E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

Eyewear is very glad to publish online a new poem by our sometime music critic, Lydia Bowden ; the poem's youthful amourous theme very much suits the summer as it sort of develops, here, in London, from overcast and muggy to some sun poking through.  Bowden eating Boyfriends Girlfriends Aaron turned me into gold and Tom made me look tall but double in height was the other Tom. Nick wrote the best love letters, was more of a fling than any real thing like Daniella and I, I wonder where she went to, until I fell for Adam, lasting all of nine hand-holding, no-kissing months until it all ended with a run from a crowded room. The feelings reappeared for Alice, so I jumped into the bear arms of Will, well, that’s the end of that story. Liam ignited a fire inside of my tight fitting vest tops where video games loomed in a dark room, like a grave, so across the stree...

LYDIA BOWDEN , EYEWEAR MUSIC CRITIC ON THE NEW JAMES BLAKE James Blake has fallen in love. It’s true. I found this out after I had my first listen to his second album Overgrown . Blake has recently admitted that he knew nothing about music before he met his new love, who is in fact, Theresa Wayman , singer and guitarist in American band Warpaint . In comparison to his self titled first album, which hints his earlier work with dub-step, has a haunting vocal at the forefront, all with a mixture of bleeps and hums, this second album is somewhat more soothing, with less of a kick. And it’s obvious that something in his music has changed. I guess love can have that affect.   Mr Blake in love People have been very excited about this album. After his big entrance to the DJ music scene, his music was soon playing on all popular radio stations and loved by every pop music lover out there. People loved what they heard, it was fresh and spooky, a sound that made you feel dr...

Eyewear 's Music Critic Lydia Bowden On Lianne La Havas I can’t have an ice-cream without thinking about Lianne La Havas. Why? Because I swear she sings that instead of ‘I scream’ in her debut single ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’- and of course it isn’t ice-cream- but La Havas’ voice sounds so much like flowing caramel, if there was such a thing, so I guess that connotation with ice-cream is fair enough on my part. Seriously though, this girl’s voice is deliciously smooth. Not only that, but even the music sounds just as sweet. Insisting on playing her own highly strapped guitar, La Havas gives off this dreamlike effect through her music with random scales on guitar and experimental notes with her husky voice.   A Londoner- part Greek, part Jamaican- and yet another artist having emerged from Later…with Jools Holland, La Havas is something like Corinne Bailey Rae , but it’s something much more refreshing , something a little more honest and stylish from this young ...

Our music critic Lydia Bowden on Jessie Ware Dubbed the new Katy B , may I introduce to you Jessie Ware - a brand new artist that I think is in a whole league of her own. It seems Jessie has been floating around for about two years, lending her vocals to other artists like SBTRKT and Jack Peñate ; she even released an EP in 2010 that completely flew over my head called Nervous . At that point she was turning heads about 90 degrees, not quite 180 yet, but now our heads have gone full circle. Jessie has been releasing little tasters for quite a while now, hinting that her first debut album is going to be a work of genius and come at us all with force. Singles ‘Running’ and a personal favourite ‘110%’ are full of soulful and chilled whispers, and it’s clear that from working with DJ Joker , a subtle dub-step beat has slipped its way into her music which gives it a need to be listened to. She calls Diana Ross and Chaka Khan her inspiration, which explains that 80’s vib...

Lydia Bowden Lydia Bowden, Eyewear 's Music Critic, focuses in on Alt-J Indie? Electro-geek pop? I don’t know, I just made that up. Alt-J don’t want a genre, nor do they want to be labelled or compared to any other band out there- they are completely unique. I don’t know where to begin if I’m honest. I was looking through my Facebook only a month ago and I came across a link my fellow music obsessive friend had posted on my wall. It was a song called ‘Breezeblocks’ and I thought: oh here we go, another group of guys stamping their feet and whining into the microphone- how very wrong I was. Before I mention what I heard, I need to point out the visual. This is of course the video I’m talking about; A fight between a man and woman rewound so the ending is ultimately the beginning. It’s action packed, it’s fast and it’s like a short drama unfolding in front of you, but then you hear the music- the smooth vocals of front man Joe Newman playing over the top of it, turni...

Lydia Bowden , Eyewear 's current music critic, checks out the second Best Coast album Summer: beer in hand and a small group of friends with Best Coast ’s brand new album The Only Place playing in the background- it’s where it belongs. Having been influenced by The Beach Boys , duo Bobb Bruno and Bethany Cosentino had something to build upon, and you sure can hear this in their second album. However this better produced set of songs wasn’t what the band had originally been going for. Their debut ‘Crazy for You’ has a much –how can I put this? - Dirtier , feel to it, with less of that sharp, nipped and tucked sound you hear in ‘The Only Place’. This was all with the help of producer Jon Brion , who has worked with some big names like Keane and Kanye West - to name a few. With his help, Best Coast were sure to create such a great album. With their clever play on words in the title, its obvious the duo love all things West Coast- I’ll let you work that one ou...