Single Roundup: Week of Nov. 5

Story posted November 14, 2017 in

With new music emerging every week, the CommRadio Arts department will be taking a look at a handful of singles released each week. Here are our thoughts on seven of the biggest tracks from the week of Nov. 5.

Camila Cabello – “Havana (Remix)” feat. Daddy Yankee

Camila Cabello, former member of Fifth Harmony, returns to the scene as a solo artist with her single “Havana,” but this time she exchanges Young Thug for Daddy Yankee and her new Spanish lyrics. The original single got Camila noticed for the first time alone and it wasn’t just because she had Young Thug on her track. Camila released this new remix at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards on Nov. 12. The remix brings a different style to the original track. Although nothing changed but the lyrics, the song is just as good as the original and it definitely scored her impact points with the Latino community. Many artists are stepping out their comfort zones and trying new things, with speaking Spanish being the more popular way at earning some diversity points. - Jacinda Soto

Morrissey – “Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up on the Stage”

Former Smiths frontman Morrissey released the third single from his upcoming album Low In High School. The singer, who cancelled a show last week due to cold weather conditions, has clearly heated up in this new politically charged single. The track titled “Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up on the Stage” contains lyrics that attack Morrissey’s home country of the United Kingdom. He sings the lyrics, “this country is making me sick,” which tie in with a heavy guitar riff that builds throughout the song. However, do not be fooled by the track’s similarity to a classic Smith’s tune. Morrissey incorporates instruments like a trumpet which enhance and craft his own style in this political tune. – Jenna Minnig

Baths – “Extrasolar”

On his third single from his upcoming third album Romaplasm, glitch producer Baths offers a fairly barebones pop track that explores themes of space exploration. While the tracks does little to build upon the beat it begins with, the track maintains the listener’s attention with its serene mood. It’s the car jam of the twenty-second century, with the car replaced with an interplanetary jet and bumping bass replaced with quiet yet rhythmic drums that provide a strong foundation for the light string work sprinkled lightly throughout the track. While it’s easily the weakest single from the album so far, it shows that Romaplasm will be sure to offer a variety of styles in Bath’s signature glitchy goodness. – Chandler Copenheaver

Bastille – “World Gone Mad”

With just a bit over a year’s time since Bastille released their sophomore album Wild World, the band has been working relentlessly to produce new music. Their latest single “World Gone Mad” was tailored specifically to the new Netflix original film Bright. As the slow acoustic guitar pairs with lead singer Dan Smiths exceptional tenor voice, the listener is surrounded by this atmosphere of tranquility as this heartwarming ballad begins to take them on a journey. That is until the extremely ambiguous and hypocritical lyrics breaks the bond between the melody and the message. Desiring to address the state in which our world currently lays, this song attempts to provide as a piece of advice to its listeners by expressing that the “World Gone Mad” and it needs to be changed. But as the vocalist sings, “you don’t want to **** with us,” he goes against the core message and furthers the idea that this song was created to play in the background of a movie and was not for a musical audience. – JonMichael Pereira

Sheppard – “Coming Home”

Sheppard has released a new single entitled “Coming Home” that comes with a nice sense of familiarity to those who have heard them before and a welcome invitation to new listeners. The fun, poppy sound is the highlight as it is a standard for songs by Sheppard to fit that aesthetic and style. It is pulled off flawlessly, keeping the listener hooked and feeling good and energetic. The lyrics are fun and the production is mixed very well. Overall, Sheppard provides a nice and fun track as we approach the end of the year where more will hopefully be released. – Jack Grossman

NE-HI, Jamila Woods – “The Times I’m Not There”

Indie rock band NE-HI adjusted their classic sound and style on their reworked single “The Times I’m Not There.” The song, which first appeared on their 2014 self-titled album NE-HI, transitioned from a dream-pop style to a more serious and soulful sound with the help of R&B artist Jamila Woods. This transformation was accomplished by slowing down the once upbeat tempo into balanced vibe and by incorporating more meaningful vocals. Woods even adds her own lyrics and sings her own harmonies which makes the song a more pleasing and unexpected experience for a listener who is used to the cookie-cutter indie songs which once came from NE-HI. – Jenna Minnig

Elbow – “Golden Slumbers”

Elbow, a relatively popular British band, has recently produced a single covering the infamous “Golden Slumbers” by The Beatles and it doesn’t seem to stand out all too well in comparison to the original. Instead of solely utilizing the piano to introduce the song, Elbow instead employs an acoustic guitar that is a surprising twist and proves to be effective in producing the same dream like atmosphere of the original. Where this single fails is in its bridge between the chorus and the first verse as there’s no change in vocal tone or pace making it far more boring and flat than the exciting fantasy in which the original takes you on. The piece alone is pleasant and has aspects such as musical dynamics that does make it unique, but it is nowhere near the absolute perfection that is the Beatles version. – JonMichael Pereira

 

Jacinda Soto is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish. To contact her, email jacindaSoto15@gmail.com.

Jenna Minnig is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email at jkm5756@psu.edu.

Chandler Copenheaver is a senior majoring in public relations. To contact him, email chandlercopenheaver@gmail.com.

JonMichael Pereira is a freshman majoring in Telecommunications. To contact him, email jqp5759@psu.edu.

Jack Grossman is a sophomore majoring in telecommunications. To contact him, email jackdgrossman@gmail.com

About the Contributors

ChandlerCopenheaver's photo

ChandlerCopenheaver

Senior / Public Relations

Chandler Copenheaver is a Production Director and Arts Director of CommRadio who has been a member of CommRadio since the spring of 2015. Chandler’s responsibilities entail managing the production department, managing the arts department, creating audio commercials for CommRadio and external organizations, scheduling commercial blocks, and writing editorial content related to the arts. Chandler Copenheaver has worked most recently at Arlington Thrive in Arlington, VA as a Development & Program Intern, WellSpan Health in South Central PA as a Public Relations & Marketing Intern and served as a teaching assistant for the Penn State course BiSci 3 Environmental Science. Chandler aims to work in the fields of Public Relations, Communications Strategy or Communications Management. Follow him on Twitter @C_Copenheaver or email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

JonMichael Pereira's photo

JonMichael Pereira

Freshmen / Telecommunication

JonMichael is a writer and contributor for the Nittany Record Club, the first music analysis talk show at ComRadio. Before Penn State JonMichael was the director and head of production for his daily high school news show. He is always looking to forward his experience in the field of production, you can reach him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Jenna Minnig

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Jenna is a General Manager of CommRadio where she manages the student radio station.

JacindaSoto's photo

JacindaSoto

Junior / Broadcast Journalism and Spanish