Category: Crushin’

STREAM: “The Bones of What You Believe” by CHVRCHES NPR Preview

NPR is streaming a preview of CHVRCHES’s upcoming and much anticipated album The Bones of What You Believe!

BoxSpeaker’s counting down the days until the album’s release on September 24.

Finally hearing the mastered versions of so many songs we’ve heard throughout the year across both California and the whole UK (remember that time I went crazy and ran away to the UK to figure everything out?) is mindblowing.

The live versions will always provide an unique intimacy, but the mastered versions definitely contain little auditory details that unfortunately get lost in the reverberation against concert venues’ walls.

Remember to listen to the NPR stream here: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/15/221714011/first-listen-chvrches-the-bones-of-what-you-believe#playlist

Cheers and Happy Monday!

[NEW]: Portland Releases “Deezy Daisy”

French electropop trio Portland released their single “Deezy Daisy” via iTunes and the Maison Kitsune shop. It’s a very upbeat 80s pop sound mixed with Lily Pejon’s sultry French-accented vocals.

 

Check out their other song “You Don’t Know Me”:

Fun Fact: Portland’s singer is Lily Pejon, who also appears in other BoxSpeaker favorites such as the acoustic billiards hall version of “One by One” by The Napoleons and in her own cover of “Wooden Chair” by Angus Stone.

Setting the Record Straight for People Searching “Lauren Mayberry Boyfriend”

I’ll preface this post with the fact that I’m really into data and analytics – especially when they deal with websites.

So one thing I’ve noticed while checking my site’s Google Analytics is that people keep finding my blog by searching “Lauren Mayberry boyfriend” and similar terms. In fact, someone even found my blog by searching “Lauren+Mayberry+lesbian” – crazy right?

Let me set the record straight for all the people searching “Lauren Mayberry Boyfriend” and the one person who searched “Lauren+Mayberry+Lesbian.”

I have the biggest celebrity crush on Lauren Mayberry. If she said she professed her love for me, then I’d take her right to NYC and same-sex-marry her.

So who is Lauren Mayberry’s boyfriend? Is Lauren Mayberry a lesbian? Is BoxSpeaker Bernie actually Lauren Mayberry’s secret girlfriend?

The answer to all that is: I DON’T KNOW. Well, except the last one – sadly, I’m not her secret girlfriend 🙁 I have my informed hypotheses, but I won’t disclose them. 🙂

Anyway – check out the song that made me fall in love with them:

[VIDEO + ALBUM ALERT]: CHVRCHES – “Gun” / “The Bones Of What You Believe”

This morning, CHVRCHES released the music video for their single “Gun,” and it’s really fucking cool.

They took the kaleidoscope effect and just ran with it while overlaying the triangle and chevron design themes they’ve featured on their EPs. The video even features a dancer who gets multiplied kaleidoscope style.

The news of their video release also came with an update on their upcoming album The Bones of What You Believe which will drop on September 23 in Europe and September 24 in the US.

[INTERVIEW]: CHVRCHES at Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach

I got to hang out with Lauren Mayberry, Martin Doherty, and Iain Cook from CHVRCHES before their show at Solana Beach’s Belly Up Tavern! They even remembered me from their show at Bristol!

Listen to us as we chat about music styles, social media, UK versus US, touring with Passion Pit, and ladies night in San Diego’s Hillcrest.

I’ll update this later to include a transcript.

Main Point: According to Martin, “CHVRCHES will not do EDM.”

P.S. Correction: Everything But the Girl did NOT “basically start trip hop,” but they did release really great trip hop and trip-hop-influenced albums after they decided to shift styles away from jazzy tracks.

[NEW] “Gun” by CHVRCHES

Today, CHVRCHES released their mastered version of their latest single “Gun”:

“Gun” is one of my favorite CHVRCHES tracks, so here is a story of the start of a friendship that coincided with the end of a relationship.

Earlier this year, I ran away to the UK to try to get myself out of my head to stop dwelling on a breakup. I found out that my ex had left me for someone else and – more painful – why and how my ex left me for that person. It just so happened that CHVRCHES had a short tour throughout the UK in late February, so I decided to see them to make myself feel better.
Continue reading [NEW] “Gun” by CHVRCHES

The Dreamiest of Dream Pop: Say Lou Lou

Say Lou Lou (formerly Saint Lou Lou) refer to themselves as “DREAM WAVE LOVE”.

This Swedish-Australian duo are the epitome of dream pop: The heavy distorted beats engulf you while their soft, soothing voices lure you further in.

Note: It can’t be ignored that the members of Say Lou Lou are also both extremely hot – I mean they do come from two countries with the sexiest populations…

“I Would Die 4 V” by Prince (Covered by CHVRCHES)

I have to start this off by stating that I have some reservations about songs that are about self-sacrifice for love, specifically ones about dying for someone. I get a little cynical but most of all, I get a little paranoid/scared about a theoretical someone who states they would die for me, kill themselves over me, etc.

(I am pretty sure these feelings are caused by Bruno Mars’s song “Grenade” because it seems so bitter – claiming that the object of his affections – of his self-sacrifices – is the most terrible person ever and here’s Bruno Mars martyring himself, saying he’s the best boyfriend in the world because he would have put his life on the line for that woman that he now hates, so that’s why she shouldn’t have done all those terrible things she supposedly did. Just chill out, man. Also – I’m pretty sure that Bruno Mars was just trying to be like Prince, but… As usual, I digress.)

Anyway, Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” is an exception to this rule. Because, well, IT’S FUCKING PRINCE.

And this, by the transitive property of equality also means that the CHVRCHES cover (stylized in CHVRCHES style as “I Would Die 4 V”) is also an exception to the rule. Lauren Mayberry‘s higher-pitched vocals combined with her Scottish accent bring a younger, more innocent take on this classic 80s love song.

Also – Not gonna lie, another reason this song (and this cover in particular) is an exception to this rule is that I have a huge celeb crush on the singer, Lauren Mayberry. 😀

 

UPDATE – June 2013 – A new video was placed into this blog post because the original YouTube video with a recorded version of the cover was taken down.