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.

A Little Bit of Lush

Hello everyone,
it's been a little while, mainly because I've been busy at work and planning some of my dissertation, but I'm back with a new post. This is going to be about Lush, the cosmetics/beauty chain which is as ethical as it is wonderful. I recently discovered that my local store is stocking some of the Oxford Street exclusives and so I went and got myself some treats with the hope of having a little series of hauls over the next couple of posts. In each one I'm hoping to give you a little view of three products I've purchased. In no way, shape or form is this post sponsored by Lush, I simply love their values and products and, as someone who is trying to make their makeup and beauty products vegan, I wanted to show that beauty doesn't have to be painful, for you or for animals.
So, let's get into the very first little bit of Lush (none of the following are Oxford St Exclusives):

My Pet Peeves

Hello everyone,
it seems that most of my posts are about bands and the great adventures those bands bring for me and my friends and, as much as I love to update you on our emo escapades, I wanted this blog to bring you little pieces of me and my life. I'm slowly, but surely, trying to post tiny pieces about me as a way of introducing myself, and I thought there would be no better way to start then with this post in which I will be doing what I do best; complaining about things that annoy me!
I already have an about me page, which you can read here, however most of those bullet points are tiny with no further explanation. This post is a place where I can rant about the things which, however ridiculous they may seem, have the power to make my mind want to implode. Hopefully you'll relate to  one or two of them and if you have any of your own pet peeves please feel free to leave them in the comments below!
So in no ascending order, here comes the rant of all rants:

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.

5SOS Wembley Weekend

Hello Everyone,
It's been a week since 5SOS' Wembley shows came to an end, and after a week of post concert sadness and heartbreak over the UK tour finishing, I thought now would be the best time to write a post reflecting on what was one of the best weekends ever!
We (Me, Emmy and Amy) got to London for around 10 am and met with Emma before checking into our hostel, which we've renamed hosthell given the experiences we had (Emmy's wine bottle breaking in her suitcase, the air conditioning leaking, the lack of windows and air as well as a broken bed). After that we headed to try and meet 5SOS, and technically we did get 4/4. Then we headed for Wembley and missed Hey Violet's acoustic which made me very sad, but we did manage to join the meet and greet queue and get a cute AF Charlie's Casey's Angels photo.

Here's To Teenage Memories

Hello everyone,
So as you may, or may not know, tomorrow is my birthday. It seems ridiculous that June 20th is on the edge of the calendar when it feels like Christmas was just yesterday, and with this years birthday comes a milestone, one that is very emo and that is the end of my teenage years. I thought I would use this post to be a little self indulgent and very much nostalgic and look back on my teenage memories as I prepare for this new 'adult' chapter of life.
I guess a lot of my teenage years consisted of school, being the weird kid who liked My Chemical Romance and wore skull print fingerless gloves from Claire's whilst everyone else loved the Sugababes. I rarely ever spoke, put my hand up in class or participated in socialising at all. I made the mistake of having a mega dick for a best friend and my teenage years got a WHOLE lot better when I let that person go out of my life.

What Goes On Tour...

Hello Everyone,
As I mentioned in my last post, I spent the last weekend in London seeing one of my favourite bands, 5 Seconds of Summer headline a triple bill of shows at Wembley Arena!
Right now, I'm a little too emo to talk about the actual shows (especially the part where a certain Michael Clifford set on fire) so, I thought I would write a little post about the things we encountered during our tour weekend, most of which left us in a fit of craughing (Verb- to cry and laugh at the same time) so without further ado, here's some moments that we could never forget, no matter how much we might try:

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.

Better Late Than Never...

Why hello there old friends, it's been a pretty long time since my last post (major apologies, kisses, bouquets of tulips to you) but here I am, back better late than never, and ready to blog, blog, blog about things that you may want to read, read, read (or not)!

So, what was the cause of my delay? Well, that massive, time consuming, often pain in the butt thing which happens to be my degree, and I am unbelievably relieved to say that second year is officially OVER! I feel very weird saying that. A good weird, but nonetheless it seems like this morning I enrolled at uni, and to think that I'm going to be spending the next few months planning my dissertation is beyond crazy. It's so strange to think I spent literally everyday of the academic year wanting to either a) be in bed, b) fighting dragons c) anywhere but uni, and to be at a point where the summer is officially on my door step is a complete state of JAMOHDIJDOKMONISJOSMosoM.

What will I be doing with my endless amount of time with no exams, classes, 9am lectures sent from hell? I am so glad you asked. Here is a mini list of things I'm planning on doing, and may even be writing about right here for you to read in the very near future:

It's Been A While

Hello Everyone,
I'm really sorry that I've been pretty absent in the last few weeks, let's just say that uni is currently taking up 93% of my time.
Here's a summary of what I've been up to:

• Filling in my dissertation proposal which fills me with complete ANXIETY! I decided that I'm going to major in Creative Writing mainly because if I have to do anymore research into novels written in the Victorian Era I will sacrifice myself to Satan.
• I finished my film assignment which consisted of me shit talking the MTV adaptation of Wuthering Heights, showing my allegiance to team Heathcliff and listening to Kate Bush on repeat until I reached the word limit.
• I've begun my revision for my English exam and realised how little reading I've actually done this year and also how sassy women have been in literature in previous generations.
• Planning my final Creative Writing Assignments, which at 60% each and roughly 4000 words each plus research are making me question my decisions in the first point. Ghost stories are difficult but monologues are actually a NIGHTMARE!
• I did find some time to go to London recently and have a failed 5SOS attempt because, ya know they decided to go to Sydney! But I got to hang out with my favourite people so I couldn't complain. Plus I won a donut on the McDonalds Monopoly so...

I'm looking forward to the end of May when I have time to chill, tidy the pile of crap on my bedroom floor, sort out my wardrobe in time for summer and just hang out with my EMOS!
Thank you for being patient with my posts I promise this summer they will increase by approximately 32%
Until next time,
thank you for reading,
Aimee :) x

The American Adventure: Two Year Anniversary

Hello everyone,

So this week marks two years since me, two of my cousins and my cousin's girlfriend embarked on our American Adventure to Boston and New York and I'm going to try in as little words as possible give you a highlight in to what was the craziest week of my life.

So, to start with I should mention that this trip would have been nothing without the Irish Dancing World's. Each year they take place in a different location, for example I believe last year was London and this year is Montreal and in 2013 (gosh I really cannot believe it was that long ago) the World's were held in Boston. As it's been a life goal of mine to visit America for as long as I can remember, and as it tied in to near my 18th birthday, I was lucky enough to tag along.