The Proms – Laura Mvula, Maverick Sabre & more

The Royal Albert Hall lit up

Now it’s a little known fact that we at PopSlutz have backstage access to the world’s biggest classical music festival: the BBC Proms.  It’s not often that we get to mention that what with this being a blog on pop music. However,this evening, at Prom 37, the BBC Symphony Orchestra performed the works of Wretch 32, Maverick Sabre, Laura Mvula and more. Here’s what we learnt from the artists involved…

Jacob Banks, new kid on the block, performed ‘Rainy Day’ in his deep, soulful tones. On songwriting, Banks has said that “Every song that I write, it’s a part of my soul that I’m giving away, a little bit of my story, the things that I’ve seen. I’m just a story teller.”

Maverick Sabre‘s songs worked impressively with an 80+ piece orchestra, he said of the experience of hearing ‘I Need’ orchestrated:  “I wrote that when I was about 16 and to hear it come to this point, 7 years later,  hearing a symphony orchestra play it is a proud moment for me”.

You could have heard a pin drop when Laura Mvula took to the stage and bewitched the Albert Hall audience with her syrupy-smooth voice. Jules Buckley, arranger and conducter for the evening, has said that ‘of all of the artists that are involved in this Prom, Laura’s music most perfectly suits the setting.’ Indeed, the support from the orchestra took Laura Mvula’s songs from superb to sublime, her renditions of ‘Sing to the Moon’, ‘Father Father’ and ‘That’s Alright’ are not to be missed.

Catch it all on iPlayer while you still can.

Things Popslutz learnt at Wireless Festival

PopSlutz were lucky enough to get our wrists locked into one of these badboys this weekend.

SO here’s what we learnt at Wireless…

Katy B said she wrote Perfect Stranger ‘about being at a Festival’.

Kind of convenient considering the situation…but we’ll take at her word for it.

Katy B at Wireless

Mirrors is an absolute tune.

OK we obviously already knew this, but hearing it live just reinforced this very obvious fact…and made us want to cry a little bit.

Justin Timberlake is a multi-instrumentalist.

We’d heard rumours of him playing the guitar AND piano at gigs recently, but decided it had to seen to be believed. We saw. We believe. We love JT.

Justin Timberlake playing a GUITAR

Will.I.Am has tinnitus.

And that, kids, is why you should invest in ear plugs. It’s OK though, “Music is the only thing which eases my pain”.

Will.I.Am at Wireless

Naughty Boy’s got his inspiration for La La La from a sample bank.

Literally, the ‘la la la’ bit is from a library. Who knew?

PopSlutz on the front row

Glastonbury Highlights

Here are a few performances from Glastonbury worth of a Popslutz mention.

James Blake was an unexpected, stand-out performance, a shining example of how electronic music can be performed live. Somehow just three people on the stage created the biggest, bassiest sound imaginable. What’s interesting about James Blake’s songwriting is that each song is carried by only one or two lines, only a handful of vocal hooks, that are then repeated over a steady build. Check out the BBC iPlayer highlights, and stick with it for a good three minutes or so until he first sings. What. A. Voice. Haunting, beautiful and so distinctive it is clear how he first burst onto the scene with his cover of ‘Limit to Your Love’.

Bastille were made for the festival stage. Chanty vocal hooks precede the majority of their songs so that the beer-infused sun-dozed audience can sing along. Their choruses are so catchy that you know every word by the second time it comes around. Some pleasantly surprising covers were embedded into their set too, including City High’s noughties hit ‘What Would You Do?’ (WHAT a tune).

Rita Ora exploded onto the Pyramid Stage like a small bundle of red dynamite (if dynamite had tassels). This girl has an impressive set of tunes to her name now (thanks to the excellent team of songwriters and producers behind her), and not a bad set of lungs either.

Listen to Daughter for some heart-renching vocals, impressive eerie guitar work and above all, outstanding lyrical content.  ‘Landfill’ is our fave.