Jerry's Pick: "Adore"

"Adore"-Amy Shark

I'm gonna shine my little spotlight on a song I feel deserves attention, but -- like the protagonist in this confessional -- will probably just be ignored by radio here in the U.S.

Australian singer-songwriter Amy Shark's "Adore" just ain't your typical Top-40 fare; no catchy hook... no bouncy chorus. Instead, Amy offers up an introspective poem that seems to be pulled straight out of a young teen's diary. 

It's a slow, sweet, sincere, sad, brooding, coming-of-age ballad of being stuck somewhere between the hope and heartbreak of young love. Uneasy feelings of longing-from-afar which are accentuated by the wavering notes Amy carefully picks on her guitar.

"Get me a drink, I get drunk off one sip just so I can adore you/I want the entire street out of town just so I can be alone with you"

"Adore" represents those bittersweet emotions of how it feels to fall totally head-over-heels back-asswards in love with someone who barely knows you exist. Just wanting to be close. Needing to be noticed.

"All of my money is spent on these nights just so we can hang out/Squeezing in and out of these dresses/I wanna be found by you/Found by you"

The first three lines are achingly meloncholic. You can just picture this quiet, lonely, shy shoegazer in the vacinity of her secret crush relishing in any form of attention that may come her way.

"I'm just gonna walk home kicking stones at parked cars/But I had a great night 'cause you kept rubbing against my arm"

Shark explained to 13th Floor journalist Marty Duda, "'Adore' was a really, really easy song for me to write. I kind of heard exactly how I wanted it to sound the second I demoed it. It was such a beautiful song for me, and a special song to me... I just had no idea so many people would relate to it." She added, "It's kind of like a play-by-play of a night that I had... but it sounds like a lot of people had those nights."

There's even a bit of quiet possessiveness to "Adore." And although she warns others to stay clear of her man, they're just fantasies played out in her mind.

"Watch me, watch him talk to girls/I'm known as a right-hand slugger/Anybody else wanna touch my lover?"

Yeah, unrequited love is a bitch.

Jerry's Pick: "Conqueror"

"CONQUEROR"-AURORA

For us, the Aurora Borealis is a beautiful yet fascinating display of light in the Northern Latitudes.  On the other hand, Aurora Aksnes, who grew up in the Northern Latitudes, is a beautiful yet fascinating display of talent.  But this 19-year old Norwegian chanteuse (who professionally goes by just her first name) will soon shine worldwide.

I first discovered this unique talent late last year through the tracks "Running With the Wolves" and "Half the World Away" which were released shortly after signing her first recording contract in October of 2014.  To me, she seemed to be this anomalous mix of Lorde, Tori Amos and Björk.

This young blond, blue-eyed(?) singer/songwriter -- whose second language is English -- conveyed to Francine Gorman of JaJaJaOnline two-years ago, "I started when I was nine, when my life started to need it. -- Creating music is satisfying in another way, I can’t describe it. Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are both heroes of mine, and they inspired me to use music to help myself and others, and that is still my intention."

Her latest creation is called "The Conqueror" which is bright and poppy, a deep contrast to her earlier recordings which I felt were a bit dark and ethereal, even mystical (and, to me, more interesting).  Aurora's new, more mainstream sounding single is an obvious attempt to make a mark on the music charts outside her native Norway.  "This is one of the only happy songs that I have."  She added, "It's a special child."

She told iHeartRadio, "'Conqueror' is about a world is kind of falling apart around you, and you're looking for a conqueror to save you. But you're looking for the conqueror in someone else, which I think is you should not do. You should find the conqueror in yourself first, and be your own hero. If you stand strong, then you will stand for a bit longer."

Aurora possesses a beautiful voice, but I also discovered she is extremely expressive, often utilizing her arms, hands, fingers, eyes while performing her songs.  She explained, "But it is good to have my hands free and be able to move them around in my storytelling."

"The Conqueror" is the lead single from the album All My Demons Greeting Me As a Friend, due out March 11.  Aurora will also be performing a handful of dates in the States beginning with a show in Los Angeles on April 5.

You can view both "The Conqueror" and "Running With the Wolves" music videos below.

Jerry's Pick: "Sea Creatures"

“SEA CREATURES”-SOAK

Every so often your ears are treated to a sound that stands apart from the vast majority of the crap cranked-out by the star making machinery of the recording industry.

“Sea Creatures” is a song that conjures up images of a tortured, vulnerable and alienated soul dealing with unrequited love in a world that makes little sense featuring lyrics that seem to be taken straight from the pages of someone’s personal diary.  (“You don’t deserve this, and I won’t put up with their ignorance when they tell you they love you.  Well… they don’t mean it.”)

The words and music come from Bridie Monds-Watson, an 18-year old singer-songwriter-guitarist from Northern Ireland who performs under the moniker SOAK (apparently because her music falls somewhere between “soul” and “folk”).  Although the song will be part of her very first album (Before We Forgot How to Dream) due out next month, she actually wrote “Sea Creatures” at 14, an age when most of us were dealing with feelings we didn’t understand and thoughts we didn’t know how to convey.  (“I don’t know what to say… it might make you worse.”)

The wonderfully orchestrated “Sea Creatures” — most likely a metaphor for all of those people outside our bubble looking in — is painfully honest and whole-heartedly melancholy and seems to be a message of concern to someone important to her.  And that’s what good music does… conveys emotion.  But as she pointed out to The Guardian, “I am really not a dark or depressed person — I’m from a very happy family…” explaining, “I happen to write easier when I'm angry or sad, but I know from watching other musicians that you want more than that.”

Bridie is extremely charming as she doesn’t attempt to hide her Irish accent or who she really is,  and her voice is still adorably adolescent (especially while singing “…I think she’s just a fish”) which for some may seem out of sorts when dealing with observations most often considered adult.  And I give her additional bonus-points for growing-up a fan of Joni Mitchell and especially for blowing all of her first gig’s paycheck on vinyl records!

I feel this will be the start of a long musical career for BMW.  Although this teen-poet prefers to go by SOAK, I still think Bridie is much more pretty.