intelligent, well written and well performed.  The videos for this album were really wonderful, well choreographed, employing a host of talented dancers and fellow singers like Sabrina Carpenter (again, not a fan of her music per say, but Please, Please, Please was smart, stylish, and catchy)  and each one is filled with beautiful scenes.  I can't say I enjoyed any of the other songs on the album as much, though I did like the fact that not all the songs are love songs.  The title song itself is a correspondence between an up and coming showgirl and one on the decline.  It wasn't world shattering, but it was a refreshing move away from all the love and hate songs out there.  It's like people have forgotten there are other things to sing about.  So, I'm giving kudos to Swift for a shift away from the break-up music, and truly, she's stepping down as the break-up queen just in time.

Lily Allen's new album, West End Girl, has just released and if it's not the most brutal work of (please pardon my language, nothing else would do) fuckoffery  in existence, I owe you a coke.  Growing up, I remember hearing Carly Simon's, You're So Vain, and thinking it was a rather scathing anti-tribute.  I even sang it in the mirror a few times to the junior high boy who broke my heart.  So, Taylor Swift didn't make this mold, but Lily Allen definitely broke it.  Simon's song doesn't even hold a candle to what Allen has created here.  West End Girl is a thorough walk through pain and loss: Allen's husband asking for an open marriage, lamentably in consenting, feeling that laying ground rules would help, and the utter implosion that followed after.  She doesn't hold back and it is achingly beautiful.  

Quite honestly, I wasn't a fan of Allen's either.  I only knew her as the woman who was with David Harbor after Alison Sudol (whom I am a fan of), and I used to love watching Architectural Digest, so had seen the tour of their home.  As the new season of Stranger Things is set to release (David Harbor plays Hopper in the show) I only looked into this album out of a shameful curiosity, like browsing through a People magazine.  What I found instead was something so raw, so viciously honest that I truly was moved by the work as a whole.  Even the accompanying videos portrayed a woman stuck in a slow-motion hell on repeat, and if you've ever experienced any sort of deep grief from the loss of a relationship to the death of a loved one, you know that's exactly how it feels as you struggle to cope. 

These amazing ladies are sharing their love and loss in such touching ways.  I recommend you at least give them a listen.  Their stories are worth hearing.