2017 Top Trumps

As we move into 2018, with resolutions and wishes for what we hope to happen this year, I thought I would take the time to highlight some of my top things from 2017.

I think it was a mixed bag of a year. I had some incredible highs and a number of lows and I think the same can be said on a more global note. But this post is designed to celebrate some of the positives to come out of 2017, so let's get into it.

* The order of things listed is not ascending unless stated.

My Vinyl Collection: April 2017

Hello everyone,

Almost a year ago I was gifted with the most magical possession to have graced my life, that was a smol, cute, red record player. Since then, I have built up quite a collection of records and I love them so much that I wanted to dedicate a post to them.

12 Days of Blogmas: My Sound of 2016

'On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a music favourites of 2016'

Hello everyone,
if you have been reading my blog for a while, you may recall that I wrote something like this last year. Music is just a constant favourite in my life, and I assume, all of yours too. I wanted to share my favourite songs, albums and shows that I've been to in 2016, without further ado, let's go!

12 Days of Blogmas: Alternative Christmas Party Playlist

'On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a playlist that was christmassy'

Hello everyone, welcome back to blogmas! If you know me, you know that I L-O-V-E music and I am pretty fond of Christmas. I made this playlist a while ago but I never shared it here, and I thought that blogmas would be the perfect time to do so. Whether you are a bit of a Scrooge or an absolute Christmas cracker, I am sure you will really enjoy this playlist.

Grace VanderWaal: Perfectly Imperfect

Hello everyone,
it's been a while since my last music review and I am so excited to be sharing this post. Before I jump into the review of Grace VanderWaal's EP, Perfectly Imperfect, I thought I would give a little summary of Grace, for those of you who don't know her.

November 2016 Favourites

Hello everyone,
it has been a while since my last favourites post. I wanted a little break from doing the same style of posts, but I have been loving so many things recently and I wanted to share them with you.

Music: Towards the end of this month my beautiful Stranger Things Vinyl arrived and it is just the most dreamy, dramatic thing in the world. I know you can get the soundtrack on CD and possibly can stream it, but nothing will be as pleasing as the vinyl version. I am really mourning the lack of Stranger Things in my life at the minute, and this record makes me feel like I am in Hawkins. Even if you haven't watched the series, if you want to listen to something soothing and atmospheric, this is perfect for you.

Here Comes Halloween: Pumpkin Party Playlist

Hello everyone,
so, for Halloween you need some snazzy, spooky décor and a creepy costume, but today I have another essential for helping you get into the spirit of Halloween. Whether you're hosting a party or just want a new playlist to listen to, then I have just the right thing for you.
Here are my ultimate songs for the spookiest playlist:

21 Songs that Shaped My Life

Hello everyone,
I'm here with another 21st birthday themed post. What I forgot to mention in my thing's I've learned post, is that music is everything. Whether you're at a wedding, birthday party, concert, funeral, or a car journey, there's a song that goes with it.
I wanted to write a quick post mentioning just 21 of the songs that have been significant in my life. This list is in no ascending order and the songs were SO HARD to narrow down, but here they are:

Music Monday: Summer Playlist

Hello everyone,

I'm writing this as what feels like a Mediterranean  storm of humidity is passing through my town. This weather is so welcome for several reasons:

• The copious amounts of ice creams/lollies I can survive off of
• Barbecue and picnic season giving me many opportunities to do two of my favourite things- eat and see friends and family
• Lemonade just tastes 94948992498492 times better (insert Luke Hemmings sweet lemonade on a hot day quote)
• PIMMS!!!

FBF: Halsey Badlands Tour

Hello everyone,
I apologise for the slump my blog has been in recently, what with my DISSERTATION and procrastination levels at an all time high.
I love Halsey. I've bragged about her in several posts and I really wanted to share the great experiences I had seeing her whilst she was in the UK. She may be a new artist but she is one of my all time favourite people to see live; her crowds are diverse, glitter coats my skin and I get to see some of my favourite humans in the process.

Let's kick this off with the Birmingham show and my trip to Camp Badlands. Emmy, Amy and I had a little stop off at TGI's for cocktails (mine was a hurricane, how fitting) before we headed to the venue. There were a few queues which seemed confusing but we weren't in the cold for too long. A guy (I'm really sad I don't know his name because he was SO POLITE, and a itty bitty little bit cute) gave us our wristbands and passports, which were stamped upon entry. Inside, all of the freaking amazing artwork that Halsey's shared at a few other events were displayed. Film poster esque versions of her songs, which I really hope become merch because I want to plaster my walls with them. There was a cute pink and blue Badlands backdrop where you could take photos and have them printed as cute post cards using a hashtag, and there was also the opportunity to buy discounted merch (we as a squad opted for the 'Send Help' dad caps).

A weekend with The Maine

Hello everyone,
as we all know, I'm fairly emo. I get v. emosh about many things, from dogs to books to bands. One thing in particular that's made me emo since my early teens is a band (or Arizona Emo Group if you prefer) by the name of The Maine. I haven't seen this band live since 2010 so you can imagine that the emo scale did increase by 8123 (get it?). I had the absolute time of my life these past few days and so I wanted to write about it, so I can always remember and relive it.
The story starts in Birmingham, which is the place I first saw them live in (when I was smaller and less emo, but only slightly). As it always does, it rained from the moment I stepped out of the coach station and to the moment I got in my front door. What's interesting, and by interesting I mean HELLA EMO about this tour is that The Maine are on tour with Mayday Parade and that's the same tour (though it was co headlining the first time) I saw them on in 2010. It was as though the emo circle pit came rushing at full force.

My Sound of 2015

Hello everyone,
it seems that 2015 is almost behind us. I think one thing you've probably learnt if you've been a devout follower of my blog this year is that I love music. Yeah I know, 99% of my posts are about some band from Sydney, but today I'm going to be highlighting the realm of my musical interests, and in no particular order, telling you why they're the best. Let's go!

5SOS- Sounds Good Feels Good

Hello Everyone,
so this post has been a few days in the making, mainly because I needed to dedicate a shit ton of time for listening to the album, discussing it with friends and trying to narrow down my favourites.
As we all know, I'm a massive fan of 5 Seconds of Summer and on October 23rd I felt like a kid on Christmas as I downloaded the album and hit play for the first time. I didn't know what to expect in terms of sound, from songs that have been released such as She's Kinda Hot and Fly Away I knew it was going to be filled with catchy little anthems punching the references to 1D right where it hurts. I had read about some of the songs and was a little nervous  to hear them (aka Broken Home).
The overall sound of the album is maturity. Their self titled debut featured songs the lads had written at 16 and 17 years of age, songs that fans attached themselves too but Sounds Good Feels Good was made in real time, talking of love as the members experienced it, talking of travelling and being on the road as they lived it and on reflection of getting out of a little town and living life on an enormous platform nobody could ever imagine.
The riffs are heavier, the songs are drenched in the blood, sweat and tears of the musicians they admire and worked with, such as Alex Gaskarth, the Madden brothers and John Feldmann and, for me, the album seems to be split into stages of life- the first being the coming of age and realising life isn't all that jazz when you can't even afford a bus fare, the second being that love often SUCKS both romantically and within a family and the third is the prospect of life getting better, if you just take the bad with the good.

HALSEY: BADLANDS REVIEW

For most people, Friday August 28th was like any other day. However, for some souls, the day marked the release of the long anticipated debut record from American singer/songwriter, Halsey, as she released Badlands to the world.
The alternative musician, who is signed to Astralwerks, has an intense following. I remember when she released Ghost in 2014 and I listened to it on repeat as I paraded to university, some time later came her well received EP Room 93, which spurned out fan favourites such as Hurricane and Trouble. Badlands promised to depart from the days Halsey was better known as Ashley Frangipane and with its release, fans such as myself have been pulled into the dark, imaginative spiral which the bad lands entail.
Castle, the opening track for the record throws the listener in at the deep end, as Halsey embarks upon the dystopian metropolis and is 'headed straight for the castle' supposedly to become queen of the bad lands. There's a choir trickled into the chorous which backs up her inauguration into this seemingly sinister place. Lyrically the song offers an insight into Halsey's position as a woman fighting in a predominantly male industry. On several occasions Halsey has bought up the topic of the struggles that are placed in her way as she climbs her position within the music industry. She's rejected labels who didn't support her intentions, and took control of having a female-female love relationship for her video for Ghost. With the statement 'there's an old man sitting on the throne, that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut,' this power struggle punches through the hypnotic rhythm of the song.

5SOS 'She's Kinda Hot'

So it's been a while since I last updated you guys on my life, and that's mostly because I've been laying about crying over how much I hate the weather whilst reading book after book. The last post I wrote was about my time seeing 5SOS at Wembley (you know, the time Michael really was kinda hot) and I guess it was inevitable that my next post would be dedicated to them too.
And what is this post all about? Well, today the boys dropped their latest single 'She's Kinda Hot' and the world has been pretty much freaking out ever since!

After a very failed attempt at hearing the song premier on Shazam Top 20 this morning, I was finally blessed to hear it via Spotify and it seems the wait was sure as hell worth it. Of course, like a few people, when I saw the title of the single I was sceptical. Thoughts such as 'what's the deal?' 'has the girl been downgraded from looking perfect to being sort of alright?' 'how is this reflecting their deeper direction?' crossed my mind. But when I heard this new single for the first time, any anxieties I had about 'She's Kinda Hot' were obliterated.

ROWYSO: Birmingham Weekend

Hello everyone,
So I may have been a little bit of a liar when I said I would update my blog more, but I'm back (with major apologies) and I am ready to let you all know about the time of my life, which was seeing 5SOS this weekend, as their Rock Out With Your Socks Out tour came to Birmingham.
On Friday I made my way to Birmingham (after a major traffic delay) and met with Georgina, Ash and Vanessa to check in to our hotel. The room was so beautiful I'm considering living their until I can afford to move out! It is at the hotel where we glittered ourselves up, began our pina colada cocktail party and made our way to the venue.
The NIA was buzzing, and we made it in time for Hey Violet's very short, but incredibly sweet, acoustic show. The band then took pictures with pretty much everyone who came out to watch them perform. We opted for the peace and pout pose, and I have to say that Nia is the coolest and cutest band member I've met! Then we got food at Subway and I almost fell off my chair when the guy that worked there started whistling the chorus of Good Girls. After that, we headed back to the venue for the show.

All Time Low Acoustic @ Hippodrome, Kingston

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it's been a few days since my last post things have been pretty busy lately but here I am, ready to tell you about RAD AS FUCK show that was All Time Low's acoustic gig in Kingston.
First things first, I have to point out that it was Emmy's birthday and I'm glad we got to have such an insanely great time watching one of our favourite bands, along with Georgina.

Playlist Party: Top 25 Most Played

Hello Everyone,
So today I had a little epiphany whilst listening to Bastille, on my bus home from uni, that I would write a weekly playlist. I'm calling it Playlist Party, as oppose to Playlist Thursdays etc, as I'm 97% certain that I will never be able to stick to a day of the week.
I thought it might be a cool way of introducing you to the music I enjoy listening to. I think it's a great way to learn about people. If someone gives you access to their musical library I feel like they're letting you in on their life, their secrets and their memories, and I thought this little weekly segment (fingers crossed I will stick to it) might also introduce you to new music and sounds.
As an introduction I thought I would write about the top 25 most played songs on my iPod. The list has changed a lot over the years and I was actually surprised today, by some of the songs that popped up.
So without further ado, here it goes:

1. My Boy Builds Coffins by Florence and the Machine- Of all the songs that have come and gone over the years on this list, I've noticed that this song has always remained at the top. I fell in love with this song when I first purchased the album Lungs. I love the lyrics, they're incredibly poetic with a sinister tint and it's a song I never tire of listening to.

Teenage Dream: I Finally Saw All Time Low

Hi everyone,


This is going to be a very emo and probably embarrassing post filled with declarations of love and happiness because I FINALLY SAW ALL TIME LOW LIVE!


Back in 2007 I was idly watching an episode of E! News when a very odd music video advertised. It was a bunch of guys, half naked in a sauna, playing instruments and performing what sounded like a pretty awesome song. It turned out to be Coffee Shop Soundtrack by All Time Low and from that moment I've been hooked on their music.


Flash forward a couple of albums later, some very emo songs and a slight obsession with Alex Gaskarth which resulted in me creating us a Sims family, we are in 2011. I have a ticket to see them live at the O2 Academy in Birmingham. I am ready to rock out, dance, sing and sweat to death when I can't get a lift home and therefore cannot go to the gig.
I was devastated. I stared at photos of Zack Merrick and watched Straight to DVD on repeat for about a month solid.


Since that traumatic period in my emo life, I've met some EPIC people who have become my best friends and who all share a LOVE for ATL like me. Vanessa is the ATL queen, I live for her sass towards Alex, her stories about signings and her loving insults towards them, then there's Georgina who I could have potentially met at the show that never was. There's also Emmy who shares my interest in All Time Low and emo for therapy, and there's also Amy, who isn't too into ATL but who I love nonetheless.I decided that fate had bought this ATL gang of girls together and that we would all be able to see them and pop my ATL cherry. This didn't exactly go to plan given Vanessa's going back home to Spain, Georgina not being able to afford a ticket and Amy not really liking All Time Low. But it did leave me and Emmy with the chance to see them live, so we ordered our tickets and began our countdown.