ReviewsByR

A place for positive reviews on music and artists! I also do features such as #NewMusicFriday Favourites and #LyricOfTheDay. Follow me on Twitter: @ReviewsByR

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Friday Favourites (16th December 22)

It’s been a while everyone!

Here are my Friday Favourites this week!

‘Spiderwebs’ by Alfie Jukes

I have really enjoyed listening to this song, Alfie has a great voice and I love the chord changes! I espeically like the bridge in this song. Looking forward to hearing more from him!    Listen Here

‘Human, Dying’ by Niall Summerton

The guitar in this song is beautiful. So are the vocals! And the bass. Listening late at night while everywhere else is quiet for the first time while writing this. Again, another artist to listen out for! Listen Here

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Long time, no review! How is everyone?! Any New Music or Unsigned Artists I should know about?

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The BRIT Awards 2018 Winner Predictions

It’s that time of year again! The BRIT Awards 2018 nominees were announced a while ago and just like the previous two years, I am going to predict the winners! The show is set to be amazing with artists like Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and Stormzy all performing on the night and the show is being hosted by Jack Whitehall! Here are my predictions! All of the nominations will be linked to the songs on YouTube- so click on them if you want to have a listen! Here we go...

BRITISH ARTIST VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

Clean Bandit Ft Zara Larsson - 'Symphony'

Dua Lipa - 'New Rules' 

Ed Sheeran - 'Shape Of You'

Harry Styles - 'Sign Of The Times'

Liam Payne Ft Quavo - 'Strip That Down'

Little Mix - 'Touch'

ZAYN And Taylor Swift - 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker Soundtrack)'

Winner Prediction: My winner based on the video is 100% ‘New Rules’ by Dua Lipa. The video goes with the song brilliantly and I just think it’s a worthy winner. But judging by the leaderboard at this moment, I think Harry Styles will win with ‘Sign Of The Times’ - to be fair, who doesn’t want to look at that face?!

BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT

Nominees:

Dave

Dua Lipa

J Hus

Loyle Carner

Sampha

Winner Prediction: My winner prediction for this category has got to be Dua Lipa, it’s been an incredible year for her and I think she should win this! 

BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST

Nominees:

Ed Sheeran

Liam Gallagher

Loyle Carner

Rag'N'Bone Man

Stormzy

Winner Prediction: This one is between Ed Sheeran and Stormzy for me. It’s got to be Ed Sheeran though, right?

INTERNATIONAL GROUP

Nominees:

Arcade Fire

Foo Fighters

Haim

The Killers

LCD Soundsystem

Winner Prediction: Personally, I absolutely love The Killers and would love to see them win this award, but I think the Foo Fighters might have it.

INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST

Nominees:

Alicia Keys

Björk

Lorde

P!nk

Taylor Swift

Winner Prediction: Wow, what a tough choice... Are you ready for it? I think Taylor Swift will win!

INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST

Nominees:

Beck

Childish Gambino

DJ Khaled

Drake

Kendrick Lamar

Winner Prediction: It’s got to be Drake!

MASTERCARD BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Nominees:

Dua Lipa - 'Dua Lipa'

Ed Sheeran - '÷'

J Hus - 'Common Sense'

Rag'n'Bone Man - 'Human'

Stormzy - 'Gang Signs & Prayer'

Winner Prediction: Another very tough choice, I think Ed Sheeran should win this one because Divide is such a brilliant album.

BRITISH SINGLE

Nominees:

Calvin Harris Ft Pharrell Williams/ Katy Perry/Big Sean - 'Feels'

Clean Bandit Ft Zara Larsson - 'Symphony'

Dua Lipa - 'New Rules'

Ed Sheeran - 'Shape Of You'

J Hus - 'Did You See'

Jax Jones Ft Raye - 'You Don't Know Me'

Jonas Blue Ft William Singe - 'Mama'

Liam Payne Ft Quavo - 'Strip That Down'

Little Mix - 'Touch'

Rag'n'Bone Man - 'Human

Winner Prediction: This one is between ‘Shape Of You’, ‘New Rules’ and ‘Touch’. I believe that Dua Lipa could be leaving the BRITs with quite a few awards. It’s ‘New Rules’ for me! That song was (and still is) a massive hit.

BRITISH GROUP

Nominees:

Gorillaz

London Grammar

Royal Blood

Wolf Alice

The xx

Winner Prediction: I adore London Grammar and it would be fantastic if they won this award, but I think it will go to Gorillaz.

BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST

Nominees:

Dua Lipa

Jessie Ware

Kate Tempest

Laura Marling

Paloma Faith

Winner Prediction: All are fabulous artists, I particularly like Jessie Ware and Dua Lipa. Again, I think Dua Lipa will win this!

Thank you so much for reading, please let me know your predictions and/ or if you agree with mine or not! I can’t wait to watch the show and I will be doing a review of it!

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter: @ReviewsByR

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Friday Favourites (Week Six)

The sixth week of my new feature where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday Playlist on Spotify!

‘Place We Were Made’ by Maisie Peters I really like this song, I've been listening to Maisie for a while on YouTube where she uploads her original songs and I've always thought she had a great talent at songwriting. When I saw her name on the New Music Friday playlist I immediately listened and I wasn't disappointed! The song kind of gives me a 'Castle On The Hill' vibe, like reflecting on how your were brought up.  Listen here

‘Misunderstood’ by Youth Club This song has been stuck in my head all week. It's such a foot-tapper! It's really catchy and I really like the funky guitar and bass line. I especially like the break down bit where the lyrics are 'Our love just wasn't working'. The lyrics and vocals are amazing too and I love how the songs ends. Listen on Spotify here. This song has a great music video, check it out here:

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow on Twitter (ReviewsByR)

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Friday Favourites (Week Five)

The fifth week of my new feature where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday Playlist on Spotify! This week though, I only have one...

‘Sorry’ by Nothing But Thieves

I can’t get enough of this song. I absolutely love it. Definitely one of my favourite releases of 2017 so far. The vocals are incredible and I love the uncertain sounding guitar chords in the verses. When the bass and down-strokes of the guitar come in for the first chorus it’s a great build up to the drums in the second verse carrying on through the rest of the song. I really like the electro sound in the bridge and the high vocal notes... Just everything about this song. I cannot wait to hear the new album!

Listen on Spotify here

Check out the video here:

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow on Twitter (ReviewsByR)

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Friday Favourites (Week Four)

The fourth week of my new feature where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday Playlist on Spotify!

'Don't Tell Me' by Ruel I really like the vocals in this song. The bass and percussion in the chorus lifts the song and then goes back into the piano for the second verse, it's really cool! I like the bridge too. Listen here

'The Moments I'm Missing' by Nina Nesbitt & Goody Grace If I'm honest, I wasn't sure about the lyrics at the start of the song the first time I heard it, but hearing it again, it's really grown on me and I love that this song tells a story. It's very refreshing to hear. Her voice sounds great as well! Listen here

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Friday Favourites (Week Three)

The third week of my new feature where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday Playlist on Spotify!

‘Old Flame’ by Tom Speight This song greets you with a beautiful sounding acoustic guitar (as soon as I heard it, I knew I would like this song). The harmonics on the guitar are a really nice touch as well. The lyrics, vocals and vocal harmonies are amazing, I particularly like the line 'I don't know why I feel just like some old flame, like a crossed out name'. Listen here

‘Second Chance’ by Lucy Rose The combination of bass, piano and vocals in the beginning is great and when the drums come in, it gives a really cool vibe. I really like this song! Listen here

‘6/10′ by dodie I heard this song when dodie uploaded it on her YouTube channel a while ago and I liked it then, but I like it even more now with all the production and added goods. The lyrics are so good and I love the simple piano notes. Here is the original version from dodie's YouTube channel 'doddleoddle'

Listen to the new version on Spotify here

Thanks for reading!

Don’t forget to follow on Twitter (ReviewsByR)

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Friday Favourites (Week Two)

The second week of my new feature where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday Playlist on Spotify!

‘Call Me Over’ by Dusky Grey  I really like the beat in this song. Their voices really compliment each other and the chorus has a real dance-y vibe! The softer sounding bridge into the funky guitar towards the end is great too! Listen here

‘Such A Boy’ by Astrid S  I really like her voice! The opening lyrics in particular are brilliant and the synth in the chorus is really cool. I love the outro too- I didn't expect it to end like that! Listen here

‘Super Far’ by LANY  The lyrics are also great in this song. Although it's quite a sad song when you listen to the words, the beat it gives it a cool vibe, it makes you clap along and nod your head. I like this song a lot. Listen here

Thanks for reading!

Don’t forget to follow on Twitter (ReviewsByR)

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Friday Favourites (Week One)

This is a new feature I will be doing every week where I will be reviewing my favourite songs from the #NewMusicFriday playlist on Spotify!

Let’s get started!

‘I Can Get’ by THANKS I love the brass instruments in this song! The beat makes you want to get up and dance, the bass is so groovy. It's a real party tune and the vocals are powerful. Listen here

‘I'll Make It Up To You’ by Imagine Dragons The muted guitar notes make the build up to the chorus really nice. I really like the vocals too. The guitar solo towards the end it great as well! Listen here

‘Real Love' by Jagara This song sounds great at a high volume through headphones (not too loud to damage your hearing though, hey) but the panning is very nice as are the vocals. I really like that 'woo' sound in the intro and chorus (listen to the song to know what I mean). I will be listening out for more music from these guys! Listen here

'Man Of War' by Radiohead I love the chord sequence in this song, it's very uncertain and mysterious. The lyrics reflect that too. I don't recommend listening to this song at night if you're alone, but any other time, I think it's brilliant! Listen here

Thanks for reading!

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The Song of Summer 2017?

As you may or may not know, some of the biggest artists in the world have teamed up for a brand new song called ‘Feels’ and it is an absolute JAM! 

Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean and Katy Perry’s new song has caught my attention because it has such a summer vibe and I am sure it will be the song of summer 2017! 

The song was uploaded to Spotify last week (which already has over 12 MILLION plays!!) As well as an audio preview on Calvin Harris’ YouTube channel, listen here:

I am very much looking forward to seeing this be number one! (Yes, I am that confident that it will be!) And also to see the official music video!

Buy the song on iTunes here

Thanks for reading!

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The BRIT Awards 2017 Review

The BRIT Awards is my favourite music award show of the year! I always look forward to watching and seeing who won which award, here is my review!

The show started off with quite the entrance from Little Mix who performed their hit 'Shoutout To My Ex'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGvj0D42zjs

David Tennant kicked off the awards by announcing the winner of British Female Solo Artist was Emeli Sande! (My winner prediction for this award was Emeli Sande)

Bruno Mars was next to perform his song 'That's What I Like' and as usual put on an effortless routine, that guy is UNBELIEVEABLY COOL.

Maisie Williams and Romesh Ranganathan presented the next award to The 1975! (I was extremely happy about this! I predicted they would win too!) DON'T STAY IN YOUR LANE.

The late, great David Bowie won the award for British Male Solo Artist presented by Zane Lowe and accepted by Michael C. Hall (My winner prediction for this award was David Bowie)

A stunning performance of 'Hurts' by Emeli Sande was next!

Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw gave the next award to Rag 'N' Bone Man for Best British Breakthrough Act! (I correctly predicted he would win this award).

'The Sound' was performed by The 1975 next and it was brilliant! I absolutely love this band!

Then there was very touching tribute to all those we lost in 2016. It really was an awful year for loss to the industry. A special tribute to George Michael was given by Andrew Ridgeley, Pepsi and Shirlie, giving a brief history of the band and how his music will allow him to live on forever. Chris Martin then performed a rendition of George Michael's song 'A Different Corner'. RIP George Michael

The award for Best British Single, presented by Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton went to Little Mix for 'Shoutout To My Ex'! (As I predicted, I thought it would be between Little Mix and Zayn) It is their first BRIT award, and well deserved! Congratulations girls!

Katy Perry and Skip Marley did a performance of her brand new song 'Chained To The Rhythm'. I really loved the production of this song, (I aslo really like the music video for this song! Check it out here if you haven't already!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um7pMggPnug

Jonathan Ross and Naomi Campbell presented the Global Success Award to the fantastic Adele after the incredible success of her third album '25'.

Skepta was next to the stage to perform his song 'Shutdown' #AudioMuted.

The award for International Male Solo Artist, given by Radio 1 presenters Clara Amfo, Alice Levine and Laura Jackson went to Drake. (I thought Bruno would win this but am very happy for Drake!) And for the International Female Solo Artist, it was Beyonce. (My winner prediction was Beyonce) For International Group, it was A Tribe Called Quest. (I predicted Kings of Leon or Twenty One Pilots for this award and I was a bit shocked that one of them didn't win and I must admit, I've not heard of this band but I will be listening to them for sure!)

It was revealed that the collaboration we all didn't know we needed until it happened was between The Chainsmokers and Coldplay! What a team!! What a song!!

British Artist Video of the Year presented by Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger went to One Direction for 'History' and was accepted by Liam Payne on behalf of the rest of the boys.

Next up was the one and only Ed Sheeran doing what he does best, gracing us with another exquisite medley of his hit songs 'Castle On The Hill' and 'Shape Of You' with a twist which included a rap from Stormzy!

Time for the big award, Mastercard British Album of the Year presented by Noel Gallagher went to David Bowie for 'Blackstar' and was accepted by his son.

To end this year's BRIT awards, Robbie Williams put on a brilliant performance (as always - he is quite the entertainer isn't he?!)

Thank you for reading! Let me know your favourite performances and what you think about the winners!

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The BRIT Award 2017 Nominees & My Winner Predictions

BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST Nominees: Anohni, Ellie Goulding, Emeli Sandé, Lianne La Havas, Nao Winner Prediction: I think that Emeli Sande will win this award. 

BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST Nominees: Craig David, David Bowie, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka. Skepta Winner Prediction: David Bowie 100%

BRITISH GROUP Nominees: The 1975, Bastille, Biffy Clyro, Little Mix, Radiohead Winner Prediction: Very tough category... I hope The 1975 win this award, although I wouldn’t mind if any of these artists won this award. They are all very deserving.

BRITISH SINGLE Nominees: Alan Walker - 'Faded', Calum Scott - 'Dancing On My Own', Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna - 'This Is What You Came For', Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie - 'Rockabye', Coldplay - 'Hymn For The Weekend', James Arthur - 'Say You Won't Let Go', Jonas Blue feat. Dakota - 'Fast Car', Little Mix - 'Shout Out To My Ex', Tinie Tempah feat. Zara Larsson - 'Girls Like', Zayn - 'Pillowtalk' Winner Prediction: Again, another very tough category. In my opinion I don’t think that a cover should win, but saying that, all the songs are great. I think either ‘Pillowtalk’ by Zayn or ‘Shout Out To My Ex’ by Little Mix will win.

INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST Nominees: Beyoncé, Christine and the Queens, Rihanna, Sia, Solange Winner Prediction: It’s got to be Beyonce right?

INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST Nominees: Bon Iver, Bruno Mars, Drake, Leonard Cohen, The Weeknd Winner Prediction: I will be very surprised if Bruno Mars doesn’t win this. 

INTERNATIONAL GROUP Nominees: A Tribe Called Quest, Drake & Future, Kings of Leon, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Twenty One Pilots Winner Prediction: For me, it’s between Twenty One Pilots and Kings of Leon, but I think Kings of Leon will take it!

MASTERCARD BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR Nominees: The 1975 - i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, Davie Bowie - Blackstar, Kano - Made In The Manor, Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate, Skepta - Konnichiwa  Winner Prediction: Although I absolutely love The 1975′s album, I think David Bowie will win this award.

  BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT Nominees: Anne-Marie, Blossoms, Rag'N'Bone Man, Skepta, Stormzy Winner Prediction: He’s only Human after all, Rang’N’Bone Man for me!

BRITISH ARTIST VIDEO Nominees: Adele - 'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)', Calvin Harris Feat. Rihanna - 'This Is What You Came For', Clean Bandit Feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie - 'Rockabye', Coldplay - 'Hymn For The Weekend', James Arthur - 'Say You Won't Let Go', Little Mix Feat. Sean Paul - 'Hair', One Direction - 'History', Tinie Tempah Feat. Zara Larsson - 'Girls Like', Zayn - 'Pillowtalk' Winner Prediction: As this is a fan voted award, I think that One Direction or Zayn will win! (At this precise moment I am writing this, One Direction are currently in the lead, followed by Little Mix then Zayn!)

I am extremely excited to see performances from Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, The 1975, Little Mix, Robbie Williams, Emeli Sande, Katy Perry and Skepta!

I will be reviewing the show and all the winners! Make sure you tune in this Wednesday (22nd February 2017) to see what goes down!

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#1 ... 2 Songs You Need To Hear!

1. ‘Almost Famous’ by Noah Cyrus (Acoustic Performance)

I just heard this song for the first time today and I really like it. I think 2017 will be a good year for Noah Cyrus!

2. ‘Rooting For You’ by London Grammar

Exceptional vocals, looking forward to hearing more new music from London Grammar this year!

If you know of any new songs that you think I might like, I’d love to hear them! Please link me to them via Twitter: @ReviewsByR!

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Happy New Year 2017!

Hi everyone! Just a quick message to wish you all a very Happy New Year 2017! 

Apologies for not uploading many reviews last year, but I plan to get back into a regular uploading pattern this year! 

2016 was a fabulous year for music and I am sure that 2017 will be too so I hope you all stick around to read what I think about the latest releases!

Thank you for reading!

ReviewsByR

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‘On What You’re On’ by Busted

Busted are back with their first single off of their brand new (and greatly anticipated) 3rd album ‘Night Driver’ which is released on the 11th November 2016 (pre-order links below)! 

If you were a fan of them back in the day, you’ll remember the hits like ‘Year 3000′, ‘What I Go To School For’ and ‘Crashed The Wedding’ but their new sound is something completely different!

Upon hearing the song for the first time at midnight last night, I was pleasantly surprised and extremely excited to follow this song and see how big it gets. Because I think it’s brilliant!

Check out the video!

It’s got a rocking bass line and an incredible vibe! A proper foot-tapper! And I absolutely love the sax! I was not expecting that at all! I can see this song being huge! BUSTED ARE BACK!

“She’s got a wild heart, born to run, born to come and just save my soul. I never thought it was worth saving”

LINKS

Listen to ‘On What You’re On’ on Spotify here Check out the video for ‘On What You’re On’ on YouTube here Buy 'On What You’re On’ on iTunes here Pre Order ‘Night Driver’ on iTunes here Visit Busted’s website here

Check out my previous review here Check out my most recent album review here

Thank you for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram! http://www.twitter.com/ReviewsByR http://www.instagram.com/reviewsbyr And on Spotify: ReviewsByR

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2 Year Anniversary!

So, I started this review account two years ago today and I am still loving it! I would like to apologise for not posting many reviews recently, but I will be back to regularly posting ASAP! Thank you to everyone who follows me on here, Twitter: ‘ReviewsByR’ and Instagram: ‘ReviewsByR’! 

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‘Concrete’ by Tom Odell

I think the whole production of this song is incredible! I love the start of it with the tapping on the drums and then the clicks, it creates such a great vibe!

Also, the way the song builds up is fantastic, it keeps you listening because there's something new in each part of the song. Tom Odell's voice sounds very good in this song too (as always) giving such feeling.

If you haven't already, have a listen to this song, it's fantastic! The video is awesome too! It makes a real change to see artists being artists and performing in a music video sometimes, I love it! Check it out:

The track is from Tom Odell’s brilliant brand new album ‘Wrong Crowd’ which came out on 10th June 2016 (links below to listen to it/buy it!)

“I’d sleep on a bed that’s made of concrete, just the two of us and no sheet, just you feet rubbing up against mine”

LINKS

Listen to 'Concrete’ on Spotify here Check out the video for ‘Concrete’ on YouTube here Buy 'Concrete’ on iTunes here Listen to ‘Wrong Crowd’ on Spotify here Buy ‘Wrong Crowd’ on iTunes here Buy the DELUXE version of ‘Wrong Crowd’ here Visit Tom Odell’s website here

Check out my previous review here Check out my most recent album review here

Thank you for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram! http://www.twitter.com/ReviewsByR http://www.instagram.com/reviewsbyr And on Spotify: ReviewsByR