Song of the Week w/c 25th August 2025

This week, I bring you a random collection of songs that have been on my mind as of late. I think I've probably already excitedly mentioned this to multiple people, so I'll get it out of the way --- I FINALLY scored tickets to see Pierce the Veil next month, and I am beyond excited. I hate to put a Pierce the Veil track in my song of the week post yet again given I like to pride myself on the diversity of the songs I listen to and this is really ruining that, but I can't help it. I've been thinking about them so much and the music is just. So. This week, the song I've been obsessed with is Pass the Nirvana, from their most recent album The Jaws of Life. There are a number of bands I've been to see live where you end up spending the show hoping they won't play too much of their modern music, and I am so so happy that isn't the case here. Pierce the Veil's recent(ish) music just really gives me the confidence they still really have that secret sauce, they're still moving and innovating and making awesome music, but it's also the same music I've loved from them for years. You get me? By far my favourite part of this track is how Vic sings "Give up, Give up". The screech to his voice is SO satisfying, and it fits so well with the push and pull of the growling guitar. I believe they still don't have a permanent drummer after losing Mike, but whoever's on this album is awesome and gives it that power needed. I will say that I was playing this track earlier today in the car and my dad made me turn it off before it was over because he said it was so unpleasant it made him feel sick. So I do understand it's not for everybody. But it's very much for me, so who cares. The energy is high, and my excitement is fizzing.

Next up, we've got some Chilean folk-pop, because I had to prove that I do actually listen to a range of music and not just screamo nonesense all of the time. No te olvides de mi is just an absolutely beautiful song with an old-timey charm. I've probably only mentioned this once or twice (....) but I've been really enjoying reading (about) Che Guevara recently, and this definitely brought to mind the provincial towns he visited across Latin America through the 1950s, and the stories he told of them. I am much-ignited by Panamericanism (only a few years too late...) and I have decided to not feel embarassed by all of the Spanish-language music I keep listening to anymore. As Brasilians, I feel we can be the black sheep of Latin America. A big enough country to have a separate culture, not helped by speaking a different language to the rest of the continent (although a bit of portuñol has rarely done me wrong). So I suppose it's nice actually to think of it as crossing boarders and bringing us closer together. As I said, I was really quite inspired by The Motorcycle Diaries, and I'd really love to get to know more of the rest of Latin, especially if it brings me more lovely music like this.

My brother left this week to return to the US and the autumn term of his second year of university. I miss him a lot already, even though he drives me completely crazy, and it feels very unfair that I won't be able to see him until Christmas. That's so many months away!! It's not even September yet!! Anyway, while he was around this week he reminded me of Sweet Tides by Thievery Corporation, and band I feel like he's bringing up all the time. It's very chilled out, "lounge-friendly music" as they like to call it. The drums are triumphant, and rolling march that contrasts the soft susurrations of the layered vocals. We went down to the river last week, to the weir, and the two of us screamed together as the cold water pushed past our ankles. I got to feel like a big sister, still, ducking myself into the frigid expanse first, coming up sputtering. He cares a lot about music, and I care a lot about him.

Originally, Pool by Samia was going to be my song of the week, but (spoiler!) it got usurped last minute. Nonetheless, I've been thinking about it all week. I would really recommend watching the version from her tiny desk concert (what can I say, tiny desk is great). I think the power of the lyrics is that much stronger when you can see her face, and the emotion really comes through in her voice in a way that kind of cracks you open inside. Everything swirls around you in the crescendo, a desperate plea resonating over and over again. It's pretty miserable and tragic, kind of, but it's beautiful too and I think the point of music is emotions anyway. In a way, it reminds me a bit of Anna's song of the week from a few weeks ago, If You Only Feel It Once from Bleach Lab. By which I mean it punches you and it makes you feel miserable about things before they're over. Memento mori motherfucker.

And, finally, as promised my song of the week was an extremely late entry. Literally this evening I was watching (the first half of) Sinners. I've been so so excited to watch it for ages, but my dad and I just couldn't find the right moment to sit down to watch it together. I really love vampire stories, I've liked Ryan Coogler's other films, and I'd heard just so much really great stuff about it. I have to say, so far it's really living up to my expectations and I'm really excited to finish it tomorrow (I had to make sure I'd be able to sleep...). I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but the first half of the film builds up to a boiling point, much of it centering around the Smokestack Twins and the juke joint they're opening up. I really didn't know a lot about the history of juke joints and their importance in the history of blues music (which I love!!) so it was really cool to learn more (I love a bit of Wikipedia-reading during a film.... sorry!!!). As the evening swirls and heats up, Preacher boy, played by the absolutely incredible Miles Caton (in his film debut!), begins to sing I Lied to You. The song was written by Raphael Saadaq, and I have to give a lot of the credit to him for the absolutely insane way that he blends together different genres and eras in this track, but I also have to give a lot to Miles Caton. The movie has to sell me on the idea that this song is so earth-bendingly good that it breaks the world, and somehow the two of them together manage to do it. It's just so fucking electric, and I mean literally at around 1:50 when the electric guitar comes in the track just goes completely insane. Blending together so many different elements from the history of Black music, Saadaq incorporates blues, gospel music, hiphop, African drumming, rock, and probably a lot more that I'm missing. The music feels intoxicating, profound, spiritual. Something that really adds to it for me, too, was reading the comments on this song on YouTube, and seeing so many people talking about the way it made them feel. The way they felt connected to their ancestors. The way they felt alive, transcendent, chills through their bodies. The memories it stirred up, of different parts of their lives. The whole point of it is to connect people, through time and across space, and reading that I knew it had been successful, and it had done what it set out to do. Incredible, show-stopping, never seen before!! If this doesn't get an Oscar you'd better become scared of me!!!

Back to archive.