Brash and brazen English-quartet, YONAKA have returned with their second album release, Seize Your Power. With no attempts to slow down after their triumphant debut of Don’t Wait Till Tomorrow back in 2019, the rife punk-ists return with a vengence for heavy riffs and hard punches as Call Me A Saint and self-titled, Seize Your Power takes the band down a path of eclectic electronica, which ultimately shapeshifts into some of their most powerful songwriting they’ve done so far.
Aired with a mist of maturity within its run-through, Seize Your Power demonstrates the bands’ ability to bend their sounds to the current, but still keeping it fresh within their own sound.
Although not as boomy and nowhere near as rocket-fueled as their debut – and no where near the same running time – it still holds its head high however, with a sense of satisfaction of finally finishing. It may be a far cry from the frenzy mish-mash of Don’t Wait Till Tomorrow, but this does come with its own advantages … With the band beginning to gain traction through staying prominent, maintaining track records and creating euphoric music, it seems that they are starting to get it.
So, I finally managed to get around to tallying up the votes from my blog post about finding the best British artist (according to my amazing readers world-abound) – and you can have a look at the numbers below. Out of 50 comments received, these were the results!
<Also have a gander at my favourite bloggers’ playlist, which denotes all her favourite British artists in one handy collection. Thanks Catnip!>
THE RESULTS
DISCLOSURE: the results of this voting may bear down to listener preference, taste, demographic and influences.
Elton John, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits and Pet Shop Boys all gathered in FOUR votes apiece, resulting in 18 votes overall for this as the TOP FIVE BEST BRITISH ACTS/ARTISTS. There’s some artists that are simply expected to top the lost, but it was surprising for me to see Elton John top the list too, but I’ve never been one to dabble into his music, so there you are.
These pioneers are shortly followed up with Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Queen and The Rolling Stones with THREE votes apiece, resulting in a total of 12 votes for the second list of artists who made the cut. With me being a massive Queen fan, it was disappointing not to see them earn more votes in the long run, but I’m pleased all the same that they were mentioned ample times.
Entering the territory of those artist underdogs or under-appreciated artists, we have: The Who, The Cranberries, The Smiths, U2, Kate Bush, The Kinks, Massive Attack and Duran Duran and rather surprisingly, Fine Young Cannibals. These artists clocked up TWO votes apiece, with resulting in 16 votes in total. WhileThe Smiths somehow outmanoeuvre their Manchester counterparts of Blur and Oasis to earn more votes, the overwhelming appearance of Fine Young Cannibals solidifies my need to have a listen to their music catalogue as I am not aware of them as an artists, as much as I’d like to be.
The final recommendations come with earning ONE vote apiece, resulting in 17 votes in total. Bearing in no particular order: The Cure, Blur, Simply Red, Ed Sheeran, Amy Winehouse, Jess Glynne, Adele, John Newman, Rudimental, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Tears For Fears, PJ Harvey, Joy Division, New Order, Duran Duran, Electric Light Orchestra, Judas Priest and Def Leppard.
What’s missing?
While this is a highly commendable line-up with some fantastic music artists involved, many aren’t mentioned at all. Britpop giants, Oasis, Leicester local-lads Kasabian and fanatic funks of The Police were all missed out. But this is the use of saying such a thing like the Bestof something, which usually refers to us thinking about the classic artists from back in the day, rather than the present ones we see and hear today in “popular”music.
Long gone are the days of intimate acoustics of Small Bump, and now, Sheeran is causing rather large bumps in the ripple of music consumers, as people are feeling like he’s lost himself in the glamours of fame and money with music composition.
With the release of electro-dance mish mash of Bad Habits sounding hardly like the orange-coloured popstar, people are starting to lose their way and have doubts with him. It’s certainly no surprise though. After amassing such a following worth 60 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and generating billions with one of the biggest worldwide tours ever held with his divide album in 2017, it is any surprise his sound has changed into global mainstream pop mania when it has made one of the most successful pop artists in the world?
With this said, thousands of artists become popular, mainstream global artists but still keep their original sounds, integrity and formalities, allowing them to stay grounded and more importantly, true to the music. With Sheeran speaking in interviews, his thoughts on his music and others around him – aswell as seemingly buying property in the entire Suffolk region, it seems he has certainly lost aspects of both integrity and staying grounded.
But, what are your thoughts on Ed Sheeran and his music?
Running from the nautical theme of yesterday, it’s time to decide your worst British artist. Whether it be from something you read in the news, an artist meet-and-greet turned sour, or just overall distaste for the music they create, which artist do you tend to stay clear from?
Whether it be the crude undertaking of glorified simpleton-pop, Coldplay or the work of banjo-playing Mumford & Sons, or simply Liam Gallagher for being a full w*nker, let me know YOUR CHOICES. I promise I won’t judge you too much for your decisions muahaha.
Now, I’m thinking about it for me – this is quite a hard feat to acclompish. Despite them not making the same idealistic music I particularly like, I could never place any British musician under the umbrella as WORST. We just have too many good musicians that do what they do so damn well. But, by all means, try and persuade me …
Hey folks, in a new series for a new month, we’re exploring the BEST OF BRITISH in an ultimate face-off regarding the Best in British Music.
Whether it be the crafty workings of stage presence or the sheer scale of anthems and hits they’ve written, what makes the music better than all the others? We’ll be scaling up each comment, and thoughts and see if they’ll top the list. So, join the discussion and get involved.
Would we see the Bohemian-dwellers of the mighty Queen grace our list? They had the lot in terms of bravado, iconic soundtracks and sheer fame and fortune with the one, Freddy Mercury.
Or would we see the Mancunian duo of Oasis? Rampant, chaotic and not giving a damn, they stood for everything British, and took the world by storm with their iconic Britpop. Will they litter the queue, too?
This week, we start with number ten – give me your artist picks below, and we’ll methodically think, question, argue and hopefully … agree on our Best of British!
