EP Review: “Love And War” by ZZ Ward

Back in 2012, I kept hearing a song playing on an advertisement of a show. The new seasons were about to start back up again after being off for whatever break, but I could not get this song to go away. It was everywhere! So finally I got the title and artist’s name and I began my search on finding more about this person. ZZ Ward was her name and the song was called “Put The Gun Down.” If anybody that is reading this right now, you know how much I love two genres mixing together and I L-O-V-E-D this freaking song! It wasn’t what I normally heard on the radio and at that time, I was in deep with rock/metal so I barely listened to anything in the pop category unless it was forced. Justin Bieber? Yeah, that was forced.

My love for ZZ Ward was pure and oh my god, did I love it! Describing the sound of the music she makes is a mixture between three genres in one: R&B, rock, and blues. Music is supposed to take you away from your problems in your day or life. I’ve unfortunately have had a rough time finding that kind of music to take me away from all of it. When I was into symphonic metal, I had a lot to choose from but once I started exploring other genres the chase to find the perfect escape became a harder thing to come by. ZZ Ward is one of the few that helped me. So I’m excited to find she’s got this new EP out for all her fans to listen and find some peace in their lives again. Something tells me these four songs are only just the beginning…

I first heard “Love 3X” not through Spotify, but on Sirius XM The Pulse and I listened to it ironically enough three times. I loved it! Love is a tricky thing! I love the feel good sound of this song, it sounds happy but not like in a pop song kind of way though! It has the sound of a good new modern jazz-pop sound that’s perfect for these younger generations to enjoy! Since I love hearing those older songs from Frank Sinatra, this is a bit tamer but I still love it the same as the others! For the next one “Lonely” I didn’t like it at first but once I realized how stupid I was, I quickly changed my opinion! I love the sassy intro, her deep almost twangy tone of her voice is beautiful for the chorus! I love the low beat, sounds like a good blues like sound. It has a nice groove to it and makes you want to dance a little bit.

In every album, EP out there. There’s always a ballad and “Rescue” this is ZZ’s version. I don’t want to call her it a “ballad” because it’s still very much upbeat but the vocals and lyrics can make it that way.  In the beginning it does sound like a normal ballad, but when the song continues it actually changes direction in the tempo. I love the addition of the full band, love the horn section! Ugh! A little bit before four minutes in, that song has ended but you get a sound of a door opening. It’s basically like a little skit before the next song starts, I’ll always loved these things! All of a sudden, you hear a very loud harmonica and it’s the most random thing ever and then it stops and last song called “Marry Well” plays and you can hear it play again with cymbals, bass guitar, drums… It’s all yummy! At three minutes in fifty-one seconds, the tempo changes once again but she is singing something it is too distorted to make out unfortunately! Something that I’ve always loved about ZZ’s way of putting her words together in the songs, is that she doesn’t give a shit if she curses or not! I feel it’s not a sense of rebelling, but I think if you are writing a song about love and the bad sides of it, you’re gonna want to release some of the anger that might be building up or things maybe you wished you could have said if they’re already gone. Trying to hold everything in doesn’t help very much, trust me!

Well, are you a ZZ Ward fan? How did you come across her music? What do you like about her new EP? 

OOTD: Too Much?

Howdy!

You guys got extremely lucky! I’ve been feeling pretty out of it in the last few days so the fact that you’ve got this post in between two music reviews is unreal! My mom’s work schedule is a bit weird, the only two days she had off were Tuesday and today. This picture was taken Tuesday afternoon after spending time with my grandparents. My poor sister’s has had some health problems that she’s had to deal with lately. While my mom took her to her doctor’s appointment I voted to go to my nana’s instead of staying with dad and ChiChi. Before we left the house though, mom brought in Felix and Otis into my room. It’s better to only have one kitten in my room. At the last of the visit, both of them were climbing all over my table and push wheelchair! They were having a ball and I was on the floor freaking out like always.

I know that a lot of you liked my last OOTD post because I was wearing something bright and colorful. I know Marilyn is going to be a little sad about this outfit. I have a few opinions of this outfit. First off, this wasn’t my first choice for neither shirt or leggings! I think it’s too busy but nobody bothered to say anything about it. Apparently I have learned to pose in my push wheelchair, I didn’t even realize it until I saw this picture. Does that mean I’m finally getting comfortable doing these pictures now? You can also see my eyes in this one too! You’ve seen the shirt top before. The pants I haven’t worn in awhile though. I think I got them at Charlotte Russe. I hardly ever buy anything from there.. I just sit and glare at their shoe rack! These leggings are probably one of like four that actually fit well on my tiny legs. My neon leggings are not tight around my ankles and are very “baggy” in my calf areas. As I said in my last post, they’re also very smooth, almost have like a silky texture to them but with these, they’re very soft and tight! The design is kind of hard to explain. It look like cheetah print mixed with a snake like pattern.

What do you think about this outfit? Yay or nay?

Song Review: “Smoke Break” by Carrie Underwood

I have always had a love/hate relationship with country music. I’ve never liked the twang in their voices and the content of the songs are always the same! I have a lot of excuses to hate on the genre but there are a few that I can’t help but love about it!

I never watched the season that Carrie Underwood won American Idol. The only season I remember watching the most was the year Kelly Clarkson took it. The only reason why I ever did watch it is because our night nurses at Shriner’s watched it in our section of the hospital. I can still remember the grainy look of the television screen and the cheers all around of happy fans. Fast forward, in our house we just watched the auditions and the finales. That’s it. Last year was the first time that nobody was interested in watching it straight through. What gets me the most was that I never watched that season and I had only heard “Jesus Take The Wheel” on the radio and yet I still bought her first album. I even have her second album and I’m pretty attached to that one the most!

I love Carrie’s vocal range a lot. She’s a great crossover singer, taking country and pop, mixing the two together as effortlessly as possible. The content of her songs can sound like remakes of her past hits, but I have to say this new song of hers threw me for a loop! It’s called “Smoke Break” and the song is about what you think it’s about, but considering Carrie’s a new mom I didn’t expect her to have a song about taking a little smoke break. I mean, I can see it between being a mom, wife, and famous singer! When I first heard it I was like, “this could be mom’s theme song!” Sorry, but it’s true! We’ve all had those moments where you either want a smoke or a lot of alcohol! I think everybody just needs a break from life to unwind and this is what the song is basically saying. How I’ve been feeling lately, I’m ready for some alcohol!

What do you think about Carrie’s new single?