MUSIC: The end of the 2015-2016 school year has arrived so let’s review some of the music that temporarily shaped our world.
By Lily Mitchell, Staff Writer
With less than ten days left of school at Poly, it may seem like almost everyone is already compiling their summer soundtrack. But please pause. What about taking a trip down memory lane through the albums that were there for us during those long nights buried under textbooks and homework? These are the tracks that kept us from insanity during finals and served as our life raft during A.P. season. Here it is: a musical school year in review.
- Halsey – “Badlands” (August 28, 2015): Released right at the beginning of the school year, Halsey eased us into our bustling schedules with her vibrant electropop. Singing of rather risky behaviors, her boldness and musical mode of outward expression paralleled our budding anticipation of new experiences yet to come.
- Adele – “25” (November 20, 2015): By November, we had already lived a little at homecoming and we were hunkering down for first semester finals in January. So, what better than listening to some Adele? Adele’s “25” brought to the table a fresh plate of emotional catharsis — except this time it was a “make-up” album (the opposite of 2011’s “21”). With more of an uplifting sound, the British singer breathed fresh life into our study sessions. A little less piano and more pop provided for a very enjoyable comeback album from the artist that was the soundtrack to all of the emotional moments of our late-elementary school/middle school lives.
- The 1975- “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” (February 26): Around Valentine’s Day, we were in for the long haul until Spring break and Matty Healy had just the fix for us beginning with his first single from the album; the very funky ‘Love Me.’ With his introspective lyrics on topics like love and religion, he and his band not only followed up their self-titled debut, but had us rocking out to very ‘80’s sounding alternative rock (with hints of pop) all the way until spring.
- Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” (April 23) and Drake’s “Views” (April 29): Whew! Finally, we made it. We made it to AP testing and we made it to the end of the year. Coming out only days apart, these two albums packed quite the punch. While our Queen Bey had us saluting her important musical statements about hardships and issues faced by black women, rapper Drake provided the therapy needed to survive the rest of the school year with his vulnerable and raw lyrics that took us on a tour of Toronto.
Okay, now hit play. Hit play on your summer playlist and if you are a senior, party on into college. For the rest of us, let’s jam on and worry about next year. . . next year.