Albums of the Season: Teen Queens

It's starting to get cold and chilly. People are bringing out their mugs filled with hot coco or tea. Sweaters are being worn. It's that time of the year!

(Didn't even realize that they were both black and white. Coolbeans.)

For the past month (or has it been two months?), I've been hooked on both Birdy's latest album, Fire Within and Lorde's debut album, Pure Heroine. These two have been topping the charts with their fantastical albums and I just wanted to share them with you.

Note: This will be a fairly lengthy post because I haven't posted in a while. Have fun!

Now, the only reason why I've been putting off this post is due to the fact that I've been having my quarterly examinations. How I hate school. ☺ But enough of that crapola! To the actual content of this post!

Let's start with Birdy. Birdy, as you all know (or as you all most probably know), is an extremely talented young girl whose first album was a compilation of all her unique covers of amazing songs. This time, though, she has written her own songs and they are absolutely superb. Here's the list (my opinions included):

1. Wings - This album's most popular song. The first time I heard it, I was just so happy because I got home from a long day at school and opened Youtube and it was the first thing I saw. It was posted like 38 seconds before I saw it and I was able to comment really quickly and my comment got tons of likes. I just love this song.
2. Heart of Gold - I feel like a newborn bird, about to take its first try at flying. Get ready to emote every time you hear this song.
3. Light Me Up - This kind of reminds me of Fleetwood Mac, which makes sense because Birdy did say that she liked their album, Rumours a lot. I really like this track because it's such a fist-pumping, foot-stomping song but at the same time, its main idea is pretty much about love. "You light me up when all I see is darkness."
4. Words As Weapons -  This song will make you feel like you're on a long roadtrip. I absolutely love songs that give me that feeling. Especially when I actually am on a roadtrip and I'm just looking out the window, admiring all the things passing me by. I just want to breathe in and out some fresh air and explore the world. The song, of course, has a completely different meaning from how I feel when I hear it. Go listen to it. It's really nice.
5. All You Never Say - Birdy actually has a lyric video for this song. It's the kind of song you have to sing with your heart, you know? That's how I feel, anyway.
6. Strange Birds - One of the "gloomier" tracks. It kind of has a haunting vibe that makes you want to run in a forest, as if you're being chased down by a shadow that you can't understand. (I hope that makes sense.) It makes you want to hide behind the dark trees, dead leaves all over the ground. I think this song would make for a very good music video.
7. Maybe - This song gets me every time, with its positivity and cheerfulness. It's a happy song that gets me bobbing my head and shoulders from side to side. It really makes me smile. And that's kind of rare. The lyrics tell you how it makes me feel: "We could be doing anything that you dream of."
8. No Angel - I like to sing this song with my eyes closed and tapping my chest. I don't know. I'm weird like that. But yes, another one of those songs that ~kind of~ make me want to fly. But she says that she's not an angel so no flying, I guess.
9. All About You - I actually first heard this song in its acoustic version and I loved it. I really like the message of the song. I like how her intentions are nice but she says it in such a frank way. Kind of reminds me of myself (hah).
10. Standing in the Way of the Light - Birdy just likes to make you feel good, doesn't she? Because this makes me feel great. I'm actually close to tears when I try to sing this song.
11. Shine - This motivates me to...shine. HAH, I'm not kidding, though. It actually makes me want to better my life. Is that weird? The way she sings the word "shine" draws me to my monitor, like Birdy was right there, singing it to me.
12. The Same - If I knew how to play a guitar, I'd be strumming along to this by now. Unfortunately, all I play is the ukulele and it isn't quite the same. Now, this song makes me want to stand up for my rights. I don't know, does that make sense?
13. Dream - Dream. Just dream. Amazing. Wonderful. Magnificent. Yes.
14. Older - This was one of the first songs from this album that I first listened to and may I just say how uplifting it is? Because it is. It makes me want to dance with someone on a field of flowers. When I say dance, I mean in the way that Harry and Hermione did in Deathly Hallows Part 1 (or was that Part 2 already?). 
15. Home - Ah, we're at the end of the album! Quite intense a song but absolutely lovely.

Oh, looky! It's Lorde's turn. Lorde, like Birdy, is also a very young and very talented girl. She is also from New Zealand. Some people actually compare her to Birdy but they're quite different. Some say that she's the "hip hop version of Birdy" or "Birdy with more swag" or something to that effect. Lorde said herself that she likes to listen to rap music in order to feel cool. She's just like most teens, just successful. (I'm not making you ((or myself)) feel bad about ourselves. I just wanted to make that clear.)

1. Tennis Court - The very start of this song caught my eye ears. I relate with it a lot and I enjoy it so much. Don't you think it's boring how people talk? Yes, Lorde. Yes, I do. (How ironic, Meg. You're talking right now. And a lot, at that. Tsk.)
2. 400 Lux - This song has a very catchy beat and it makes you want to bob along every time you hear it. This is such a teen-y, love-y song but you won't realize it until you listen to the lyrics. I have a fun time every time I hear this track.
3. Royals - Probably the song of the year? Everyone is singing it. Even my parents sing it. My sister is blaming me for it being stuck in her head. *shrugs* Lorde's fault, not mine.
4. Ribs - Fairly fast-paced song that makes you think. I think. If I knew what parties were like - because I don't - I'd say this would be a pretty good song to dance to. Especially the parties with the flashing lights, all a bunch of different colors, everyone just a blur during the chorus. During the verses, everyone's just kind of pumping up their hands and kind of jumping.
5. Buzzcut Season - The start of this song reminds me of The XX. Lovely. Very nice. Very cool. Very calm. Strangely enough, I find this quite danceable.
6. Team - One of my favourites. The intro of the song just makes me feel like Egyptian royalty, gold jewelry around my neck and arms and all. The rest of the song, however, makes me feel like a teen just having a good time.
7. Glory and Gore - THIS SONG. So it was our intramurals (SportsFest, whatever) recently and I thought this would be a perfect song for the occasion. "You could try and take us but we're the gladiators...Glory and gore go hand in hand." I was ready to kill it, even if I wasn't a player.
8. Still Sane - I have decided to sing this song on my birthday. Yep.
9. White Teeth Teens - The first song I fell in love with in the album. It makes me feel like one of those creepy girls who has a twin that whenever they say something, they say it...in unison. It's a strange thing to feel like but I kind of like feeling that way. Weird, I know. Fun, though.
10. A World Alone - Last song on the album. It starts of slow but gets faster, like most of her songs, actually. Again, if I went to parties, I'd love to hear this and dance to it. Great track.

Wowza. That was a lot.

Please don't hesitate to buy these albums because you will not regret it. Trust me.

Enjoy the music and enjoy the weather!