Movies

 

 

I don't usually watch many movies but I'd like to shine a light on the few 2021 releases that I've seen this year! In no particular order:

 

A Week Away

House of Gucci

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

To All the Boys: Always and Forever

 

A couple of these are quite different to what I'm usually into. A Week Away is a musical (!) about a young lad called Will, who has to choose between going to juvenile detention or a summer camp. Musicals aren't my cup of tea and some of the songs in this missed the mark, but it caught my eye when I heard Kevin Quinn (Will)'s song Best Thing Ever and I rather liked it - keep an eye out for it in my songs countdown. I found the songs ate into the running time for the movie allowing for less character development, but Kevin Quinn and Bailee Madison were compelling leads nonetheless. I enjoyed it! House of Gucci equally didn't seem like my cup of tea but of course, I had to watch it for Lady Gaga. I saw it with our very own Haus and Jay at the cinema in Derby, which meant I had to travel and it resulted in the craziest day ever, but it was the MOST fun. I really enjoyed the film too - a tiny bit too long for my attention span, but Gaga was exceptional as was Adam Driver and there wasn't a dull moment.

 

The last two on the list are more typically my thing, in that they're both cute rom-com style movies. To All the Boys' third and final film wrapped up the trilogy nicely and I found it better than the second movie, though the first is still the best. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things was a random find on Amazon Prime that I really enjoyed, and I think I'd say it's my favourite movie of 2021. It adds a twist to the teen romcom formula in that it adds a Groundhog Day-style time loop into the mix, drawing the two leads even closer. Explanation is never given for how the time loop happened but I suppose that wasn't the point, it was a lovely watch and definitely the one from the list I'd be most likely to rewatch.

 

NEXT: I'll be handing out the first Hit 300 Awards for some of my favourite music artists of 2021 in the run-up to the proper countdown!

 

For the first time, I'm giving out Hit 300 Awards as an alternative to my top 10 artists countdown. The categories are mostly focused around artists, though there are a couple of extras to give out that aren't specific to an artist.

 

I chose these categories to be able to reflect the music I've heard this year - they're not set in stone to be given every single year and I can add new ones in the future when they feel necessary / appropriate, but these are the ones that felt essential to 2021 to be able to show off everything I've heard this year.

 

Artist of the Year

British Pop Soloist

European Pop Soloist

North American Pop Soloist

Australian Pop Soloist

Pop Group

Hip-Hop / R&B Artist

Alternative Artist

Live Artist of the Year

Producer of the Year

Breakthrough Artist

Special Recognition

Comeback of the Year

Best Era

Best Music Video

 

I'll be revealing a couple a day which should take us roughly to the end of the year, when the music countdowns begin!

 

 

British Pop Soloist: Anne-Marie

 

Starting with an award that's close to home, my favourite British artist of the year is Anne-Marie, who released her second album Therapy in 2021. Though 2020 was a bit bumpy for Anne-Marie in terms of UK chart success, she continued to perform consistently in my chart with two top 5 hits in Birthday and To Be Young. 2021 was an immediate step-up, though, with two #1s in Don't Play and Our Song, and a further three top 10 hits. Therapy itself charted at #1, with 10 of its 12 songs reaching my top 40 (in a week where 13 Laroi songs were charting, mightily impressive!), and I met Anne-Marie for the second time at her album signing the week Therapy came out. It was my first event post-covid so it was really exciting to be back attending music-related events. I saw her live the following week too at my first gig in 18 months, and I'm going to her Dysfunctional Tour next year!

 

Glad that you got to meet Anne-Marie for the second time, really wish I could've met any artists if I was lucky.

Thanks Sergej, I hope you get your chance at some point! :heart:

 

 

Breakthrough Artist: JayXander

 

There have been a load of great new artists that I've discovered in 2021, with artists such as Benson Boone, Jutes and Lance & Linton all experiencing big success across my singles chart, but only one artist managed to score both their first #1 single AND first #1 album this year! I discovered JayXander (real name Jayden Palmer) at the end of 2020 with his single HOODIES, which hit #12 in my chart in a week with seven songs by The Kid LAROI in my top 10, so... it's an honourary top 10 I guess...! HOODIES never did peak any higher and I rediscovered him again towards the end of September when I saw his debut EP, Toxic Trait Sandwich, had been released. Containing HOODIES as well as six other new songs and a remix of the former, it's a tight listen and shows off some brilliant versatility, with the pop-rock bops of Too Late and HOODIES slotting in well alongside the tender Leaving Home and the brooding Ghost Me. Too Late became his first top 10 hit that same week, while Ghost Me later became his first chart-topping single. Things are looking exciting for the future of JayXander and I can't wait to see what's next!

 

 

 

Pop Group: Why Don't We

 

One of my most anticipated releases of 2021 was the comeback album for American boyband Why Don't We. With four #1s in a row scored from their first album, and a further seven over the course of 2019 in their "song every month" era, a second fulll-length project was bound to be good, especially with the promise of the boys taking a more active role in the creation process. Fallin' (Adrenaline) arrived as the lead single in 2020 and became their twelfth chart-topper, followed by two more top 3 singles before the end of the year. Though no more singles came, the album itself followed in January and spent four weeks at #1, with three album tracks making my top 40. The album is a more confident and accomplished effort than 8 Letters and it was so exciting to see it become a UK top 5 album! Recently, they began their third era with new single Love Back, which became their thirteenth #1 single in my chart. It's one of their best to date and I really can't wait for what 2022 will bring - already, we know a Jonas Blue collaboration is just a couple of weeks away. Bring it on!

 

Anne-Marie is fantastic and deserves the success :wub:

Why Don't We deserved that so much!

Here in my country, 2019-early 2020 was literally the peak of Why Don't We. I Our biggest radio kept playing "Hooked", "7 Letters", "Big Plans", "IDBITC", and "I Still Do" every afternoon. Didn't follow them this year, but I definetly can't wait for the collaboration with Jonas Blue!

Anne-Marie is fantastic and deserves the success :wub:

Totally agreed, thank you Adam! :wub:

 

Why Don't We deserved that so much!

Here in my country, 2019-early 2020 was literally the peak of Why Don't We. I Our biggest radio kept playing "Hooked", "7 Letters", "Big Plans", "IDBITC", and "I Still Do" every afternoon. Didn't follow them this year, but I definetly can't wait for the collaboration with Jonas Blue!

I'm glad you enjoyed so many of their songs! 2019 with their monthly single releases was something I really took for granted :heart: thanks so much for commenting!

Anne-Marie has smashed it this year for me, glad you agree! I met her at the same signing which was amazing :wub:

 

Never listened to the other two artists, I like the sound of 'Leaving Home' though! <3

Edited December 26, 20213 yr by Lunar

Anne-Marie has smashed it this year for me, glad you agree! I met her at the same signing which was amazing :wub:

 

Never listened to the other two artists, I like the sound of 'Leaving Home' though! <3

Thanks so much Lunar! It was an amazing day at that signing, and she was so kind to everyone :heart:

 

I'm glad you like Leaving Home, it's a gorgeous track! His EP is well worth a listen if you liked that one ^_^

 

 

Producer of the Year: Sarcastic Sounds

 

I was vaguely aware of Sarcastic Sounds throughout 2020 primarily through his fellow Canadian and friend Powfu. They'd worked together numerous times and, though he didn't produce Powfu's huge global smash death bed (coffee for your head), he did work on one of the follow-up singles, and even provided vocals for the chorus of ill come back to you, a #3 hit in my chart. By May 2021, Sarcastic Sounds had achieved five hits, all of them reached the top 10, but they all also had Powfu in tow, so it was a pleasant surprise when I saw the completely solo track say goodbye on a couple of playlists and I checked it out. It took a couple of isolated plays for it to click, with the cutesy ukulele-heavy track sporting some contrastingly depressing lyrics sung by Sarcastic Sounds' own innocent-sounding voice (he only occasionally sings on songs, and often they're pitched - this is an exception where his raw vocals are used!), coming together to make a really strong little track. It reached #1 in my chart and kickstarted my interest in his music as a lead artist, with top 5 hits Closure and Song You'll Never Hear following, alongside continued Powfu collaborations. He's achieved seven top 10 hits in 2021 alone so things are looking bright for the future, and I'm excited to hear what's next!

 

 

 

Live Artist of the Year: Laura Mvula

 

Live music was BACK in the second half of 2021 and I was so delighted to be back in concert venues watching my favourite artists doing what they do best. I saw some amazing people, including Anne-Marie, JLS, HRVY, The Kid LAROI and Steps, but the shining star of the bunch was Laura Mvula. Laura's first show to support Pink Noise was a standalone show in London at Islington Assembly Hall. I knew I had to grab a ticket after how good the album was, and to my delight, the show leaned very heavily to the Pink Noise era with only a small handful of older tracks (though I enjoyed her first two albums, Pink Noise is comfortably my favourite of the bunch!), and even they were reworked to fit the 80s vibe of the album where necessary (the 1/f version of Green Garden *.*). Laura performed with confidence in both herself and her material, and she had the crowd in the palm of her hand - the way it should be even when performing the deepest cuts. The album translated incredibly live and every performance felt like it was hand-crafted to be top notch, with singles Got Me and Church Girl being the biggest moments while the slower Magical and Before the Dawn were as touching as intended. It was a superb show, and I'll absolutely be buying myself a ticket to her Pink Noise tour for 2022 ASAP!

 

I got introduced to Sarcastic Sounds, thanks to his collaboration with Maisie Peters on "Song That You'll Never Hear", mostly because I love Maisie Peters.

'Sarcastic Sounds' is an interesting artist name! :lol: He also appears to be into the trend of short songs I see. 'Say Goodbye' is a nice little ditty though, the contrast between the fairly downbeat lyrics and the upbeat music is interesting to note!

I got introduced to Sarcastic Sounds, thanks to his collaboration with Maisie Peters on "Song That You'll Never Hear", mostly because I love Maisie Peters.

I really love Song You'll Never Hear, I'm glad you're a fan too! Thanks Sergej :heart:

 

'Sarcastic Sounds' is an interesting artist name! :lol: He also appears to be into the trend of short songs I see. 'Say Goodbye' is a nice little ditty though, the contrast between the fairly downbeat lyrics and the upbeat music is interesting to note!

Thanks so much Pete! Glad you liked say goodbye :heart:

 

 

European Pop Soloist: Boy In Space

 

Since I discovered Boy In Space, he's been front and centre of my music taste and the quality has been remarkably high. Going into 2021, he'd already scored four #1s in the space of a year, and he kicked 2021 off with new single Dance Alone in January. The track was the lead single from his first body of work, the FRONTYARD EP and, though it was more of a grower than most of his tracks, it still became his fifth #1 single and it set the bar for 2021. Second single Remember Me followed and became another #1, before the EP release came. FRONTYARD showed off Boy In Space's versatility, with emotional ballads like Dead End and Picking Flowers sitting comfortably among the chirpier Sucker Punch, and it felt great to finally have a proper body of work from him. Sucker Punch became another #1 as the third single from the EP, and a fourth chart-topper of 2021 followed in the form of Alan Walker collaboration Paradise. With new single Let You Go out now, 2022 is set to be another prolific year for the Swedish popstar, and I really hope it's the year he embarks on a tour!

 

I loved Boy In Space on Paradise so I'm intrigued to check out his other material!

I loved Boy In Space on Paradise so I'm intrigued to check out his other material!

I couldn't recommend him more, one of my favourite artists of the past few years! :wub: If you liked Paradise my recommendations would be Caroline and Remember Me, or if you want something a little different, Drown is a beauty :heart: