#frankie talks music

[frankieunscripted]

Lahai by Sampha (2023)

I stormed into my Mom's room, screaming "MAMA, SAMPHA JUST DROPPED, LISTEN TO HIS DIVINE VOICE, DOESN'T IT MAKE YOU WANNA SCREAM!?!??!" and she just stared at me in confusion, asking who Sampha even was. If you don't know, go check out my first Music Monday Post about his debut album Process. I distinctly remember hearing Spirit 2.0 and Only as singles that came out during the album roll out and being so mega hyped about the new Sampha-Project. We waited 2450 days for this since Process. And then it dropped. By the heavens did I scream. I had just begun studying at uni, everything was so new (and kind of intimidating, I'm not even gonna lie) - Sampha reaching out with something new, but still so familiar was a real gift.

I'll be including some of my impressions from my first listening session of the album for each song, because I actually wrote these down back in October 2023. Can I just say: Album cover art? Check. Soft sounds? Check. Angelic voice? Check. Smooth, mellow vibes? Absolutely.

Stereo Colour Cloud (Shaman's Dream): Wow. I'm immediately in Sampha's world. Nice percussion and bass combo! Just vibey, dreamy and delicate. I love that!

Spirit 2.0: Nice, dreamy single. Still great after a few months.

Dancing Circles: It feels uneasy and playful, but still so calming and fragile.

Suspended: aka What It Feels Like To Listen To Sampha. Just exactly out of space, so nice! And really showing off his vocals.

Satellite Business: This track fits perfectly after Suspended, as a little interlude, but with a small switch up.

Jonathan L. Seagull: It's giving school choir (which is something I personally dislike in music, I don't like kids' voices for some reason), but it's still very floaty. I love what the piano is doing in the intro.

Inclination Compass (Tenderness): ahhhh, so good! It's so slow and tender (oh yeah? It literally says in the title, duh). It sounds fragile and so intimate. I'm usually not a fan of love songs, but this one just feels like you're with someone; there's so much stuff, emotion, feels in this song. And boy, when these soft drums set in in the second half!!!!

Only: Still love it after listening to it so many times during the rollout. I think it's quite energetic compared to the previous track and I like that dynamic.

Time Piece: cute little french interlude.

Can't Go Back: It's Sampha, it's good. I feel like this is one of these songs on which Sampha really shows what he can do with his vocals. It does get kinda repetitive after a while though.

Evidence: Angelic vocals as always and there's a nice beat switch at the end.

Wave Therapy: Instant playlist maker, even though it's just a little vibey-dangley interlude

What If You Hypnotise Me?: Bro, I was enamored after just 20 seconds. How fucking beautiful is a song allowed to be? Delicate piano and Sampha's voice. I remember slouching back and closing my eyes on this one the first time. It just fully encompassed my head for a while.

Rose Tint: "Everybody gather round", Sampha dropped a new album. This is such a nice closer. I would've expected more of an "illunimation moment" for the end of the project, but I ain't gon lie, I was gasping for air and had heart palpitations the first time - can you tell I'm a fan and have been WAITING for this album?!?

Again, with a runtime of about 40 minutes, Lahai is a "light meal" album - not too much to go through in one single sitting, just as Process. Most of these songs are my "early morning trip to downtown uni in the winter" soundtrack. I listened to this album so much in the background and on the subway already, it's crazy to actually sit back down and embrace all of the music consciously again. You should listen to this if you liked Process. If you didn't like Process, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you (sarcasm), but you should still listen to Lahai.

Thanks for reading this far!

I made a playlist including all the music I talk about on Music Monday, which I'll regularly update with each drop. Here's a link to it:

So yeah, let me know what you think about Music Monday and the music featured on it so far.

[frankiesweird]

random thought: River Phoenix kinda looks like a mix of Jason Dean (Heathers) and Kurt Cobain

(When he has the short hair he look more like JD)

[moonchild-in-blue]

What if the sky and the stars are for show And the aliens are watching live From the purple matter? Sensei went quiet then violent We sparred until we both grew tired Nothing mattered Cotton candy, Majin Buu, oh, oh, oh, oh Dim the lights and fall into you, you, you, ooh My God, giving me pleasure Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure Pleasure over matter

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for October 24, 2015; #97.

Feelies, The “Forces At Work”

DIIV “Dopamine”

Fergus & Geronimo “Earthling Men”

Miniature Tigers “Dino Damage”

Wesley Willis “Shonen Knife”

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone “Lesley Gore On The T.A.M.I. Show (VER)

They Might Be Giants “Birdhouse In Your Soul”

Hooded Fang “Ode To Subterrania”

Brittle Stars “Souvenir”

Nervous Patterns “Your Secret’s Safe With Me (Story Of The Fred P. Gattas Girl)”

Velvet Underground “I’m Waiting For The Man”

Eric Copeland “Babes In The Woods”

Nude Beach “Hey Little Child”

Quintron “Dirt Bag Fever”

La Dispute “Six”

Looper “Farfisa Song”

Battles “The Yabba”

Frankie Cosmos “Birthday Song”

Chicks On Speed “Kaltes Klares Wasser”

ADULT. “Nite Life”

Devo “Too Much Paranoias”

Deerhunter “Snakeskin”

Future Punx “Ahead Of Yourself”

Talking Heads “The Great Curve”

Ex Cops “You Are A Lion, I Am A Lamb”

Mynabirds, The “Semantics”

Of Montreal “She’s A Rejector”

Lotus Plaza “White Galactic One”

St. Vincent “Marrow”

!!! “Pardon My Freedom”

William Onyeabor “Good Name”

Deluxe rainbow and indie.

[quaggyday]

Choosing mitski songs for the strawhats

Tw for the strawhats in general I guess, just in case (Also going in backwards order)

Jimbei: A horse named cold air

I think the lyrics and the slow pace of the song fit him. The idea he started out as a brash fast paced horse who ran like a storm fit his more brash personality when he was on Fisher tigers ship. The line "A pond with no fish" could also represent the suffering his people have gone through. The sin could be the mistakes he's made and Jimbei having to accept them and understand the next step he should take as a pirate.

Brook: A burning hill

The piano and the entire song is about grief are what do it for me. Brook knowing he had to watch then live with the sorrow of his crews death and being everything about it at once, the lost and the found- the watcher and the being. But he decides to still be clean and walk out and enjoy life because its what he can do and its what he will do for his friends and for Laboon.

Franky: Why didn't you stop me?

The first verse gives off the impression of Franky himself asking why he ended his dreams, why he didn't stop to think about the consequences of his creations. The electric guitar and the empty spaces of music also leave room for Franky not needing to repeat what he knows about himself. The second verse could be either him or Iceburg trying to talk to each other and finding it hard to understand who they are- brothers or enemies. Paint it over also reminds me of Franky trying to paint a new version of himself or paint the Sunny for his dream.

Nico Robin: First love/Late Spring

First love is simply Robin's first time since Ohara being able to love, and Late Spring is how late its come. Crying like a tall child is similar to her epithet of devil child and her unresolved trauma. She hopes and hurries that the strawhats can leave her because their love is so much, so new- its too much for her to hold all at once. She had to behave far older then she was as a child and going home is something she doesn't want if it means harming her family. One word from the government will be the decider of what she does, but the straw hats words are what make her stay with them.

[hauntingblue]

Inept 8 year old boy dragon tries to save floating island is such a concept

[thetisming]

.

[concerto-roblox]

i haven't been active in the six fandom for a hot minute and just saw vicki manser is engaged to frankie south (uk tour maggie) and now i'm thinking back in the 2019 pride takeover on the six instagram where courtney stapleton was like "nah vicki's not lgbt but she's an honorary member :)" and i'm giggling bc six really was a sapphic factory huh

[frankieunscripted]

Process by Sampha (2017)

Welcome to the first (actual) "Music Monday" post on this blog. Today I want to talk to you about Sampha's debut album Process because his voice is probably the most angelic I've ever heard - and I decided that YOU need that in YOUR lives. Since many of you who stumbled upon this blog are familiar with a few things in hiphop, you might recognize his voice from different rappers' songs like Kendrick Lamar's Father Time (I could cry everytime someone puts this on) and the later released I'm Better (which was scrapped off of the album, but is SUCH a bop), Drake's The Motion and 4422 (which of course are only worthy to listen to because of Sampha, because Drake does jack-shit on these tracks - what else is new?) or Kanye West's Saint Pablo. Sampha was also featured (for three whole lines, I'm so mad) on Travis Scott's MY EYES and did not get mentioned in the song's title (same goes for Kanye and Drake) which frankly PISSES ME OFF, because his voice has such a big recognition value, of course I can tell it's Sampha. Just tell me from the start! Speaking of features though, for those of you who are more into Dance/Electronic rather than RnB/Soul, you should listen to SBTRKT (who kinda introduced me to Sampha), as Sampha features on a shit ton of SBTRKT's songs.

Anyway, about the album itself:

Plastic 100°C has to be my favorite off the album - it's such an atmospheric, dreamy intro for this beautiful project-, right along with Reverse Faults, Blood On Me, Under and Kora Sings. His songs are so ethereal and still feel real (wow, that didn't explain anything, did it?). Reverse Faults is literally on my list on full on academic lyrical dissection as if analyzing a poem because of the metaphors used in it:

Mandem's just said "took the shape of a letta an' slipped myself undaneath yo doo"!

(so to any of you poetry-cuties who might not be into this type of music: read the lyrics as is if you want some nice, sleek poetry, thanks)

The most well known song off the album would have to be (No One Knows Me) Like the Piano - a great song to demonstrate his talent on the keys as well as on the vocals, and it's a great example that shows off how personal Sampha's lyrics can be. But as with many artists/albums the most popular songs aren't always "the best" (what even makes a song "the best" of the album and isn't that totally subjective?)

What Shouldn't I Be? closes the album off just as well as Plastic 100°C opened this ethereal portal into a world full of sun rays shining through thick, white-ish grey, but incredibly fluffy clouds, making little rainbows reflect in soapy bubbles of dreams and melodies. It's so soft and delicate, almost as if the song itself is putting you to rest, stroking over your head and assuring you it's still going to be there when you wake up tomorrow. And as your eyes fall shut slowly, Sampha's soft vocals and the warm melody fade out.

With a runtime of about 40 minutes, I'd consider it a light meal - it's more than just a 20 minute snack, but it's not as tough as a full on 1,5 hours dinner. I use the album to ground myself and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a comfort album of mine. I honestly wish Spotify had an option to check how many times exactly you've listened to an album/song over the years, because there've been nights with this album on repeat for hours and I'm still not tired of it.

This is the album I tell people to listen to when they realize they like Sampha's voice in the rap features he's appeared in and don't know where to start. This is the Sampha album I will always come back to. This is the Sampha album I love with all my heart - the album I still have to buy a vinyl of and someday tell my grandkids about when they ask me about good, calming, soft music to reflect to.

[dirt-mann]

h. local goth show sgood

[amatopunkish]

i was so productive today! but at what cost?

i have spent 12 hours sitting relatively still and i have SO MUCH energy now and if i have to spend anymore time sitting still without any output for this energy i am going to claw my scalp off

[hauntingblue]

Franky saving nami and her calling him big brother..... the connotations of this... big day for me especifically

[antisocialgaycat]

something i love about choir is we only see each other once a week so we're allowed to be very unhinged and its kinda great cos i just get to be myself like today there was this bit that us ones were constantly messing up and our tutor was getting a bit annoyed so i look over to the twos and i just see my friend bella signing you suck be better at me then at the end we did hotseat and i got volunteered to do it and the kind of questions we get are wild lmao it was great and one of the questions i got was would you ever have kids and me and bella were talking about it afterwards and then frankie came and joined the conversation and was like what do yall have against having children and bells looked her dead in the eye and was like we're lesbians and frankie was like oh. so i was js like its ok we wont infect you. probably. so ofc we ended the night chasing her around trying to infect her with the gay which was fun but yeah i love my friends

[resident-gay-bitch]

BAFFLED to discover Beggin by Madcon isn’t an original song but also delighted to learn it was by frankie & the four seasons