This past September was Live Lounge month at BBC Radio 1 in celebration of their 50th anniversary. Nearly every day over the course of the month a massive pop icon took to the microphone, creating some moments of pure musical pleasure.
Each artist performed a mixture of new tunes with old classics, as well as keeping up the Live Lounge tradition of covering at least one iconic anthem. Something old, something new, something borrowed, but nothing blue, about these intimate shows. Twenty-one acts took part including Stormzy, The Script and Jay-Z, as well as a live concert with the return of Sam Smith to round off the month.
There were 5 standout sets that — not to be dramatic, but — you must have in your life.
Miley Cyrus
Giving you the perfect beginning with ‘Malibu’ from her Rainbowland studios in Malibu itself, you can see what a comeback Miley has had with her recent resurgence. This new, calmer Miley is worlds away from her Bangerz era which could have been described as reckless (get it? Wrecking ball . . . never mind). A gorgeous country twist created a chill atmosphere and made me nostalgic for the summer that had just ended. (*wipes single tear away*).
You will instantly fall in love with her Dolly Parton-esque ‘See You Again’. With its ‘Jolene’ vibes, it even made me consider listening to country music in my spare time. Who knew Miley could have such an effect?
‘Younger Now’ is the perfect anthem for those of us struggling to accept the fact that we are back to actually doing work in college. The openness of Miley’s new work has been so refreshing as she tries to leave behind the days of twerking and the memorable “Miley, what’s good?” line from Nicki Minaj. (A piece of pop history if I do say so myself.)
‘Party in the U.S.A.’ had memories flooding back of birthday parties and thinking that you’re cool with blue eyeshadow and a plastic purse from Claire’s — a millennial classic.
Harry Styles
‘Sign of the Times’, the first single from his debut album, is as breath-taking as it was the first time I heard it on the DART into college. Harry has gotten some stick for going solo (as have all of his One Direction counterparts) but he delivers so much as a live performer — and no, I’m not jealous that I didn’t get tickets to see him when he comes to Dublin in April.
His voice is so smooth in his angelic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’. I was slightly sceptical about whether bae — I mean, Harry — could pull it off with this iconic song. It seems that he had the band’s approval beforehand — Mick Fleetwood himself attended one of Harry’s L.A. shows, and he performed with Stevie Nicks.
It’s obvious that Harry throws himself into every song that he performs. His cover of Rihanna’s ‘Wild Thoughts’ is electrifying. With a wrenching guitar, Harry’s soft voice creates this amazing tune which should have DJ Khalid shaking on his jetski.
Foo Fighters
Steering away from the millennial pop powerhouses, Foo Fighters blew the roof off, opening the month of Live Lounge performances.
Kicking it off with an absolute classic, ‘The Best of You’, the Foos transported me back to listening to a golden era of rock when I was a young’un. This was during a time when as Kings of Leon and The Killers were starting to make a name for themselves, the Foo Fighters were reigning supreme and rolling out headbanging tunes. You can see that they haven’t lost any of that passion that makes their guitar riffs so legendary.
Their new track, ‘The Sky is a Neighbourhood’ from their new album Concrete and Gold, is a true testament that they haven’t lost any of the energy that they had when they started 23 years ago.
Dave Grohl took his cover opportunity to combine his band with the icons that are AC/DC. A match made in rock heaven was created with their rendition of ‘Let There be Rock’.
Lorde
It was a short but sweet set by Lorde, with a spine-tingling cover of Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’ and a beautifully bare-boned ‘Green Light’. Her new album has struck a chord with everyone I know who has listened to it (and no, I’m also not bitter that Lorde didn’t include Ireland on her Melodrama tour). Getting to the heart of emotional parties and what to do the day after when everything has been demolished, including yourself, ‘Green Light’ was the perfect song to strip back.
Her comeback is one of pop queen status and she shows how much she deserves this title with her Live Lounge set. Her rendition of Collins’ Eighties classic is ridiculously good. Like Harry, she smashed it, and showed that this generation’s singers have as much talent and skill as their predecessors.
Royal Blood
Gracing the 3 Arena in November, Royal Blood hit a soft spot that everyone has in the BBC studios. Channelling the Foo Fighters, their songs are huge and never get old no matter how much you listen to them.
They performed their new track ‘I Only Lie When I Love You’ and even with two of them, they always step up the noise levels at least tenfold.
A seriously sexy cover of ‘My Sharona’ picks up the pace and takes you for a ride. It’s still crazy that they can create amazing music with just drums and a bass guitar, testifying to their skill.
You can listen to all of their performances on the BBC radio 1 Youtube channel.
