Album Review - Sour - Olivia Rodrigo

Over the past few years Olivia Rodrigo has taken pop culture by a storm, from ‘Drivers Licence’ to her appearance in Disney’s ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’, the 18-year-old actress/songwriters debut album combines elements of the pop punk era to Taylor Swift’s heartbreak anthems. 

Reflecting on the young singer’s debut album ‘Sour’, this is probably one of my most listened to albums in a single time period, so much so that my ‘2021 Spotify Rewind’ was entirely her songs in order!

We begin with arguably the album with the most angsty teen song she’s written - ‘brutal’. Throughout this song, and the album, she pays reference to early 2000’s pop idols such as Paramore’s Haley Williams and Avril Lavigne. Although my least favourite of the album, the catchy chorus does become an earworm.

Just before its release, many fans speculated, predominantly on TikTok, that each song on the album reflected each stage of a break-up. However, Rodrigo manages to not follow the same musical tone throughout the album, which was something she was keen to achieve by not having the entire album sound like ‘drivers license’, the first song of the album that was released as a single in January 2020. 

On the release of the album, there was much controversy with Rodrigo’s writing style and some audiences questioned her song writing ability. However, the young artist has truly taken the pop industry by a storm and lyrically takes influence from her personal idols such as Taylor Swift. Miss Swift even makes an appearance on the album itself by contributing to writing of ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’. The song also includes the melody from one of Swift’s songs, ‘New Years Day’ (Mcneal, 2021).

Moving on to discuss arguably her most popular song of the album – ‘good 4 u’. The influences of the early 2000’s idols are even more evident in this single, which no doubt has added to its success. In comparison to songs such as ‘traitor’ and ‘happier’, ‘good 4 u’ is the hard-hitting rock anthem of break up songs for everyone to scream their lungs out to. Briefly, an honourable mention is one of my personal favourites of the album – ‘happier’. The entire song feels as if you’re on a carousel with a sweet, dream like melody. 

Overall, Rodrigo has created an album that is sure to both cure and bring back some of the most heart wrenching experiences young people go through. As a result, her album almost creates a therapeutic way of helping audiences understand and come to terms with their feelings. I wish I could go back and listen to this album for the first time again because the grip it had on me was insane. I look forward to what the future holds for Miss Rodrigo and how her talent is sure to grow!

Retro Review - 5 Seconds of Summer

‘Hold My Hand’ Tour Review 

Image Katherine Witts ©

After 2 long years of lockdown causing the original ‘Youngblood’ tour to be rescheduled more than once, Cardiff finally welcomed the Australian band to one of its most well known arenas. Due to the band having released more music during the pandemic the tours name was now changed the ‘Hold my hand’ tour after their new single. 

To begin, it’s important to mention how the hype the band created while fans waited for the show to begin made the experience that much better. Every now and again a small prerecorded sketch of the band would appear on the screens; from an advert detailing their ‘worst’ songs to a comedic press interview. 

Having only heard rumours of who their opening act would be through TikTok, we were pleasantly surprised to see Tennessee’s Coin. Personally I only knew their one hit single ‘Crash My Car’, so I was excited to hear more of their songs. Coin have an almost summer feeling to their songs, ones where you play on repeat in the car with the windows down with all your friends. Two of their songs I absolutely loved that gave the same energy as ‘Crash My Car’ was ‘Talk Too Much’ and ‘Brad Pitt’. Both of these songs are a must for your summer playlists! 

As performers I also highly rate them, their stage presence is both lively and entertaining. If you want a new band to listen to this summer I highly recommend them, maybe even try catching them at a show?! As quoting them “it’s their first time in Wales… but not their last”!*

After just under an hour set of Coin, the band opened with some absolute bangers. 

As I am writing this a few months later it’s hard to remember the exact lineup however the band played a mix of both their early and newer songs.

Personally the highlights of their sets would hands down have to be ‘Ghost of You’, from their 2018 album ‘Youngblood’, and ‘Teeth’ which was featured on Netflix’s ‘13 Reasons Why’. These songs alone are able to show the range the band has and how one minute they can be bringing fans to tears and the next creating this insanely hyped reaction.

Briefly mentioning the stage and lighting design of the set, this was something I deeply appreciated. They managed to create a capturing and mesmerising set that complemented each song perfectly!

Overall, the wait for this tour was most certainly worth it and I would happily sell my soul to see them live again. 

Katherine Witts

How university made my taste in music even more varied

When I first came to uni my music taste was mainly musicals, soundtracks, and upbeat pop songs, with the occasional Paramore track. I never really knew how to define my taste in music, spoiler I still don’t. However, in recent months I’ve managed to explore an array of new genres and find some of my new favourite artists. 

I love getting recommendations from people, which is why my taste in music is currently all over the place. One of my favourite things is when someone makes me a playlist with music they know I’ll love, my friends truly do have a talent for making good playlists. This has now turned into me spending hours making oddly specific playlists to fit most moods, from a chill playlist that has a soft, mellow feel, to playlists full of bops. 

One genre that seemed to have played a big part since coming to uni is pop-punk. I must admit that I hadn’t heard of the genre’s name before, however, I came to realize that I’d always loved this genre and simply didn’t know the name of it to explore it further. 

My taste in music has 100% come from my dad. One evening I was showing him the playlists and recommendations my friends had given me, and we spent the night bopping to them and him giving me more recommendations. It made me realize how music truly does connect people. 

In no particular order, here are a few of my favourite artists and albums that I discovered/gave more of a chance to over the past few months from recommendations. I am very late to the party however I do highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t!

Hozier - Hozier

Arctic Monkeys - AM

Taylor Swift - Evermore

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade 

Bring Me The Horizon - That’s The Spirit + amo

Julie and the Phantoms - Julie and the Phantoms Season 1

5 Seconds of Summer - 5 Seconds of Summer + Youngblood

My love for musicals and soundtracks will never die and will always be a comfort genre, especially the guilty pleasure ones that are normally Disney Channel Originals. However, uni has opened up my eyes to more music that I now adore. When it comes to music, it’s important to have an open mind to recommendations. Not all the albums/artists are going to be your cup of tea, trust me there are a few that come to my mind for me, but you could unlock a newfound love for a genre you never thought you’d end up liking. 

When I first started getting recommendations at uni, I decided to create a master playlist of my favourites on Spotify if you’d like to check it out, along with the other playlists that I update frequently. There’s something for everyone in them:

My First Music Memory

At home, we’d always have music on, and my taste now has greatly been influenced by my dad’s music, which is a mix of 80s with elements of pop-punk and all-around upbeat songs.

However, my earliest memories around music are definitely to do with musicals, especially the Disney Channel Originals.

My dad being the person to introduce my younger sister and me to these.

My memory isn’t the best and is foggy so I will be looking back on a couple of small memories I have from around this time.

One of the first memories was of a High School Musical 2 toy, It was a small, grey, plastic phone filled with a selection of the songs from the film.

The songs themselves were separate from the ‘phone’, each song was on a clear piece of plastic that had the character who sang the song on, the easiest way to remember what song each piece of plastic played.

As this was only a kid’s toy, it wasn’t full tracks only snippets of certain songs.

I vividly remember traveling down to Newport on the bus and sticking in my earphones and listening to ‘Bet on it’ on repeat for the 30-minute journey.

Unfortunately, little me was heartbroken when I dropped it in the bathtub and it broke, to this day I miss that little piece of plastic.

The second memory is a short one however I doubt I’ll ever be able to forget this one as it was recorded on my mum’s phone.

My younger sister and I shared a room which meant that I had access to her cd player and cd collection.

One of my personal favourites to borrow was the Camp Rock 2 soundtrack.

Facing the window, I would perform the song, with the correct choreography, to the ‘audience’, the teddies that were on the window sill and outside.

I can see the one specific time vividly, I was dancing and singing along to ‘Brand new day’ from the soundtrack and my entire room was a mess.

As I was facing the window,my back was to the door and I didn’t realize my mum had come in and recorded the whole thing.

I was so embarrassed but to this day I dance around my university room and dance and sing to musicals.

Since then my love for musicals has grown and even sparked my interest in Drama, later taking it for GCSEs.

These kid movies hold a special place in my heart and whenever I go back to re-watch them or listen to the soundtracks, I’m left with a feeling of nostalgia and they always manage to brighten my day.

Katherine Witts

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