In a return after a 3-year hiatus from 2018’s Simulation Theory, Bellamy and co are back with dark and dominant passenger of Won’t Stand Down. Facing adversity with strength, it’s a call-to-arms against all the bullies in life and really sets the boundaries in the direction of where Muse are set to go with their ninth album – yet declared or confirmed as of yet. You can view it below:
Let me know your thoughts … !
Popularised with their splashy singles of Chevy Thunder and All the Sad Young Men from respective albums Enjoy it While it Lasts and Moth Boys, the London boys themselves return after a year hiatus with feelings of mutual melancholy.
Alas, despite this, with an album stripped back allowing personalities to shine, it sits uncomfortably in an array of song assortments, stuffed in the same bag all to find the cheapest – and easiest – method to the counter. The highlights come half hour into the album with No One Knows Better and D-Roy only bringing back reminiscence of the Spector we saw on their youthful debut. With this being the bands’ first live album, the ideas are certainly there creatively, but nothing holds true together as a full package with it coming across more as a jamming session than anything more meaningful.
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Whether or not it was simply for this reason or something just didn’t glue together after being offline for so many months, I think I’ll stick with Spector … driving confidently in the Chevy.
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Not the best thing to come out of 2022, but still a seemingly enjoyable straight-edged rock album nonetheless. With no striking elements to keep me coming back, I think this one will be shelved for now. Who knows, maybe the spruce needed is in a live setting? Here’s hoping.
You may have heard the news spreading regarding the fight for a more equitable music economy with a greater emphasis on the economy of music streaming to artists…
.. aaand another one has been added to the roster. A UK artist, who goes by the name of Kieran Hebden (artist alias of Four Tet) has instigated legal action against his record label, Domino Records for 20 years. Many contracts associated with music artists often precede streaming services and – more importantly, the power role they’ve come into the 21st Century.
According to Hebden’s 2001 contact agreements, Hebden is entitled to an 18% royalty rate from physical sales and a 50% cut from licensing income. However, the music streaming moguls of our Internet bonanza have become ambiguous and less considered to their artists whom they “provide” for and as such, has allowed record labels to apply the same 18% rate as their physical counterparts in sales. But, like many, artists simply don’t believe that physical sales and streaming are one and the same and should be placed in the licensing income bracket – worthy of a 50% cut.
While many other artists before Tet have brought forward the case of music moguls tearing the legalities of artistry independence – the likes of Ye and Taylor Swift to name a few – it may be the first discussion that brings it forward to a full public hearing, which is a huge development in changing the course of royalty revenue on streaming platforms.
As such, after Hebden’s litigation, Domino records have responded. The declaration of what he owes transpires to the albums that Domino own the rights to, which is another 50 years or so. With that in mind, the record label have simply removed three of his most popular albums from streaming services altogether thus giving him no royalties in streams .. and no leg to stand on. Their recent move has solidified what we already know about the monopoly of record label in our industry – callous and greedy.
But it has also widened the scope into the survival of the music industry and whether or we not we can simply do without these record labels with their outdated and out of touch legally-binding contracts: which do nothing but bind the artist to the industry devil.
Hopefully, we’ll hear more about this as news progresses into the Spring of 2022.
FIRST WEEK, PLENTY OF NEW 2022 MUSIC: From a change in era to another, there seems to be an apparent monsoon of new music in our midst this week, with the 7th of the day the first Friday into the new year.
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Emblazoned in the comfort of remote recording during the time of a pandemic, the album is more of a happy accident rather than that of a cultivated design. Still, the album is bold, abrasive and another synth-inducing powerhouse inciting that of our past tenures from 80s synth-pop and early 00’s dance electronica.
Despite the rapid change in electronica for Twin Atlantic since their underwhelming POWER turned the tide in 2020, this album steers a band in a more compulsive direction with fun one-timers One Man Party and Bang on the Gong simply being ordered to play loud.
It may be a stretch to conclude that the Twin Atlantic of 2011’s Free and 2021’s Transparency are the same band but alas, for a band faltering for new material in their past state of songwriting, any change is a good change. At least they’re evidently making music they love making.
Despite the album being somewhat safe and flat in some places however, the narrative is a feel-good setting with the lads just merely experimenting when forced into a studio during lockdown.
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… Sharing fulfilling stories on the absurdity to social media in parenthood, the album is an intriguing and exciting prospect for a new dawn eclipsing onto one of our favourite Glaswegians …
LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW! Any ideas coming to mind?
Here’s to 2022, folks! A new year in the making with opportunities, plans and goals galore. What are your long-term plans for this year? Whether it be for your blogging perspective or just general targets in your personal life – do let me know!
As January hits, we look forward to our summer getaways – our gig managements and festival planning, perhaps? Either way, do let me know your thoughts and perusals and we’ll explore them together. It’s perhaps a good idea to jot them down here too .. just to remind you!
Man v Music