Retro Album - Rumours

‘Rumours’ by Fleetwood Mac turns 45 - My top five tracks

Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’, which celebrated its 45th anniversary in February, is arguably one of the greatest and most well-known albums of all time. Of course, I have always been a fan of the classics like ‘Go Your Own Way’ and ‘Don’t Stop’, however it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I really started enjoying Fleetwood Mac’s music. This is thanks to my favourite artist, Harry Styles, who is good friends with Stevie Nicks, and has performed with her numerous times. This is when I discovered a new love for their music, particularly ‘Rumours’. Don’t get me wrong, it was incredibly difficult to choose a top five for this album, however these are the songs I find myself listening to the most.

5. Never Going Back Again

The bubbly melodies of ‘Never Going Back Again’ are what gave this track fifth place for me. Despite its subject matter (Lindsey Buckingham wrote the song about his breakup with Stevie Nicks), the song is incredibly catchy and just lovely to listen to. 

4. Second Hand News

The opening track of Rumours takes fourth place for me. Its upbeat, folk-y tones make it the perfect album opener, setting the tone for the songs that follow. Buckingham’s vocals make the song (which is again about he and Nicks’ breakup) joyful and timeless, and is arguably deserved to be a lead single on the album.

3. The Chain

‘The Chain’ is one of Fleetwood Mac’s most recognisable songs. The first time I heard this song was when Formula 1 was playing on TV as a child, as the iconic instrumental had been the theme tune for years. ‘The Chain’ has the most amazing build-up, and both Nicks and Buckingham’s lead vocals complement each other beautifully. Another reason as to why this track is number three in my ranking is Harry Styles’ iconic cover (which I have seen live twice) and this made the song even more lovable. 

2. You Make Loving Fun

It was a close call between my top two tracks, and ‘You Make Loving Fun’ just missed out on the number one spot. The song was written and sung by Christine McVie, and was the final single to be released from the album. I love everything about this song, from the lyrics to the guitar melodies. ‘You Make Loving Fun’ is a fan favourite from the album, and I think its bouncy and playful energy has something to do with this. I love the song purely for how fun it is, and it definitely deserves second place in my ranking.

1. Dreams

‘Dreams’ is my absolute favourite from Rumours, and is also my favourite Fleetwood Mac song of all time. There is nothing not to like about the song. The lyrics, written by Stevie Nicks, are genius, and the instrumental immediately brings a smile to my face. ‘Dreams’ is the kind of song I love to play when I’m going for a walk on a Spring or Summer’s day, it has a sunny kind of energy to it. The catchy chorus is what makes the song for me. The distinct drum beat and Nicks’ vocals make it ‘dreamy’ if you will, and this song is one that I will never fall out of love with, which is why it is number one in my ranking of top five songs on ‘Rumours’. 

Chloe Mullis

New Feature - Fan View

As It Was by Harry Styles – Review

 As one of the biggest Harry Styles fans around, I was obviously incredibly excited when he announced his heavily anticipated first release after two years, in the follow-up to his new album ‘Harry’s House’ coming out in May. The 80s inspired single ‘As It Was’ is an up-tempo synth-pop number, reflecting ‘Take on Me’ by a-ha in its instrumental. It’s difficult to follow-up to such a masterpiece as Fine Line, however he has come back even stronger than before. 

The catchy chorus echoes Harry singing “We know it’s not the same as it was”, and despite its upbeat nature, the lyrics are much deeper. In the second verse, Harry calls himself out: “Answer the phone, ‘Harry you’re no good alone, why are you sitting at home on the floor? What kind of pills are you on?’” He says the song is about “embracing change, losing yourself, and then finding yourself again”, and being written during the pandemic, this is very fitting. At the beginning of the song, a young child’s voice says, “Come on Harry we wanna say goodnight to you!” this is actually Harry’s goddaughter who called him every night before bed. He put it in front of the song and fell in love with it, which gives it a unique and personal touch.

Harry says As It Was is his favourite thing he’s made so far, and I agree. It’s different to anything he has made before, however it still screams Harry Styles. The music video sees Styles running and dancing on a turntable in a sparkly red jumpsuit accompanied by a woman in a blue jumpsuit. All of Harry’s music videos are so well produced, and As It Was is no exception. At the time of writing, the music video already has over 11 million views on YouTube and it was only released twelve hours ago, so As It Was is expected to top the charts and be his most popular release ever. 

As It Was has been on repeat for me since its release, and I expect it to be for the foreseeable future. I think the song will attract new fans to Harry’s music, and his popularity will soar to new highs; everyone will have the chorus to the song in their heads for a long time. If As It Was is an insight into what the album is going to sound like, ‘Harry’s House’ has the potential to be the best album of 2022. This year is going to be an incredible year for Harry, who is touring in the UK in June. I am beyond excited about what he is going to release next.

Chloe Mullis

Immersed Festival Reviews

All Images Copyright KCL

Immersed! Festival Sunday - Sofa Sessions - Review

From Friday the 29th to Sunday the 31st of January, Immersed! festival took place through live-streams online. Curated by students from the University of South Wales, the festival saw a variety of artists, all who create different genres of music, and are from in and around Cardiff.

The festival took place to celebrate the live music scene in Cardiff, along with raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust. I tuned in to the beginning of Sunday’s live-stream, titled ‘Sofa Sessions’, and really enjoyed it. 

The format of the festival was really professional, and throughout, as the name suggests, I felt immersed in the set, as if I was physically in the same room watching the artists perform.

On the stream there was also a chat section, where people could make comments and cheer on the artists, as well as reminding everyone watching about donation links for Teenage Cancer Trust, and linking merchandise for the festival, with proceeds going towards the charity.

As with the name of Sunday’s stream ‘Sofa Sessions’, I expected chill, acoustic sets, which is exactly what was shown. Emma Mae’s acoustic set was amazing, using only an acoustic guitar and her incredible vocals, it was completely stripped back and was really lovely to listen to.

The stage setup for her performance was also really nice, with visuals of nature behind her on a screen and blue and green interchanging lighting, there was a really relaxed vibe.

Emma spoke a bit in between each song, about when she wrote it, or what it was about, and every song she performed had beautiful, emotive lyrics. She also performed a cover of Alessia Cara’s ‘Here’, which was a really nice acoustic interpretation of the original version.

My favourite song she performed was a song called ‘Seventeen’, I really enjoyed her entire set, as her music style is exactly what I like listening to. 

Overall, from what I saw of Immersed!, I was really impressed, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I really liked how engaging the festival was, as, being an online event, it can be difficult to keep an audience involved, but the Twitter account was being constantly updated, along with the chat on the stream, so everyone watching could interact.

Having an event like this is amazing for local artists to gain more exposure, and is something that I think should be done in many other areas across the UK in order to showcase homegrown talent.

Also, the fact it was raising money for such an incredible cause like Teenage Cancer Trust makes it even more important. Hopefully the festival continues for years to come, and continues to showcase the amazing talent Cardiff has.

Chloe Mullis

Image Copyright KCL

Immersed festival 

Immersed festival supplies you with the anthems for your weekend, turn your kitchen into a nightclub and get the whole house moving.

When it comes to immersed festival you will seldom find a lack of great artists to listen to. On the Friday we had dance music, Saturday we had rock and indie music and on Sunday we had the pleasure of slowing things down with smooth tones, lullaby anthems and easy on the ear (and head) acoustic sets.

However, I chose to tune in to DJ Clu & wiz mc on the Friday when ‘let us dance’ was on and I was blown away by the level of talent and production these artists had in their arsenal.

What I liked about the music they played was that it wasn’t the traditional dance music you would typically find in a nightclub. I expected to hear poppy, upbeat melodic and catchy house songs when I first tuned in, but what I was met with was an ‘in your face’, almost grunge esque style of dance music which put me on the back seat. A beautiful mixture of grime, mcing, dream like Saxaphone style instrumentals in-between bars and through listening to this I had an epiphany.

What came to me was that club music that has a high production value, already established artists and DJ’s names attached to a particular dance track, can sometimes overshadow lesser-known creative musicians who have a passion for mcing and rap just as much as a big-name artist. 

Immersed festival gives acts such as DJ Clu and Wiz MC the exposure that they need, with a time as trying as COVID-19 and ongoing struggles with musicians not being able to tour due to travel restrictions and Brexit restrictions, Immersed festival allows these acts to flourish and gain experience by showcasing talented artists to a wider audience.

What we also see here is organic music making and to see these guys throwing everything at the audience while going full speed at 180bpm while pairing different styles of music together was very refreshing and extremely satisfying. 

The rapper (Wiz MC) spent no time in pausing for a breath. It was a constant stream of conscience flow which to an outsider might not seem like much, however being able to rap consistently from one bar to the next is not as easy as you may think when you’re rapping to an instrumental as fast as the one playing.

I felt as though the experience was a breath of fresh air and I can guarantee that if immersed festival had been in a club or the students union, DJ Clu and Wiz MC would blow the roof of the place. I can’t wait to see where they go from here. 

To anyone thinking of tuning in to immersed festival next year, do it. You will not be disappointed, in the meantime, watch this year's festival in its entirety on their YouTube channel @immersed! 2021 on YouTube. They showcase lots of different acts so there's something for all music tastes and styles.

This isn’t just a festival, this is immersed.

Jacob Price

Image Copyright KCL

Emma Mae



An Up and Coming Star

This weekend I attended the ‘Immersed’ festival held online by ‘KCL’ (Keep Cardiff Live). I listened to a wide range of different, talented artists during that event, but one act really grabbed my eyes – and ears – attention.

That act was Emma-Mae, a young musician from Leicester, dazzled me with her extraordinary talent. Her songs included ‘Welcome to my Hometown’ and ‘Easy Tiger’ among many others sung in a similar style to ‘Florence + The Machine’ and ‘Alanis Morrissette’.

The performance took place at ‘The Tram-shed’, a venue that is sadly up for sale, filmed in Covid-19 community guidelines, and lasted for less than thirty minutes.

Even though Emma-Mae performed for half an hour it went by so fast due to her beautiful voice, laid-back bandmates as well as the tranquil colour-scheme of her set piece.

 As well as that even though there was no audience, due to the restrictions held in place due to Covid-19, the tranquil, soulful sounds came through and created a totally unique and thought-provoking atmosphere. Emma-Mae’s songs of alcoholism and depression also struck a chord and I found myself relating to a lot of her material as she sang.

I was delighted to find Emma-Mae has her own website where I, and others, can listen to her many singles and find out where she performs, but as of late has been unable to do so do to the on-going Covid-19 pandemic. 

However, pandemic or not, Emma-Mae is a true star in the making and I will continue to listen to her wonderful voice and songs of sadness and hope for many years to come.

Phoebe Vaughan

Image Copyright KCL

Review of Immersed Festival 2020

Immersed festival is a vibrant, genre hopping music festival hosted in a well loved venue Tramshed in the live music oriented city of Cardiff.

The Immersed Festival is hosted by the University of South Wales; entry to the festival is free but it is encouraged to donate to the charity Teenage Cancer Trust. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all acts were under strict covid friendly restrictions with the festival being streamed entirely online. Some of the acts that performed include; Yasmine & the Euphoria, Telgate and Mace the Great.

The contrast in genre goes to show how the festival has something for everyone and is worth the listen; the festival was streamed on a multitude of different platforms including Youtube and Facebook.I decided to tune into the Sunday evening stream of the festival, in which there were two stages, 'Libertino Records Stage’ and ‘Sofa Sessions’; I decided to specifically speak on alternative band Bandicoot’s set on the Libertino stage.

Hailing from Swansea, South Wales, Bandicoot bring a fresh new aspect to the Indie Rock scene performing many of their songs in Welsh. Bandicoot’s strong connection to their Welsh national identity and heritage is made very clear throughout their discography creating a strong sense of community within their fanbase. During the Immersed Festival stream, Bandicoot played two separate sets; a full band performance and an acoustic set. Bandicoot played an upbeat, vibrant and overall very enjoying set.

They have a strong stage presence maintaining the audience's interest. I would recommend Bandicoot to fans of the more raw, technical side of indie music.

The atmosphere was very endearing; the way the camera angles worked and the lighting all worked to create the feeling of being at a in person festival.

As I enjoyed the act I would be interested in discovering more of their music and seeing them perform live at some point.Some of the other talented acts who performed on the Libertino stage include Keys and Adwaith. Overall the festival is well run, enjoyable and 100% worth checking out next year!

Bethan Stewart

Immersed! 2021 - Sunday Session Review - 

Over the past year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have had to adapt in many ways. The events industry being one of the industries that have suffered greatly due to in-person events, such as gigs or festivals, being unable to take place.

Immersed Festival, hosted by the University of South Wales in aid of ‘Save Our Venues’ and ‘teenage Cancer Trust’, was a weekend-long virtual event focusing on a different genre each day, the event itself being streamed live on YouTube for free however the university encouraged donations to Teenage Cancer Trust as well as offering their own t-shirts.  

I decided to attend Sunday's event, on the Sofa Sessions stage, where artists such as Hollie Singer, Yasmine & The Euphoria, Emma Mae, and more performed. The act I was excited the most for was Cardiff-based singer, Emma Mae, having previously listened to her 2020 EP ‘What It’s Come To’, an upbeat EP with the juxtaposing lyrics surrounding love and heartbreak. Personally, my favourites of the four songs being ‘Hangover City’ and ‘Easy Tiger’.  

Mae jokingly says how her set “is going to be very sad”. I personally love the atmosphere of Mae’s set, reminding me of the more peaceful gigs I’ve been to, like dodie for instance, who was performed at Tramshed. Her set reminded me a lot of dodies and how I felt at ease and relaxed during the gig. Having this association to a gig I had been to, made it feel as if I was back at the Tramshed listening to Mae perform live. Performing a mix of covers and original songs, Mae’s acoustic set felt raw and full of emotion. The graphics and lighting surrounding Mae didn’t distract you from her performance but rather added to the feeling of rawness to her set. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the festival on Sunday evening, I look forward to the festival next year. 

Katherine Witts