Song that reminds you of your childhood: ‘Sound of the Underground’ by Girls Aloud
Incredibly cringy, I know… But this music video was one of the earliest I remember. I once made my own Girls Aloud Greatest Hits CD by burning my favourite songs of theirs onto a disc and then I drew my own album cover for it. So cringe, why did I agree to do this?!
Song that makes you want to dance: ‘Scheiße’ by Lady Gaga
This makes me want to dance, mainly because I learnt the choreography to this song and used to obsessively watch live performances from the Born This Way Ball tour as a young teenager. It’s a very weird song which starts off with gibberish German, but for some reason I like it!
Song you listen to when you’re sad: ‘Yayo’ by Lana Del Rey
One of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard, but it’s so beautiful. She performed it live when I saw her in Liverpool recently and it was absolutely amazing.
Best gig you’ve ever been to: Lykke Li @ Albert Hall Manchester, 11th November 2014
This tour was in support of my all-time favourite album at my favourite in Manchester. Her voice is so unique and sends chills down your spine. Huge black drapes were hanging from the ceiling and the stage was covered in thick dry ice whilst yellow lights flickered – she moved around with the music, in and out of the smoke. I love that she can be a serious performer on tracks such as ‘Sleeping Alone’ (the only time I’ve been reduced to tears at a gig) or she can be incredibly friendly and playful, engaging with the crowd on tracks such as ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’. She even did an incredible cover of ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ by Drake which was better than the original, in my opinion. I have so many memories of that gig and I haven’t been to a better one since.
Favourite ever album: ‘I Never Learn’ by Lykke Li
I think this is an incredibly underrated album, the songwriting is classic and quite simple. The opening title track transports me to another place, mentally. To me, this album sounds like a night time walk through a city after a break-up. She uses drums so well on all of her albums, but especially on tracks such as ‘Gunshot’. ‘Never Gonna Love Again’ is so heartbreaking but also defiant. Her vocals on ‘Love Me Like I’m Not Made Of Stone’ are so fragile and sound as though she recorded them on her phone late at night after waking up from a bad dream. The record is icy, yet somehow warm. With ‘I Never Learn’, she mastered ‘the break-up album’ and I don’t see how any other artist make a better one than this.
Guilty pleasure: ‘Bangerz’ by Miley Cyrus
Some of the songs on this album are absolute trash, I admit that. But a lot of the tracks are really enjoyable to listen to and the production actually isn’t that bad! I really like ‘Adore You’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Do My Thang’ from this album, and of course, the infamous singles ‘We Can’t Stop’ and ‘Wrecking Ball’ are classics at this point (maybe not for the right reasons…)
