ON THE RECORD

ROCK AND ROLL
Medicine at Midnight
By Foo Fighters

In a time where everything is changing, we feel as if consistency with the past brings a sense of calm and normality. And the Foo Fighters are doing their part in keeping their sound and rhythm, alive and constant. For a quarter century, they’ve graced the Earth’s sound waves with uncomplicated guitar rock, creating a fall-back relationship with music that is always there; reliable and dependable.

The very reason behind their magic, as they mark a glorious depiction of the band’s successful career in music with the 10th Foo Fighters album. The record begins with Making A Fire, blending 90s’ alt-rock guitar and upbeat choral backing vocals — brighter and more optimistic than anything they’ve ever done. Grohl dictates a slick guitar riff, a choir of women sings a sunny “na-na-na” refrain, all leading to a foot-stomping and hand-clapping enthusiastic track. The song also delivers a special performance by Grohl’s daughter, Violet, in the chorus.

On the other hand, is the track Shame Shame that stands out from the rest as the gloomiest and darkest song on the album. It serves a curveball to the rest of the tracks; a compelling fusion, combining a dramatic, rhythmic framework and dark atmospherics. Otherwise, this pre-pandemic made album is full of spirit, life and positivity — something we all need as we move on to tomorrow.


R&B
Nobody Is Listening
By Zayn Malik

This boy-band graduate embraces a more stripped-down and intimate approach in his latest album; one that’s much less deliberately pop. Gone are the songs for large concerts and audiences, rather the 11-track album is meant for intimacy and affection – like laying in your favourite blanket, by a fire, in the midst of winter.

Zayn Malik is a wallflower just waiting to bloom, listening to all but is anyone listening to him as he perennially sits “in a world of [his] own”? Zayn’s voice is unquestionably elastic, interchanging between vaporous falsetto and yearning soul, relieved at having found his niche. The album opens with Calamity, as he ushers the listener into the last 10 years of his life. He raps honest truth over a backdrop of soft and tender piano chords with words like, “I say it for my sanity / Whatever the calamity / I did this for myself.”

The lead single Better however, is a sweet, tender portrait of second chances that sets the tone for the ever-present coffee-shop-guitar sound of the production. It emanates a soft drum beat and hand claps over his soothing melodies. If he really thinks nobody is listening; well, he’s wrong there.


FULLY BOOKED

HISTORICAL FICTION
The Paris Dressmaker
By Kristy Cambron

Beloved author Kristy Cambron delves into the Parisian fashion industry in her latest novel, woven within this brutal historical tapestry she follows a seamstress through a war-torn world.

When the world-famous Maison Chanel closes its doors, seamstress Lila de Laurent is left jobless under the buckling weight of the impending WWII. The novel is a collection of exquisite details, a gripping narrative, and is based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation—from fashion houses to the city streets.

The novel follows the storylines, of two courageous women fighting against the world and everything they cannot abide, whilst surviving the Nazi occupation.


ROMANCE
A Pho Love Story
By Loan Le

A contemporary and modern take on Romeo & Juliet, but this time the families are competing with pho. The adorable cover for the novel should pave the way for the cuteness you will endure as you turn each page.

The Mai and the Nguyen families have been rivals forever, since long before the Mais set up a rival Vietnamese restaurant across the street from the Nguyen’s restaurant.

Calling this a recipe for disaster is an understatement, and the pot is only bound to boil over further when the young Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai begin cooking up a romance amongst themselves.