Mid Day Music Blast – LIEZA “Yellow Roses”

LIEZA’s new single, Yellow Roses, is exactly what you want for that summertime jams playlist you have on Spotify. It starts out as a lot of songs do, with LIEZA catching a partner cheating on her, but it puts a slight twist on that; the partner says the name of the third party while in bed with LIEZA.

The song then goes into how LIEZA won’t take any shit, and they both need to move on. I love the sentiment here. LIEZA takes the power away from her (ex)partner by standing steadfast in her resolve to end things while they beg for forgiveness and promise it won’t happen again.

You’ve got love in your eyes
and I’ve got karma in mine
cause every promise was broken
you were drunk
and she was high
it meant nothing,
it felt fine,
but is it still fine when we’re broken

Femke, friend of the blog (really, we’ve just posted a song of hers before. we want to be her friend though), worked on this song with LIEZA, and it only took them 45 minutes to write it. With ethereal dream pop composition and a pure and pitch perfect voice, LIEZA is already turning heads even though she’s new to the pop scene. She inked a deal with Whizbang earlier this year, so 2018 is shaping up to be a pretty great year for the dream(y) pop artist.

I don’t want to be that girl, coming second to your second girl.

Mid Day Music Blast: Kuwaisiana “Virgin”

I love songs with something to say. I mean, most songs have something to say, I guess, but not many of them have something real to say. Relationship problems, how great you are, and dreamscapes make up 99% of all lyrics (probably), so the song, Virgin, from the multinational band, Kuwaisiana, is a welcome surprise.

With raw instrumentals, and complex composition, Virgin gets into one of the biggest moneymakers on the planet: war. The song dives into how the war machine has been effective in not only stealing land and making people wealthy, but also how its role in our lives has made us desensitized to things that should appall us.

“I’m a virgin
in a VR headset
Show me the army
Occupy me”

That is the last line of the song, and it hits so hard. In less than 15 words, they talk about how the military industrial complex can be found in everything from pornography to technology, and at this point, we are inviting it into our homes without even realizing it.

Transitioning between discourse and harmony, this song covers the gamut of emotions. We love bringing you something upbeat and interesting for the Mid Day Music Blast, the fact that the Blast is actually talking about blasts today, is just a…well…blast.

Mid Day Music Blast: Femke “Wounded”

“Pain is a part of us, but we’ll walk through it”

I really can’t think of a more positive line that I’ve read in a while. This song is dark, but allows you to see the glimpses of hope in the darkness with juxtaposition throughout it. I have always liked artists that are realistic about the trial and tribulations that make us human, yet give a signal of hope to surviving those things.

“Sometimes it hurts too much, memories you can’t untouch”

I just love basically everything about this song. The lyrics, the haunting vocals, the clean production. This is definitely one that will be added to all of my playlists ASAP.

A little more about Femke:

Femke is a producer during the day but an artist at night, and on one of those nights Wounded was born. “It came from kind of a dark but hopeful place, the lyric is the hopeful part but the music still reflects the darkness.” Femke, who has collaborated with artists such as Belle Mt, Estelle,  Mark Hoppus and many more throws a curveball into her mainly electronic repertoire with this song.

 

Find this song and many more on our June TOTD Spotify playlist right here.

-Caleb

 

Mid-day Music Blast: Erik Mutzke “Friends Again”

Stressful day at work so far? Let the smooth voice of Erik Mutzke carry you to the end of the workday. Erik has a voice that is truly all his own, but sounds like an old friend, warm and inviting.

Dropping in new pieces like the harmonies and the piano keep the song from growing stagnant, and keeps the listener engaged for the whole song.

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Every season has it’s choices
and we all make our decisions,
and life flies by with unimportant moments

You were beautiful and honest
I’ll remember you that way
I’d like to try and be your friend again someday. 

These lyrics are from different parts of the song. They’re just the ones that really got me, so I figured I’d share them. This song rings true for almost 100% of the people on this planet. We’ve all had that relationship where decision after decision has been made to get you to a point where things have ended, but looking back you realize just how unimportant the decisions truly were that you let define that relationship. Then you remember that person as only their best qualities, and think about what it would be like to be friends again with them. I’ll tell you this, not as a cynic, but as a friend: The quickest way to remember why things went wrong is to open that door up again. Some things should live in your mind as what you thought they were. Like Space Jam. Seriously. Don’t watch it again. You will be disappointed.

Mid-day Music Blast: Daniel Dorman “A Better Man”

As the B-Side Guys’ resident believer in a higher power, I thought it only right that I take this one. Also, the fact that an overtly Christian song is on the blog (and the podcast later, but that’s a secret between us) is a testament to how good this song really is.

I’ll be honest here; it took me a little while to realize that this was in fact a Christian song. There are a couple of reasons behind that: a bunch of artists use religious connotations and undertones to their music because it’s something they struggle with or they think people can relate to it, we don’t get very many Christian song submissions, and it’s really good. I mean REALLY good. Shots fired at Christian music? Nah… I feel like they have to know that most of it isn’t good.

danny d

C.S. Lewis said, “The world doesn’t need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing good literature.” Daniel Dorman has mixed both with this song about the struggles and fallacy of man. He opens the song and immediately engages the listener with a question that every man, or person for that matter, really struggles with; what would life be like if I was a better person? Then when he goes on to talk about his Christian faith, you are still engaged because he’s coming from a place of understanding and humility instead of shoving 3 and a half minutes of why you’re wrong and he’s right down your throat, which seems to be a common theme in Christian music. I digress.

I don’t want to get into a full analysis here since it will be on the show soon, but just know that I, as someone who continuously struggles with faith, a higher power, etc., absolutely love this song, but you don’t have to prescribe to any religion to appreciate the concept behind the art.

Mid-Day Music Blast: The Brothers Moore “I Can Relate”

Would you be surprised if I told you there weren’t brothers with the last name Moore in The Brothers Moore?

You should be surprised if they weren’t, because that would be false advertising. Let’s be honest, in today’s society, if you can’t trust one of your new favorite bands, then who can you trust?

Billy and Bobby Moore take the reins (and the namesake) of The Brothers Moore, with Jake White and Troy Smith rounding out this Tulsa, Oklahoma indie rock band. With a sound that’s reminiscent of Kings of Leon’s “Black Thumbnail,” this band has a lot of raw power, but keeps it controlled in clearly defined lanes. You can hear that everyone, from the lead vocals and guitar, to the harmony rounds in the back, has another level they could flip to, but it would sacrifice the harmony they’ve created. It’s almost like Cyclops from the X-Men; he can absolutely level city blocks just by opening his eyes, but knows that the best way for him to work for the greater good is with his headset on and within the confines of a team setting.

brothersmoore

The new X-Men

Look around
If you see a man on the ground
Throw him your hand and help him out
And I think that that’s what we know

It’s so wild when looking into the lyrics that these guys basically have the Mr. Rogers of indie rock songs here. Stay with me here. That’s a compliment in a major way from me. Mr. Rogers was one of the most prolific minds of his time, and the whole idea behind the man was that everyone should just be a good person, help people out, and treat everyone as equals. He famously said, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” The Brothers Moore are basically adding to that sentiment by telling their listeners to be that helper as well.

Look for ways to help today.

-Seth

Prefer Spotify? I’ve got you covered right here.