Music Monday | FOUR

HELLO! I don’t even know where to begin with this weeks’ Music Monday. Today marks the release of One Direction’s fourth studio album, appropriately titled FOUR. 

They’ve been super excited to surprise people with their new sound, and they’ve succeeded. People who heard the album prior to it’s release have been pleasantly surprised (not being fans themselves). So obviously we were anxious to hear what the buzz was about.

The boys were way more involved on this album, from arranging to writing. They made sure this album contained songs and genres they'd listen to themselves. Our favourite writing duo Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson put in the most writing time, co-writing on 9 songs each - along with regular collaborators like Julian Bunetta, John Ryan and Jamie Scott. 

The boys penned some songs with other industry favourites (such as Good Charlotte, McFly, and Naughty Boy), however not all of those tracks made it onto the release. 

We just bought it, and here are our immediate thoughts on it!

STEAL MY GIRL

-       Considering the other tracks on the album I don’t know how this became the single

-       I love it (as a one direction fan) but they definitely should have released one of the other tracks

READY TO RUN

-       Story of my life/Happily vibes immediately

-       Digging the folk vibe, doesn’t seem completely new or surprising though

-       Melody is good

WHERE DO BROKEN HEARTS GO

-       Still reminiscent of Midnight Memories

-       Bon Jovi style chorus, classic rock vibe

-       Definitely want to clap your hands and sing along

-       Gonna be amazing on tour

-       Older lyric

18

-       Ed Sheeran wrote this one, so we all know I loved it automatically

-       Melody is beautiful

-       Louis’ solo in the end is the best thing

GIRL ALMIGHTY

-       Love the opening line

-       High energy, blitzkrieg bop kinda feel

-       Nice little Rock n roll guitar riff in the chorus

-       Older lyric “I’d get down on my knees for ya”

-       Fun fun fun song

FOOL'S GOLD 

-       Great guitar in the beginning

-       Very calm, relaxing

-       Before all the songs were released this was on repeat for days

-       Beautiful chorus melody

-       Can tell vocally & musically they’ve grown – falsetto’s, melisma’s, harmonies

-       One of my favourites

NIGHT CHANGES

-       Old 60s rock-surf music vibe in the chorus

-       Older lyric/subject matter

-       One of my favourites

-       Like the drum beat mimics a heartbeat

NO CONTROL

-       This was the FIRST SONG MY JAW DROPPED AT

-       I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SONG

-       Completely new sound

-       Completely older lyric/subject matter “waking up next to you, im a loaded gun” “still a trace of innocence on my pillow case”

-       Catchy melody

-       Love the music – good bassline

FIREPROOF

-       First song they released (as a free track)

-       Love this song, my dad loves this song

-       70s rock feel – the eagles kinda vibe

-       catchy chorus melody

-       nice guitar solo

SPACES

-       SECOND SONG MY JAW DROPPED AT

-       Completely different sound

-       Melody is awesome – kind of reminiscent of coldplay at the end of the chorus

-       Music is full and loud - Amazing to blast through speakers

-       Sounds amazing post-bridge

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME 

-       THIRD SONG MY JAW DROPPED AT

-       We heard Zayn sing the opening chorus line in a “weed video” – didn’t sound like what I expected it to

-       The chorus is a JAMMMMMMM

-       I LOVE THIS SONG
-tied for favourite

CLOUDS

-       FOURTH SONG MY JAW DROPPED AT – WAS DROPPED THE ENTIRE TIME

-       I WAS DRIVING MY CAR AND I HAVE NEVER SCREAMED SO LOUD

-       GUITAR HEAVY – SO GUITAR HEAVY

-       MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC

-       Heavy rock influence

-       This song is going to be the MOST AMAZING LIVE

-       One of my favourite IF NOT my favourite on the album

-       Best song musically on the album hands down

BONUS TRACKS

CHANGE YOUR TICKET

-       Guitar reminded me of “Girls” by the 1975 immediately

-       The melody is an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME pop melody

-       Older lyric/subject matter - “come get back in bed, we still got time left”

-       LOVE THIS SONG, rival for my favourite

-       Awesome guitar riffs

ILLUSION

-       Queen type into

-       Neither here nor there for me

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

–      IMMEDIATE COLDPLAY VIBES WITH THAT OPENING RIFF

–      Nice calm song, didn’t evoke any screaming though

–      Older sound – I like

–      Good song to listen to with ambient lighting alone in your room LOL

–      Good vocals

ACT MY AGE

-       NEED TO BE ON A PIRATE BOAT, NEED A BEER, NEED AN EYEPATCH

-       Good song to get drunk and yell with your mates to

-       Whoever described the genre as “Irish Country Pirate Rave” on tumblr was surprisingly accurate

-       At one point it sounds like a Christmas song - Sonia

-       Happy-go-lucky, completely fun

-       not a favourite though

All in all I am COMPLETELY proud of them for making an album like this. They worked extremely hard and are going to surprise so many people. If there's one thing I have to say - DON'T discount this album because it has the words "One Direction" on it. 100% you're going to unknowingly be bobbing your head to these songs in the near future. 

Enjoy!

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