BADLANDS REVIEW
August 29, 2015
Halsey (also known as Ashley Frangipane) has been named one of 2015's key artists to watch numerous times and it's no wonder why she has with the huge album that she has just dropped. Having listened to her since around January time new music is something that I have been desperate for, her five track Room 93 EP that was released last year being a well round summary of her as an artist was incredible but me being me needed more. And now it's here, we have left Room 93 and entered the Badlands.
In the run up to the release Frangipane had been releasing several songs for pre-order as well as singing a set of songs off the album at her concerts (which until this September will have all pretty much been US based). This has given her rapidly growing army of fans a taste of what is to come. My favourite from the pre-order had to be Drive while my favourite that she had been singing during concerts is Colours, both are incredible and have such clever lyrical meaning.
The album opens with Castle, a haunting song with such a captivating sense to it. Lasting 4:38 it is the longest song on the album, and really gives a sense as to what kind of music you can expect from the album. To me, this is a song that I had been so excited to get a studio version of, after listening to live versions for such a long period of time this was a nice breather. However, the lyrics aren't as captivating or heavy as some of the ones that feature on several of the other tracks on this debut but that doesn't go without saying that this song is incredible in it's own rights, the music to it being its strong point.
Some of the strongest songs on the album are without a doubt Colours, Coming Down, Haunting, and Gasoline. But I don't want to push any of these songs aside, each of them brings something different and remarkable to this eery concept of the 'BADLANDS' that Frangipane has created through this album.
Halsey's sound is something that the music industry has needed for a long time, it is honest and brutal. She sings about love, drugs, sex and self empowerment, all things that are so uncommon for female artists to do. With this remarkable debut album Halsey breaks these invisible gender boundaries that have been set up by the music industry and mainstream media as a whole.
Badlands Deluxe then closes with the conclusive 'I Walk The Line', this song is the shortest on the album and carries the eery feeling that has been portrayed throughout the rest of the album right to the very end. The tempo to this is much slower than many of the other songs on the album and yet it seems to tell a story of how this love that she has found gives her confidence. It is a conclusive album that almost fully emphasises this idea of finding love in the messiest of places. The main phrase in it is 'because you're mine, I walk the line' which is repeated and layered, it is a very basic song in comparison to some of the others but is none the less a wonderful song.
I didn't know song writers like Halsey existed until I found her work, I didn't really understand what people meant when they said that they could feel something from music but the lyrics that have been put into this album changed everything. Waking up to this album was like Christmas in late August, such a wonderful feeling. If you haven't listened to it yet, I highly recommend that you go and listen!
Badlands is available to stream on Spotify and to also buy on iTunes, or to even pick up from your local music store (also if you reside in the United States then I believe that Target is running a contest where if you purchase the album from there you can be put into a contest to win the chance to be flown out to spend the day with Halsey).
My Indoor Skydiving Experience
August 16, 2015
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| Apologies about the quality of this, it's a screen cap from the in flight video we were given. |
There are only three centres across the country that offered the experience that my parents had purchased and so the closest one for us was Basingstoke, we had an afternoon flight session so we left at about 11 and made our way there. I didn't know what to expect or what the building would look like but I don't think it reached my expectations on the exterior. It was just a buliding that seemed to be covered in some form of corrugated metal, with a massive taller section (almost like a church steeple or something).
While waiting for our session we got to watch the groups before us in their flight sessions. This really helped to build up the adrenaline for our session, plus watching different peoples facial expressions was pretty priceless. Eventually my group number was called and we we taken into a classroom where we were shown a video of in flight techniques and the hand signals that we would need to look out for from the instructor.
Once we had done this it was time to suit up, they were the basic boiler suits along with a helmet and goggles. Then just before going in we were given ear buds too to ensure that our hearing wasn't ruined while we had wind at a speed of up to 110mph blown at us (it was SO loud!).
I'm not really sure how to describe how it felt other than that it felt as though you were quite literally flying, if you went a little too far to one side then you just gave the glass wall a little push and were put right back into you starting place. On the second go we were offered to do something called a high flyer where we were taken right to the top while spinning around which my sister and I enjoyed but my step mum didn't seem to enjoy as much. This was an extra £5 which we paid at the end but it was so worth it!
To conclude I would really recommend the experience, whether it is for yourself or for someone as a gift it would make such an interesting day out!
Long Distance
August 09, 2015
Having parents who live a good two hours away from eachother has gotten me used to the idea of long distance and how to cope with missing people that you can only really see via facetime or talk to through texting. There are people that I have lost touch with during the transition from living at my mums to living at my dads and there are people that I still talk to, it can be hard at times because each of us have our own lives. We have our own friends and plans, we have exams and homework, we have jobs and everything else. These things can get in the way, but when you really are friends with people these things shouldn't matter.
Recently I went to see a friend that I hadn't seen for around five years and as soon as I stepped into her house I felt at home, sitting at her dinner table with two of my other friends felt completely natural. We caught up on life and had a wonderful time, personally it's moments like that which help to remind me that while distance may be an obstacle it is one that once broken feels as though you have always been with the person.
But for me, my long distance doesn't just work with my parents and the friendships that I have in both places but internet friendships too. My best friend and I live 250 miles away from eachother, over halfway across the country. We have never 'met' and yet I feel as though she is one of my closest friends, for people that haven't experienced this before it can be difficult to understand but when you have a friendship as strong as ours it doesn't matter that we live so far away. We make it work, and we have been doing so for almost a year now.
Of course, dealing with the distance can be hard and there are times when all you want is to be able to curl up and watch your favourite film with a tub of ice cream and your best friend. But for many people this is extremely hard, having someone far away that you are unable to be with physically is difficult in this sense. And it is at this point that you have to remember that you have other friends, ones who are always there for you, ones who are just as wonderful as these people that are far away.
The one thing that keeps you going and the one thing that doesn't quite compare to anything else is the feeling when you get to hug the one person who you have been desperate to see. That feeling is so indescribable and wonderful.
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Recently I went to see a friend that I hadn't seen for around five years and as soon as I stepped into her house I felt at home, sitting at her dinner table with two of my other friends felt completely natural. We caught up on life and had a wonderful time, personally it's moments like that which help to remind me that while distance may be an obstacle it is one that once broken feels as though you have always been with the person.
But for me, my long distance doesn't just work with my parents and the friendships that I have in both places but internet friendships too. My best friend and I live 250 miles away from eachother, over halfway across the country. We have never 'met' and yet I feel as though she is one of my closest friends, for people that haven't experienced this before it can be difficult to understand but when you have a friendship as strong as ours it doesn't matter that we live so far away. We make it work, and we have been doing so for almost a year now.
Of course, dealing with the distance can be hard and there are times when all you want is to be able to curl up and watch your favourite film with a tub of ice cream and your best friend. But for many people this is extremely hard, having someone far away that you are unable to be with physically is difficult in this sense. And it is at this point that you have to remember that you have other friends, ones who are always there for you, ones who are just as wonderful as these people that are far away.
The one thing that keeps you going and the one thing that doesn't quite compare to anything else is the feeling when you get to hug the one person who you have been desperate to see. That feeling is so indescribable and wonderful.
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Simple Summer Smoothie
August 04, 2015
There is a way to make this even healtier but this is a pre-warning to say that it wont be this beautiful colour when you are done with it. To make nay smoothie healthier just add anywhere from 1-2 handfuls of spinach into it, I promise that you can't taste it in the mix. The spinach often turns the smoothie a vivid green shade which is actually really cool.
Smoothies are a great way of intaking some of your five a day while tasting great and being high in natural sugars, none of that horrible processed stuff. You know exactly what you are putting into your body. I tend to drink a smoothie at least once a day as they always leave me feeling so refreshed.
Without further ado I will share with you the recipe for this wonderful summer drink.
The ingredients that you are going to need are:
-Strawberries (I use about 7 large ones as this is the equivalent of one portion for your five a day)
-Blueberries (again, I use about 2 handfuls to cater to the five a day aspect of the smoothie)
-Banana (I actually only used half of a small banana as this gives the consistency I like)
-Water (enough to fill to the mid point of your blender (I'm not sure about this part as i have a nutribullet and it clearly shows a max line))
-Fresh orange juice (just a splash, it gives a great summery taste to the smoothie)
-Greek yogurt (only a teaspoon, just something to make it creamy, however this could also be reached by adding the rest of the banana)
-Spinach (this part is optional but I really suggest you try it!)
How to:
-First off prepare all of the fruit, make sure it is washed and then you can roughly chop it up and place it into the blender.
-With any leftover fruit either place it back in the fridge or if you aren't going to use it for a while make some pre prepared smoothie bags. You can do this by putting enough of each ingredient into a freezer bag and placing them in the freezer until you want a smoothie at a later date! (Wouldn't reccomend freezing the spinach though, I'm not sure how that would turn out!)
-Add the water, orange juice, and greek yogurt.
-Blend the smoothie up until it is at a consistency that you are happy with.
-Enjoy your smoothie!
TIP: if you want to cool your smoothie down, or just prefer colder smoothies, then add a couple of blocks of ice into the mixture before blending it to make it much more chilled.
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