I have been meaning to write this article for a really long time but I kept putting it off as generally, I do not like mixing music with politics. However, when I keep listening to the songs that I have selected, they really do remind me how much the artist is trying to say about the current state of affairs in the country they live in/the world as it is.
For this month’s favourite golden oldie, I have decided to celebrate Madonna’s recent residency at The London Palladium (for her Madame X tour), by revisiting her album Ray of Light, which surprisingly has been a recent discovery for me.
Ray of Light – Madonna
I have always loved the title track and Frozen from this album, but after hearing and loving Substitute of Love, Nothing Really Matters and The Power of Goodbye on Magic Chilled radio frequently, I decided to take the time to listen to the entire Ray of Light album and what a pleasant surprise it has been, as it truly is a fantastic, critically acclaimed album.
The season of romance is fast approaching us in the form of Valentine’s Day, and its safe to say that you can listen to all of the romantic happy and sad songs on this very day, regardless of your relationship status!
I am sharing some of my favourite romantic songs below. I have chosen all songs that feature in the happy genre of romantic music and I’d love to know if any of these are your favourites too!
Crazy for You – Madonna
Everyone loves a song from Madonna in the 80’s, and my top choice of her most romantic song from that era is the ballad Crazy for You. This song will definitely set the mood for you!
I couldn’t be happier for this week’s New Music Monday, as it features a song from an artist that I have had the pleasure of knowing via social media, for the last 9 years or so. The lady with the melodic and magical voice, Alexa Goddard is back with her brand new single Until You’re Gone.
I first discovered Alexa, around 2011 and I believe this was the time when lots of aspiring singers had taken to YouTube to share their talent and hopefully be recognised by it. I remember being in awe of Alexa’s voice and there is something about her vocals that will always remind me of iconic singer Mariah Carey.
The one thing I love about social media, is how it has the ability to connect you with artists from all over the world.
I recently decided to open a dedicated twitter account for my blog (follow at jemgirlatpiano) and the first artist to connect with me there is multi-platinum record producer/hit mix engineer BiG JooN. Below, he tells his story of how he creates his song mixes and why…” to “Below, he tells his story of how he engineers artists’ songs and why.
After releasing two brand new singles, the UK and Ireland’s most popular boyband Westlife have finally announced the name of their forthcoming album Spectrum which is also available for pre-order before it releases on 6th September.
The success of their singles Hello My Love and Better Man, has really proved to Westlife just how happy their fans are to see their return to the music scene after an 8 year break. Both songs even though vastly different in genre have proved their popularity in the charts and streaming.
After creating much hype around their next single, my favourite boyband Westlife, released Better Man on Friday of last week. This is their second single from their untitled album, and the song (like their last release) has also been written by Steve Mac and Ed Sheeran.
There was noticeably much more excitement from the boys for their second single, as they started releasing teasers of the audio and video mid-week. The video released at the end of the day on Friday, and shows the boys performing the song in the recording studio, with the storyline of the song being played out by actors, alongside their performance.
I recently had a brainwave and I realised that I should create a regular music diary, sharing and updating you all on my current music favourites. While I am very particular in my music tastes, and so I might not discover new songs every week or month, I will surely share my favourites as and when they appear.
I also tend to listen to a lot of classic hits and will sometimes rediscover some favourites from there, and these shall also feature in my music diary, as cannot include them all in my monthly favourites!
My current favourite playlists:
*Westlife (20 songs) since the reunion of my favourite boyband, I have been listening to this particular playlist on repeat, for almost a month now. It not only includes my favourite hits of theirs, but also their new release Hello My Love. I will be re-creating this playlist at my Spotify, and so will update this post with the link once it has been created. https://open.spotify.com/user/21vhzokwfphkwgve5gtzqo4da/playlist/5i47UAMYRFzDAUmYJY8RcG?si=_qq45xCxTymXZthYDug9Xg
After the amazing success of their comeback single Hello My Love, Westlife member Shane Filan tweeted a picture of the boys in a recording studio and subsequently revealed that their next single will be on its way very soon!
Video for Single 2 in the bag !!! Your gonna like this one 👌🏻🎶 Coming Soon ! #westlife @ Dublin, Ireland https://t.co/NGAse5aME9
It has been a long time since I uploaded my last piano solo, and I am very happy to upload my latest one which is the romantic and melodious love song Runaway by The Corrs.
Long time readers of Jem Girl at the Piano will know that The Corrs are one of my favourite bands (I have talked about some of their songs before, which you can read here) and I chose to learn Runaway from a properly published music book which I have had in my collection, for a very long time.
