She started off with her vocals echoing throughout the auditorium, the Englert Theatre being the perfect place for her performance. It is a seated auditorium and nuanced in a way that was fitting for Squirrel Flowers’ setlist. Being a rockstar can be overwhelming, no rockstar is abstaining from using any kind of drugs, well, you are not a rockstar and you are not on top of the world yet if you are not passing a drug test at work, there are products like gummies that will make you pass the test as if nothing happened.

All of her songs were very melodic, with mostly simple guitar riffs. It highlighted her beautiful vocals, that were angelic sounding with the added echo effect.

Her demeanor was sweet as she played through her music, mostly featuring songs that are on her new album, Contact Sports.

Halfway through her setlist, she welcomed her band onto the stage, fellow Grinnell College students who played bass and drums. I really like the rounded sound they got with the whole band. It added more dimension to the songs.

There was almost a storyline, where Squirrel Flower would start off with just her guitar and commanding voice, then lead into a buildup of sound that featured the bass and drums.

They always ended like the beginning, though, leading back into a soft vocal ending that showed you the meaning of these stories.

Some of my favorite songs played were: “Conditions”, “Not Your Prey”, “Daylight Savings”, and “Heavy”; All on her album Contact Sports. 

I think my favorite part of her performance, other than her inevitable incredible talent at singing, was the emotion conveyed in every line and note of her songs.

When she held out a note as she sung, and her guitar and vocals echoed, I felt like crying. The emotion sparked empathy in the audience where they were taken right into her shoes and could relate fully to her music.

Here is a live example of her sound:

I really appreciate the loud importance she wanted to display through the simplicity of her setlist.

She has a lot of musical talent that helps her get across her life and feelings through that act of art.

I highly recommend taking a listen to her music and also consider finding a way to see her live so you can feel that nostalgic, bittersweet emotion she portrays so well.

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Hot Tang and Younger opened up for Current Joys. They both featured female vocalists and had unique sounds. Hot Tang seemed to be influenced a lot by an indie band I am very familiar with, Frankie Cosmos.

Younger had a very great and original sound, mixing complicated, fast-paced bass riffs with sweet harmonies between the women of the band.

It was 10:30 when Current Joys started on stage. Along with Nick Rattigan, the front-runner, there was a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist. I could tell I liked their energy just as soundcheck started. I had only known two songs by them while going to the concert. I knew I liked their sound, but I didn’t know all their music, which kept me with a fresher ear. I snaked a spot in the front row, observing the band and the crowd.

As they started off with the song “Become the Warm Jets”, which starts off their album, A Different Age. Nick sang acapella, which lead to a soft guitar sound. The one thing I noticed throughout the night was how much passion he put into his music. His body would physically move with the music and seeing this made you feel more apart of the sound.

I caught some of the songs below they played live: “Desire”, “My Blueberry Life”, “Kids”, “My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days”. These songs were a mix of soft, melodic, slow sounds and upbeat, loud, energetic sounds; which all were equally entertaining and enjoyable.

I literally liked every song they played and I could tell the crowd did too. There were a few fans in the front who were dancing and swaying, clearly very into the music. The girl next to me would egg me along with her as we danced to the music. Only the front few rows were dancing though, the farther back the more stoically the crowd stood.

The best part of the show was watching the energy Current Joys gave off, then simultaneously seeing the crowd eat it up. Nick was so into it, his feet and body didn’t stay still the whole of the 30-minute-long setlist. The only member who was a lot more peaceful and chill was the girl playing the keyboard. She stayed still the whole time and I found the contrast very interesting. She didn’t seem any less into the music and the art of performing, she simply just faced it differently with an overall calmness, while her band members shook and shimmied to the music.

Coming out of this show I gained a new favorite band. Their sound is very well-rounded and enters many different categories. They played wonderfully live and were well mixed. Not once did I cringe at bad musicianship and I honestly held trust in their musicality, it shone through the inevitable passion of their performance.

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demands recognition. This mood encapsulates women who are unapologetically themselves, whether that be a leather jacket wearing rockstar or not. These songs just make you want to walk around like you are the coolest person in the room. You will want to start a girl band, even if you are not a girl.On Spotify, my playlist is all women singers and musicians giving you a mix of songs that will make you feel like a nasty, kickass woman. I picked one song for lyrics, sound, and overall feeling.

Lyrics

“Blood in the Cut” by K.Flay tells a story of a woman who just wants to feel something more.

Guess I’m contagious it’d be safest if you ran
Fuck that’s what they all just end up doing in the end
Take my car and paint it black
Take my arm, break it in half
Say something, do it soon
It’s too quiet in this room

Sound

“Crown on the Ground” by Sleigh Bells is an overproduced marvel of badassery. The bass is overpowered and the guitar rings with authority. Also, it just can’t help but make you want to dance. The whole song has a constant beat that is so

loudly produced, it sounds like the speaker is blown–but with that being said, it works so perfectly for the song. It is effortlessly cool. The singing is probably the quietest part of the overall sound, but it is a nice opposing feature. The lead singers’ voice, Alexis Krauss is soft and sweet blending in with the mash-up of the hardcore music. Take a listen and I guarantee that you will want to dance, but want to dance like you’re the most important person in the room.

Overall Feeling

“Your Loves Whore” by Wolf Alice is a more subtle sound, but amazing all the same. The front-runner of Wolf Alice, Ellie Rowsell, defines a nasty, talented woman with things to say through her music.

Watch the song being played in a live session for NME.

The overall feeling of this song is a satisfying build-up of emotion and important, rounded-out sound.

And when we grow older
We’ll still be friends
We’ll still be lovers
And won’t fear the end

These lyrics are written to highlight a love, saying that with time, friends or lovers, there won’t be an end to the love.

I let your love tease me
Now I am your love’s whore
Keeps me hardly breathing
But I could only love you more

Rowsell is not afraid to show emotion about this person, it makes her human. Expressing it through music (or art of any kind) is my favorite way to show strength and contribution to the world.

I have a great appreciation for the amount of feeling put into this song. You can feel her emotion through her voice as she sings. The music itself crescendos from just a drum beat to a loud and important sound as the ending closes in. The music is obviously just as important as being shown through great rhythms in each instrument; the highlighted beginning intro does not lead to the lyrics until a minute and a half into the song. But, the music is just as intriguing and makes you feel that something important is coming.

There are so many songs I wanted to include in this Mood Ring and it was hard to narrow it down. There are endless amazing, talented women making great music. I am positive my playlist will keep growing with each day and each time I listen I will start to feel about half as badass as them.

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Through a new Spotify Playlist, I am putting together songs that evoke Springtime, representing growth and new beginnings–whether through the lyrics, sound, or overall feeling. It may seem odd to try to relate songs to a season, but sometimes you hear a song and you just think–Spring! The music itself can just feel like “growth”, “renewal” or “peace” (or any words that stereotypically describe springtime).

Lyrics 

“Outskirts of Paradise” by Bad Suns has a hint of summer fluttered throughout the song, even the title hints at the idea.

Rolled down the window now
I’ve lost my way within this town
The tranquil glow of the song I know, it guides me
I’m stuck in strip mall times
The mood swings under porcelain skies

As I hear the first verse I can imagine the moments. It is one of the first days that the weather is warm enough to roll down the window as you drive home from school. You are used to this town and you’ve seen it change throughout the seasons your whole life, that’s how you know it is finally Spring. It is a feeling of consistency, but at the same time– change.

The mood swings under porcelain skies is a great line that represents the mood swings of people (in my storyline, a teenager fresh out of school), but it also relates to the weather in this lyric. The porcelain skies and mood swings go together and remind me of Spring’s rain and shine.

Sound 

“Open Your Eyes” by STRFKR sounds like springtime. It has a slow beginning rising up with the season. The whole song crescendos into a sort of calm upbeat rhythm. The consistent flow of the guitar riff sounds like a progression of time and mirrors the rebirth of the season. Joshua Hodges, the vocalist, has a smooth voice, singing throughout with ease and a calm reassurance of optimism.

Watch the music video to here this great song and see an awesome video!

Overall Feeling

“Morning” by Beck defines spring more than anything else to me. The lyrics and the sound all come together perfectly, making you feel reborn and fresh with the turn of the season. The lyrics:

Woke up this morning
Found a love light in the storm
Looked up this morning
Saw the roses full of thorns
Mountains are falling
They don’t have nowhere to go
Oceans of diamond
Always shines from your glow

These lyrics sound like poetry and describe a gaze out into nature. Found a love light in the storm; Saw the roses full of thorns; Mountains are falling, each of these words create concrete imagery of nature: the mountains, roses, and storm. Though, it isn’t necessarily about just that.

I read the lyrics as a love poem, the singer waking up next to the person they love. It feels natural and new, but peaceful, Spring in a metaphor.

The sound is exactly how I imagine Springtime. It starts off subtle, with the strumming of the guitar, then more and more melody gets added in.

Soon Beck’s voice, angelic as ever, comes in. It feels like a peaceful renewal; a new beginning where there is little worry. The song goes in and out of oscillating volume, switching from a hypnotic chorus back to the calm and consistent melody of the keyboard. It reflects the change of weather as
spring rolls in.

It is important in my mind to set moments with songs, and explaining the connection is forever intoxicatingly challenging. The warm days are on their way through, rain and bloom is beginning. Spring is back again.

The post Mood Ring: Spring appeared first on KRUI Radio.

carry a feeling along with it. I think finding songs to fit those moods can create your own personal story. There is a playlist waiting to be made for every occasion.

With February-a month dedicated to love-coming to a close, I wanted to start this Mood Ring off with falling in love. More specifically, love at first sight. You see it in movies and read about it in books though it can feel too dreamy to be real. With an ever-growing Spotify playlist highlighting these love swept songs, I wanted to include songs that captured the mood of love at first sight with lyrics, sound, and overall feeling. 

Lyrics

There are endless songs that are about love, let alone love at first sight. From the cluster of songs my playlist, I picked “Wake me” by Bleachers.  It is an example of lyrics pertaining to the mood of love at first sight. The overall song sounds happy and makes you want to fall in love. The lyrics being stated show an instant connection:

Sound

“Sparks” by Coldplay sounds like love at first sight. It is sweet and slow, flowing through the song perfectly. I can imagine the moment the two pair of eyes meet. It sounds like a soft sway as the couple introduce themselves. Even the tone of Chris Martin’s voice is smooth and inviting, making you smile coyly as you listen. 

The Overall Feeling

“Falling Slowly” written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová is already apart of a love story. Once dir. by John Carney is a movie about two people meeting and falling in love. This song is featured in the film and is the perfect overall feeling for the Mood Ring. It is a duet with lyrics that fit the theme of love at first sight:

I don’t know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can’t react

The music itself portrays a sound that is simple and collaborative, as the two musicians play off of each other. It sounds homemade and unrehearsed, which adds to the rawness of falling in love. Since “Falling Slowly” was written for a romance movie, it is really perfect for the feeling,   as we create our own stories to go with each song.

All in all, it is fun and fullfilling to fit songs with moods. It tells a unique story and helps you embrace the feelings of the moment. I like to lose myself in music and having specific feelings to get lost in is all part of the fun.

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