THE forteloud FAMILY'S
SONGS OF 2014
THE forteloud FAMILY'S
SONGS OF 2014
CHARLOTTE// 'I Forget Where We Were'
Although I Forget Where We Were is both the title track and one of his singles, it's still one of my favourite tracks on the album. Mainly because when it was first released I listened to it over and over. This song and album has developed from his first album, it is a lot less acoustic and is significantly more similar to his EP Burgh Island. This development makes it much more atmospheric and easy to get lost in - which is why it's my choice for song of the year.
I don't listen to a great deal of music from 2014, so this was difficult. Trying to find something that had grabbed my attention enough was more testing than I originally thought; it seems that a lot of the 'up to date' music i'm listening to is from 2013... typical. Anyway, this is a great tune. Empress AD are just relentless aggressive, and this is the opening track on their album 'Still Life Moving Fast', so, I kinda have to choose this. It does everything that Empress AD stand for, and it's just simple logic that they would choose to open the album with this track; it's all you need to hear to be aware of what the next 45 minutes of your life would sound like if you listen to the album in full. I love it. These are for real.
- by Ben Howard
LUKE// 'Invisible Conductor'
I don't listen to a great deal of music from 2014, so this was difficult. Trying to find something that had grabbed my attention enough was more testing than I originally thought; it seems that a lot of the 'up to date' music i'm listening to is from 2013... typical. Anyway, this is a great tune. Empress AD are just relentless aggressive, and this is the opening track on their album 'Still Life Moving Fast', so, I kinda have to choose this. It does everything that Empress AD stand for, and it's just simple logic that they would choose to open the album with this track; it's all you need to hear to be aware of what the next 45 minutes of your life would sound like if you listen to the album in full. I love it. These are for real.
-by Empress Ad
DAISY// 'O'
This category is the hardest in my opinion because it’s about finding one song which has completely defined an entire year… How do you define three-hundred and sixty five separate days, featuring all sorts of different emotions, opinions, seasons and experiences… Do we define it by the song that sold the largest amount or found it’s way to the most countries or just stayed in your head the longest… Then I realised I had been going about it the wrong way, for a year to me is not the year to you, or anyone you and I will ever meet. Although there will always be a song which sold the most and went to every country in the world and found it’s way into your head, which this year would probably have to the ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams, I realised that when I hear that song it doesn’t allude to 2014, for me, at all. It makes me ‘Happy’, don’t get me wrong, but just as it is now, it is a song on my iTunes which when it comes on shuffle, I don’t skip. Nothing more. The difference between that song and the one I have chosen as my song of the year is when ‘O’ comes on shuffle, I have a completely different reaction. I still don’t skip it and it makes me feel happy but with it, it brings memories and emotions which only and will ever only take me back to certain moments from this year.
When I look back at 2014, I will look back at the most difficult year of my life: the year I had the tiniest but most petrifying glimpses of what life would be like if I lost someone who meant more to me than i’ll ever be able to describe and my perceptions darkened in a way I had never experience before and it was a year when reality hit but didn’t completely crush my dreams but instead, enlightened me on how hard they were going to be to achieve. However, this was not a year I will look back on with regret or sadness but hope that when things are at there very worst, I will become a stronger and better person because of them.
‘O’, suggested in it’s circular letter and the way it looks like a circle, brings me a wholeness and completeness, a feeling of being very certain about being uncertain and yet feeling steady with that as a basis for the future, for uncertainty for me this year has not been about waiting for the worst but hoping for the best, wishing and having faith in that what I do and did would always be enough. ‘O’, with it’s ambiguous but major sounding key and growing and flowing melodies elude to a movement which knows where it is going, despite it not being a typical ‘verse, chorus’ structure, and although dysfunctional, still positive with a gentle and humble ending. ‘O’ with it’s piano arpeggios, which repeat from the very start to the very end of the song, remind me that although I will grow and adapt to the key or situation I am in, I will still always be myself. ‘O’ because it’s calm and warming sounds kept me relaxed and grounded when I was anxious and worried. ‘O’, because “I always look up to the sky’ because ‘the flock of birds’ reminded me I was never that alone, although sometimes feeling it. I guess that’s why I have always liked music because when there is no one else around or when I am travelling in a crowd on my own and I condemned to my own silence, music gives me a voice that fills the void when I am unable too.
Whenever ‘O’ comes on, I get a feeling of all those feelings altogether, reminding me of a year that could only be this year one, 2014. Yet, through it all, I am given a wonderful and beautiful song, a ‘hidden track’, a gem, which is forever mine to have and listen too, promising me, whatever I am feeling, it will get better. It did this year, so why can’t it again. ‘O’ is a circle after all.
Whenever ‘O’ comes on, I get a feeling of all those feelings altogether, reminding me of a year that could only be this year one, 2014. Yet, through it all, I am given a wonderful and beautiful song, a ‘hidden track’, a gem, which is forever mine to have and listen too, promising me, whatever I am feeling, it will get better. It did this year, so why can’t it again. ‘O’ is a circle after all.
-by Coldplay
JAMIE// 'Hold on'
For years Twin Atlantic were one of those bands I heard on the odd occasion but had never really taken the time out of my day to give them a good listen. Whenever my boyfriend would play Make a Beast of Myself or Free I'd ask 'who is this band again?’ But when Great Divide was released this year that all changed. I bought their album on a whim after hearing such great things about it, and by golly it smashed all expectations. Every single song, whether it is a slow ballad or an up tempo number, is an absolute masterpiece. Hold on is the third track on the album and although it is musically rather simple it affected me on such a personal level to the point (as silly as it sounds) I got shivers. I have only ever got shivers from a song on two other occasions. The first was hearing Foo Fighters well known Best Of You for the first time and again during Linkin Park’s powerful What I’ve Done. These bands are absolute giants in the rock music genre so for a smaller band like Twin Atlantic (who haven’t even been around for half the time the Foo’s have) getting this same emotional response was extraordinary.
So why do I love it so much? 2014 was an incredibly tough year for me therefore hearing a song with a firm yet comforting message really made me consider how important life is and how you should never let go of it. ‘Hold on, if you can’t be strong’ - the lengthened note of the hold on lyric allows the listener to imagine someone desperately clinging onto life and shows how the struggle may be long and tough but is always worth clinging on to. My favourite lyric is the one that follows: ‘It’s a risk worth taking to have a life worth living’. Not only is this my favourite lyric in the song, or in fact the entire album, it is also my favourite lyric of all time. It made me see clearly that we never know what’s round the corner in life and if we can just hold on through the difficult times there might even be a genuinely awesome life on the cards for us. Moreover, I particularly love how the drums come to an abrupt stop as the chorus starts and the guitar notes lengthen. At this point all we hear is Sam McTrusty’s beautifully crisp vocals. It draws attention to the important ‘hold on’ before the drum beat punches in on lyrics ‘It’s a risk...’ The punching beat drives the words deep into the heart of the listener.
In October this year I was lucky enough to be able to see this song performed live on Twin Atlantics Great Divide tour. I remember looking round in this song and feeling overwhelmed by just how many people were singing the lyrics back and punching their fists in the air to the count of the beat. The whole crowd felt like a unit. I can only imagine how special it must’ve felt to have hundreds of people singing back your own special lyrics. The intimacy from a live performance is one you can’t get elsewhere. The most memorable moment of the night was when the crowd were asked to kneel until a particular line was sung before jumping back up. This was made famous by the band Slipknot who managed to successfully do this on a mass scale in venues as large as the former London Arena. I have seen this attempted by bands several times, but due to it being incredibly difficult to make hundreds if not thousands of people kneel, they were often unsuccessful. However during the Twin Atlantic gig every single person in Newcastle’s O2 arena knelt on the floor as soon as Sam gave the word. It completely shocked me how the band managed to do it so well. I was also dead chuffed as I managed to get a fantastic view at this point which is rare for me as I am only 5ft! Once instructed everyone jumped up, a massive wave of excitement, and the party well and truly began. Twin Atlantic really have made a giant stamp on my 2014 and if you haven’t listened to Hold On yet I urge, if not will force you to do so. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
-by Twin Atlantic
ELLIE// 'Show Me What You're Made Off'
This song is one of my most played of 2014 and I still can’t bring myself to skip it whenever it comes on shuffle. Hoodie came back with a BANG with this one and created yet another unforgettable tune. the amount of times me and my have sister played this in her car full volume pretty much concludes why we both know every single word to the song and feel badass when we sing it. The song gets you so pumped and when its over you just have to listen to it again. I'm so excited for hoodie's album ‘People Keep Talking’ set to drop in the uk early this year, as I’m sure it’s going to be insane. As well as being one of my own artists to watch for next year, he’s also one of MTV’s Artists to watch in 2015, so I’m sure we will be hearing much from him this year.
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