LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO | ellie goulding

The first post of this year is dedicated to L-O-V-E. Let's start off the new year with some affection. There's not enough love going around. We should always make room for love. More love, less hate.

And, Ellie's contribution to the Fifty Shades of Grey Soundtrack is beautiful. I don't care for the book, but the soundtrack is looking pretty good. The song is a beautiful love letter. "Only you can set my heart on fire," she sings. 

At the end of it, "What are you waiting for? Love me like you do!" Damn girl. Ellie knows what she wants and is not afraid to tell you so.

ORIGINAL BEAST | grace jones

Who says Mondays have to be boring? Today, marks the release of the highly-anticipated soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1. That's enough excitement to get us through the week. So, let us rejoice in all the new good music entering our ears and moving our bodies. 

Grace Jones delivers tribal beats on "Original Beast." I don't know about you guys, but this song transports me back to Coachella earlier this year and experiencing The Knife live. I am definitely feeling The Knife vibes on this track by Grace Jones, and am loving every second of it. All I need is my Coachella Tribe, and we can party our asses off to this song as if we were back in the desert. 

"I'm a different animal

Different kind of animal"

Let Grace Jones give you something to dance to. I wonder where in the film is this song playing? Perhaps as they're training for battle or in combat? I'm very excited to see how the movie and music marry? 

After listening to the soundtrack all day, I must say: thank you, Lorde. You have certainly compiled some great talent together and produced something beautiful. 

YELLOW FLICKER BEAT | lorde

"Yellow Flicker Beat" is beautiful. Lorde is a poet. She doesn't write songs, she sets poetry to music. It's art. Very much like Fiona Apple, Lorde knows how to write. I respect their talent for writing - and writing inventively. 

"This is the start of how it all ends
They used to shout my name, now they whisper it"

It is impressive the way Lorde describes Katniss's journey from her rise to fame and into infamy. From a first-person narration, Lorde articulates Katniss's strong, defiant personality. She gives words to Katniss's actions. Supported by the production, "Yellow Flicker Beat" captures the dark thoughts and emotions running through Katniss's head as she falls from grace.

The music video sees Lorde going into darker territory. But how could she not? This is the Hunger Games we are talking about. They're not rainbows and butterflies. Mortality is a constant reminder. 

I love that she is growing as an artist. #teamlorde 

the sound of my heart | "boom clap" by charli xcx

As the Chipotle Cultivate San Francisco Festival nears, let's take a look at one of the artist on the music lineup: Charli XCX. 

Since 2012, I've been following her rise to fame from a music blog stapled artist to the iTunes top charts. She wrote Icona Pop's song "I Love It", she's supported both Ellie Goulding and Marina & the Diamonds on their respective tours, and is featured on Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" track. Her debut album True Romance (2013) was well received by music critics and music bloggers alike. And, she has just released the music video for her song "Boom Clap," written for the The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack.

The track starts with a bam (a "boom clap," to be precise) - similar to how love can unexpectedly hit you out of nowhere. You didn't see it coming. But it's here now. And it feels so good, so so good! Time to enjoy it!

-/-/-/-

First kiss just like a drug
Under your influence
You take me over you're the magic in my veins
This must be love
-/-/-/-

Needless to say that I am very excited to see her perform live this upcoming Saturday in Golden Gate Park for the Chipotle Cultivate SF Festival. And best of all, it's free!! Yes! There's free admission to the festival. As if I needed another reason to love the Bay Area.