Spreading a bit of laid-back country and western music onto my blog is the recently released debut single by Rutherford Royal, titled "Back Burner". The song goes on to add an element of rock about three-quarters of the way through, bringing the listener right back in, before slowing it down to a mild and chill level as the song comes to a close.
Rutherford Royal, real name Andrew Christopher Rutherford Royal, is a Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer/songwriter, who manages to showcase everything he has got on this track, "Back Burner". He hails from the barrier islands of South Carolina and likes to use his deep connection with the land in his non-traditional music, gaining inspiration from the eastern south, transforming dark rock and indie Americana with current country and western rhythmic vibes. "Back Burner" totally showcases his awesome and unique art. He is set to release a debut album soon.
Talking about the track, Rutherford Royal said: "The boy has been waiting for the girl to fall in love with him as he watches her burn through several brief, meaningless, and destructive relationships. Despite clear signs that he should move on, he is determined to die on this hill. Often it feels like the right thing to do is take the side of love and wait for the one you know you’ll never get over. This can be the single most destructive decision you ever make, but half-measures will only lead to a life of what-ifs."
I might be making Chart Mondays difficult for me by covering this music video right now, but it's new in the UK chart at number five and it's full of such cute visuals, that I just had to cover it today, so I'm hoping it doesn't rise up to number one - although, it is Ed Sheeran, and it's one of my favourite songs he has released. Since Sam Smith & Kim Petras are still at number one with "Unholy", I chose this song from the UK Top 10.
Written by Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, and Johnny McDaid, with the former two songwriters co-producing the track, "Celestial" is an addicting track that has a cute autumnal vibe to it perfect as the weather changes from summer to autumn. Clear and crisp, the song has that exciting feeling of love mixed throughout with Ed Sheeran's vocals on fire from start to finish.
The music video, directed by Yuichi Kodama with Genki Kawamura and Masami Hatanaka acting as producers, is a fun day in the life of Ed Sheeran the Pokémon trainer. The visuals mix real life with cartoon animation warping both worlds into almost an augmented reality concept as if both complement each other. I like the idea of Ed Sheeran being the only person who can see the Pokémon, so when he's travelling on Lapras or Charizard, the average general public sees Ed Sheeran travelling on invisible creatures.
The first half of the video comes off better on story concept, I love the idea of us all having our own Pokémon in our homes, helping around the house (or making things worse). The second half becomes more skewed, with Ed Sheeran just going about and walking on the street, but then ending up at the end trying to stop Mew and MewTwo, regardless of that, the imagery in the second half is beautiful, that field with the Bulbasaurs is just epic!
This is a cute and fun music video for "Closer" by Hunter and is definitely something you should have on your radar. The song signifies a variety of things, from the honeymoon feeling when you are crushing on someone as well as the wanting of being closer to loved ones, which is now becoming more and more possible as COVID restrictions relax with the pandemic becomes less of a worldwide threat - although cases have been rising in the UK, apparently. The track has been gaining in popularity and has been added to the Now That's What I Call Music 83 (the US compilation album).
Hunter said that "Closer" was inspired by "the feeling of driving down the road with the windows down on an easy summer afternoon. We've been through a lot over the last few years and I wanted a song that could help my listeners escape what's around us."
According to Spotify, the song was written by David Ryan Harris, Hunter Elizabeth, Jesse Siebenberg, and John Alagia, with the latter two songwriters being the producers of the track; as for the music video, Ra Dreyfus acted as Director with Ron Geffen being the director of photography. The cute video sees Hunter trying to impress her adorable little puppy, who is played by Yuki Newman, but nothing seems to be working from posing for an artist painting to playing crochet in the garden to being wined and dined al fresco style.
On top of all that, there are four hot guys attempting to grab Hunter's attention, hoping to get closer to her, from the artist who is painting them, to the hot guy gardener (played by Branko Presley) who is topless and has a hose in his hand - he could shower me with his hose any day, amen! But, Hunter is not impressed with his advances and swiftly moves away when he soaks himself (feel free to send him my way instead).
Her next scenes see her in the kitchen where the hot guy chef (played by Scott Camaran) comes on to her by offering her a taste of his soup (I'm pretty sure it's just as yummy as he is), but she declines while he doesn't want to take no as an answer (come on, we all should know about consent by now), and she ends up spilling the soup over him, and in doing so, he rips his shirt off and sexually spreads the soup on himself - she rightfully escapes the kitchen and has her meal with Yuki, but the puppy still isn't happy even though he's dressed smartly. She does a dance for Yuki and eagle-eyed viewers will recognise the guitarist in the scene as it is Nash Overstreet, who is known for being in the band Hot Chelle Rae as well as being the brother of Chord Overstreet (he played Sam Evans in Glee).
Overall, a great concept with a fun spin on the lyrics deciding that she wants to get closer to her dog rather than closer to a man - regardless of how hot the guys are. Clever, interesting, and memorable, this is a brilliant, iconic music video. The track is set to be part of Hunter's forthcoming debut EP which is expected to be released later this year.
I've been a fan of Restless Road ever since The X Factor US where they were formed on season three of the show, placing fourth. During the show, they met future collaborator, Kane Brown, who signed them and they've gone from strength to strength in the country music world. They consist of Zach Beeken, Garrett Nichols, and Colton Pack, and filmed this music video while they were on tour in Australia.
“We couldn’t believe that fans were singing our songs back to us halfway around the world at these shows! What really sent the trip over the top was that we got to film a music video for our new song ‘Sundown Somewhere’ in Newcastle, Australia. We knew we wanted to really show all of what Australia has to offer in this video, so we used a local director and crew. This was a trip that we will never forget and can’t wait to get back”, shared Colton Pack.
The song, written by Cole Swindell, Ben Hayslip, Jacob Rice, and Cole Taylor, is all about the hope of meeting that special someone, the one person you are meant to be with for the rest of your life, the one. I certainly know that feeling having been single for two years now, but I believe my future someone is out there just waiting for me too. This song totally speaks to me and this music video interprets the song brilliantly.
"No matter what point you’re at in life, we’ve all dreamed about the person we’re going to end up with. Where they are, what they look like, and what they’re like. ‘Sundown Somewhere’ is a song that really captures that feeling and the moment we heard it we were excited to record it and get it out to our fans,” shared Garrett Nichols.
The video is split into two parts, firstly Restless Road showcases their stage presence by performing this song on the Newcastle beach with the scenic waves crashing behind them. Then there's the incredible narrative as we watch a man feel a connection or spark with a blonde-haired woman who he spots from afar. He crosses paths with her a few times, and it isn't until he sees her car in the same parking lot he ends up at, that he starts to write a song about her, the lyric sheet gets caught by the wind and she ends up with it. He later returns to his car to see that she's waiting for him (although how she knew the lyric sheet was his is beyond me).
A brilliant music video with an engaging romantic storyline that connects with the song easily. This simply just works and continues to show how incredible Restless Road is. This trio is really making waves in country music, and I'm excited to continue to follow their career path.
Now, this is what we call an all-out music video, but what do we expect from a Sam Smith & Kim Petras team-up with the title "Unholy"? There's literally so much to unpack in this four-and-a-half-minute music video, there's just so much going on and I always see something new. The LGBTQ+ representation is undeniable and effortlessly done - again, we expected this from Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
They've topped the UK Singles Chart this week with this song and I hope it's a chart mainstay as we need these unapologetic queer artists at the top of charts around the world! In topping the UK Chart both Sam Smith and Kim Petras have made history (ermmm... I mean herstory), because this is Sam Smith's first number one in the UK since he came out as non-binary becoming the first, and only ever (to date), non-binary artist to top the UK charts, and Kim Petras follows suits becoming the first, and only (to date), trans artist to top the charts; time for this LGBTQ+ duo to break records and stereotypes around the world!
Other than the UK, this track has seen itself sit atop global charts including Australia, Canada, the Billboard Global 200, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, and Slovakia. I'm sure more chart number ones are around the corner, since it's at the top spot on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube charts globally - including Romania, Singapore, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United States, amongst others.
As a Kim Petras fan, I instantly love this song, (how "Coconuts" wasn't a worldwide hit I'll never know) and I've been pretty keen on Sam Smith's latest tracks, with their "Diamonds" single easily being one of my top songs of 2020 (it just speaks to me as it was released a few months after the breakdown of my relationship of nearly three years). "Unholy" was written by Sam Smith, Kim Petras, Blake Slatkin, Henry Russell Walter, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Omer Fedi, and James Napier, whilst it was produced by Sam Smith, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Cirkut, Omer Fedi, Jimmy Napes, and Blake Slatkin.
Directed by Floria Sigismondi with Joel Honeywell acting as director of photography, this "Unholy" music video is stunning, incredible, and truly unforgettable. It has all the elements of a great music video, especially with an engaging narrative whilst also making Sam Smith and Kim Petras totally shine. The choreography was created by French dance collective (LA)HORDE, with notoriously-known drag queens Violet Chachki (winner of season seven of RuPaul's Drag Race) and Gottmik (third place in the 13th season of RuPaul's Drag Race) acting as the bosses of the club - which is the only issue I have with this music video, as these two queens do not have the best reputation and I don't understand why UK drag queens weren't used instead, or even local drag queens, as the RuPaul Drag Race UK already spans four seasons with many credible alumni who have already proven their brilliance in music videos, although special shout-out to Baby who is one of the dancers in the video and is also currently on series four of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.
The music video opens up with a couple, where the husband (played by Henry Davis) decides to attend a sex club cabaret venue instead of being beside his wife (played by Maren Bjorneseth) at a Poetry and Literature party. He drops her off, makes sure she takes his coat as it's cold, and tells her not to wait up; only in his rush, he forgot about the unopened condom wrapper with the venue, "The Body Shop", emblazoned on the front, the name of the club, which was in the coat pocket. We then watch him go into a garage where Sam Smith and Kim Petras are mechanics, but it's all a front for the cabaret show that's around the back.
Taking inspiration from The Clockwork Orange, Moulin Rouge, Madonna, Claude Cahun, Crazy Horse, Mr. Pearl, and Bob Fosse, this music video really has it all. Sam Smith is a legend for the dance spotlight they have on them with the incredible backing dancers highlighting them in every way. Their confidence and strength on stage really is bright and it's clear that Sam Smith is owning who they are and hands down their stage presence is out of this world. Sam Smith loving themselves is a total goal! Kim Petras brings it in her Madonna and Moulin Rouge moment too! This is just beyond epic!
The ending sees the husband's scandals shown publicly with a car behind him that has spray-painted words on which are "Liar", "Cheat", and "Fumier", the latter being in French which means "Manure" or as we brits would say, "Shit", or any combination of that word which the husband can definitely be described as. The wife walks into "The Body Shop" and sees this on display, but instead of letting it get to her and breaking her apart, she is liberated by the entire show and feels free to be who she is, with confidence, and so removes her coat and her wig, feeling sexually liberated.
This music video is everything I wanted it to be and more. The song is about a straight relationship where the man cheats on the wife and the music video is not just fitting, but explodes the meaning of the song and creates this awesome concept that makes me want to watch it again and again, constantly wishing it was longer, as this is something I never want to end, yet Sam Smith ends it with a fan saying "fin" - the French word for "end".
The cast includes dancers Daniel Allwell, Aleshia Williams, Emily Haygarth, BABY, Jordan Boury, Megan Charles, Novaya Shey, Samuel Mena Garcia, Pfion Vince, J’Adore La Vie, and Sakeema. There's also a lot of featured cast, including Yuri Park, Nancy Violet, Jolene, Brett Tatham, Louise Gibb, Nicholas Tredrea, Kitt Ibbott, William Darby, Lulu Kapansa, Armando, Fern G, Ego Valentino, Treasure Iyamu, Daragh Mccann, Lewis Walker, Jamie, Paddy O’Brian, Amani Hussain, Miriam Veil, and Max The Tribrid.
