Lauren Aquilina – ‘Wanderlust’ Single and Music Video

After hours and hours of anticipation and excitement from Lauren’s fans, and even Lauren herself, her brand new single Wanderlust is out now, as of 12am.

This beautiful mellow track, accompanied by a fantastic music video took a whole three months to plan, not to mention the months and months of saving Lauren had to do to hire the venue.

Wanderlust is a beautiful sounding track (and the sound in the music video is live recorded, I should add), which is filled from corner to corner with emotion, as one would only expect from Lauren Aquilina. Over four minutes of flawless piano leading Lauren’s extremely powerful vocals which pour out real, honest lyrics, combined with the fact that all profits go to such an extraordinary charity- what more could we ask of this young inspiration?

Filmed between 11pm and 3am, this music video is filled with grace and goes hand in hand with the melody of the track beautifully. The extremely intricate, complex lyrics we see in Lauren’s songs shines in this fantastically written track, and definitely stands out as one of her most mature sounding.

Following her extremely successful release with Fools EP, there’s clearly a great level of consistency in Lauren’s songwriting, and she’ll just grow and grow in the industry.

Follow Lauren on Twitter & Facebook.

You can download the single for free (donations are accepted and greatly encouraged) HERE. All proceeds go to Comic Relief.

Watch the music video here:

Review: Tom Mitchell – ‘Ruthless Thing’ EP

Bristol based singer/songwriter, Tom Mitchell has recently branched out to take on a solo career, having been involved in bands since the age of 15, and of course having played guitar for Duffy in 2006 and 2007.

To begin this solo career, Tom has just released his debut EP, entitled Ruthless Thing. With influences reflecting off the likes of Mark Knopfler, this EP was always destined to have a beautifully delicate sounding guitar to support soft vocals, which execute The Kinks and BellX1 influenced writing styles.

This EP begins with the title track, pouring upbeat guitar melodies into a mix of quiet, soft vocals and ultimately creating a mature folk-y slant on a generic acoustic genre. With a satisfactory introduction complete, the music flows into a more deep, complex song- Only Partly There, displaying a sweet sounding guitar picking pattern. Being used to harmony-based vocals, the harmonies, although relatively subtle, shine in this song.

Almost completing a full circle in terms of guitar pieces, we are directed from an upbeat beginning in Ruthless Thing, then toning down to less strumming and more complex sounds, to lifting back up in the final track- He Forgot To Check His Heart At The Door.

Ruthless Thing EP is an extremely easy-to-listen-to EP. A man and a guitar is essentially what would appear at the fore; but the lyrical substance of each track is something that Mr. Mitchell should be acclaimed for.

Find out more about Tom on his website.

You can download ‘Ruthless Thing’ EP HERE.

Don’t forget to follow Tom on Twitter & Facebook to keep up to date with his music.

Review: Shauna Mackin – ‘Rita’

Following her debut EP Little Blue, Shauna has recently released her latest single- Rita.

Kicking off with a rustic, booming guitar piece, giving off the essence of a slight Ryan Sheridan vibe, this track immediately registers with enthusiasm and life. When Shauna’s voice appears through the surface slowly, lowering the volume of the thundering instruments for a short verse, we’re reminded of what’s so special about this artist. This uniquely soulful voice, which was almost calming in previous tracks, is fantastically uplifting and motivating when given the task of competing with this incredible abundance of noises- in the best way possible!

All this power and energy is pulled together excellently throughout this song, and in one beautiful finish, the eletric guitars have an absolute field day reaching their highest possible pitch, and are gently lowered and silenced by a set of almost whispering vocals, that could only be Shauna Mackin.

All in all, Rita is a fantastic song, beautifully written, and wonderfully executed… But even better- it is also accompanied by an extremely impressive music video. Check it out here:

Review: Bastille- 'Bad Blood' Album

Following very successful single releases, including one of their most acclaimed songs, Flaws, and the latest, Pompeii, Bastille's debut album is finally set for release on March 4th, eagerly anticipated by their rapidly growing fan base. I'm sure for Dan Smith, it feels like this debut album has been a long time coming; having travelled from being a one-man band to the frontman of what is looking likely to be the "next big thing" in the music scene.