Music Corner – Issue 5
“Celebrating America,” hosted by beloved actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks, was a star-studded inauguration concert with much-needed themes of unity and hope. The virtual event featured artists like Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and Katy Perry, all of whom gave heartfelt performances of timely songs. With renditions of songs like “Seasons Of Love” from the soundtrack of RENT and “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” by The 5th Dimension, the event was the perfect uplifting start to Biden’s administration.
Two days before Taylor Swift’s 31st birthday, she gave the world the gift of a surprise album. On December 11th, “evermore” was dropped as Swift’s ninth studio album, the sister album to “folklore,” which was released just five months before. “evermore” follows “folklore’s” indie-pop vibe. If there’s one word that describes her entire album perfectly, it would be angelic. Almost every song has this ethereal feeling that Swift manages to put into music. My personal favorite is “champagne problems,” a story of acceptance and moving on. It has beautiful acoustic guitar and piano doing just the minimum yet guiding the entire song. As a matter of fact, almost all of this album has simple instrumental in the back. Swift also uses extra voices that contribute to the angelic feeling. I especially liked “gold rush,” because the beginning is so soft and calming. The only song I did not like was “no body, no crime” featuring HAIM; it has a country vibe to it, similar to old Taylor Swift songs and to me, it felt as if she was taking a step backwards.
