☔ April at AW ☔
By Manav Parmar
Lady Gaga is a world renowned pop/dance artist known for her eccentric style and fearless personality. She has 240 million monthly listeners on Spotify, making her the 2nd most listened to artist worldwide. Her song Alejandro is from her 2011 album, The Fame Monster. Gaga explores the struggle for independence as she cuts off her Latino lovers; Alejandro, Fernando, and Roberto. At the end of the music video, she chooses to become a nun; rejecting the toxic relationships that life dealt her and becoming an independent, self-sufficient individual. She also says in the chorus of the song, “Hot like Mexico, rejoice”, which also shows how in April, the weather gets slightly warmer - and someone in the school probably went to Mexico during Spring Break, or somewhere else that’s tropical and paradisial. Uplift yourself and hit play to experience the final anthem of destroying the demoralizing evils that kept you down in the dumps during January, February, and maybe even March. It’s April, after all.
🌱☘ March at AW! ☘🌱
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By Bianca Chen
On February 14th, 2025, Daniel Caesar and Rex Orange County collaborated, making two new songs. The two new songs are called “Rearrange My World” and “There’s a Field (That’s Only Yours)”. In total, the two songs combined are 6 minutes long: “Rearrange My World” is 3 minutes and 49 seconds long, and “There’s a Field (That’s Only Yours)” is 2 minutes and 4 seconds long. In 2023, Daniel Caesar released his album, Never Enough, which has a total of 18 tracks. One year later, in 2024, Rex Orange County released The Alexander Technique, which has 16 tracks.
“Rearrange My World” is a breathtaking song. It's a beautiful way to introduce the album. The song begins with Rex Orange County’s majestic and soft voice. The song is slow and soothing, with the piano sounding instrument in the background. The repeating line “rearrange my world” shows the transformations within love. Letting someone into your life and allowing them to change things.
I personally really enjoy the one line that states, “I’ll trade all your things for all my things” (1:00-1:04). This line is one of my favorites because it shows that someone would give up all their belongings for someone else. Rex says that he would replace all of his belongings for the other person. This quote fills my heart with this kind of joy because it shows how someone could love someone else so much that they would risk throwing away all their most prized possessions for someone they love. This quote reminds me of the story The Gift of the Magi because it's about a couple that both sell their most prized possessions just to buy a gift for the other person. Showing that they cared so much for each other that they got rid of the things they cared for the most just to buy the other person a gift.
“There’s a Field (That’s Only Yours)” is the second track on the album. This one is my favorite! This song is also slower but just as astonishing as any other song. This one begins with Daniel Caesar, unlike the first song. Behind the majestic singing a slow acoustic pattern played on a guitar. This song is a contrast from “Rearrange my World” because instead of talking about the growth of a relationship, it touches on the topic of the struggles of a relationship. The song talks about issues that take place within a relationship but still holding onto the memories. Someone was lingering for the times when things were good and communication wasn’t an issue.
The main line in the song states, “I can’t fall with you, but I’ll fall with you / Right down to this old floor, there’s a field that’s only yours.” The first part of this quote states, “I can’t fall with you, but I’ll fall with you.” This part shows the yearning of wanting to be with someone but knowing that if you do “fall” with them you’ll only get hurt. Then stated in the line, “Right down to this old floor” shows that they are willing to fall into this low place in their life by themselves rather than interrupt this special place that only belongs to that other person. It's like a special place in their heart that they don't want to disturb because this place in them is for that other person and that person only. The old floor represents crashing down to a low place instead of this field that they could’ve landed in. They chose not to land in the field because that field belonged to someone else and they didn't want to intrude upon the other person.
These two songs are both very beautiful. Even though both songs contrast from each other, showing two different parts of love they still manage to fit so well together. From just listening to the songs itself I feel a peace in my heart. The songs are slow and calming with both the majestic voices of Rex Orange County and Daniel Caesar. When looking deeply into the lyrics and understanding each word you are brought into two different stories. One about the growth and transformation of love and the other about the lingering memories of a love. These are two of the most beautiful songs my ears have ever been exposed to by these artists and I am very glad I gave these songs a listen. Maybe you should give them a listen as well!
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By Manav Parmar
Bella Coppola is an actress and singer/songwriter. She is known for playing Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, in the phenomenal, in-your-face musical SIX. She has 4,088 monthly listeners on Spotify. Her song I Regret Nothing is from her EP, also titled I Regret Nothing.
It's about how Bella fell in love with someone, and he had "left [her] for someone new". She didn't "fit into the mold of [his] cliché", and he had left her. But she realized that she could do it alone. "I know who I am, and I don't need no man" shows how she has evolved into an independent being, and doesn't regret her choices. It's the empowering anthem that we need in February to carry us out of the slump that we call Winter.
So, if you dare to hit play, I promise you will see the light at the end of the tunnel that I saw when I first heard the flowy, at-ease voice of Bella Coppola.
❄️ January at AW ❄️
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By Bianca Chen
Last year, on December 20th, SZA released her new deluxe album SOS Deluxe: LANA. On December 9th, 2022 SZA came out with her album SOS and this year she has blessed our ears yet again by adding on to this breathtaking album. When she first released the album many of the songs became a big hit. “Kill Bill” is one legendary example of the song that took off to the top of the charts quite fast.
There are a total of 38 songs on this album making it 1 hour and 54 minutes long. When I first saw the length of the album I was quite intimidated. After listening to the album I can say I am very pleased with the many amazing songs I got to hear. Some of the songs on the album are from the original album which already itself had a total of 23 songs. We also got 15 new songs that are equally just as amazing.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is “Another Life”. The song talks about yearning for a love that you no longer have. In the lyrics, it says, “In another life I know we could ride, baby, let me ride. Won't you love me right out, boy?” She talks about how the relationship between two people didn’t end up working in this life, in this universe. But maybe in a different life or universe they would work out. The song shows the complexities of love and the aching in your heart from the separation. The songs show that because of the circumstances in the current life we are living, things weren’t able to work out but maybe in another timeline when things are different maybe there could've been a better ending for the two of them.
When SZA originally wrote SOS back in 2022 she was in a low place. Since then SZA has found herself among the queens of R&B. Her coming back and adding to this album is her showing that she is now ready to move on from the past and the things that have hurt her in the past putting her in a low mental state. SZA has come such a long way since then, improving her mental well-being and how she is doing overall.
This album has something to it that just keeps calling me back, making me want to listen to it over and over again. Taking the time and listening to the album and the words of each song has made me feel some sort of connection to some of the songs. I’m glad I gave this album a listen because I have found such a strong liking to the songs and just how her voice sounded in general. Give the album a listen and I guarantee you will feel the same way I did when I first hit play.
December at AW!
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October at AW!
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