Jamie Cullum releases his inner Momentum

After buying this album yesterday after its long awaited release, I've had it on constant repeat! Jamie Cullum's brand new album, Momentum, is one of those album that it is impossible to not love or to ever stop listening to.

Jamie is an English, jazz/pop singer and songwriter and has had five previous albums and burst into the music industry after the release of 'Twentysomething' in 2003. He is probably most well known for the stunning 'High & Dry'. His unique talent and sound have led him to win several awards for his successes. Jamie is also a multi-instrumentalist, so when combined with his ability to sing, write and produce music, this takes his talents to another level! 





Cullum signed up with Island Records for this album and it has been said to be "brimful of powerful songs" and I can't fail to agree! Jamie went back to basics to create Momentum and used home demos, iPhone apps, charity shop keyboards and cassette records to build up the basic shell of this brilliant album. It's a true combination of beautiful jazzy sounds and pop-y beats, as well as Jamie's rustic voice and it can't fail but to be a hit. The album features twelve songs, including the lead single 'Everything You Didn't Do' and a captivating cover of 'Pure Imagination'. There is also a deluxe version available, which includes three extra tracks as well as several live versions of songs from the album, recorded at London's famous Abbey Road Studios.

ORIGINAL ALBUM TRACK LISTING
1. The Same Things
2. Edge of Something
3. Everything You Didn't Do
4. When I Get Famous
5. Love For $ale (feat. Roots Manuva)
6. Pure Imagination
7. Anyway
8. Sad, Sad World
9. Take Me Out (Of Myself)
10. Save Your soul. 
11. Get a Hold of Yourself
12. You're Not the Only One

DELUXE EDITION BONUS TRACKS
13. Momentum
14. Unison.
15. Comes Love
16. Everything You Didn't Do (Live at Abbey Road)
17. Sad, Sad World (Live at Abbey Road)
18. Love For $ale (Live at Abbey Road)
19. Pure Imagination (Live at Abbey Road)
20. You're Not the Only One (Live at Abbey Road)
21. Save Your Soul (Live at Abbey Road) 



Regarding my favourite track from this album, it would have to be either, Everything You Didn't Do, Save Your Soul, Anyway, When I Get Famous or You're Not the Only One. But as you can probably tell, there is no clear winner regarding a favourite on this album because every time you think you've found it, the next song will play and all of a sudden, that's your favourite! It's a vicious circle of incredible songs.

I have a true love for Jamie Cullum and his music and I hope to one day see him live. If you haven't heard any of his previous music, then I highly recommend that you do, along with this album! Also check out Jamie on various social networking sites - Jamiecullum.com, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

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Mike Rosenberg aka Passenger

I can't quite understand how and why it has taken people so long to discover the supreme unique talent that is Mike Rosenberg, or more well known by his stage name Passenger - a name coming from a previous band he was in before they split. 

For those of you that still don't know who Passenger is, then he is a British Folk/Rock singer and songwriter, that you definitely need to check out! Having suddenly made a statement in the music industry, he is now being discovered by many and his getting the recognition he finally deserves. Despite all this, he doesn't pride himself on success or fame but the intimacy of his live performances. 

After discovering Passenger as a support act on Ed Sheerans tour I instantly fell in love with him and his mind blowing voice. His voice is enough to put anyone into a state of pure calm and relaxation. And yet some of his songs provide you with amazing beats that make you want to stomp around the room with joy. The emotion that went into the recordings of his songs, come across so effectively in his live performances, that is easy to see that this is a man who has a real love for music and performing. His raw talent and his ability to provide these things to awaiting ears, make him one of my favourite artists. 

One of the songs that he sang when I saw him live was Let Her Go, which made the whole of the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham stop and listen to him creating beautiful sounds from simply his voice and his guitar, before the whole crowd launched into a complete uproar of cheers, screams and shouts. Passenger's talent had been discovered in Nottingham, he had made his mark. It's not so surprising then that Let Her Go has reached Number 4 this week in the UK top 40 Singles Chart!

Other songs that he sang included All the Little Lights (also the title of his current album), Holes (due to be his second single from the album) and I Hate (which is a hilarious song that looks at his hate for several things in the world, including The X Factor, Facebook, festival toilets and people that go to see shows and spend the whole time talking - and involves a lot of audience participation!)

His album, All The Little Lights, as pictured above, has also become a huge hit, reaching Number 6 in the Album Chart this week! I bought this album straight after seeing him live and without a doubt, it is one of my favourite albums of all time. There are so many amazing songs on this album, that there is one for every mood. It features a studio recorded CD as well as an acoustic CD - this is when you really see how much of a true, raw talent that Passenger is. No fancy editing, no backing tracks, just one mans voice and his guitar. Phenomenal.

My favourite track from the album has to be Feather On The Clyde - a song that looks at the two sides of life, the happy and the sad. Passenger looks at it from the sadder side, wanting to get to the happier side when deeply missing someone and wanting to move on, but not having the strength to. He sings about this through the metaphor of someone being a feather floating in the middle of a river in Scotland called The Clyde. It's a truly breath taking song, and one you can check out here -Passenger featuring Emma Louise and Stu Larsen - Feather On The Clyde

Passenger is without a doubt one of my favourite artists by far and I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with his music. He is a pure talent with honest and emotional music, who is clearly going onto great things - it's just a shame it's taken him so long to be discovered in order for him to put it well earned mark on the current music industry.

For more information on Passenger visit these websites - Website Twitter Facebook YouTube 

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Mark Owen - Stars

Stars is the brand new single from Take That's very own Mark Owen and features on his up and coming album The Art of Doing Nothing. Having not released any solo material since 2005, this is very exciting for Take That/Mark Owen fans across the world, just like myself!

The artwork for the single (as shown above) is very simplistic, featuring Mark stood looking at pencil drawn stars on strings, and with his hand written name and single name placed next to him. I'm a big fan of basic artwork and so I really like the way this is designed. I think it reflects the simplicity of the single and the whole album in fact. Massive artists always seem to be making a huge fuss, working in numerous studios with various producers, yet Mark is able to strip things back, work along side very few people and still make such a beautiful sounding song. All the vocals, pianos and guitars on Stars were recorded in his very own studio at the bottom of his garden, named 'The Rabbit Hutch'. This is one of the many reason I love and admire Mark, he is able to take on a challenge, do it in his own simple way and make something great of it! 

The bridge and chorus of the song is as follows - 

'From the top of the empire

To a state unknown

If I said that I'm leaving

Just got to hang on

Cus' we're just Stars

Tryin' to get back to where we're from

And one by one

We're gonna leave this planet

So don't look back

Cos' you known that it's all just time

When you've got nothing on your mind

You've made it'

And so when listening to the song, I interpreted that its looking at the idea that no matter where you are in life, either right at the top - 'At the top of the empire' or right at the bottom - 'To a state unknown' - you have to keep a positive outlook out on life and do what feels right at the time, because when it comes to the end, you don't want to look back and have regrets. 

The video for the single is very different and features Mark walking around the streets of Berlin in a space suit before returning home to his family, who are also in space suits. I love the video and it is one of the most innovative I've seen this year and is defiantly one of my favourites! 

Watch the video below -

I think I, along with so many other fans, can conclude that Stars is an amazing single and is set to be a huge hit! I'm also very excited for The Art of Doing Nothing which is set for release on the 10th of June, after finally pre-ordering my copy today! (pre-order yours here if you haven't already - Mark Owen - TAODN (Standard Edition) or Mark Owen - TAODN (Deluxe Edition))

x

Grazing in the sun...

My first Graze box arrived today!

After seeing the advert numerous times and knowing several people that have them delivered weekly or fortnightly, I thought it would be time to try one out for myself. 

It came with a lovely welcome booklet and discount codes to give to friends and family, allowing them to try it out!

They are such great ideas and are so easy to set up. All you have to do is visit https://www.graze.com/uk/products and sign up, adding in all your contact and payment details, take your pick from a selection of boxes, picking what day you want it to arrive and then its onto deciding what you want in your Graze box! They have a really easy to use system, whereby you select if you want to either Bin the product (it will never be sent to you), to Try the product, Like the product (for it to be sent occasionally) or Love to product (for it to be sent regularly). 

Having never had a Graze box before, I simply went through the options, binning everything I didn't like and selected try for the rest. And I received: Apple & Cinnamon Flapjack, The British Barbeque (basil bagettes, rosemary crostini, smoked almonds & seeds), Tutti Frutti (pineapple, cherry raisins, blueberry cranberries & raisins). My favourite from this selection has to be the Apple & Cinnamon Flapjack, I was sad to see is disappear so quickly!

From my first trail, I can successfully conclude that Graze boxes are amazing and I will continue my subscription! They are such a interesting and innovative idea and they allow you to feast when ever you want to, whilst still being healthy and enjoying foods you already like in a new way, all for the small price of £3.89. The handy containers also come in great use, as they are perfect for popping in your bag and grazing on the go.

I highly recommend that you try out a Graze box if you haven't already. And if you don't get on with them, then you can cancel your subscription whenever you want (but I don't see why you would want to do that!). 

As their slogan suggests, it really is 'Nature Delivered'. Well done Graze, I salute you! x

Work hard. Live well. Be happy.

I feel it's quite important to live life by by a motivator (or a moto as it is often called). A motivator is something that drives you forward in life, something you strive to achieve and concludes your beliefs and outlook on life.  

Mine for example is - Work hard. Live well. Be happy. 

 I'm not sure if I read this somewhere, if it's well known, has been said by someone famous or a simply made this up by myself, but I think it's one of the best motivators to try and live by. I think this is because it takes you through the stages of life and teaches the progression you have to take to get to the final stage, being happy, which after all is most important. 

For me, this motivator shows you that you must work hard, whether that's in education, work life or social life in order to achieve. You'll gain so much out of working hard such as money, knowledge, experience, new friends and a sense of achievement. This will then progress you onto the next stage, living well. I use the term 'living well' loosely as it can mean so many different things to different people. To me it means having shelter, food, warmth, knowledge, a job I love with a sustainable income, having my family and friends close by and being fit and healthy. But to others, it may mean that they have enough money to treat themselves every so often, that they can go out and buy themselves a lovely pair of heals or a fancy new games console! If you've earned it, you deserve it! Overall, the most important thing coming from this is that you will be happier, which is the final stage.

There are two I love most about this motivator. The first is that it is so simple and easy to remember, it may be more complex when you look deeper, but the basic structure of motivation is there. The second is that it becomes a full circle, in that the final stage connects to the first. You have to be happy in what you want to work hard at in order to succeed. Or is that incorrect? Can you be unhappy in what you're doing in order to work hard at it and change it? This is down to the situation you are in and the way in which you perceive it. However, if you're not happy, then something obviously isn't right, and you should do everything you can to change that. Because everyone deserves the chance to be happy, no matter where they've come from or are going to.

If you've got to this point, then thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope it has got you thinking and maybe even inspired you to come up with your own motivator if you don't already have one.

Have a fabulous day, because you deserve it! x

This is just the beginning!

Welcome to Amyyyyl.blogspot.co.uk!

 I have been contemplating starting a blog for a long while now, and have finally decided that it would be a good idea to start one! I wanted to a have a space that I could share my ideas, thoughts and feelings on various things that take place in my life and around the world, and there is no place better than a blog!

I will try my best to share new and interesting things on here regularly, if not daily.

 I'm interested in media, photography, radio, theatre production, music and all sorts of wonderful things, so I hope that I can share some of them with anyone who's willing to read. With a little motivation, I'm sure this will be very successful and I will thoroughly enjoy my time on here. 

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day x

P.S. Remember, this is just the beginning!