And I went away, now there's every sign that I'm wired again.

Look at you with slimmer lines
Dirty toes un-showered
Unholy sight the state of you
And every sign that you’re wired again

So I stopped writing.

I don't know why, maybe lack of time SLASH confidence in my ability to write about something I didn't do a degree in? I'm not sure, but as I sat drinking tea this morning and listening to The Maccabees new album with my eyes closed (Yeh, I can drink tea with my eyes closed) I knew I had to do what I used to do until last September.... Sit and listen to an album over and over then pick out my favourite lyrics and sounds and write about them on here. And then post it all over Facebook and get laughed/criticised by the people I really should have unfriended about 5 years ago! :)

Ok so here goes, The Maccabees third album.. It is always a slight worry with a third album isn't it?You question whether a band/artist has had enough time/continued with the same vibe as last time/pushed the boundaries and tried something new. Will it be a success/will it not/will I like it/please let me like it. So if I give you an example of the good the bad and the oh shit why moments, then you can work out for yourself  without me having to be nasty and critical.

Example 1.

The Strokes gave us "This is it", Blur gave us "Parklife" AND Arctic Monkeys gave us.............. "Humbug". (Sigh........ Enough said? I think so.)

As a HUGE and probably over biased fan of The Maccabees, you can probably guess I didn't have a Humbug moment when I eagerly typed the tracklist of their new album "Given to the Wild" into youtube, staring, dare I say, slightly sycophantically at the screen as I long for the next time I get to see them on stage. They have that power though don't you think? The power of turning a rainy train ride to work into a feeling like you're going to Disneyland! No, erm, not Disneyland, I meant some dead cool bar where you go to smoke and read poetry, yeh... that's what I meant. 

Anyway its an exciting time, this new album like the last seems to be pushing those "wall of arms" boundaries they talk of in the last album even further away. If I think back to 2005, me being 16 at the time, they have come a long long way from what could sort of be described as a quite channelled and controlled time of the Indie-pop era. Then they were all bright colours and lyrics of love, now they're all about ferocious guitars and unruly drumming that creates passionate melodies and quite heart-wrenching lyrics.

So why such a long time between albums? Well from what I have read they have spent a lot of time in Rockfield Studios (Wales), worldly known to be home to some of the greatest songs ever written. From Rush in the 70's, Adam and the ants, The Stranglers and The Undertones in the 80's and New Order and Delphic through the 90's and 2000's. The Maccabees can now safely join the successors of such great music with their latest album. I would comment that it has been such a long time because of their obsession with detail and and exploration of what sounds rewarding to them. 

"It's a long process, it can get pretty clinical, so it takes a long time to make not very much music". Felix then continues,"This time around it feels like we're ready to go out and play live again. We've got a record we feel deserves it"

Well, I completely agree.

And so forth with my ramblings I won't say anything more and will post some teasing songs that should get you as excited for the release date of January 24th as I am. Enjoy!

FiftysAtHeart. x

Ps. Message me on Facebook (Grace Easter) with any new music, always appreciated. Over the next week I'll be writing about The Jezabels, Oliver Tank, Willis Earl Beal, M83, Grimes and Azealia Banks. Oh and maybe Lana Del Ray, haven't made my mind up on her yet! :)

"Feel to Follow"

"Pelican"

"Child"

Be my distraction

Shyness, let it go, never have to be alone. Yeh, shyness.

Thieves like us are a Swedish-American band yet they call Paris their home. They met over banana sandwiches, a few packets of Seabrook crisps and some Sunny D..... Well, that's not exactly what I read but an interview said they met over a picnic; and that sounds like a cracking picnic basket to me doesn't it you? No? OK I'll eat on my own! 

Now if you've read my blogs posts before you'll know I like a bit of New Order, well a lot of New Order! So when I saw this band name I immediately thought they had got their band name from a single they released way back in '84. The band said it had a little relevance to their name but from what I've read of their outlook on music, they aren't one for taking from others, they create their own sound and take individual taste as an interpretation rather than an opinion. They claim their first album was all over the place, moving from Berlin to London to New York. The chaos of their nomadic lifestyle can be seen to be reflected in their music and in their music videos at that. Restless bodies equalled a restless beat, something you might these days take as less "Restless" and more "electronic" and quite tragically hip! The latest album, Again and Again, is completely different. First of all they say they actually remember recording ALL the songs, so more structure, more vision and stability. The band claim "Again and Again" was the album they wanted to make all along.

Days they go slow

The nights they go fast

It's only some time 

'Til we get together

The method is clear

So, the music. Electronic, disco, quite a french sound? If that makes sense. I just think that it is beautifully noticeable that they have all brought their own culture and background to the band. And I love it. I don't mind a couple of brothers from Manchester getting together and creating a few classic anthems too, but I lust after sounds like this. Lock me in a room with people that can make something good out of drums and a keyboard and I'll sit there with my banana sandwiches and sunny d in my element!

Hold on a second, I've just read that they were discovered by the amazing Kitsune! I should know this, working at Urban Outfitters where you have Kitsune albums and Soulwax music imprinted on our minds after an 8 hour shift!

"Shyness" - A beautifully relaxed and mellow sound. I listened to the lyrics over and over and took the song as saying that even though you might not be able to talk about your feelings, your heart might be beating about it loud enough for someone to hear. The lyrics "Shyness, let it go, never have to be alone" sound wicked alongside the restless beat of the song. Oh and PLEASE watch the video I've posted below with the song. The kids are ridiculously cool and, like a mini movie, you get a real feel for the meaning of the song!

"Drugs in my body" - There isn't much more than I can say than, WOW. It's like their quite pessimistic view on love and romance has been turned on its head by an electronic beat that makes their pessimism sound upbeat. Tres Bien my little thieves!

So there isn't much more to say than listen and enjoy! :) xx

Gabriel you've gone too far.

It was quite awake in night and I can hear my heart beat 

Hopes it cradles me and rocks my bones to sleep

Joe Goddard - Gabriel

With a soothing and quite gospel start to this song you feel sucked into the silence, its as if her soft voice and the steady drums is getting you ready for the ever so current house beat that is to follow. The haunting vocal refrain that we begin with slowly unravels into this smooth main vocal and bass line that gives of that sort of energy that when you hear it you feel like its latched onto your chest and given your lungs a ton of oxygen. The sort of feeling I think every person living in Britain needs with our rainy summers and dreary Monday mornings. Not only is a wicked bass line a necessity to be blasting through your earphones for a little Wednesdaymorninghalfwaytheretotheweekend moments. But its a necessity on a night out, especially for those awkward people like myself that aren't cool enough to body pop, do back flips or break dance on a Saturday night out!

So who is the genius creator of such a song? His name is Joe Goddard, sounds familiar doesn't it? Yes well he's a bear. As in one of The 2 Bears. No don't worry he's not going anywhere, he's just branching off a little and Gabriel is just a taster of what is to become of Joe Goddard. 

If you like eery, he does eery. Tracks like "Gabriel" and "All I Know" make sure you are all set for being an eery/odd/moody barsteward for the day! Want something thats a little more back to the basics? Then "Jump" gives you a completely old school and retro house beat with just enough vocals to bring you back from the verge of being "Well into house n that" and wearing those ever so lovely tank tops, sunglasses inside and pouting so much for pictures that that is now just how you look. Nightmare much?! I used to be slightly scared of being into house but not anymore, with producers like these guys giving you remixes of Metronomy and Lykki Li I really don't mind.
So all I can say is listen and enjoy. I'm keeping a very close I on Joe Goddard and his music... AND his beard. Yeh that's right! x

Eye to eye. Thigh to thigh. I Let Go.

You're my river running high

Run Deep, Run Wild

Oh Lykke Li......... yeh, you have always been amongst my girl crushes with that style, that voice, that........ face?

I definitely felt THE URGE to listen to her music again as a remix of one of her songs is getting played  loads at the moment and I love singing to it. Always a nice opportunity to voice my own beautiful singing voice y'know... it sounds something like a strained, keen and northern Kate Nash. Sounds ridiculous, you say. Yeh it is. And it can only ever be heard quietly as I'm going all OCD and anal on clothes tidying at work n that AND/OR as I fall in from a night out singing some Rihanna or Beyonce. Always gotta sing the single girl diva songs to keep up the spirits as you find yourself coming home alone with no fit guy to prop you up. You know what I'm talking about!!! WINNING? Not so much.

For you I keep my legs apart

And forget about my tainted heart

Anyway Likkkky Liee. Your music is as fit as you are. So I best give a few brief notes on your past/present and future. This young swedish singer-songwriter started playing for our eager ears from 2007, but some of her best work came onto our screens and radio boxes in 2009. Her individuality, quirky  lyrics and confidence stood out amongst the crowd of electronic and indie pop aspiring artists. With friends like Robyn and collaborations with Santagold and Kanye West its seems she was onto a winner from the start. Thank God!

I think I'm a little bit, a little bit

A little bit in love with you

But only if you're 

A little bit, a little bit, little bit

In Lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me

With this artist it's really hard to sit and pick out favourites songs as (as soppy as it sounds) most of her songs either having very relatable lyrics or just an amazing vibe to the song that can pull you out of the feeling sorry for yourself because you drank too much last night zone in a second! With remixes by Magician/Black Kids & AutoErotique Bootleg and many others; you can't help but enjoy the songs you got your emotions involved with that little bit more. So I'm not going to go with favourites, but I'll paste some links to just a few that will get you in the mood for what this stunner of an artist is about if you didn't already know of her!

So this is the thing...

And the things that keep us apart, keep me alive

The things that keep me alive, keep me alone.

This is the thing...

L.O.V.E.???

Something I am completely confused about at the moment. Did I just fall in love with the beautiful boy that held the door for me out of the pub saying "Pretty girls first" or am I in complete L.U.S.T for a perfect gentlemen who looked like he'd fallen right out of the pages of Amainglyhotbandboymagazine and into Nation of Shopkeepers on a Wednesday night? It's a toughy! Trying this single girl milarky is quite the task I tell you, especially when the L word is sat across from me on the last train home snogging eachothers faces off, holding eachothers hand as they walk past me in the street and shouting "I LOVE YOU TOO BABE" within half a metre of my face! Okay so that last bit didn't happen but it might as well do to complete the (shall we say bitterness? no, sounds horrible! we'll go with...) "My ever so romantic heart"..................

So what would be so fitting with this feeling of having to do a massive gulp when you hear the L word being thrown about? Well, I have two options for today........... one of those "Good Feel" songs OR one that forces you to be reminiscent? I'm going for the latter, it's been a while since I have let emotions get the better of me!

Fink are who I would like to have a little talk about today of the Folk/Blues/Dub genre. A beautifully elegant sound, very relaxing to listen to yet the lyrics are subtly stimulating of your thoughts. They got me thinking about deeper things and made me a reflect a little more..... Fink say they "sing about relationships and love and emotions; but also sing about other stuff: embracing fear, Berlin dawns and looking forward". I read this quote after I listened to as much of their music as I could... and could agree with all of what they had said.

The songs I have listed below are just a couple of ones I would call my current favourites, over time it might change but for now I'll choose these. The first song "This is the thing" is once I think anyone can relate to; knowing someone wasn't very good for you but you were in love so you stuck it out. I have only had that feeling once I must say, a few years back now but it's still good to look back and realise how far you have come! :)

Thanks for reading! 

Graciegrace xx

The world is lazy, but you & me, we're just crazy.

Ever since I was a little girl, 

My Momma told me always there'd be boys like you.

So when I'm with you I have fun.

Yeh when I'm with you I have fun.

A good friend sat across from me the other day, seeing the disheartened and slightly reminiscent look on her face as she drank her tea... I told her that this little bit of upset she was going through is just when the sat nav goes wrong on your way to following fate to a perfect little destination of happiness that waits at the end. Her response was. "You have cheered me up you crazy little f**k. Sat Nav to happiness? Idiot". As explained before, my mind is elsewhere most of the time yes, but come on... how nice would that be? Little sat nav, with  maybe Paul McCartney as the voice over. Giving you little updates as to how long it is til you find love? I would love it, screw you she who shall not be named in the post!

The lyrics above are from a song called "When I'm with You" by Best Coast. Two lovely and by the looks of it very musically educated of the romantic sort of music gave me a nice little list of bands and songs I needed to listen to. Best Coast were one of them, and I am loving not only their album "Crazy for You" but just their relaxed Surf Rock sound that make them such an easy and enjoyable listen. The singer/songwriter Bethany Cosentino is first of all beautiful, had to be said. But a very talented young lady and musicians Bobb Bruno and Ali Koehle bring this American Surf Pop/Indie Rock band to the forefront of my iPod and to the top of my scribbled list of "Albums to Buy". Which really should be transferred from a scratty bus ticket to a notepad, or a book, or a binder....coloured coded and labelled! Ooo I do love a bit of stationary madness!

"Goodbye"

I lost my job, I miss my Mom, I wish my cat could talk

Every time you leave this house, everything falls apart.

If you're a girl and feeling completely wiped out over an Ex this is a perfect little song for you, the lyrics and the constant quite monotone beat should have been played all those times I climbed into bed at 3 in the afternoon in a self pitying and lost mood. And the words at the end of the song that repeat, "Goodbyes are Goodbyes" are a perfect way to end a very honest song.

"When I'm with you"

Love it, lyrics ring true in my ears. Just the right level of upbeat without losing the fuzzy lo-fi tone.

"Boyfriend"

I wish he was my boyfriend

I'd love him to the very end

But instead he is just my friend

I wonder if he knows I want him

"When the Sun Don't Shine"

"Crazy For You"

And even though you are my guy, I always freak when I get high

I'm always crazy when I miss you, I'm always lazy when I miss you.

Again the lyrics are brilliant and I could listen to this song over and over for days. 

I won't go on, great album, great band. Possible new favourite that I wish I had come across a long time ago!

FiftysAtHeart

Sounds so soulful don't you agree?

Jay is chillin’, ‘Ye is chillin’
What more can I say? We killin’ ‘em

Fingers drumming on the table, feet tapping, heavy sighing... after months of sitting impatiently waiting for it to come, it has arrived. The second Watch the Throne song collaboration between Kanye West and Jay Z is here. Now i'll be honest, as always, their first release H.A.M I wasn't keen on... I just wasn't feeling it, a bit aggressive, no melody and no format whatsoever - from what I heard anyway. Sorry if I missed something?! So I was pretty happy to hear it was moved back as a bonus track on the album. On a much lighter more supportive note, I absolutely love their new track, beautifully named "Otis".

This track "shows off" - if you like- everything we love about Kanye and Jay Z. As they opt for no chorus, just verses. We hold onto every beat and every lyric that rolls of their tongues so casually. I feel like this is a song made for the fans that have followed them over the years rather than for Radio One to play 15 times a day, giving little chavs the opportunity to steal its identity - sing the chorus with all their friends and add some "MASSSIVVVEE BASSSEEE" too maaattteee. Yeh, you heard me Cher Lloyd! These boys use the word "Swagger" properly in "I guess I got my swagger back"...... "Not Swagger Jaaaaggerr!" 

They aint see me cause I pulled up in my other Benz

Last week I was in my other other Benz

"Sounds so soulful don't you agree?"; Jay could not have put it better as Otis opens the song up so romantically with a voice that feels so familiar, I felt a quick tug on the heart strings as I remember Otis was one of my late grandma and grandads favourite singers. "Squeeze her, don't tease her. Never leave her" Oooo Otis you do speak some words of wisdom... BOYS: Are you listening?!?!?!

Verse after verse their poetry blasts into my headphones, no breaks, no chorus to be a part of, you will listen intently to the words to get a jist of what their saying but I promise you that the moment you start to understand the song is over and ends with a huge thud of a note. This song makes me feel excited, a tiny bit depressed that I'm not in America rubbing shoulders with this sort of talent, but over everything makes me want to drag out every CD I have made by Jay and Kanye, wear a huge t-shirt and dance around my room being as hip and as hop as I can be! Haha... I know what you're thinking... But Grace you are the blackest white girl I know! Ohhh you guyysssss, you flatter me.

So what's my suggestions? Listen to their album "Watch the Throne", listen to the track "Otis" and two other songs "Thunder " and "Beautiful Girls" I have posted underneath from the album too. Thunder is a wicked introduction and mix of beats that I loved straight away, the boys aren't in it... but it really has a feel of Kanye's short film in it - sort of movie type and the like... while still holding onto a heavier Jay Z feel. Ooo I do talk some shit! Just listen for me ey? Cheers.

FiftysAtHeart xx