This New Song. ♫ [Music Blog]

You don’t have to be a fan of American Idol to know that this is quality music. I’m posting this for those of you who don’t know of Phillip Phillips just yet. Though I no longer watch the seasons religiously, I have kept up with some episodes here and there, and I truly knew the second that I heard this golden guy sing that he was destined for stardom.

For those of you who don’t know him or his music, I am honored to introduce you to Phillip Phillips. His soothing vocals will soon be soaring via radio waves across the world. Before that happens, though, have a listen to the original song Home and soak it up like a sponge. His voice may resemble those of Mumford & Sons and Dave Matthews but he still has a sound that is completely his own. It’s completely Phillip Phillips. I get the chills every time I hear this song or when I see him break down during the finale performance post-win-announcement. Hope you adore this song as much as I do.

Side Note: I’ll be away until Friday. Since I won’t have my computer until I return, I will resume posting next weekend. Have a great week, and don’t forget to follow my new blog!!! I’ll post some writing on there during the week. :) Ciao for nao.

Hold on to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m going to make this place your home

I finally put two and two together and now fully recognize that male Alternative artists really get to me/are ma main jam-a-lam. Most of my all-time favorite musicians fall under that category of both Alternative splendor and masculinity; i.e. Civil Twilight, MuteMath, Trevor Hall, Greg Laswell, Ry Cuming, etcetera etcetera! It doesn’t surprise me then that I cannot get enough of Headlights by Morning Parade. It’s everything I like about Alternative music and then some. Can’t wait for a summer filled with amazing  tunes on repeat such as this.

P.S. If you like this as much as I do, DO download their song Marble Attic as well. Now. Don’t delay! :)

…before I continue to awkwardly/accidentally reblog and write about things on my music blog. ;-)

FOLLOW ME FOLLOW ME FOLLOW ME WOO

I always get so excited when musicians send me messages about new songs or albums. I was especially excited when Dillon Hutyra of Grey Sky Symphony shot me a message about an album that he just released; with his comparison of his voice to those of Indie phenoms Ben Gibbard & Darwin Deez, how could I resist giving it a listen? I was incredibly pleased with what I heard, and the last time brass instrumentals made me this happy was when I had Goldfinger’s Superman on repeat. Dillon released his first album, Cloud Factory, about a month ago. You can check our more of Dillon’s music HERE, or follow his TUMBLR.

Today’s jam is You’re My Favorite Color by Grey Sky Symphony

To include writing and photographs. Stay tuned!

Eat, Sleep, Listen to Danny, Dakota, & The Wishing Well by A Silent Film, Repeat.

Blown away by this track, by this musician, and by what inspired her to create this auditory art.

“‘Unashamed Desire’ is Missy’s first new release in over five years. It follows her private decision to quit music despite selling over a million copies of her first two albums, ‘The Sound of White’ and ‘On A Clear Night’, loads of critical acclaim, multiple ARIA Awards and gold certification in the U.S. for her song “Where I Stood”. The story of the journey that brought her back to music forms the backbone of her new album ‘The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle’ which will land on June 1.”

Unashamed Desire by Missy Higgins

Empty all my pockets and take what you like
Empty all my pockets if you like
I’ve got nothing to hide 
Empty all my pockets and take what you like
Empty all my pockets if you like
I’ve got nothing to hide 

My unashamed desire
is an open fire
Unashamed desire

Open up my chest and take what you like
Open up my chest if you like
I’ve got nothing to hide 
Cut open my heart and turn on the light
Cut open my heartache if you like
I’ve got nothing to hide

My unashamed desire
is an open fire
Unashamed desire 
And I’m not afraid to love
Not afraid to love
Unashamed desire 

We get one sweet moment in the arms of youth
I don’t wanna waste time holding down the truth
I’ve got everything to win and only pain to lose
This is my
Unashamed desire
Unashamed desire
Unashamed desire
Unashamed desire
And I’m not afraid to love
Not afraid to love
Unashamed desire…

Bah! Everything is in hyperdrive and I’m trying to take in the remaining magic that is my freshman year of college. I’ll resuming posting mid-week! xoxox

Finally seeing/hearing him perform live made me an incredibly happy girl.

Drunk by Ed Sheeran

I wanna be drunk when I wake up
On the right side of the wrong bed
And every excuse I made up
Tell you the truth I hate
What didn’t kill me
It never made me stronger at all.
Love will scar your make-up lip sticks to me
So now I’ll maybe leave back there
I’m sat here wishing I was sober
I know I’ll never hold you like I used to.

But our house gets cold when you cut the heating
Without you to hold I’ll be freezing
Can’t rely on my heart to beat it
‘Cause you take part of it every evening
Take words out of my mouth just from breathing
Replace with phrases like when you’re leaving me.

Should I, should I?
Maybe I’ll get drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
To feel a little love

I wanna hold your heart in both hands
I’ll watch it fizzle at the bottom of a Coke can
And I’ve got no plans for the weekend
So shall we speak then
Keep it between friends
Though I know you’ll never love me like you used to.

There maybe other people like us
You see the flicker of the clip when they light up
Flames just create us, burns don’t heal like before
You don’t hold me anymore.

On cold days cold plays out like the band’s name
I know I can’t heal things with a hand shake
You know I can’t change as I began saying
You cut me wide open like landscape
Open bottles of beer but never champagne
We’ll applaud you with the sound that my hands make.

Should I, should I?
Maybe I’ll get drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
To feel a little love.

All by myself
I’m here again
All by myself
You know I’ll never change
All by myself
All by myself
I’m just drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
I’ll be drunk again
To feel a little love.

In my opinion, their new album Holy Weather doesn’t quite compare to their debut album of 2010. In fact, I’m a bit disappointed by it, since that first album left its mark way back when, setting a high standard and leading me to proudly categorize the band as one of my favorites. Fire Escape by Civil Twilight is still a pretty spiffy song, though.

The most frequently played song on my iTunes of the past 2 weeks comes from a dapper gentleman my age who happened to rather spontaneously request to follow my Twitter account (hence my discovery of his talented self). I checked out his music soon after and became extremely magnetized to one song in particular…Capable Love (by Austin Nivarel).

Check out Austin’s Twitter here and follow the yellow brick road links in his bio to listen to & download his fabbity-fab music. I love coming across fantastic artists and songs in the most random of ways. That’s what makes song-seeking a magical, endless adventure that yields such unexpected and treasurable finds.

P.S. Too remarkable of a week for me to handle. Saw one of my favorite musicians perform yesterday followed by a full set from one of my favorite bands, and then I volunteered today for an important political event where I met some phenomenal leaders in my field of interest and later shook the hand of one of the most current & prominent female political figures. Holy guacamole. In the fine words of Borat, GREAT SUCCESS.

I’m very happy to be back on here. It is time. I needed my space. I needed the personal, spiritual, and even physical growth that college life has brought me before I could offer more music and more musings to this blog. 

Shrinking The Sphere by Sunfold

I have nothing to show for
all my wasted years spent
circling round the center,
never drawing nearer than
the space between myself and the looking sphere.
How will I ever know if you’re here?

Time has made me an owner.
I’ve got a lot to lose.
When I see all my things
I get thoroughly amused and I
remember the many times I’ve seen through fear.
Oh but I haven’t yet shrunk the sphere.

Tell me where you go
when I see you fading out.
Where is it you hide?
Is it somewhere inside
where the curvature is too strong
for me to stand?
Too strong for me to stand outside and wonder.

This song, this week, and this life. Too damn good. :)

• Question: Hello, Jillian. I love it when blogs aim for the "new song a day" thing. It's probably my favorite blog format. Anyway, my name is Daniel, I'm in an indie/garage band called the Atolls. We release our second EP tomorrow and I was curious if you'd go to our tumblr, click the link to our bandcamp, and give our music a listen. If you enjoy Get Popular, featuring one of our songs on This New Song would be incredible! If you're into "indie" stuff, I think you'll enjoy it. Thanks so much for your time - the-atolls
• Answer:

  Daniel, I gotta say…You and your band are quite epic! I dig this EP. Each of the songs are really different from one another. I’m not that great with specific music terminology since I’m not a music maker like your lovely self, but I really like how you guys blend grungy garage sound with professional rock flair. :-) 

  For whoever wants some good music at no charge, ch-ch-check 1 2 1 2: http://theatolls.bandcamp.com/

  I’m excited to download the whole EP tomorrow! Thanks oodles for sharing, Daniel, and thanks for the kind words.

This is essentially everything I like about music wrapped into a song. I’ve been sharing it like a fiend ever since coming across it earlier yesterday, so it’s only fitting that it now infiltrates your eardrums and leaves you feeling happy (or post-Easter…hoppy? ….too much?). I could picture the first 17 seconds of the song being featured in one of those rare & profound commercials that actually have you feeling golden by the end of it, and I can certainly picture all 3 minutes and 58 seconds playing at a loud volume in my car once I’m back home for the summer and able to cruise around with the windows down. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, though! There’s still a month of my freshman year left at the university of my dreams, and I plan to fully enjoy every second that remains.

It’s Time by Imagine Dragons

It’s time to begin, isn’t it?

This is LIVE.

This is LOVELY.

It’s that time of year when summery rap songs begin to tickle my fancy. This always happens for me in April. As tempted as I feel right now to post a melancholy Celine Dion song after just seeing Titanic in 3D, I know that Up Up & Away (The Wake & Bake Song) by KiD CuDi is far more uplifting (potential pun?). I’ve been thinking way too much over the past week or so and need to mellow out and kick back quite a bit, and listening to fine beats such as this is a definite first step.