there was a fire! (metaphorically) be there in five! (hyperbolically)

Paramore THIS IS WHY

Paramore- You First

The Death of Caesar – Jean-Léon Gérôme // You First - Paramore

version two

Happy Ides of March! 🗡

you say the coast is clear but you won't catch me out

1 YEAR OF 2X GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM THIS IS WHY

This Is Why by Paramore

paramore rant time because this one thing about the news has been stewing in my brain since it came out

for a while i couldn't tell if hayley was singing turn off the news twice or if it was "turn on, turn off the news" and because i know it's the second one now i really get how it connects to the rest of the song

the lyric "But I worry and I give money and I feel useless behind this computer and that's just barely scratched the surface of my mind" reminds me of this

and just. the urge to turn on your computer and donate to and try to help causes that people are talking about but you still feel like you're not really doing anything and you keep turning the news on but you have to shut it off because too much is happening all the time and it's weighing on you and makes you feel like no matter how much you do it could never be enough because new things will pop up into perpetuity

turn off the news

My top 5 albums/eps for 2023

So it has come to the end of the year again, and despite now having been burnt twice doing this list before the last day of December only to listen to albums that should have made them within the year (Evermore and SOS, you will always be famous lmao), I'm ready to put out my top 5 albums/EPs that were released in 2023. And before anyone asks, no, rerecordings do not count and will not be considered for this list (sorry Taylor and Demi), same with deluxe versions (sorry Noah). So without further adieu, here are my top 5 albums/EPs for 2023.

5. The Age of Pleasure – Janelle Monae.

Following up Dirty Computer was always going to be a challenge. For those who haven't listened to Dirty Computer, I would literally call it one of the best albums of all time. And, at least for me, there's been a pattern with all artists where once they release an album I adore, I tend not to like the next one. But Janelle well and truly rose to the occasion. Much like Dirty Computer, I felt like I was transported to a different time and place listening to The Age of Pleasure. Each song is strong on it's own yet works so well together but are all different and distinguished enough to be memorable. Unfortunately I feel like as a whole this album did not get the hype that it deserved, but I am hoping that its AOTY grammy nomination will help give it that chance for more people to listen to it. All in all, the only, very subjective, reason that this album was not higher is because it's personally not relatable to me, and that's a major reason I listen to music. Like I said though, that is very subjective, and not at all a comment about its quality.

Favourite Song: Champagne Shit.

4. Guts – Olivia Rodrigo.

I'm just going to say it upfront, this album was too hated on just because it wasn't Sour and over weirdo rumours. Like do I think it'll be my favourite album of all time? No. But neither was Sour and Guts does just a good a job at being the perfect teenage album. And I say that in the most affectionate light because I think it is an art to capture an age like that. At the current time, Sour and Guts flip flop as my favourite Olivia project, and realistically, had I had Guts when I was closer to Olivia's age (rather than nearly a decade older), I think Guts would have taken the cake easily. It's relatable and unfortunately still socially relevant given its topics of age gaps in relationships, the way the music industry treats young female artists, and the guilt and shame that come from both of those. Likewise, its commentary on honesty about who you are and what you feel compared to what others want (extending as far as into the bonus track Scared of My Guitar) is a relatable and interesting theme throughout the album. As a whole, Olivia well and truly defied the sophomore album dip for me and I cannot wait to see what she does in the future (hopefully including an Australian tour lmao).

Favourite Song: The Grudge.

3. The Good Witch – Maisie Peters.

I'll say it outright, if this had come out in 2018/2019 (when I was 22 to 24 years old), it would have well and truly been my number one pick of the year and probably joined the ranks of albums like RED and Melodrama that define the year they were released for me just by being released right when I needed them. Even now with the distance of several years, I still think of the same person I would have then when listening to most of the songs on this album; I just get the benefit of being able to laugh along to the songs rather than be sad. Admittedly, it took a few listens, both with the standard and deluxe version to fully feel this album as a cohesive project (ironically You Signed Up For This, Maisie's first [non soundtrack] album, was too sonically cohesive for me to the point I prefer to listen to the songs on their own and The Good Witch initially felt not sonically cohesive enough), but once it hit, it hit. I remember my first listen and hearing There It Goes for the first time and having a quiet moment of judgement thinking that the wrong song was picked for the closer because how was it going to top There It Goes as a statement piece for the album... I was quickly proven wrong as History of Man started to play and I realised that not only was this the perfect closer, but objectively one of the best songs I've ever heard. So yes, as a whole, I think she made the right choices in terms of tracklist order and what was left on the deluxe. Additionally, jokingly I am grateful that we didn't have “you had a phone, you should have called” in 2018, for I would have acted irrationally lmao. Overall, after having seen Maisie live in February, this was one of my most anticipated albums of the year, and much like Olivia, Maisie has well and truly defied the sophomore album dip for me and I can see myself loving this album for years to come.

Favourite Song: There It Goes

2. This Is Why – Paramore.

Over the years, I've had a very up and down relationship with Paramore. I loved their earlier work, fell off with (read: only liked a few songs per album) their self titled album and never fully made my way back to them... until now. To me (and I believe the intent of the album was), this album is like the encompassment of being alive in 2023. It's tired, it's angry, it holds back and even resents “positive” emotion at times, but ultimately it is just very human and reflective of where the world is right now. Of all of my choices this year, This Is Why is absolutely the album that is most relatable to myself in this current moment. And, having a year where I came back to pop rock music in general, this album just came at an absolutely ideal time for me. Overall, it is the album I feel has the most potential for me to look back on and be like “yeah, this was 2023 for me”, and for that alone, it has earned its spot on my ranking. My only regret is that I unfortunately did not get to see this album played live on tour due to other things going on in my life... almost as if I ran out of time (pun intended).

Favourite song: Running Out Of Time.

Rolling Up The Welcome Mat – Kelsea Ballerini.

So some of you may have realised the title of this post is my top 5 albums AND EPS and have realised that there is a direct lack of extended plays spoken about so far. Well surprise! Before this year, the only Kelsea song I had heard was The Other Girl featuring Halsey, but she's someone who I have wanted to listen to for a while. So when I heard that she was releasing an extended play, I jumped straight in and fell in love. I've never been through a divorce, but the emotions and grief of losing a relationship (romantic or otherwise) that you feel you fought so hard to grasp onto despite knowing it wasn't working and feeling like the other person wasn't trying resonated so deeply with me. And much like The Good Witch, I think if I had had this ep in 2018, it would have been the album I felt sad to, and honestly? To a point where I may have avoided it because it hit too close to home. But instead, all of its tracks were my top streamed tracks with nothing breaking them up. Overall it is an exemplary, relatable piece of work to which my only complaint is that I cannot buy it on CD (sorry, not much of a streamer) and while I haven't had a chance to go listen to Kelsea's other stuff (sorry it's been a busy year), I cannot wait to see what else she has in store, both in her past discography and future projects.

Favourite song: Genuinely all of them, but if you're going to put a gun to my head, Mountain With A View.

i dont leave the house

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

Saint Agatha - Andrea Vaccaro // Lucretia - Guido Reni // Saint Catherine of Alexandria - Caravaggio // You First - Paramore

i can't wait to memorize this day

new paramore album really says 'uhoh girlies its regression time' huh