Retro Firefly - Song Recommendations
My name is Samantha Penman, and I’m an indie-folk songwriter from Lowestoft in Suffolk. I currently release music under the stage name Retro Firefly, and enjoy regular gigs in East Anglia and London. I’ve loved music since I was young, having had my first piano lesson at the age of five. Since then, I’ve had many musical phases, listened to many genres, and loved many songs. It was so difficult to choose some songs, but here are three songs that are important to me that I believe you should listen to this week!
“Space Dementia” by Muse
Muse are my favourite band, so it was inevitable that they would make an early entry into this list! I first heard Muse when I was around 10 years old. I was very into bands like Bring Me The Horizon and Fall Out Boy (both of which I still listen to today), and my Dad noticed this and suggested that I try listening to Muse! As a child doing my piano grades, I was immediately enthralled by the amount of classically-influenced piano that I was hearing in their discography. “Space Dementia” was one such song, and has always stuck out to me as a particularly great piano piece, from the dramatic intro, the rippling piano in the verses, and the big diminished piano run at the end of the chorus. Alongside all of this, it’s also an excellent rock song with some catchy bass, impressive drumming and insanely good vocals, and I have probably listened to it more times than I can count. Muse’s ability to blend genres and disciplines was so inspiring to me as a young musician, as it showed me that no musical skill I acquired would ever be wasted, and encouraged me to be open to learning new things.
“On Track” by Tame Impala
There’s a few songs that I always reach for no matter how I’m feeling, and one of those songs is “On Track” by Tame Impala. It manages to be comforting when I’m sad, and uplifting when I’m feeling good. The lyrics in the verses are melancholic and reflective, with phrases such as “dream fruition ain’t what it’s looking like”, and “I know it’s been a slow year, nothing much to show here”. It really encapsulates the hollow feeling you get when you feel like you’re underachieving, and the synth instrumentation provides a spacey and all-encompassing vibe that reflects this feeling of being stuck. The choruses start with the lyric “but strictly speaking I’m still on track” followed by a bass and drum hit that instantly creates a big, hopeful feeling, almost like an epiphany. It’s a very grounded chorus, it doesn’t boast about future achievements, it’s just a reminder that they’re on track “all of my dreams are still inside, cause strictly speaking I’ve got my whole life”. As an independent musician, I definitely need to hear this sometimes, and I believe it’s a sentiment a lot of other people may need to hear too.
“A Bad Dream” by Keane
As an artist, there are a few songs that have become staple covers for me that I play almost every time I perform, and one such song is “A Bad Dream” by Keane. I remember being initially drawn to the song due to its’ floaty, ethereal vibe, and then loving it even more when I really paid attention to the lyrics and the story. Keane were inspired by the Poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” by W. B. Yeats, with their lyrics paralleling parts of the poem. The most obviously derivative lyric is “those that I defend I do not love” which comes from Yeats’ “those that I guard I do not love”. This is the defining message of the poem, as Yeats’ wrote it at a time when Irish soldiers were expected to fight for the UK, at the same time that Ireland was seeking independence. This same sentiment can be extrapolated to many modern conflicts around the world, making it a very timeless song. My favourite thing about the piece is how the floaty instrumentation matches the lyrical content about flying over towns as an Airman, which really immerses you in the narrative.
Honorable Mentions (because I really struggled to pick 3!):
“Carry You Home” by James Blunt
“The Sink” by Hey, Nothing
“Churchyard” by AURORA
