Hi, dearest readers and music lovers. Today we feature Irish artist Joe Lington. This artist has released a 22-song album called “She”. The album was released on 31st May. The album is about how in the age of social media and instant gratification, relationships have become a fleeting concept. Let me tell you more about this album.
The album opens with the song “Pinkeen”. Right when the music starts you are hit with this buzzing sound that excites you instantly. Joe sings about a thing called pinkeen (Irish for insignificant)and asks if we’ve ever heard about it before. Whatever this “pinkeen” is the dedication and excitement that Joe performs about is infectious and you will also feel the excitement too. The beat is thumping and will make you want to dance. This song gives you a peek at the rest of the songs on the album.
The song that follows is titled “Move Your Body”. This is a song that features Otaku black and Lady fi”). The song starts with very soft but bright piano notes which are then fused with these incredible beats. The way the song hypes you up with the adlibs you will already be having a good time before the song even starts. The song describes the life of an unnamed character who works a 9-5 job and is counting the days till the weekend comes(“every day I’m working 9 to 5, just one more day then we through then is the weekend baby out just dance”). The character just can’t wait to leave all his stress behind on the dance floor (“shake it off, just dance”). Lady Fi’s voice is beautiful, the rap was magnificent and the saxophone, piano, and trumpet solo was just a fusion of instruments in a certain unison unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The song has a lot of moving parts but doesn’t overwhelm you, rather you are able to experience the beauty of the song
Next is the song called “She Episode One”. The song is a poetic tune with the voice-over being powerful and commanding your attention as she tells the story of two characters from different cultures named HE and SHE. The male character fancied the female character but was surprised she was single because of her captivating beauty(“SHE at first glance SHE appeared to be everything”)so he continued to probe her. The female character finally gives him an answer saying that she was single because she did whatever her ex wanted(“I was doing what he wanted SHE confessed carrying a tinge of sadness”). The song reveals that the male character understands her confession later. This poetic tune has an eerie melody that keeps on building, adding in some stringed instruments. The tune’s structure weaves a captivating story told through its lyrics. The song will fascinate you as you would want to know how the story between HE AND SHE ends.
Next is the song “Hypocrisy”. The song starts with this amazing beatboxing that is followed by this very angelic melody and mouth percussion, another instrument that stands out in this song is the violin. Joe sings in a very crisp and flawless falsetto that will make you swoon, although the whole song is in French, The combination of the violin with the other instruments makes for a very beautiful ballad
The song that follows is called “Oh Yeah”. The song’s intro is a very siren-like sound mixed with a very thumping beat. The song is about a character who the persona has fallen in love with. “Pinkeen” seems to be a running theme in this album. As I said previously pinkeen is Irish for insignificant. However insignificant this lady is she has the persona wrapped around her finger. Joe’s music style gives off this 80’s pop sound. Parts of this song are in French but doesn’t take anything away from this gorgeous piece of music
Next is the tune called “She Episode Two”. This song is the continuation of the song “She Episode One”. This one is opened with this inspiring and heroic sound. According to this continuation, HE finally realized that SHE had orchestrated her breakup with her previous lovers and planned her breakup with her ex-lovers and he wondered if the same would apply to him(” What makes you think that two years from now you won’t say the same thing to me”). Lo and behold, HE was right because after two years she wanted a breakup accusing him of misogyny, and emotional unavailability amongst others (”after precisely two years SHE uttered those exact words to HIM”). As the story goes along we notice that SHE cried openly about their breakup to garner sympathy from others while HE cried in silence and within himself and though they had gone their separate ways SHE still called on HIM whenever she needed a shoulder to cry on. (” With unwavering loyalty, he answered her call”). The orchestration of the stringed instruments took this song to an elite level
“Nos Actions” is the title of the next song. The song starts with a very bright guitar sound. After his brief monologue, Joe begins to sing in French, he sings about how love can be expressed verbally(”conversation can be meaningless”) but how he prefers it to be backed by actions(”so I rather show you my love by doing actions instead of talking every day”). The song has a catchy beat and melody. The voice range on this song is crazy and this song will thrill you sonically
Next is the song titled WTPA. This is a song featuring Isabel Izzy. A very energetic violin run is what begins this song followed by a very snazzy drum thrum. The story of the song is that of two lovers or two people who have just met and are attracted to each other(”I like you, you like me”). He then suggests that they go to a party and dance the night away(” We can dance throughout the night”). The song is a foot-tapping song that shows off Isabel Izzy’s impeccable voice. The addition of her vocals makes the song even more interesting
With the song “Give Me All” the album changes a bit. Parts of the song are in French but the song is basically a statement asking an unknown individual to give all of him or her (”give me all”). The repetition of the line conveys the urgency of what he or she requires, the bass and electric guitar sounds are both incredible. The song breathes new life into the album, encouraging you to keep on listening
“She Episode Three”. The song is the continuation of “She Episode Two.” Listeners are given a free show into SHE and HE’s relationship. The song shows listeners how HE never asked for outside help during the hard times in their relationship (”HE never relies on external entities or individuals to her”). The song also shows listeners that HE was a loyal and dependable partner(”he wasn’t just there for her he was there with her”), but when the roles were reversed she wasn’t interested in being there for him like he did for her but instead called for outside help, washing their dirty laundry in public or suggesting therapy which are all tools to assist someone in trouble but it seems like that was not what he wanted. The song peels off another layer of HE and SHE’s complex relationship
Next is the song “We Still Here”. The song opens with these extremely delicate piano notes. The song details the woes of a person who is extremely trusting, kind, helpful, caring, and selfless but is always repaid in the worst possible way, however, they refuse to be cast down or change who they are because of bad experiences (”because we trust too much, but we still here no matter what we still here”). The piano notes are so heavenly and make this song an emotive one
“Because of you (remix)” is the title of the next song. The song starts with some smooth guitar sounds and a lot of mouth percussions. In the song the persona is making a declaration of love and has risked everything he has, putting everything on the line just to impress or woo this lady (”I’m about to give everything up just because of you”). Joe’s large vocal range is on display and he brings out the big guns (his falsetto). The song gives off smooth and relaxed vibes
Next is a song called “Talking about You”. The song begins with rain-like sounds followed by a conversation between two people. He asks how her day was and she tells him that the piece she had been making in the kiln came out really good(”I went to the studio this morning and opened up the kiln and the piece I was working on came out really nice”). The lady continues to talk about her day and tells him that she’s got everything done and is on her way to him. The song is a casual conversation between lovers. The song has these amazing mouth percussions in the background that go pretty well with the instrumentation
“She episode four” is the song that follows. The song picks up back where we left off in “She episode two” when the two lovers have broken up. HE still couldn’t help but find out if he was the only one that SHE had played like a fiddle(”driven by a curiosity he decided to investigate further by reaching out to her previous partner”). Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t her only victim(” they discovered an eerie similarity in her behavior towards both of them”), and there was more(”the words and sentences she used mirrored one another”). Revelation after revelation confirmed the fact that the person he was in a relationship with was just an illusion(”crafting an illusory persona repeating the same pattern with astounding precision”). At that moment not only was he hurt and distraught by this revelation but was in awe of SHE’s ability to replicate her behavior over and over again. The song has a dramatic sound in the background which suited the revelation that listeners and HE had been given
The song is called “JTGTY”.Joe dives right into the vocal performance before the piano notes set in. The persona in the song has decided to give pinkeen to his partner. The piano is the star of this song and is felt throughout the song, creating a sonically charged atmosphere
“Pinkeen (remix)” is the title of the next song. This is another song featuring Otaku black. The character in the songs seeks pinkeen, gets it, and is determined to keep it. The parts of the song in French are captivating and you are taken on a jolly ride
Next is the song “What do you do”. The song is another song featuring Lady Fi and starts with these delicious mouth percussion sounds. It seems that the persona in the song has come to a point where he is forced to choose between his girl and his friends(” They’ve been by my side and my love for you I can’t hide, the time has come to be true so what do I do”). The song is incredible and you will fall in love with it
The next song is called “She Episode Five”. The song lets listeners know that the story between HE and SHE has come to an end. The artist wishes listeners to have learned through this five-part story the patterns of human behavior and hard truths about trust (”recognizing the patterns in human behavior”) and the dangers that could be hiding behind a charming smile(” to be cautious of those who may hide behind charm and calculated words”). This a very satisfying ending to this story since we have followed since episode one. Lessons are learned in such a creative way
The next song is called “Nos Actions (acoustic)”. This song is a stripped-down version of the same song that was played previously. In this song, Joe Is able to show his vocal range in a crystal clear way. The song takes you to a beautiful musical island yet again
The next song is called “WTPA remix”. This song is the remix of the previously heard song called “WTPA” which featured Isabel Izzy and this remix features Kevon Tire. In this remix, the woman the persona has fallen for is an educated and smart college graduate who despite her tedious timetable has found time to unwind (”found the time to unwind”) and despite the fact that he feels that he’s not on her level he still flirts with her and he parties with her. The song maintains its charms and tempo but has an altered storyline
The next song is titled “Pinkeen Bonus Version”. This bonus version features artist Otaku black. The intro is energetic and is very similar to the original version of the album. In this song, the lyrics portray a man who is unhappy with the state of his relationship so he asks her why she continues to hurt him (”I’m giving you taking my heart you be breaking”). The rap was fantastic and the adlibs are top-notch
The last song on the album is called “She”. This song is a combination of all the parts of the SHE and HE romantic story. From the way SHE captivated HE when they first which led him to probe her on why she was single and she gave him a sob story that he later realized was weird, from there we were told how HE realized that he might be next and he was right when SHE accused him of various atrocities and “grieved” their relationship openly while he was crying within himself and was still loyal to her when she needed a shoulder to cry on. Next was the third part of the story where we were given flashbacks to when they were still together. HE relied solely on himself to deal with their relationship problems and SHE sought the help of entities and therapists we see that HE noticed that whenever the roles were reversed she cared very little about the situation. Part four of HE and SHE’s story is after they have broken up, HE’s curiosity got the best of him when he went out and sought after SHE’s past lover, and to his surprise and disgust they had identical encounters. The last part of this story is where Joe advises listeners to be cautious in life in order not to get used or get their trust broken. This song weaves all five parts of the story into one so if you lose track of the story be rest assured that this song will put all the parts together so listeners have a clear picture of HE and SHE’s story and with that, the album ends
Wow, what a masterpiece, don’t be distraught if you see the number of songs on this album, 22 might seem like a lot but as someone who has heard all 22 of them, I can say without a doubt that this album is worth listening to. My favorite part of this album is the quality of the storytelling. I could not see HE and SHE but because of the lyrics of the song, I could picture these two in my mind’s eye. Storytelling aside, the artists he featured also made the album what it is and their talent and ability sprinkled the perfect garnish on top of Joe’s already amazing album. I invite you to listen to the album and experience this masterpiece
Stream the “SHE” album on Spotify
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