Tag Archives: Ben Howard

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In sickness, health, bliss and dejection, there’s music. If all else fails, music fills the void in my soul and I float above emptiness until I regain my foothold once again. Music saves. It saved me more than once. I know it saved you, too. It continues to save us all, all the time.

There has always been a lot of music circulating in our household. Artists come, and they go, or they stay. There are eternal favourites. There are new acts. There are surprises.

In the past year or so there have been a handful of albums that were the recurring canvas of my inner life. On them I painted new thoughts, I felt inspired by them, I held onto them, I soared with them. I listened to these albums a considerable amount of time, especially compared to the rest of our musical collection. New artists constantly come and go and have been coming and going, but these albums have been my lifeline in these past years. Literally. In belief, and in disillusionment.

John Mayer’s Continuum has been with me for many years. I heard the song Gravity on House M.D. and after that, I had to hear the whole album, and I don’t think I ever listened to any other John Mayer album. Sorry, John. I know you’re a genius and all, but this album is perfection and when I listen to it, no other music seems to exist or have existed. Lyrics, music, vocals, it’s all pure perfection.

She popped into my life through a Josh Groban fanfiction. Hail the genre! Someone built a cheesy piece of fanfic (in retrospect, that’s what it was, just like all of mine that I wrote at the time) on a song entitled Back where we started. Because I liked that cheesy piece of fanfiction, I was curious about the song. And after that, I was curious about Tina’s work. Basically, she’s been my spokesperson since 2007. Her songs speak from me and about me, they come from my heart and my struggles and doubts and thoughts. No other artist has expressed MY feelings as accurately as Tina has. She continues to amaze me with her songs, old and new alike. When I feel lost, she comes to my rescue. She tells me I’m not lost alone… I may be lost, but not alone. We’re all lost. And the only thing we can find is each other. All of her albums are great, but this trilogy is conceptually wonderful and probably has her most profound lyrics.

Where else would I have heard Ben’s song than on a TV show? A gifted man, cancelled after the first season, like so many other wonderful, meaningful shows. Once again, when I heard the full album, the world stopped turning. I stopped doing everything I was doing and just listened… and after a short break, I’ve been listening ever since. Magnificent debut that is receiving accolades from all directions, rightfully so. Ben’s music is fresh and honest, it just grips you with the lyrics and the exciting indie folk-rock sound.

Thank the Universe for French music TV channels. The video for Berlin was like nothing I’ve seen or heard before, too wacky to understand or even like, but when it got under my skin, it stayed for good, and Christophe, the hyper-talented French talent-show winner has become a huge favourite of mine. I was fortunate enough to see him live with two of my friends in Paris – and I must repeat that act. One of the best musical experiences I have ever had! This album is his latest, one that cannot be stopped. At least I find it difficult. To stop. Catchy, high quality electro-disco with some of the most amazing vocals ever.

Darren Hayes is a huge favourite (has been ever since I want you), and this is his best album so far. It is virtually unstoppable. A drug. It’s uncanny! It’s so good, it should be illegal. Melodic and melancholy tunes and the type of lyrics that would sound cheesy from the mouth of another singer, but not from Mr Hayes. I have yet to see him live, but his next tour, I will. I promised myself, I won’t miss him again…

And my latest discovery. I wrote about it on my blog already, I love this album so much. It started with Sherlock and Mr Cumberbatch and then his entire filmography… and a song in one of his movies. Little did I know that the whole CD was as wonderful as that one song… I listened to this album non-stop for weeks, maybe months. I needed no other music, nothing else, just this. It felt like if I could only take one CD with me to a desert island, it would be this one…

And I’ve had this feeling with all of the above. (In previous years, there were more albums, but I wanted to give a heads up to these particular ones, because they are more recent and perhaps you’re on the lookout for great new music…) Thankfully, I don’t need to pick just one CD – or else I would be in great trouble…