This edition of LITM Pop Picks brings to you beautiful lively Nigerian pop, cinematic pop, and more. The list features artists BOYSARM, Fanny Alexandra, Susie Cousins, and more.
Boysarm - I Go Lie For You
Brimming with vibrance and the beats that will have you movin’ and groovin’ inevitably, ‘I Go Lie For You’ by Boysarm brings to your playlist the liveliness of Nigerian music. The beats are truly so magnetic, with a brightness that is simply hard to not be positively affected by. It is like the song has been produced with the intention to bring a smile upon your face. The main vocals and the background vocals adding on it, give the song a large-ness, making it sound like a celebration of love and all the good things our heart is capable of.
Fanny Alexandra - Girl in the Photograph
Taking you back to the emotional alt-pop of the 2000s, ‘Girl in the Photograph’ by Fanny Alexandra is a powerful narrative of self-reflection, of looking back and seeing the distance you have come. The instrumentation leans towards a melancholic, retrospective tone, with emotive guitars, steady drum patterns, piano progressions, and all of them take on shifts in paces to convey emotional ebbs and flows. The lyrics capture a moment of looking back, and realising that you have become someone that your younger self wanted to steer clear from, and then deciding to change your life to shape your reality as an echo of your younger self’s dreams.
Susie Cousins - Take On Me
A very different take on the timeless, classic track, ‘Take On Me’ by Susie Cousins presents a classical rendition of the track, leaning towards a deeply emotional, almost melancholic tone. The string arrangement in the song is nothing short of heavenly – it is so stunningly done. You can most definitely imagine the track playing on Bridgerton, that is how perfectly the song has perfected the classical rendition of the original. The vocals are almost haunting and definitely angelic, and make you feel like you are a part of a world that mimics that of Wuthering Heights – its gothic-ness, its allure, its intensities.
QUINTESSE feat. KARL JOSEF - On my way
Jazz elements texturing the opening electric guitar riffs, ‘On my way’ by QUINTESSE feat. KARL JOSEF is a masterful blending of two widely different musical genres, that of jazz and rock. The instrumentation explores delicateness and rawness and rigour through its genre blending approach, wherein the jazz trumpets contribute to delicate craft and the rock leaning guitars and drums capture the rawness and emotional intensities conveyed through the lyrics. The guitar and the trumpet solo sections, that come one after the other, will truly blow your mind away, because of how greatly, splendidly it is done. You must absolutely give this one a listen.
Aryn Myko - U.N.I.
Starting off in a grand, cinematic manner, ‘U.N.I.’ by Aryn Myko delves into the complexities of the mind, the heaviness it deals with – things which tend to get brushed aside considering the fast-paced nature of the current world. The instrumentation deserves every bit of your attention, because it brings together a number of layers – expansive synths, piano progressions, bringing in what can be understood as Indian influenced rhythms, guitars – to create something truly spectacular. There is a larger than life quality in the song that will transcend cultural barriers, because both in terms of music and lyrics, the song captures something truly human.
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