A Great Big World: Is There
Anybody Out There?
If I had to sum up this album in
three words I would pick positive, bright and cheerful. I (slightly
embarrassingly) had never come across or heard of ‘A Great Big World (Editor
Note – Until I shared the musical joy). However, this is definitely a duo to
keep your eye on in the future. The talented double act come in the form of two
music business students, Chad Vaccarino and Ian Axel who have put their heads
together to create a high-spirited and exuberant album, full of upbeat and
optimistic melodies paired with strong beats, power chords and a great
understanding of rhythm. The album starts with the overall positive and buoyant
‘Rockstar.’ Based on the want to make it big, the song is a fusion of simple piano
merged with a fuller arrangement of drums and guitar with strong chords that
will get even the most downbeat listener unable to resist tapping their feet to
the rhythm. The lyrics, chant of hope and optimism, however the guitar riffs
stop the song from screaming ‘cheesy.’
We then move onto the ultimate
pop song, ‘Land of Opportunity.’ To me this screamed a mix of Alphabeat and
Pan!c at the Disco, which surprisingly doesn’t make a bad mix. It is quirky and
whimsical, with a brass band making a surprising but overall enjoyable
appearance during the middle 8 of the song. The lyrics include ‘I’m changing my
name to a word that’s really hard to say,’ and ‘it’s no-ones fault I’m just too young, and you’re insane.’ Once again I could not stop my foot from tapping. My
only problem with the song was the addition of a number of people cheering in
the background, which was distinctly aggravating to listen to. (However this is
only a minute annoyance.) The song is joyful and has a childish touch, which
made it only lovelier to listen to. The song ends with a brash banging of
percussion moving swiftly onto a soulful and beautiful ending on the piano.
Perfect! ‘I really want it’ the next song on the album, I think, is the
ultimate showing of the bands determination to make it into the difficult and
unsteady music industry. The power chords and rising scales of the piano only
reiterate the songs ultimate base of ‘I’m not giving in,’ and ‘let’s do this.’
One thing to say of ‘A Great Big World,’ is the singing is beautifully clear
and articulate; you cannot help but hear every single word perfectly, which is
a big compliment.
The song ‘Say Something,’ is a
beautiful pairing of piano soft lyrics with sheer power and emotion. It’s
currently doing the rounds on the charts and no wonder. The song is strong,
with deep and meaningful lyrics such as ‘anywhere I would have followed you,
say something, I’m giving up on you.’
The lyrics beg us to say something, to stop the other from giving in. It
is so telling of rocky or difficult relationships and situations, and I feel
any listener that has had a difficult time in a relationship or has been in a
tough time in their life could definitely relate and feel the sheer emotional
tug of the song. The soft strings playing long rising notes only add to the
serenity of the track and pull the listener in. The song really tells a story,
which is what the reader ultimately wants to hear. I must admit that the song
really pulled on my heartstrings with powerful chords and a sense of
desperation and is definitely worth a couple of listens. I must admit it is a
sudden change from the prior songs that sing of positive feelings; however it
is a lovely welcome contrast that is almost needed to show that the twosome can
do something soulful and meaningful.
My least favourite song on the
album was unfortunately, ‘You’ll be okay.’ By this point in the album I wanted
something gritty and powerful much like ‘Say Something.’ However, I was hit
with a nauseatingly loud and almost tacky song. Unfortunately, even the rocking
guitar riffs could not help me to like this song. For me, it was so pop-fuelled
and the lyrics appears shallow, dependant on the repetition of ‘you’ll be okay.
For me this was a rare miss. Unfortunate. This could not be said for ‘Everyone
is Gay.’ This was extremely memorable, with brilliantly catchy lyrics. The song
has a theatrical quality, and could have been placed in a musical such as
‘Avenue Q.’ I really enjoyed this and thought that the song really looked at
the current political situation in a down-to-earth but important way that
seemed extremely understood by the band. Lyrics include, ‘one step closer to
breaking down the walls,’ and ‘if you’re straight well that’s great you can
help pro-create and make gay little babies for the whole human race.’ The song
is strong with well-placed piano stop chords, which only help to pack a punch
helping to brighten and exemplify the lyrics from the song.
The next few songs go back to
the similar up beat and funk feeling; ‘there is an answer,’ is another
stereotypical pop-tune with funky off beats, and the familiar piano chords.
Once again it sings of hope and joy. By this point I was a little tired of the
stereotypical optimism of the band however I found myself singing along to it
later; this band have stuck in my mind and that can only be a good thing. Next
was ‘I Don’t wanna Love Someboy Else’ and I loved this track and it sounds a
little like the band ‘The Plain White-t’s.’ The melody paired with the soft
guitar riffs moving up and down the scale are beautiful and well played with a
real understanding of arrangement. One of the things that I have loved about
this album is the incredible sense of balance between, voice, piano, guitars
and my favourite, the string section. It is paired so brilliantly that you
cannot help but be moved by the swelling melodies and the perfect harmonies.
This song was grittier than the rest of album and was extremely emotional; I
LOVED it. The rest of the songs are (much like any album) a little wishy-washy,
they mix between the genres of the rest of the album and for me none were stand
out songs however they are easy listens and do not affect this great album. The
final song, a repeat of ‘say something,’ ft Christina Aguilera is beautiful and
really adds to the song! It is a brilliant way to end the album and make the
song even more stunning. Overall I loved this album and think it will be one
that I am listening to more in the future. It is definitely a pick-me-up album.
But if you tire easily of optimism and like something a little grittier this
might be a little ‘too much’ for you!
Rating 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment