#songs for the general public

[glimmerbolan]

The Lemon Twigs photographed by Michael Hili as promotion for Songs For The General Public.

[reckonslepoisson]

Do Hollywood (2016) Brothers of Destruction (2017) Go To School (2018) Songs For the General Public (2020) Everything Harmony (2023) The Lemon Twigs

By my ears’ reckoning, there are two main features to The Lemon Twigs – despite, obviously, them being a double act. First up, in the mixing, instrumental tones and general sound, the duo offer up some of the most direct nostalgia I’ve ever heard. Plenty of retroists rip-off the past; the Twigs sound like they’re trying to implant themselves in it. 

The other thing is the band’s restlessness. These songs are mobile to an odd extent, there’s an unwillingness to let anything sit or stretch out – and that’s been the case from the very beginning, both within single songs to over the course of the duo’s discography, from the jaunty shifts of Do Hollywood opener ‘I Wanna Prove to You’ through to Go To School’s insistence on a wildly strange concept.  It’s endearing, that anxiety to not sit still, not be dull. 

Neither of those main features are negatives, exactly, but when both are dulled a little, that’s when the Lemon Twigs really hit their stride – culminating in last year’s Everything Harmony, their most measured, patient and finest overall work yet. 

Pick(s): ‘I Wanna Prove to You’, ‘Night Song’, ‘Never In My Arms, Always In My Heart’, ‘Fight’, ‘What Happens to a Heart’

[senorboombastic]

Live Review: The Lemon Twigs at New Century Hall in Manchester 31 May 2023

Words: Andy Hughes Whilst we like nothing more than discovering a band from day dot, there’s a lot to be said for picking up on someone well established, then having the joy of working your way through their back catalogue and devouring everything you can. Such was the case for New Yorkers The Lemon Twigs and their fourth full-length studio release ‘Everything Harmony‘, a record we’ve been quite…

[lierenprotectionsquad]

Atrocious.

[hercarisntyours]

oplita but no one knows they're together for safety and they have to sneak around

[itspileofgoodthings]

my romantic self-esteem is just absolutely rock-solid. for whatever reason!

[inhibited-irregularity]

My my

How convenient that all the juries rewarded S*eden with points just in time for ABBA's 50yrs reunion?

[zukosdualdao]

[baalzebufo]

THE WEIRD AL-CANA - 08. STRENGTH- EAT IT

---

at some point I was going to have to reference the hit that really put Al on the map :) i figure this works for strength thematically- gotta eat good to grow up strong and healthy, after all. king of making sure you remember to eat your damn dinner

[Prev Card]

[tautozhone]

can argue to death with me about how age restrictions on youtube are necessary but i will be DAMNED before i say Hinds Hall deserved to be age restricted. average american child on youtube can listen to H*rbu D*rbu (censoring in hopes to avoid algorithm engagement with the song) which is IOF praising genocidal propaganda, and- big fucking shocker- its not age restricted. i’m 100% sure the only reason Hind’s Hall was restricted was to deliberately suppress and avoid the spread of the song.

[softquietsteadylove]

can we have submissive Thena and Dominant Gil? (Ten things I hate about you AU) 🫶🏼

Her head was tilted to the side as she laughed at what he said. Her stance was relaxed, leaning against the doorway. Her hand floated in the air, swirling around the last of her fruity low-percentage cooler. He was continuing his story, soaking up her laughter, gesticulating and posing. He flexed his arms in his tight purple t-shirt.

Gil didn't know who the fuck this guy was, but he was way too close to his Thena.

His girl--his woman! And she had even agreed to it! She wasn't calling herself his girlfriend, sure, but they were hanging out together more, she let him pick her up from practise and drive her home. He was allowed to hold her hand sometimes and she'd even kiss him in public if no one was blatantly watching them.

Gil thought that counted as being an official couple! It was pretty big to him, at least. And yet here she was, chatting up some guy he'd never seen before. He was tall, handsome, obviously worked out. Maybe he was older--maybe he was some college jock. If that was the case, Gil was going to march right over there and call him a creep for coming to a high school party.

Thena laughed again, and the guy laughed too, even putting his hand on her shoulder.

That was more than enough. Gil tossed down his empty solo cup. All he'd had in it was soda anyway. He had to drive his princess home, after all. Someone bumped into him in the crowded kitchen but he shoved the younger student out of his way.

"Gil," she smiled at him like everything was peachy. She extended her hand, just about ready to pat her new friend on the chest, "this is-"

"C'mere," Gil rumbled, grabbing her hand before she could feel up the beefcake in front of her. He swept her sharply around the corner and into the bathroom. "Look at me."

"What?" she gave him a look for his manhandling of her. Her eyes were clear though, so she wasn't drunk. "I was trying to-"

He pulled her to him, searing their lips together. She moaned into him, her hands already under his hoodie and squeezing the material of his t-shirt. His tongue demanded entrance, and she granted it.

"Gil," she whimpered as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She fit against him so perfectly, it never ceased to amaze him. She tugged at his shirt, guiding him away from the door.

He put his hand against the wall beside the mirror. Fuck, this was a tiny room! The sink was behind them, him keeping the porcelain edge from digging into her back.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, although she was the one still kissing him.

"What am I doing?" he growled, sliding his hand up her back. "I'm watching some beefcake chat up my girlfriend."

"Oh," she made a cute but also infuriating little sound. "Your girlfriend, am I?"

Little minx--his little shrew, rather. He pressed closer. He was getting a little too worked up over all this, and he didn't give a fuck. "Didn't you say you were mine?"

He felt her shiver in his arms. Their hips kept bumping together from the sheer lack of space. His jeans were getting tight, and she just had on some pretty white skirt and a cardigan she liked.

He had never believed cardigans could be the sexiest article of clothing in the world before this enchantress, and yet here he was dying to get a peek of her bra clasp in the back of it.

"Did I?"

He kept himself close, his breathing was heavy and loud. But it wasn't the only heavy breathing in their little chamber. "Tell me now."

Thena liked getting him a little worked up. She bit into her lower lip, grinning like they were playing a game. Such a wicked woman he'd chosen to fall in love with. "Why should I?"

He breathed out so roughly it made a sound. She pressed closer to him, letting him feel her boobs against his chest and rubbing her thigh against his crotch. He grunted.

"What will you do?"

He reached beside him, fumbling for the door's lock. It clicked, and he held Thena's eyes as he reached down for his belt. "Whose bed were we in last night?"

"Yours," she whispered, her eyes going from their bright green to a dark forest colour. She bit her lip again as she watched him pull himself out.

He moved his hand around her waist and in front of her, only to flip her position, making her brace herself against the sink. "Who do you kiss after practice?"

"You," she repeated, her voice growing higher and thinner as he inched her skirt up her legs.

"Whose girl are you?" he groaned as he finally got her skirt up around her hips. He hooked his finger in the back of her thong and delicately pulled it out of his way.

"Yours," she gasped as he touched himself to her completely bare.

"Whose?" he repeated, running himself along her wetness first. She arched her back and pushed her hips more towards him. He grasped her buttocks, spreading her more.

"Yours, Gil, fuck."

He pushed into her slowly. His head tipped back and his eyes slid closed. This was the most anything he had ever felt ever. He held Thena's hips, barely able to register that he was still living and breathing.

She trembled, but he gripped her tighter, refusing to let her fall. She leaned heavily over the sink, her shoes scraping on the tile floor.

"Shit," he cursed, his hips beginning to move without any need to be told. He had never acted so purely on instinct in his life. He kept his hands on his hips. "Thena."

"Gil, yes, more," she panted as he moved. She wasn't in the best position, but she did what she could to match his thrusts. She kept her head down, not up to the task of seeing her expression in the mirror. He had gotten just a glimpse of it.

Her mouth was dropped open with pleasure.

"Tell me," he grunted, picking up speed. This was not what one did with the girl they loved--fucking in a bathroom at a party. But they would only be young once, and this felt nothing if not...urgent. He gripped one of her thighs and lifted it, letting him get closer (deeper). "Tell me!"

"Yours, I'm all yours," she offered, her body responding completely differently as he held her leg. She made a new sound as he lifted it even higher, holding it close to him. "Shit, Gil, I'm so yours, fuck!"

That was what he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that he was the only man for her, that he was the only one privy to this side of her, this feeling of being with her.

"Fuck," he growled, "I-I'm so close, I gotta--I-I gotta-!"

Thena moaned directly into the bowl of the sink, it even echoed faintly as he came in the blink of an eye. His hips were still moving, and she followed, her muscles tightening around him. Her leg spasmed.

"Okay, okay, I got'cha," he panted for breath as he lowered her leg, gripping her hips against his as she shook. She all but melted into the sink, her hair spilling like the faucet was the one letting her golden curls get everywhere.

He leaned forward, pulling her hair away and nuzzling the back of her neck. "Babe?"

She made some kind of noise in response. He wasn't sure if it was a grunt or a moan or a whimper, but it sounded somewhat displeased.

"Princess?" he tried again, more sweetly. Things might have gone...too far. "You okay?"

She definitely groaned this time, pointing at the towels against the hand rack on the back of the door.

"R-Right," Gil blinked, he grabbed the softest one, pressing it into her hand gently. He stepped away only slightly, worried she would collapse onto the ground. He stuffed himself back into his pants sheepishly. More laundry to do. Gramps was gonna start getting suspicious.

Thena quickly brought the towel between her legs, moaning faintly as she pressed her thighs together. She pulled it away and tugged her skirt down again, finally picking herself up from the edge of the sink.

Gil cleared his throat, "uh, honey?"

She turned, glaring at him, although there was a distinct flush in her cheeks and down her neck. "You are unbelievable."

He really couldn't help but feel a little proud of that, even if she didn't mean it as a good thing. He grinned, although she slapped him on the chest for it. He chuckled, "sorry."

She rolled her eyes at him, fluffing out her hair again and making sure she looked like they hadn't been fucking. She raised her eyebrows at him, asking in not so many words.

He held his thumbs up and smiled at her; back to being a dork, great. "Looks great!"

She jabbed the towel into the center of his chest. "I thought you would be above feelings of possessiveness."

He grasped her hand, refusing to let her pull away. He wrapped his arm around her again, and she did let him. "I don't need to possess you."

She eyed him, but it was a sign to continue.

And she did seem to appreciate when he said things he really meant. So he leaned in close again, hovering just short of a kiss away. "You're the one who possesses me, Thena. All the time, every waking moment."

Her breath caught, and her skin was still flushed a pretty shade of pink.

"I just need to know you're mine," he finished in a whisper before kissing her. It was a proper kiss this time, soft and tender, the way he preferred to kiss her perfect lips.

Her hands slid up his chest, although it reminded him of the beefcake probably still lurking around. She pulled away and put her hands on his cheeks, "then consider it done."

It wasn't a 'I am yours', but he would take it with gratitude. He smiled and she offered a faint one back. She kicked the towel that had fallen to the floor out of the way. "All this over an old friend."

He bristled, all of his pent up frustration rising again in a flash. "Old friend?"

But Thena gave him that smug look that she got any time she was talking circles around someone. He had fallen for that look at the movies the first time he met her. "Kingo dropped out last year to pursue acting. He's in a film coming out next year. That's why he's so pleased with all his personal training results."

That was why he was flexing in her face, she meant.

Gil pursed his lips. "So he's a childhood friend who's all hot and cool?--that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Gil," she rolled her eyes, laughing.

"You were laughing!"

"Gil," she said a little more affectionately, leaning on him completely now. "Kingo is a dear friend. One who has absolutely no interest in matters of the flesh, or the heart, for that matter."

"Oh," he blinked, taking in the look she had for him. It wasn't even that they were friends, but he didn't consider her like that apparently--he didn't think of anyone like that, rather. "Uh, well, that's-"

She threw her head back in a full and complete belly laugh.

His cheeks burned as the last embers of his jealousy ate themselves to death. "Okay, okay, yeah, get it all out."

She did. She laughed for a long time. Maybe she was having a little too much fun with it, he thought, but she did eventually quiet again. She lifted her head from his chest and kissed him. "You have nothing to fear from him...nor anyone."

She reached through his arms to flick the door unlocked again. This was the end of the conversation for her ladyship. Gil sighed, "if you say so."

"He is a very good friend, Gil," she made a point of telling him again as they both prepared to show their faces again. She pulled the door open a crack, "exemplified by his loyalty."

As soon as the door was open Gil could hear the guy's voice, louder than even the blaring music that would definitely drown them out unless ears were pressed to the door. And even if they had been, as soon as the door was open, all he saw was his back.

"Sorry, my friend isn't feeling well. But there's another bathroom upstairs!"

"Kingo," Thena raised her voice to be heard. It was easy to forget how loud it was in the mix of things. She patted his shoulder, "thanks for guarding the door. I'm feeling better."

"Oh good!" he beamed at her as if nothing at all had taken place. He waved off those he had been holding off. Once without an audience, he leaned down closer to her face again. "What the hell, T?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" she giggled at his exaggerated expression. "But thank you."

He gave Gil a completely unreadable look before turning back to Thena, his thick arms crossed at her. "He was holding back your hair, huh?"

Gil blushed, since he obviously knew what they were doing in there. But Thena just slapped his chest, which he guessed was fine, now that he knew more about the guy.

"Shut it!" she hissed at him, a full scarlet red, now.

But Kingo ruffled her hair, like he would a young sister. She only hissed at him more, but he laughed. "Relax, T, my mouth is shut and I didn't see anything!"

Gil blinked as a heavy - heavy - hand was slapped onto his shoulder. "Uh-"

"I've heard a lot about you, Gil," he said with a smile, but it sounded an awful lot like a threat. When he opened his eyes again, Gil could swear they could glow like a demon's. "Nice to meet T's boyfriend."

He didn't sound like he meant that.

"Leave him alone," Thena defused him, tugging at his t-shirt, only for him to immediately scold her for creasing its expensive material.

It was a t-shirt.

"You go, be with your precious Gilgamesh," Kingo waved her off like he was dismissing a student. "I'll come find you tomorrow."

"Fine," she sighed as if exasperated, but their familiarity and affection for each other shone through. She waved as he made his way into the other room. "Find me after practice!"

"Not right after though, right?" Kingo winked at her. "You'll be busy kissing a certain someone?"

"Kingo!!!"

[letoscrawls]

Okay i can't take this anymore i have to say it

I'm Just Ken didn't have THAT much of an effect on me (though it's still great) because i've always been a fan of the og himbo song: Lost in the Woods from the Frozen 2 soundtrack (2019)

[horrorlesbians]

honestly i wouldn't be surprised if colleen intentionally sang in her "apology" video so she could copyright claim youtube videos of people who used clips of it when they make videos about the situation (IIRC she already has). she makes a clear point in the video that she is mad that people are making money off her "demise" so it would make sense. she also apparently put the song on a streaming service in an attempt to profit off a video of her not explaining child grooming and abuse allegations. wouldn't be surprised if all of this was a calculated move from her team as a last-ditch effort to push the attention somewhere else because there is no way to truthfully explain what she did and apologize for it while making her still seem like a good person

[fitzrove]

The fame monster 2 CD deluxe edition (2009) best album in history actually

[mirai-desu]

i got addicted to a losing game; for when your OTP just doesn’t quite make it thanks to canon going to shit

YouTube Playlist Here

Duncan Lawerence - "Arcade"

A Fine Frenzy - "Almost Lover"

S10 - "De Diepte" [Translation]

Leona - "Undream You"

Krick - "Drowning in the Rain"

Cornelia Jakobs - "Hold Me Closer"

Madame Monsieur - "Ne me laisse pas" [Translation]

Tove Lo - "Habits (Stay High)"

Rosa Linn - "Snap"

A Simple Plan - "Untitled"

Yohanna - "Is It True?" Johnny Logan - "Hold Me Now"

Scala & Kolacny Brothers - "With or Without You"

Emmelie de Forest - "Only Teardrops"

Željko Joksimović - "Nije ljubav stvar" [Translation]

Les Misérables - "I Dreamed a Dream"

ABBA - "Knowing Me and Knowing You"

Rascal Flatts - "What Hurts the Most"

Björnzone - "Still the One"

ABBA - "The Winner Takes It All"

Norma John - "Blackbird"

Broods - "Never Gonna Change"

The Common Linnets - "Calm After the Storm"

Sanna Nielsen - "Undo"

Lisa Ajax - "Awful Liar"

Johnny Logan - "What's Another Year"

Adele - "Someone Like You"

Enya - "Only Time"

No Maka FT. Ana Maria - "Aceitar" [Translation]