25

Wow.

It is currently 10:30 on September 4, 2016.

First thing's first Happy Birthday to Queen Bey! Long may she be Flawless.

I am currently sitting here during my final hour and a half of my 25th year, reflecting on the last 12 months. I still cannot believe that I have been alive for a quarter of a century! I'm still convinced that I am actually 11.

(First picture of 25)

This year started off huge and has continued to be one of change and self improvement. I wanted to take this milestone year and make it one filled with adventures and things I could treasure and be proud of. But of course to do that I would have to get through everything that was holding me back... I would have to get through myself. Before my birthday I started tackling my anxiety and looking back at the person I was then compared to now is insane! There is still SO much that I am working through but I'm proud to even be working.

I was then, because of this fact, able to survive the major plans that I had for my birthday. I was able to cross off a few bucket list items when I rang in my bday with Bey herself! I like to say that we celebrated our birthdays together. Despite the heat and the terrifying crowds, it was honestly one of the best days of my life and hands down my best birthday yet!

This year I worked not only on my mental health but my physical health as well! We joined the gym... for real this time as I have actually made an effort to go and do more than a 45 minute "work out" On top of that, I stopped eating meat. That was more of a moral choice than a health choice though. I will be completely honest and say that it hasn't been the easiest and I still have cheat days but I am very much committed to this lifestyle... i'll get over the cravings... and I feel not only healthier but happier as well. (I also have visible cheek bones and have gone down a few pant sizes which is nice)

In November, I started writing my first novel. I have been starting projects basically since learning how to write and form sentences. This is the first time that completion is in sight. There is still a lot to fill in but I am so attached to the story, I am SO IN LOVE with the characters and I won't rest until they can be shared with more people than me and Talisha.

The last 12 months have been filled with a lot of stress and searching for understanding and I'm still working on not internalizing everything. I'm still working on the whole faith thing.

Looking 26 in the face, I'll admit, I'm a little intimidated...terrified is more like it. There are a lot of things I have on my "Big Girl" to-do list. Like always I hope the next twelve months are filled with adventures, Great people, lessons learned, and stories to be told for a lifetime!

Here's hoping.

(last pictures of 25 (appropriate) )

xoxo

Everything Is Blue... Lips

If you had shown me a bold, blue lipstick a year ago, I would have said "That's really pretty but I could never pull that off."... yet here I am at the end of Summer 2016 completely OBSESSED with blue lippies! I still can't believe how frequently I am grabbing for one and tossing it in my purse. The three I am currently using are the NYX Liquid Suede in Stone Fox, The Colourpop Ultra Matte in Petit Four, and the Maybelline Loaded Bolds in Midnight Blue (shhh).

Left to Right: NYX: Stone Fox ($6.99), Colourpop: Petit Four ($6), Maybelline: Midnight Blue($7.49)

It all started with a lipstick that I don't even OWN! When Halsey teamed up with Mac for the Future Forward campaign and released "Halsey" a gorgeous blue-grey shade my heart went a little wonky! I thought is was gorgeous and just...COOL! But alas, my moral compass kicked in and I couldn't bring myself to buy a MAC product (yes, I know what you're thinking... I'll get into that.). So I went on a massive hunt to find something similar and reasonably priced. Little did I know that I would be sucked into this blue tinted whirlwind.

When "Halsey" launched everyone went on an on about how "Stone Fox" by NYX was an exact, cruelty free dupe. Being that I LOVE NYX I was quick to jump on this and ran as fast as I could to Ulta to pick it up and give it a go. I think it's needless to say that this is in fact NOT a dupe. It is too dark and WAY too blue. I'll admit that I was disappointed about that but I quickly got over it... when I put it on and stopped looking at it as a dupe but as it's own color. I INSTANTLY fell in love. It is more blue than gray and sooo pigmented. The Liquid Suede formula is so lovely. It isn't too heavy and isn't too drying. It dries down quickly to a velvety matte, doesn't transfer and it lasts for ages.

It should come as no surprise that there is a Colourpop product included in this. I have expressed my love for the brand MANY times! The pigmentation is beautiful and these babies DON'T BUDGE! Because it is an ultra matte, I suggest making sure your lips are thoroughly hydrated before applying because the ultra mattes are very drying. Petit Four is definitely a step closer to Halsey than Stone Fox so I think this is as close to a dupe as I'm going to get. Where Stone Fox is more blue, this one is definitely more of a slate gray with a tinge of blue.  It is a bit more intimidating personally... it's a bit more edgy than even I would usually go for but apparently I've put my brave pants on because I'm so heart eye emoji!

Okay, so this last one is a little tough and touchy for me to talk about and admit to. It's a Maybelline product... sigh... Maybelline is not cruelty free...tear. But this was a gift and I am not rude nor am I wasteful. I'm going to be really honest, I'm having such a hard time building a COMPLETELY cruelty free makeup collection... mainly because Maybelline is my FAVORITE drugstore brand. That being said, when they launched the Loaded Bolds, I could physically feel the ripping in my heart. Like I said, this was a gift... a gift that I am (sorry to say... but I'm being real) VERY thankful for. It doesn't go on as opaque as the others (it takes a bit of building) and it isn't fully matte (more of a satin finish) but boy oh boy... when it DOES go on.... It is SUCH a pretty, deep, jewel toned blue. It's so creamy and still moisturizing. It also doesn't need to be reapplied too frequently. I need to find some self control :(

I seriously love wearing the Midnight Blue and popping Petit Four right in the center!

What are some surprising makeup choices you've found yourself making recently??

xoxo

End Of Summer Fashion Faves

Hiya!

So, I've been meaning to make this post for ages... sorry about that. This summer has really been about sprucing up my wardrobe and putting a tad more effort into my outfits. With summer coming to a close, I figured that I would share some of my favorite pieces. Most of these were purchased from Boohoo.com and were featured in my last haul video. What I really love is that most if not all of these pieces can be incorporated into some cute fall outfits. I seriously can't wait for the fall. I am so ready for chunky sweaters, and beanies!

So, I'm really trying to get myself to wear dresses more often. It's usually either church or a concert. That's it. It's not that I don't like dresses... I just feel really overdressed and a lot of the time, self conscious in them. Anywho, I saw the Mel Cold Shoulder Strappy Swing Dress and I couldn't pass them up. I am very obsessed with the cutout shoulder detail so I ordered one in Blush and one in Olive! My favorite part, which you can see if you look hard enough, are the Jelly sandals. My 90's baby heart is OVER THE MOON!!!

I believe one of my first posts featured Jawbreaking. Surprisingly I haven't ordered from them since... don't ask me why. I'm always on the website and lurking Aly's instagram. Anywho since first being introduced to the brand I have wanted... no... NEEDED this "Band Boys=Trouble" t-shirt. I mean C'MON!!  If anyone knows that to be true, it's moi! Well you can imagine how lost and heartbroken I was when it was discontinued. You can also imagine how STOKED I was when the birthday sale rolled around and I found this bad boy on the website. There was NO WAY I was passing it up again. I became a little obsessed with the idea of tying it up 90s crop style and pairing it with a maxi skirt. I found the perfect one (Rae Pocket Front Maxi)  back over on boohoo...IT HAS POCKETS!

This Sun and Moon Oversized Tee had been sitting in my cart for a while. I just love how it looks so casual and comfy but also just really cool. I'm all about items that I can dress up or dress down. The best part about this shirt is how SOFT it is. I just want to sit and rub my face over it like a cat!

I'm clearly very into open shoulders at the moment. This open shoulder jumpsuit is another that can easily be dressed up or down. I think it would look so cool with a faux leather jacket and some silver, edgy accessories. But I also love how it looks with the ankles rolled up, a pair of boots, and a flannel wrapped around the waist. I'm already planning to wear it to at least ONE concert this fall/winter!

Side note: I painted the flannel myself!!

Last but certainly not least, the ensemble I am MOST obsessed with at the moment! We all know that I have been in love with this Striped Halter dress since purchasing it back in May for the 1975's spring tour. It's honestly so comfy and simple and I find myself gravitating towards stripes more than ever now. I find myself grabbing this before anything else in my wardrobe the summer.

I was instantly drawn to this embroidered shirt dress because it reminds me so much of 2014 Matty Healy. "Robbers Shirt " era Matty. I'm not too into prints on me but something about the sheer floral appealed to me. I was headed out when it arrived from Boohoo and I just tried it on over the striped dress just to see how it fit. I was so shocked when I saw how nice they looked paired together. I was expecting clash but instead I fell in love. Then to add to the love I already had, I popped on these fringed boots. I'm obsessed with fringe and am currently on the search for the perfect fringed jacket. This has fast become my favorite outfit!

Let me know how your summer is going and your favorite discoveries of summer 2016

Products Mentioned:

Mel Cold Shoulder Strappy Swing Dress
Jelly Sandals
Jawbreaking  (similar)
Rae Pocket Front Maxi Skirt
Lisa Sun and Moon Oversized Tee
Emily Open Shoulder Jumpsuit 
1 9 7 5 flannel
Striped Halter dress
Emily Shirtdress (similar)
Tia Fringe Boots

xoxo

Colourpop Metallics and MatteX||Swatches && 1st Impressions

My ColourPop MatteX Lippie Obsession!

Dearest Colourpop, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!!? I am so sorry it has taken this long to acknowledge your existence but, I love you and I want you in my life forever!

I think it's fairly obvious that I have fallen into a complete, obsessive love with Colourpop. As usual, I'm late to the game but, in the immortal words of Queen Clarisse Renaldi "A Queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early."

I mean OF COURSE I'd heard of the brand. All of the beauty gurus are OBSESSED but I guess... I... I don't know, I can't think up an excuse. Anywho, this all started when I was looking for the perfect dark brown liquid lippie for the The 1975 concert in May. I was between Dose of Colors' Chocolate Wasted ($18) and Too Faced's new Melted Matte in Naughty By Nature ($21) when Becca swooped in and saved my life. She told me that I should consider Limbo by Colourpop ($6), sent me a photo of her wearing it and I NEVER LOOKED BACK!  I ordered Limbo, Kapow, and Petit Four (which is almost a dupe for Halsey's lipstick with MAC but that's a tale for another day.)

Which brings me to the present. When I watched Kathleen Lights review the newly launched MatteX lippie stix, I knew right then and there, I needed them in my life! So during the birthday promotion I ordered my first one, "Back Up" . Then very shortly afterwards, I ordered six more... Three for me and three "for my mother."

First I need to talk about the free eyeshadow that came with my purchase! Since I ordered during the Colourpop birthday promotion, I also received a limited edition eyeshadow called "Birthday Boy"

I. Am. SO IN LOVE! First of all, the formula is GORGEOUS. This is the softest, creamiest, fluffiest product I've EVER put on my skin!! And THE COLOR!! A beautiful champagne-y gold with purple shimmer throughout! I wish this wasn't a limited edition product because now i'm afraid to actually use it even though it is ALL that I want on my eyes at the moment!

Now... on to the lippies!

Like I said, the first one I ordered was "Back Up" which is a bright plum. It is a bit out of my comfort zone but I do think it's a perfect bright for summer. "Cami" is a really pretty, neutral, mauve-y pink. I think it's my favorite of the lot. It's an amazing everyday shade especially now that it's summer. You don't want to do too much. At the moment I'm REALLY into brown lips. Dark browns and more grungy browns. "Pillow Talk" (no I didn't just buy it because of the song) is definitely a 90s grunge greige. I'm not always sure if I can pull it off but I feel really cool when I wear it. Then there's "Hollywood Blvd" which is on the darker end of the spectrum. It is a warmer brown than "Limbo" with a yellow undertone and I'm low-key obsessed!  "For my mother"... I quote because, let's be real, they're for ME... we ordered some reds. The first one being "Love Life" which is a gorgeous brick red that screams "PAIR ME WITH A LEATHER JACKET"! "Bootie" is a bright orange red that is a bit intimidating but great for summer. As is "Jenneration X" a red orange (yes there is a difference) which is a collab with Jenn Im or ClothesEncounters on the Tube. I've been watching her videos for a while and I think she did a great job with these products.

I am so impressed with these lippie stix! I mean, I didn't expect otherwise but still. The pigmentation is BEAUTIFUL! They go on smoothly and fully with one swipe! The product sits nicely on the lips, they're not too thick. They are INCREDIBLY MATTE but because they are made with Vitamin E as well as Shea and Avacado butters, they are not AT ALL drying or cracking! These babies are a lipstick lover's DREAM!!!

From Left to Right: Bootie. Jenneration X, Love Life, Back Up, Cami, Pillow Talk, Hollywood Blvd.

From Left to Right: Cami, Pillow Talk, Hollywood Blvd, Back Up, Bootie, Love Life, Jenneration X

The thing I will never get over with Colourpop is how high quality their products are for a price that won't leave me in a puddle of broke girl tears on the ground. Each lippie stix is $5. If you are like me and avoiding the bandwagon, it is time to JUMP ON my friends! Colourpop is EVERYTHING!

I can't wait for my Metallic lippies to come !

xoxo

Shaken....

The events of this weekend have left me shaken....

I think I'm only making this post because I need to get it all out....

When I left my house Friday evening I was excited. I was going to spend my weekend crafting, filming and babbling about Matty Healy (and Brendon Urie). There's no way that I could have anticipated the news that flooded our timelines. I'm still having trouble believing it to be honest.

I never met Christina Grimmie but I always thought that she was lovely and crazy talented. I remember watching her videos on youtube and then rooting for her on The Voice.... 22.... She was 22. JUST 22. I'm having a really hard time understanding. We get hassled about bringing outside food and water into a venue but yet this guy was able to sneak in not one, but TWO guns. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!?! How does something like that slip through thus giving him an opportunity to end a life, break a family, scar SO MANY PEOPLE ???

I don't know how to process... this whole situation hits a little too close to home for me. Concerts have always been a safe have, a sanctuary for me and my friends. That now has been taken away. I've never seen Christina live but I've seen Before You Exit quite a few times.... This is the scene in which I exist. They have toured with every small band that I love. Which get you thinking that this could have happened ANYWHERE! Yet this is also the LAST place that you would expect it to happen. These shows are usually filled with so much love, acceptance and unity. Christina greeted this man with outstretched arms!!  Last month, Becca and I were complaining about how dangerous the crowd was at The 1975 show and here we are.... something 1000 times worse has happened within our safety net. I can't even IMAGINE how the fans that witnessed this are coping! Just the THOUGHT of witnessing someone that I love and admire taken from this world, BREAKS ME! My heart and prayers are with with every single person that was at that show.

I can't even begin to express how awful I feel for Before You Exit. Their FRIEND was MURDERED at THEIR show in their hometown. They risked their lives to go back inside to warn the fans. I applaud them. That changes a person. They must also be so afraid. This happened once, could it happen again? I pray that they are able to heal.

My heart BREAKS for her family! Her brother! How does someone get through something like this. ESPECIALLY having witnessed it. I pray for their strength. I pray that they are consistently surrounded by love and support .

Music is supposed to heal.

I come home this morning (Sunday), excited for The Tonys to find out about the MASSACRE in Orlando. I... I honestly don't understand. I don't understand how people can be SO FILLED WITH HATE AND IGNORANCE! I'm honestly still trying to process. I don't understand my country. I don't understand humanity. This world is a scary place. The fact that you can be slaughtered for simply EXISTING... not agreeing with or understanding someone's lifestyle does not give anyone the right to take a life. Just because for some bizarre reason we in this country have the right to bear arms... YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE ANOTHER LIFE!!

It's heartbreaking that because of some extremist, MONSTER ignorants everywhere will have another reason to attack Muslims... like there are not extremist groups of EVERY religion. I'm not Muslim but I've known many and from what I've learned, Islam is a religion of PEACE. But people try to DESTROY what they do not understand. They aren't WILLING to understand! I guess that can be said for this entire situation. LGBTQ+ people are DESTROYED because people don't understand. Apparently the answer is hate. People hide behind religion as an excuse to spread hate and intolerance and it makes me sick.

As a Christian I don't understand how people can hurt others in the name of God. WHAT GOD?!? My God is a God of Love. Whatever you believe, the root is LOVE. We are not here to judge others but to Love as Jesus Loves. While he was on Earth He gave His Love to ALL. PERIOD!

I don't know... I just don't know.

I send so much love to the survivors of this tragedy as well as the family and friends of the souls lost.

To my LGBTQ+ friends, family, acquaintances ... I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND MY HEART IS WITH YOU.

"We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love lasts long
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love
Cannot be killed or swept aside" - Lin-Manuel Miranda 6/12/2016

I am heartbroken, scared,  sick, and EXHAUSTED! It's PAST time for change.

xoxo,
Amber

I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It...album review

It's been four weeks.... I think I'm finally able to form coherent thoughts.

On February 26th, The 1975 released their sophomore album, I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It, after a two and a half year wait.

 I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM!!!!

The album opens with a revamped version of The 1975 which is the same song that the debut album opened with. It's like they're saying, *insert Adele voice here* "Hello it's me. I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet..." Not gonna lie, when the vocals came in, I was INSTANTLY in tears! The layering of Matty's vocals and the airy, ethereal-ness is SO overwhelmingly beautiful... it's like listening to the air.

Going into this, I was already quite familiar with Love Me, Ugh!, and A Change Of Heart. Love Me and Ugh! were the first two songs released and I first heard A Change Of Heart in December. Love Me and Ugh! are a perfect blend of funky, grooving tunes and honest lyrics about our weird narcissistic, celebrity/selfie culture and how they're dealing with their new place in it , as well as Matthew's relationship with cocaine. Love Me is 100%, without a doubt a nod to Bowie's fame and that makes me love it even more. I'm particularly fond of A Change Of Heart because of it's nods to songs from the debut album. "You used to have a face straight our of a magazine. Now you just look like anyone..." Robbers is my favorite song so that line always makes me all warm fuzzy on the inside. "I never found love in the city. I just sat in self pity and cried in my car." is of course a reference to The City, "You wanna find love then you know where the city is..." The simple, airy synth beat makes me want to dance around at 3am with a glass of wine.

When the drums hit in the beginning of She's American, I swear, my stomach HITS THE GROUND! A song about a British man in the U S of A. This is another one with nods to the first album... with a similar beat and parallel lyrics to Settle Down... "A big town. Synthetic apparitions of not being lonely." vs " A small town. Dictating all the people we get around. What a familiar face." and "Oh what a let down" is a line taken straight from the first verse of Settle Down and revisited in the first verse of She's American. "Oh what a let down, a shame, I think he might die."... which I feel is a reference to "The Boston Incident". I think musically, this is the best song on the album. Adam's guitar work is AMAZING and then the sax slides in at the end...C'MON! This one gives me a stroooong MJ vibe and I'm LIVING for it! George is a freaking BRILLIANT producer!! I absolutely cannot sit still whenever this song comes on. I mean if you don't scream "DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH THE MOMENT AND THINK YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH THE GIRL!" you're honestly doing it wrong!

If I Believe You.... Honestly... this song is a MASTERPIECE!! It starts with sounds of people praising God then that go to church beat kicks in and I'm HOOKED! I picture Matty sitting in a church with all of his questions and doubts watching the faithful. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when we first got the track list. Matty is a VERY vocal atheist so I sort of went into this braced but REALLY stoked for the choir. But LORD this song hits me HARD... even as a Christian. This song is an open, honest conversation between Matty and a God that he doesn't believe in but would be opened to if the suffering stops. He has talked about the fact that he wishes that he could be more spiritual many times and even though I know God exists, i still find myself relating to this song. By the time we get to the end of the song, i'm in tears... ALWAYS. "If I'm lost, then how can I find myself?" it's quiet but to me seems like a screamed plea. Ugh it's beautiful and honest and... uggggghhhhhhh! It is also the perfect transition into the next phase of this album.

Please Be Naked is quite possibly the most BEAUTIFUL thing i've ever heard! It takes people with not just talent, but a real musical GIFT to create an instrumental piece that evokes SO MANY emotions. I want to cry and laugh and just...feel whenever I listen to it!! It reminds me of a mix between HSNCC and Moon (from the Drive Like I Do era). It sounds like love, and magic, and waking up with the person you love... did I say magic??

Then, it has the AUDACITY to flow into Lostmyhead which is just as instrumentally beautiful for 45 seconds before it hits us old fans with the lost my head bit from Facedown. "And you said, I've lost my head. Can you see it? Belly aches while you're in bed. Can you feel it?" repeats as a buildup to The Ballad of Me and My Brain and a head first dive into Matty's mental state.

The Ballad Of Me And My Brain.... *deep breath*... Quite possibly my favorite on the album!! First of all, it sounds like it should be a Drive Like I Do song... well the opening sounds like Frozen, but I'm not complaining. I LOVE FROZEN! The opening line... MATTHEW! Who gave you the right?!?! I love that raspy scream that he does. (Probably the result of the chain smoking.) The beginning of the song makes you think that, as the song suggests, it will be a pretty ballad about The Noodle's metal health.. NOOOPE! This song HITS you like a TRUCK! It's an odd little tale about an erratic search for Matty's lost mind told over a powerful drum that reminds me of a frantic, crashing heartbeat. George kills me! I haven't been this obsessed with a song... well... since Robbers!

Somebody Else is another that I first heard on the last tour. This song is such a jam. It starts slowly and builds into a snarky 80's number about that feeling at the end of the relationship where you're just kind of over it but you're not ready to see them with someone else. The breakdown at the bridge evokes a lot of Healy-esque hair flips. It's the lyrical version of a neck roll and z snap. This song is sassy and snappy and I adore it.

Lyrically, I think Loving Someone is the BEST song on the album. The verses are fast and rap like and are to a similar beat to those of So Far (It's Alright). There are a lot of words in each verse that I'm still trying to commit to memory(such a mouthful) but when you actually listen, they're a powerful observation of what our society has become. I love a song that mean something and this song MEANS SOMETHING!

"Just keep hold of their necks and keep selling them sex

It’s better if we keep them perplexed

It's better if we make them want the opposite sex

Disenfranchised young criminal minds

In a car park beside where your nan resides

Are not slow, they've just never been shown

That you should...

...be loving someone"

"We shouldn't have people afloat

If it was safer on the ground, we wouldn't be on a boat" 

Which is my personal favorite as it seems to touch on the refugee situation that people seem to have forgotten about. It's also a parallel to lyrics from Talk! "I'd be an anchor but i'm scared you'd drown, it's safer on the ground."

The song closes with a muted spoken word bit with gems like...

"I never did understand

The duality of art and reality

Living life and treating it as such

There's a certain disconnect

With the culture that cajoles at the artist with comfort and abandon"

Loving someone is another masterpiece. An underrated masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless.

The title track, I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It is a doozy. It's predominantly instrumental and like I said with Please Be Naked, it takes a real gift to evoke emotion from an instrumental track. This is a six minutes and twenty six seconds emotional roller coaster! It starts off very daintily but in a sort of futuristic way, if that makes sense. Before Matty softly asks us, "Before you go, turn the big light off". The next phase of this songs always reminds me of a ring tone from the early 2000s it also feels like standing in the middle of a rushing city like Manhattan or Tokyo. The tempo picks up into a techno/edm/dance beat and by the end of the  song, i'm exhausted.

What can I say? The Sound is HANDS DOWN the JAM of the album! It is upbeat and snarky. The second verse is my absolute FAVORITE!

"It's not about reciprocation it's just all about me.

A sycophantic, prophetic, Socratic junkie wannabe

There's so much skin to see

A simple Epicurean Philosophy

And you say I'm such a cliche,

I can't see the difference in it either way.

And we left things to protect my mental health

But you call me when you're bored and you're playing with yourself"

 and then Hann's guitar solo is EVERYTHING!! YES!

This is the part of the album where The 1975 take their whole 80s John Hughes film soundtrack thing to the next level. This Must Be My Dream and Paris SCREAM Sixteen Candles. Musically they are the type of songs that would be played during the life changing school dance where Molly Ringwald is looking fantastic in an outfit that I wish that I owned. This Must Be My Dream starts with another vocal kick to the face. Honestly every time the line "We can't make love when you fly around me baby." comes around, I melt a little. That voice, man. The first time I listened to Paris, the thing that stood out the most was how upbeat the music was and how dark the lyrics actually are. (Now that I think about it, both songs are that way). This is another one that dips into drug use and that whole scene... and a girl met at a party that's "a pain in the nose" *wink*. All of that aside this is another tune that I would dance to at 3am with a bottle of wine. (I said glass earlier didn't I?... oops)

Excuse me whilst I go grab a fresh box of tissues. In the four weeks that this album has been out, I haven't been able to get through Nana and She Lays Down without the waterworks. I knew when I first saw the track listing that Nana was going to be a lot for me. I knew there would never be a situation where I would be able to get through a song about the death of Matty's grandmother without my heart being ripped out... I was right! The song is soft and sweet and simple. There's this innocence about the lyrics and Matthew's voice. I don't know if that makes sense. At the end of the song he sings, "But I'm bereft you see.I think you can tell I haven't been doing too well" and his voice cracks... needless to say, I lost it... Needless to say, I'm crying right now. The emotion is a bit overwhelming. This get even more emotionally overwhelming as the album comes to a close with She Lays Down which is about Matty's mother's battle with post natal depression and how "In the end, she chose cocaine But it couldn't fix her brain." The song is completely acoustic and when I listen to it, I picture Matty sitting on a kitchen floor by himself playing it. It's raw and vulnerable and feels like we're witnessing a real moment. Matthew's voice is honestly so beautiful... the way he sings the line "Over the water, Over terrain. The engines all go bust, we turned to dust and I've no reason to complain..." simultaneously warms and breaks my heart. She Lays Down is a beautiful end to an impeccable album!

I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It is a work of art! The 1975  is what's missing in the music world. THEY are a collective work of art!

xoxo