Sometimes I remember that Yebba exists and I forget how to act. Then I remember that there are people out in there in the world who never knew Yebba to begin with and I’m extremely upset and sad about that instead.
I feel like it should be a cardinal sin to be unaware of this woman’s existence on Earth, and that’s a hill I will happily die on.
It’s hard to accurately articulate just how much I love Yebba, and just how incredible this woman is. It’s also stupidly hard to fathom how underrated she is and how little credit she gets for doing the things she does.
It’s like that woman has vocal chords made of pure gold.
There’s one song of her’s, that I think I’ve been returning to on YouTub, minimum six or seven times a month, for the last two years. Two years this video has been ingrained in my brain. Don’t even get me started on the fact that I even bothered to attempt singing this song only in the last three months for fear of even trying to touch Yebba’s performance.
Another disaster; this song isn’t on Spotify or Apple Music. You should sure know how much that means to me. Lil old me, who holds Spotify to a somewhat religious standard, has been heading to YouTube voluntarily, just to listen to this song.
I don’t know if there’s a single time yet where I’ve watched this performance, without crying. Try it out for yourself.
There is something so guttural and raw about this song, I can’t fathom how so much emotion can be conveyed the way Yebba does. Everything about this performance is so authentic and rare, and I constantly find myself holding my breath for a large majority of the song.
You can’t help but be in awe of this woman. I mean, come on.
I hope you’re all well and thriving! Today’s post is gonna be a little review of the latest single released by long time You Should Hear favourite, Audrey Mika, Just Friends.
I remember when Audrey was a lil YouTube singer, posting covers, singing into a plastic pink microphone, and now she’s one of the Vevo’s Ones To Watch, she’s been on tour, she’s collabed with KYLE, SAYGRACE and Tate McRae, and she’s killing it overall.
Audrey’s always had an incredible voice. It’s like velvet and she always hits the right spot. So it was a given that the song was gonna be good. But boys and girls, I didn’t anticipate it to be this good.
She’s kinda on the save wave as Dua Lipa’s recent music on this track, so if you’re getting around that I can guarantee you’ll love this single. There’s so much bounce and energy in this song, something that sometimes I feel could be added to her other music, but this single is definitely earning itself a top spot on the list of favourites for me.
I love how spacey and synth-heavy this track is, plus the chorus is a major ear-worm – you’ll have it stuck in your head for ages, I promise. Also, the vocals in this song go next level. She goes off, especially in that sweet spot, the end of the bridge, going into the last hook. I got so excited hearing it, and it just tied everything together perfectly.
I think I vibe with Audrey so much because of how wholesome and raw she’s stayed since her YouTube career has developed into a career that’s been backed and supported by a record label like RCA. She’s stayed humble and authentic, she’s still got one of her best friends as part of her team and she’s constantly interacting with her fans. I reckon that’s why hearing genuinely incredible music come out from her makes you more inclined to enjoy it and support her. That, and the music slaps.
I discovered the South London singer earlier this year on YouTube, while watching videos shared on the popular music channel, COLORS.
Have a watch for yourself.
Surely I don’t need to say this, but any fan of Amy Winehouse will find themselves a fan of Joy Crookes, because I sure as heck did. Not only is she stunning, I mean, how slick can one gal look, but her voice is ridiculous. It’s like the audible sound of honey. And remember that guitar sound I’m ever so fond of? Catch my dude in the back delivering the goods.
As is the ever-obvious next move, I headed over to Joy’s Spotify. Good move. Joy released an EP in July this year, Influence, and it’s another package of tunes. As well as a studio version of the song in the video above, Mother May I Sleep With Danger?, finessed with a really nice jazz kit, the EP has four other songs, all of which are equally as tasty.
Mother May I Sleep With Danger? is a great song, it’s definitely up there, but we all know I’m partial to a good groove, and that comes in the form of the second track on the record, Bad Feeling. The groove in that song is so deep, and the lyrical flow is so catchy to listen to because she takes it to places you don’t expect straight away.
New Manhattan is a really haunting ballad, major Lana Del Ray vibes, so I know a few of you are Lana fans, meaning you’d definitely enjoy this song. The lyrics are very realistic and critical, but incredibly beautiful. Joy’s able to paint a really poignant picture with New Manhattan, and while it doesn’t have the same type of uplifting, upbeat groove of Bad Feeling, it makes you feeling something else it a different way.
Influence is definitely an EP you need to listen to a couple of times to truly appreciate it. Through the process of writing up this blog post, editing it, proofreading, quickly making that header and taking a break to have lunch in between it all, I listened to the EP completely through, two and a half times. And it was only during the second listening that I started really listening to it, paying attention to the smart lyrics, the groove behind every single line, how good the percussion pockets are and how seamlessly Joy’s combined that old-time classic ballad feel with a very current sound.
Make sure you check out Joy Crookes. Since really have a listen to some of her music, I’ve added most of the songs on the Influence EP to my personal playlists, and shared some of the songs with my friends. Another power woman making big moves. Can’t wait for more from Joy Crookes. Let me know if you listened to any of her songs in the comments below, I’d love to know what you think!!
Today’s post, is yet another post that consists of ya girl basically plugging all my favourite live covers and musicians.
If you’ve been here for a little while or read some of my recent posts, you’d have picked up that the hit radio station Triple J, is one of my favourite radio stations, and go-to’s for good music and live acts. A ton of the artists I recommend come up through the Triple J through rotation on the station or through winning one of their many competitions and playing some of the Triple J run festivals.
One of the much loved aspects of the Triple J universe, is the popular Like A Version sessions, where they bring incredible artists into the studio, and they put their own unique spin on some well known songs that they perform live as covers, some of which are then released on Spotify and YouTube.
There have been quite a few of these covers that end up circulating all over YouTube and Facebook and I do have a list of some of my favourites. There’s a lot of them.
So.
Here they are.
Like I said, there are a few, and this is after I cut the original list down, twice. Hopefully you found some time to get through some if not all of the videos above, I’d love to hear which ones you enjoyed!Let me know in the comments!
Hello and welcome to a blog post I probably should have written a while ago.
Last year I wrote a post that was an attempt to share the singer Christian French, but ended up as me promoting one of my favourite YouTubers who I discovered him through, Justin Escalona. Still a blog post that I really love, but I don’t think I gave Christian the attention I initially set out to give.
So here we are.
Christian is a 20 year old singer/songwriter from Indianapolis in the USA. He’s friends with Justin Escalona, a young film-maker and YouTuber, which is how I discovered Christian, considering how often he appears in Justin’s daily vlogs.
I remember showing my friends his song love ride, as we drove up to my best friend’s family beach house in the summer, and explaining how it was made in 24 hours, but overall driving home the point that the song is a flipping bop, and Christian’s voice is amazing. The guitar in the song is also one of my favourite parts, and I 100% stand my ability to name the song within seconds, purely based off that riff.
It’s the perfect mix of a smooth, smooth vocal that has this raspy quality to it that kinda sounds like he woke up an hour before getting in the recording studio, but I’m not mad about it.
Since releasing love ride, he’s released another three songs this year; Drifter, superstars and sweet home. sweet home only came out quite recently this year. I don’t mind any of them at all, but what they have in common is that they’re all atmospheric as heck. Christian’s lyrics, as well as the production of his songs have this quality to them that allows you to picture where you are while listening to his songs, perfectly.
By Myself has definitely been used in one of Justin’s DAILY DOCS before, and while there isn’t a song I love as much as love ride, By Myself definitely comes close. His first song Fall For You, has over a million streams on Spotify, and his songs are constantly popping up on YouTube channels that share great music.
Personally, I’ve added quite a few of Christian’s songs to my driving playlist, and I feel like that entire vibe and feeling encompasses his music perfectly. There’s a special place in my heart for music that makes driving feel ten times better, which you already know, especially when there’s a prominent bass line. You can tell Christian’s music and production really values a decent bass line, it’s borderline dangerous how good the bottom end of his songs are.
But that said, like I mentioned before, Christian’s voice is what initially drew in my attention, when he started singing in the Daily Docs, and it’s what ties all his music together into this one cohesive storyline in my head. His songs kinda flow into one another perfectly, thanks to that bass I mentioned before, which I appreciate, and his voice.
It’s been close to a year since I discovered Christian, and now he’s touring with with Chelsea Cutler, who’s another incredible artist (listen to Water On The Bridge and try not to cry) and he’s currently killing it on tour. He’s hoping he makes his way down under sometime in the new future…
If you haven’t already since clicking on this post, maybe give Christian French a listen. Treat yourself.
This post is proudly brought to you by a comment left by the lovely Mia (high-key make sure you check out my girls blog, she’s all I inspire to when I grow up despite the fact that I’m older), who made me aware of a song released by the YouTube, SimplyNessa15.
My friends. It’s a whole, entire bop.
I was super duper skeptical when Mia suggested the song to me. I wasn’t sure, because for as long as I can remember, there hasn’t been a song released by a YouTuber that I genuinely liked. They’ve all been really overdone, overly mixed and auto-tuned and most of the time, it’s easy to figure out that they’ve only really released a song in the first place, because they have the following to ensure it’s somewhat successful with their fan base.
That said, I don’t watch Vanessa’s YouTube videos. Sure, I know who she is, and sometimes her video pops up on my ‘recommended’ bar, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a video of hers in my life.
Meditate, is a great song. What I would commonly describe as an absolute tune.
If you’re into RnB and hip hop, and honestly, incredibly smooth female vocals, check out this song. Since listening to it after Mia’s recommendation, I’ve added it to at least three of my playlists, and showed quite a few friends.
Oh, and the break down 2 minutes in?? Insanity.
It’s become a bit of a favourite effect of mine, layering pitch shifted vocals to create a really deep, heavy second lead beneath the original, I’ve tried it a couple of times and it always adds the extra ‘oomf’ to a song, regardless of whether it’s just one line or the whole song.
Vanessa pulls it off perfectly, and hearing that break down towards the end of the song made my jaw drop and ensued the obsession with the song.
That too, the music doesn’t suffer in order to make her sound good. In my experience with YouTuber’s releasing their own music regardless of the fact that they aren’t singers in the slightest, it always comes off a tiny bit cheesy, because the music has to be sacrificed a bit in order for the vocals to sound good. It’s so harsh, and I feel a tiny (tiny) bit mean saying it, but it’s what I’ve come to expect.
The era of Troye Sivan releasing bomb as hell music while simultaneously keeping his YouTube channel alive has obviously come to a steady downhill close, but I am all for Vanessa to take that spot as of now.
Definitely give Meditate a listen. I’m so glad I did.
This is me, back from the dead, after dying. Losing my life. I swear to God.
Why?
I went to update one of my recent posts, my Week In My Life, and for some reason, the entire post was a bit slow to load, while I reposted the blog post again – major key, cheers Mia – and when I updated the time that I posted it, I realised that the entire post was just gone. Checked my phone, gone. Closed and refreshed the page, gone.
Thank God, for the little ‘History’ button up the top, or else I’d have lost a week long writing and editing endeavour that does not deserve that type of treatment.
But on to today’s post.
I apologise if you’re bored of reading this man’s name, but here I am again, with a blog post about me just plugging my love/adoration/awe/respect/undying love for Long Island singer/songwriter/producer/rapper Jon Bellion. This will in fact be the second post about Jon.
Strap yourselves in.
Surely that video is introduction enough.
And yes. I did watch this video on YouTube when I was getting the link for it and then again before I continued writing.
I first heard a Jon Bellion song when I was 15 years old. In the last post I did on Jon, I mentioned that Guillotine was the first song I ever heard by him, but that was a lie. Apologies.
The first song I ever heard was Ooh, featuring Christianne Jensen (his sister!!!), from his 2014 album, The Definition. And in all honestly, I wasn’t hooked straight off the first bar.
But.
One of my favourite things about Jon’s music is the ever-changing and growing nature of it. It feels like it’s this constant rollercoaster and unless you’re already well accustomed to his style or his catalogue, you can’t predict where he’s going to take you. Halfway through the song, you can be assured that he’s probably going to take to somewhere completely unexpected.
That was what made me stick around for the rest of the song, his switch ups were so unpredictable.
That and the insane drum pockets he manages to find in all his songs, whether he’s beat boxing them into the microphone himself or loading samples into a drum machine so he play out the rhythm and the groove just the way he wants them.
Like Jon, I’m obsessed with finding intricate grooves and pockets for drum rhythms within songs. While I’m still trying to work on it in regards to my own music, watching Jon physically play all the beats on his drum machine, or record his vocals, whether he’s yelling, beat boxing or moving around the room to really create a huge sonic space, then turning them into bite sized samples that he pieces together to form the framework for the rest of the song to flow through, is mind boggling.
His entire production style and way of thinking is just so inspiring and innovative. Things like trumpet lines that he chooses to play through an AKAI for Luxury, or using his voice and editing it as a substitution for a lead guitar in Superman, The Gift and The Curse.
Guillotine was the next song I listened to, and it’s the one that made me cry, and scream and literally jump and want to rip my hair out and I know. It sounds like I’m exaggerating, but it 100% is no exaggeration.
The other day, my dad and I ended up having to go into the city around the same time, so we caught the train in together, he to work and I to university. He’s become accustomed to hearing me sing Jon’s songs around the house often, and that morning’s car drive to the station had been me explaining my absolute love the man and his music, and how if I ever somehow got to meet him, my body would quite possible shut down. Which then went on to him kinda, but not completely, getting a grasp of how influential this man and his music was on my life, and then me pulling up ‘The Making of Guillotine’ on YouTube as we stood on the train, and forcing him to watch it.
We only got halfway through, but that same day when my dad came home from work in the evening, he came and sat down next to me on the couch, and asked to finish the rest of it. Which turned into me showing him nearly every single ‘The Making Of’ video, as well as live performances and interviews and acoustic versions. Long story short, I’m pretty sure if Jon Bellion comes to Australia, my dad’s coming with me to the concert.
The thing that I love the most about Jon, is that his music stands the test of time. One of the biggest lessons I’ve ever, ever learnt, is to try not to make ‘time sensitive’ or ‘time relevant’ music, because eventually, it becomes irrelevant, and people aren’t likely to listen to it. It drastically decreases the shelf life of a song, if you base the entirety of it’s production or lyrical content around a current trend that’s more than likely to die off in a year or two. It’s better to make a song you’re proud of that’s just genuinely a good tune than to try and make a song based and defined by current trends.
You could hear the same song of his two or three years apart and still feel it in you blood as it gives you goosebumps.
One of the biggest factors that allows me to solidify Jon Bellion asone of my idols, is the fact that when I first discovered him, I was only 15 and he blew my mind. Then I discovered his ‘The Making Of’ videos on YouTube when I was 17, and he blew my mind. I fully understood the depth of his genius, ingenuity, talent and passion at 19, soon to be 20, and he still blew my mind. I genuinely find myself with his songs running through my head all through the day, from morning until the night and even then, I have them in my head while I’m in bed and I’m positive I probably sing them in my sleep too.
The fact that the same songs, regardless of how many more amazing new songs he puts out, still manage to drop my jaw to the floor and have me shooketh, is a testament to how they’re purely incredible songs, and they stand alone in how great they are, regardless of the trending genre or popular production styles at the current moment.
Of the many things I’ve already listed that have added to this obsession, another is his lyrics. If not the beats, then the lyrics definitely make my jaw drop at least once in each song. There are so many clever double-meanings, insinuations, rhymes that shouldn’t rhyme, things that he says that you would just never expect to hear in a song for some reason, and he makes it all sound so incredible.
He somehow manages to reference Jim Morrison and The Doors, Abbey Road, Blueprint, Michael Jordan, Kanye, The Notorious B.I.G (Christopher Wallace), Bob Marley, Chris Zarou and Will Smith in his song Jim Morrison, a song that has become a staple during car drives with my dad.
Honestly just think about the chorus in The Monster by Eminem featuring Rihanna and hear the gears turn in your head when you realise that holy shit, Jon Bellion wrote that too. Along with a whole tirade of songs that he produced and wrote for other artists.
His voice is so versatile and strong, going from singing like an angel in Human to rapping like a god in New York Soul – Pt. ii, and then doing both in Halloween. He is insane.
He’s a huge inspiration for me. I could only think of a few other artists who I see at the same level as Jon Bellion, personally. The way he writes, the way he produces, the words he chooses to share and the stories he tells either have me laughing, smiling, screaming along or crying. Without failure. He doesn’t lie in his music, and he isn’t afraid of calling himself out, or speaking about things that others may not try and touch, lyrically.
To make it even better, last year, on my birthday, the song Obsessionwith Vice and Kyle, and it was like…Jon. @ me next time please. Happy Birthday to me.
I rarely make artist specific playlists. The only two I have, are my lads playlist which is definitely on private, and definitely dedicated to One Direction for moments when I need a fix, and my jon bellionplaylist. Make sure you check it out. I say that a lot, but I mean it a lot more this time.
Below, is a list of some of my favourite Jon Bellion songs. We all know the love I have for Guillotine, but there are heaps of songs that hit me in the soul the way that one does too, and his previous three albums are a treasure trove of incredible, blood pumping music.
(note how I’ve linked every single song because of how serious I am about this music)
(also appreciate the immense effort it’s taken not to keep coming back to this post and adding more songs to this list every other hour)
Omg EDIT; you definitely need to hear some of his acoustic versions. Linked for your convenience and to ensure you don’t have an excuse not to hear this magic.
Run. Wild. Acoustic. Version.
Magic to your ears, bless your souls, feed your children, feed your children’s children, all you need.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post. Articulating my thoughts, about artists as inspiring and as talented as Jon can be challenging for me to do so without sounding like I’m babbling, but hopefully the message got across! I know it’s a but of an overkill linking you guys five videos and hoping you watch them all, but honestly, Jon Bellion can’t be summed up into words. We’re four weeks into the university semester and I’ve definitely already managed to somehow work him into my latest assignment.
As of this moment, I’ve scheduled this post, and then come back to add more and more to it a minimum of six times.
Oh well, off to wait patiently for my Jon Bellion merch to arrive :)) My birthday’s today and I was hoping it’d be here by now, but we can wait…
EDIT: I have quite possibly started a cult. Story time. I was at another rehearsal, and my drummer suddenly piped up going, “Hey have you guys heard this song, Guillotine?” Yes my dude. So then my guitarist goes, “Where did you hear it?” and we learn that my guitarist’s girlfriend, and my friend, showed it to my drummer. So then my guitarist goes, “Hey, she heard it from me!” which obviously causes me to grin at him, and go “And where did you hear it from?” knowing full well I showed him at work, so now the Jon love is spreading and it’s only a matter of time before I form a club. Message me for membership info.
The title’s weird and a little bit alarming, just roll with it, it’ll make it a whole lot easier on all of us if you do.
Basically. If you know anything about me and my life outside of this blog, you would know that I am a musician. It’s one of the many slashes in my ever-changing title, and I’m working hard to make it legit.
“How?” you ask, well by somewhat attempting to make music, make better music, and make music that people actually enjoy, and it’s taking it’s own sweet time in happening, but I’m having heaps of fun while we get there.
One of the things I’ve been doing to better my limited production knowledge, explore my style a bit more, expand on what I know and what I don’t, is research. Since ordering one of my most wanted items on my wish list a few weeks back, the AKAI MPK Mini midi keyboard, I’ve been looking into how other people are using it, the way it works, how to load sounds up, and ultimately that usually leads me down the YouTube music and production rabbit hole.
One of my favourite things to do, is watch how producers make their songs. There are some amazing producers who work with some of my favourite artists, and channels like Rolling Stone and Genius on YouTube have heaps of videos that show the thought processes and construction of some of the most popular songs at the moment.
However.
My favourite of these videos, are the ones where the artist and the producers, are one. For example.
I couldn’t keep track of how many times I smiled during that video from sheer awe of the genius and intuition and innovation in the man. I’ve never listened to anything by Charlie Puth and not enjoyed it, but it’s very clear that a lot of his recent music is vastly different from his older music. Attention was the song that really made me say, ‘Hell yeah, I’m a Charlie Puth fan‘. AND. Voice memos. My life. It’s great seeing people’s eyes widen when they see the amount of voice memos I have on my iPhone, purely for the same reasons as Charlie, I can’t read or write music, so if I forget a melody or a harmony or anything, I’m screwed.
I also definitely made my dad stop his actual business work so I could explain how impressed I was with the simple idea of how he set up the guitar in the introduction, similar to a way I’ve seen Jon Bellion ‘record’ trumpets, but we shall get to that man in a bit.
It’s just the whole process is full of ideas and small bursts of genius that make so many things outside of what was supposedly the realm of realistic expectations of a musician who can’t read or write music, possible.
Sorry for my tangent.
And then you watch this, with Mura Masa.
My favourite part is is explanation of the steel pans and how they come to be such an integral part of the song. Also, his explanation of all the vocals that he cuts up and pitches up and down, it’s super duper inspiring and interesting to watch. I got so many shivers watching that video in particular.
Like I said though, Jon Bellion, for me, is in a whole different world. The musicality, the vocabulary, the voice, the way his entire body jolts and shifts when he hits upon something good. When he talks about the lyrics it’s literally as if he’s doing a spoken word performance.
I may not mention it as often as you would assume I probably should, but Guillotine, will forever be one of my favourite songs. Ever.
There’s also the contrast between John, and the last two artists, Charlie and Mura Masa, in how he’s very intent on bringing the live music element into it, rather than recording and producing solely electronically, and there’s nothing wrong with either, but I love how videos like these can highlight the versatility and potential in both. He’s also so appreciative of everyone who jumps in to help him, and you can see how excited he gets when they bounce their ideas back and forth.
I don’t know if it’s too much to share that I cried at the end of this video when they pieced it all together…
For today’s post I’m gonna be sharing an artist who I believe you all need in your life. I haven’t done an artist spotlight in a hot minute, and as much as I’ve been enjoying sharing some different posts with you, I’m super keen to share this artist.
If you’re not familiar with @paigesspace on Instagram, you’re about to be.
I discovered her through one of my favourite singers/people, through whom all is good in the world, Billie Eilish, who came across the New Zealand singer’s account and promptly became obsessed with Paige, which subsequently turned to her spamming her Instagram account story with videos of Paige’s numerous covers and original songs she has posted on her Instagram account, which is linked above.
As soon as I saw the first video, or more so, heard her voice, I jumped right over onto Paige’s account, and began my investigations. I was not disappointed.
We all know how much I love Done For Me by Kehlani and Charlie Puth, but I didn’t think I could ever love a cover version, an incredibly original cover version, this much. It’s perfect.
So since Billie Eilish bestowed her gift upon the world and my Instagram account, I’ve been eagerly awaiting new covers and videos from Paige, whether that be on her Instagram, or her YouTube channel, which is equally as generous.
Which made the news of her single release, So Far, all the more exciting, considering all the newly gained, and greatly deserved fans she has welcomed to the family following Billie’s promotion.
So Far came out a couple days ago, and let me tell you. If you’re a fan of Billie Eilish, Kehlani, any good music, you have to listen to it.
I’ve been listening to it on repeat this entire morning, especially while I write this, and it’s yet to get old.
Paige’s voice is probably one of the smoothest voice I’ve ever heard on social media. We all know how much I love to Alice Kristiansen (@alicelk) and I’m 100% that Paige is on the same level, I definitely put those two on the same shelf.
So Far reminds me a lot of two of Kehlani’s acoustic releases, Honey and Again, both of which are beautiful songs. Speaking of, there’s also this cover up on her Instagram to really drive my point home…
Paige’s voice is so smooth and mellow, but you can hear how clear and strong it is at the same time. I won’t talk about the guitar because you should just feel my love for it it in your own heart the second you hear that tone. The harmonies at the end nearly made me fling my laptop across the room when I heard them, this girl has me falling in love with no-one to fall in love with.
Definitely check Paige out. She truly tugs on the heart strings, and I don’t have a heart to tug on, so you know she’s doing something right.
I’d love to know what you guys think of Paige, I’ll probably continue to obsess over her voice and her music until she releases and another album or something.
I actually haven’t sat down and blogged, yuck I low-key hate saying that but I love it at the same time, in a hot minute, just because of how far ahead my scheduling ‘game has been. Again, ew, excuse that, I’m never saying that again.
So I thought while I have a day or two off uni (more like I have one class and I refuse to travel an hour either way into the city for a single one hour class that I definitely nearly fall asleep in anyway) I’d write up some posts for you guys. I also have an essay that I could very well start writing too, but priorities. Am I right?
Side-note; I’m also three coffees into my day, so you’ll be receiving the full affect of that in this post.
Tonight’s post is gonna be dedicated to sharing the literal ray of sunshine that is Alice Kristiansen. If you don’t know who Alice Kristiansen is, please pay attention. That was slightly aggressive but I’m passionate about this chic and the music she’s putting out into the world so I don’t regret it and I won’t be taking it back.
I first discovered her on YouTube. Kind of the unexpected avenue for Alice, considering how much her Instagram has been popping off lately, I mean, Shawn Mendes is surely trying to hit her up or something because it seems as if he’s liking her pictures and videos mere seconds after she uploads them.
Besides the point.
I discovered her through YouTube, thanks to, once again, Daniel Caesar. I swear, that man leads to all things good. I was listening to an acoustic guitar cover of his song Blessed and lo and behold, there on the side bar is a video of Alice covering the same song. I don’t know what made me feel inclined to check it out because as much as I attribute some of my greatest finds to YouTube recommendations, I don’t click on them all that often, but for some reason I did. Thank god.
I can’t accurately describe the honey that is embedded within her voice, specifically in that video, so to avoid embarrassing myself, the only rational thing to do is to share the video below. You’re welcome. Enjoy.
Let’s talk.
The vibes. The vibes are unreal and I can’t fathom how beyond incredible this video feels, let alone sounds.
Not only that, but how effortless is it? This song is not an easy song to sing. Trust me. I won’t attempt to prove to you how hard it is to sing, but it’s not easy and she just…does it. Like that. Kinda rude, but bless her.
Not sure how, but you can literally feel the emotion in her voice. It’s probably down to how little is going on in the video, but it’s still so much more emotional that 90% of YouTube covers I’ve ever watched. The amount of chill, combined with the filter, combined with her voice which is out of this world, get me emotional as heck.
Also, can we talk about how annoyingly symmetrical her face is? People who look this good shouldn’t be this talented, please take one and move along. Cheers.
But yeah. That video kinda had me obsessed with Alice Kristiansen for weeks on end, until I followed her on Instagram and discovered the treasure trove of short covers, aesthetic as heck pictures and videos of a gal I just wanna be, to be quite frank with you.
Did I mention Shawn Mendes earlier? Yeah? Well I don’t know but if something’s going on there, I’m calling it now, because after several people brought it to her attention that the dude was liking all her Instagram vids (I’m also sure that no-one needs it brought to their attention when Shawn Mendes likes their video but there were a lot of comments so Idontknow, don’t hold me accountable for my words please), only a few short days later, she posts this on YouTube.
Tell me you can’t watch this video, without turning into a literal sunflower. You can’t, and if you can, you’re lying.
The Lord is good, and if you search Alice Kristiansen on Spotify, you’re blessed with her artist page, which features not only more covers, but originals as well. Currently, my absolute favourite song is In The DarkIn The Dark and let me tell you, it’s a vibe. Not what I expected from Alice at all, especially because what I knew prior to that discovery was all that I had seen on her Instagram and YouTube, but I am loving it. The acoustic versions that are there also show the insane versatility of her voice. Have a listen.
Let me know if you listen to anything that I’ve linked or done any of your own searching for Alice, because it’s definitely worth your time. I’d love to know what you think!
YOU SHOULD HEAR 