THE RETURN OF THE GORILLAZ: 4 NEW SINGLES AND 1 HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM

After laying low from the public eye for a good 5 years, British duo and virtual band Gorillaz have finally placed their sunglasses back on, match in mouth, ready to re-light the flame.

It was clear that this was serious business when on March 23^rd, the band chose to name-drop and then release whopping four new songs from their new album Humanz, which is set to drop at the end of April. The songs were released first to radio and now to Spotify, which include Andromeda (ft Broccoli Rapper D.R.A.M), Saturnz Barz (ft Popcaan), Ascension (ft Vince Staples), and We Got The Power (ft Savages singer Jenny Beth).

Saturn Barz came with a short-animated film to spread the release, featuring the brainchild of Jamie Hewlett and our favourite band members 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel, along with some other truly chilling new characters that follow them around in a haunted house.

Including the phenomenal collaborators mentioned above in the release tracks, the album is said to also feature the vocals of other stars such as De La Soul, Mavis Staples, Grace Jones, Kilo Kish, Danny Brown, Carly Simon, and Pusha T, as well as of course the voice of the Gorillaz and the singer of Blur, Damon Albarn.

Humanz, the 14 track album, will be released to the public on the 28^th of April, so save the date, dare to listen to the 4 new tracks on Spotify, and prepare to feel good again.

*The following article was written for the blog SOUNDCHECK in April 2017

What Does "The Future" Even Mean?

"What do you want to do with your life?" Yep, it's the top of the list for questions you receive at family events. The one that you almost always reply with "I don't know" or come up with some bullshit answer that is not necessarily on the cards. It comes up constantly for adolescents through teachers, parents, career advisers, television, etc, but have you actually resonated with the question yet, or are you avoiding it for as long as possible?

I've always hated those presenting people that come in and make you think about yourself in relations to your future. As a young person, I can only guarantee two things for you: I don't know who I am, and I certainly don't know where I'm going. But now the more I think about it, I realise I should probably start thinking about it.

The future is defined as the time that follows after what is happening right now, and now, and now. I don't imply to get too deep into the laws of time and physics and all that nonsense, but basically it is physically impossible to avoid the future, just like it is impossible to avoid death, assignments, and that one clingy person you know, so rule number one: STOP ACTING LIKE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME. Yes, I am also a procrastinator, but like you I am also trying to fix that. I haven't written an article in a good 3 months yet here I am.

Think of your life as a timeline. You're the red dot just less than a quarter in, with probably not having conquered a lot of time on Earth yet. Imagine markings for everything you've accomplished to your left. With the stuff you accomplish on your left, you've opened up potential markings for the right side of the timeline such as jobs, friends, love interests, experience (or even closed a few, such as bad relationships). Think of the things you would like to achieve, and start doing small things now to lead up to that. I'm not saying you have to be a prodigy, just take baby steps until you feel like you are independent in that field.

Stop thinking of it as "What do you want to be in the future?" and start thinking of it as "What do you want to do now?"

Australia's Goodlife Festival Review

There's Splendour, Falls, the fallen Soundwave and Future, but unknown to most people Australia also has another younger, more outgoing gem: The annual Goodlife Under 18s Festival. Goodlife Fest is a kick into the new year for high school students between the age of 13-17, with a week long tour across every state of Australia. It almost makes it fair considering how many Australian tours miss states.
As a young gun myself, I had the pleasure (and luck of getting tickets) to attend the Brisbane show last Friday night, and, lets just say, it's the closest I'll get to feeling high for another few years.

By midday you'll catch students running out of class to their lockers, grabbing their friends hands, and they're gone, with the epidemic sweeping through schools and stealing more students than even a scorcher or a flood. The teachers grumble and any pupil left behind wishes they could sneak in the boot of a mates car. That was the effect I saw.
It was clear when reaching the venue, being the Royal Brisbane Showgrounds or Ekka showgrounds, as the place was swarmed with short shorts, Stussy shirts, and tie dye as far back as two blocks, but the real eye grabber was the queue line to get in, but it was abrupt and totally worth the 45 minute wait as ears were hit with a wave of bass and eyes stunned by LEDs.
The beginning of the night was far more relaxed with most people getting settled, or easing into the mood, as well as the feeling of being pressed against individuals on all sides.
The effort gone in to moulding the venue was very impressive, as everything was easy to locate, even more so with the countless maps and even a Goodlife app. Lockers were onsite that could be purchased online along with tickets, which served as a real hand for me and my mates, even though they took a few minutes to work out. The night went on with no sign of the raving stopping, with acts pilling up from the 4 stages being the Main stage, Lucky Arena, Foam Pit, and House Party. Tyde gave us some modern bangers, and Dj Horizon specialised in hip hop throwbacks, Deorro did a spin on a Gorillaz favourite, Joel Fletchers set up was almost seizure triggering it was that full out, and lets not forget A$AP's madness telling a crowd member to "Stop throwing shit" and going overtime by a song, which no one was mad about.
It was a night of crazy shenanigans, everyone shoulder to shoulder, and if you looked at the person beside you for a brief second, they'd smile back through the jumping. Strangers kissed and randoms threw some mad dance moves (The Superman, anyone?). I even witnessed some couples slow dancing through DVBBS. How does one slow dance to edm music????
For a first year at Goodlife, I was far from stumped, and anyone under the age of 17 who attended that one night will agree with me.

INTRODUCTION TO SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Greetings Earth dwellers to what will grow into a truly rocking blog (hopefully).

My name is Emma and I’m a local Australian who has an undying love for music, and writing. I’m a drummer and xylophone player of 5 years and am now giving Piano a shot, although I have also had short-lived affairs with many other instruments. 

Creating online content has been in my mind for a few years now, but I put it off for a long while, as I am the sort of kid with too much innovation and not enough willpower to follow it up, or I think that I can hold it off until I am graduated, but that’s not how people get successful, so I’m starting NOW.

This blog will be dedicated to Music and pop culture that surrounds the industry. I have no intentions of sticking with a certain type of genre and will be open with all aspects of music.

Enjoy, and stay cool :) 

PS. I nicked the blog title from the 1983 Talking Heads album.