Feature: Music Monday: These are the best songs of the past week
7 min read
And once again it’s that time. Without warning, a new Monday is just around the corner with a whole new week in tow. Here we present ten songs that you may have missed last week. So let’s not dilly-dally around any longer and get straight to it!
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Kill The Lights – Sleep With The Devil
Let’s start our list a little more quietly. Because Kill The Lights have brought us their new song “Sleep With The Devil”. For once, it strikes a rather calm tone and therefore invites you to enjoy it quietly on the couch. The track is also part of the album “Death Melodies”, which will be released on March 8, 2024. So if you need a song for a quiet minute, you definitely can’t go wrong with “Sleep With The Devil”.
Imminence – Continuum
We stay a little quieter for a while, but increase the intensity. Imminence’s new single “Continuum” also displays their usual feeling and emotions. Especially in the chorus, singer Eddie Berg once again unleashes a catchy tune on us that is sure to stay in our heads for a while. All this paired with a few harder parts makes “Continuum” a song that you should definitely have heard.
Mimi Barks – FSU
Now that we’ve all tuned in to the first two tracks, it’s time to change the tone a little. Mimi Barks helps us with her number “FSU”. A song that shows what the artist, who grew up in Bochum, is capable of. The track is fun to listen to from the very first second and after a little over three minutes, your neck is aching because you can’t stop nodding your head. So if you’re even remotely into trap (metal), you shouldn’t miss this one.
In Flames – Become One
Our next song takes on a special role. Because those who own the physical bonus edition of the current In Flames album “Foregone” already know what’s coming next. The Swedes have now released the exclusive B-side track “Become One”, which was previously only included on the same edition. So, what are you waiting for?
Infected Rain – Lighthouse
Of course, there were also album releases to celebrate last week. One of them was Infected Rain, who released their new album “TIME”. Shortly before the release of the album last Friday, the latest single “LIGHTHOUSE” was released on Wednesday. The track captivates once again with the striking voice of singer Lena Scissorhands and the matching instrumental. So here too, a very clear recommendation to listen.
Coldrain – Vengeance
We now take a little detour to the Far East. To be more precise, to the land of the rising sun: Japan. Because Coldrain has returned from there with a new song. It’s called “Vengeance” and offers everything a fan of the combo from Nagoya could wish for. Because the track has one thing in particular: A rousing instrumental, which is enhanced by the voice of singer Masato. So if you haven’t listened to the song yet, it’s best to do so as soon as possible.
Prompts – Sun Eater
Wait a minute. Metalcore from Japan? There was something else last week. Exactly! Because Prompts have also released a new track, “Sun Eater”, which we naturally don’t want to withhold from you either. In contrast to Coldrain, however, Prompts strike a much heavier note and have a lot of banging in store for us. So if you like it a bit heavier, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth here.
Harper – I Hope You Choke
Harper hasn’t been idle in the past week either. The young lady released her song “I Hope You Choke” last week. Since causing a stir at the tender age of just nine with her interpretation of the Spiritbox song “Holy Roller”, she has made a steep rise. Her enormous talent is beyond question, as she has shown time and again in recent months and proves impressively again with “I Hope You Choke”.
Like Moths To Flames – Paradigm Trigger
Like Moths To Flames were particularly busy last week. The combo from Ohio released not one, but two songs. These go by the names of “Angels Weep” and “Paradigm Trigger”. However, we chose the latter for our list. The latter impresses above all with its extremely catchy melody, which will certainly not disappear from your memory so quickly. Apart from that, you get the good quality metalcore that you can expect from LMTF.
Thrown – Backfire
Unfortunately, our list for this week is slowly coming to an end. Finally, we’ll give you one more song to take with you. Thrown have released their new single “Backfire”. It will blow your ears away once again and offers plenty to bob along to and nod your head to. Neck pain afterwards included, of course. If you’re not full of energy with this track, you’re really missing out. So, as with every other representative in our list, you should definitely listen to it!
Dramatic realism: “Prelude to Ecstasy” by The Last Dinner Party
Prelude to Ecstacy is the debut album by British band The Last Dinner Party. The title promises an escape from reality – does the album keep this promise? In 1815, the whole of Europe was hidden under a blanket of darkness as a result of the largest volcanic eruption of all time. It was during this seemingly apocalyptic time that Mary Shelley wrote one of the first Gothic novellas, better known as Frankenstein. The Last Dinner Party does the same in a contemporary way.
Today’s apocalyptic setting is expressed in the death of our planet and the death of truth. In the post-factual age, nothing seems to be real anymore. Instead, our world consists of deep fakes, fake news and AI. The Last Dinner Party counteracts this with something that breaks through the darkness: honesty.
Inspired by romanticism, the gothic and a penchant for the grotesque, the five musicians create their own Frankenstein with Prelude to Ecstasy. In doing so, they stick to the aesthetics of their origins. The music also makes use of stylistic devices of enormous drama, theatricality and surrealism from times gone by. The lyrics, on the other hand, could not be more contemporary. The album was recorded in a converted church.
The first act
If you look up the definition of a prelude, you will come across the following description: an often freely improvised musical prelude or an imaginative independent instrumental composition. This is a dramatic introduction to the stage work Prelude to Ecstacy. First act.
The atmosphere of the beginning is by no means lost in the songs that follow. While the title and track of Burn Alive are bursting with tension and depth, Caesar on a TV Screen initially seems like a grotesque tragedy, but after a good half a minute it transforms into a powerfully theatrical piece of pop music and comes to a kind of musical showdown at the end.
The Feminin Urge carries the mood forward with a James Bond memory guitar. With On Your Side and Beautiful Boy, the dramaturgy of the first act comes to an end in a painfully dreamy, above all beautiful manner. Classical instruments are used here alongside a classical band line-up – as in the intro to Prelude To Ecstacy.
The second act
Shrouded in a heavenly mist of voices and accompanied by a church organ, the second half of the album begins with the chorale-like Gjuha. The transition to the rocking pop song Sinner is phenomenal and once again underlines how much Prelude To Ecstasy should be seen as a complete work. My Lady of Mercy picks up on this poppy serenity, but transforms it into building (and thus finally recurring) drama as the song progresses.
Portrait of a Dead Girl is confusing at first, with the piano pretending to be in 6/8 time. When the percussion enters, however, it becomes clear that this is a 4/4 time signature and that the piano is playing in triple time (and this fulfills the music theory educational mission). The next song, which is probably the best known on the album, is also exciting.
Nothing Matters combines everything that this album, its dramaturgy and aesthetics stand for. The artist with small musical references to classical music (organ, harp) combined with contemporary, powerful rock. Plus a feminist perspective and apocalyptic end-time themes. This very, very good song even has a guitar solo, making it at least one of the highlights of the album.
Prelude To Ecstasy comes to an oppressive end with the grandiose shuddering Mirrors. The word drama has already been used far too often in this text, but it is now extracted from all the previous songs and finally released in a grand finale of melancholy. It gradually unfolds in an ecstatically soloing guitar over symphonic strings and slowly fades away (“I fade away”). Finally, it ends as it began: with orchestral instrumental music.
With Prelude To Ecstasy, The Last Dinner Party created a perfect debut album and thoughtfully created a unique style that combines the archetype of art and beauty with tension and hyper-realism. The combination of past and present succeeds brilliantly in the British band’s music and lyrics.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
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