MUSIC REVIEW – BLUE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Troye Sivan)

Let me just put it straight and simple; if you don't like Troye Sivan's music we can't date.

Avidole gave me Troye Sivan's Wild EP early this year. After about a month of laying idle on my phone, I listened to it one afternoon, while doing chores. I didn't really pay attention to the songs.

A month ago I was trying to sleep, I decided to sample albums I hadn’t played in a long while. Then I heard the track - Wild! Let's just say I didn't sleep again. I had to Google him. Who the heck was Troye Sivan? I can't exactly remember how I went from Wikipedia to YouTube that day in trying to unravel the pure talent named Troye Sivan.

I stumbled on his Blue Neighborhood trilogy videos comprising the songs (Wild, Fools and Talk me down). The videos are everything! Sad, beautiful story filled with the misery that comes with a lost love. The videos tell a story of innocence, young love, happiness, confusion, pain, loss and well…forbidden love.

The Trilogy video was recently nominated by MTV in the newly created category – Breakthrough long form Video against works by Beyonce, Chris Brown and Justin Bieber. Word on the street is that the category was specially created so Beyonce’s Lemonade can be given an award. Only time would tell.

I had to download the entire Blue Neighborhood album and I’ve been playing it ever since! My favourite track is Talk me down. There's this calming effect the song has on me. The song is about loss and dealing with the pain/loneliness that comes with it, the longing for the good old times. The opening lyrics hit me the first time I heard the song -

I wanna sleep next to you

But that's all I wanna do right now

And I wanna come home to you

But home is just a room full of my safest sounds

….

I'd rather fuel a fantasy than deal with this alone

My favourite lines of the song is –

I know I like to draw that line when it starts to get too real

But the less time that I spend with you, the less you need to heal

Another song I love very much is Heaven. The lyrics of the song is a no brainer. This is one song I relate to. The struggle to live right but then how much of you are you willing to sacrifice to live right or basically your entire happiness is on the line.

Without losing a piece of me

How do I get to heaven?

Without changing a part of me

How do I get to heaven?

All my time is wasted

Feeling like my heart's mistaken, oh

So if I'm losing a piece of me

Maybe I don't want heaven?

Wild, Fools, Blue, Youth, Suburbia, Cool, For him, Ease - are feel good songs on the album. Then songs like DKLA, Bite, Lost boy, Heaven and The Quiet would drag you down that beautiful melancholic road.

What I love most about the album is the deep lyrics, no song here has cheap writing or cliché wordings.

This is the kind of album you play when you need to take your mind off things. Take a trip to no place in particular, have Blue Neighbourhood album on playback. Relax your thoughts as you drive. The windows are down to allow the passing breeze beat against your face. The calmness of his songs takes you to that place of tranquility.

The one song I needed to have heard before the war - The Quiet by Troye Sivan.

This part of the lyrics just sums up exactly how I was feeling while the silence was raging:

I'd rather be spitting blood

Than have this silence fuck me up

....

And I don't wanna walk away

But you left me no choice

Only talking to myself here

Now you've muffled your voice

I'd rather have broken bones

Than feel myself turn to stone

Aaah! Just tell me

Say anything

Anything hurts less than the quiet

I don't mind that I know that you're wrong

I don't mind that you think you're right

All I want is a fight to fight

Anything but quiet

DESIRE

That one person you keep running into at work. They always call out your name softly, you wave back with a weak smile. Most times, they walk up to you, taking your hand in a handshake and hardly ever let go.

You can see the burning flames in their eyes. Their eyes says it all. They want you. You can trace the gaze of their eyes to your lips. Most times, that’s where their eyes are fixated.

The desire is so loudly spoken in the silence between moments that lingers.

They try to make small talk always. Even when the conversation is over, they try to keep it going, not wanting you to leave. You can almost feel the pain in their chest when you depart.

You know they want you, you know they crave to place those lips of theirs on yours. To know what you taste like. Feel the softness and tenderness of your lips.

A light touch of lip on lip, desire bursting in firestorms as the blood rushes through raving veins.

Lips part, the kiss goes deeper and tongues begin to explore.

They long for you…

But you don’t want them. You won’t lead them on. So you don’t play along or make allusive moves that’ll give them green light. You keep acting naïve and oblivious to their longing.

Sometimes when you feel alone and vulnerable, you see them walk by. Your mind wanders, what if you indulged. Just once. 

It wouldn’t hurt, shouldn’t hurt. Office romance? The scandals that could follow.

Be spontaneous and do something crazy. Set your boring life on fire. They brought the gasoline, now you light the match.

But then their finger plays with yours, you feel the metal rub against your fingers.

Your eyes travels down to their finger…in that moment, the gold band reminds you once again.

This one is definitely off limits.

But it sure feels good to be wanted….

RECESSION IS REAL

My boss shared a piece on recession he read online and I found it very enlightening. Considering the difficult economic climate we are currently facing, I feel it’s important I share excerpts from the post with you guys.

Lately my mantra has been ‘there is rice at home’. I can’t count how many times I have told myself this to prevent myself from spending recklessly. See, truth is economy don cast and we all need to save.

In case you are wondering what I mean by there is rice at home, I got it from a meme I saw on twitter which said – when you grow up and start making money for yourself, that’s when you understand why your parents always told you there is rice at home when you were a child.

The times are hard and we have to be smart, learn how to cut our expenses and manage our scarce resources.

What is economic recession? 

An economic recession is simply defined as a significant decline in the economic activity spread across the economy that usually lasts more than a few months. More economically speaking, a recession is a decline in a country’s Gross Domestic Product or a negative real economic growth for two or more successive quarters in a year. 

What happens during recession?

1. Rise of Unemployment rate

During a recession, there is a general trend of rising unemployment rates and decreasing overall output. With fewer people contributing to the economy, the overall economy is bound to be affected. Income growth would be stalled. While there would be more people in the market looking for employment, the demand for recruiting people is far lesser.

When people are earning lower incomes, their spending power decreases. As such, there is a reduction in spending. Businesses are limited in their ability to pass along any increases in expenses in the form of higher prices. In order to move goods off the shelves, businesses are more likely to reduce prices. This eventually causes deflation.

With prices drifting downward and commodities becoming more affordable, consumer spending will once again kick off and increase. The increase in consumer spending, over time

, leads to an increase in industrial production. This in turn improves corporate profits leading to increased employment and improved earnings, etc. This is how the economic cycle takes place.

That’s why people say economy won’t grow continuously without recession.

2. Stock market plummet

People are generally conservative during recession. Those who lose their jobs because of recession start selling off their investments because they need money to sustain while they get another job. The increased number of people selling their stocks causes the stock market to fall sharply

3. Real Estate plummet

During a recession, people turn to fiscal conservatism. This affects the real estate industry as well, as there is lesser demand in the real estate market. People put off buying and selling of property during the periods of economic recession. Another scenario is where the increasing levels of unemployment during a recession cause affected homeowners to sell their home to accommodate changing job demands.

On the other hand, because of the higher supply of houses on sale as compared to the low demand, an economic recession will forcefully reduce the selling prices of homes. As such, the economic recession has a positive impact on potential homebuyers. This is also because there are lower mortgage rates that are caused by changes in interest rates.

How to prepare for recession?

1. Create a worst-case scenario

Create a worst-case cash flow forecast. Predict how bad it could be if you lost your job or if your business dropped in sales by about 50%.

2. Build up an Emergency fund

Prepare an emergency fund with enough money to cover at least 6 months of expenses.

3. Have a consistently rebalanced investment portfoli

This ensures that you lock the capital gain of certain asset classes when it is booming.

4. No matter what field of your profession, always strike to be the best

Always strive to be the best. Avoid becoming redundant or “fat” in your company. If you do not prove your worth, you will be the first to be led to the exit door during a recession.

5. Diversify your income source

Please beware if you are in a business that serves just 1-2 major customers. You will be at a great risk during a recession. For employees, work out some forms of alternative income besides the main employment.

6. Know your funding sources and manage the relationship properly

Another way to prepare yourself for a slowdown is to know your funding sources and manage the relationship properly. Remember, when funding sources tighten they do so selectively and this applies to their sources of business as well as the credits.

7. Learn to live on less than your income

You may see pay cuts in your job during an economic recession, so look now for ways to trim your budget as much as possible.

8. Last resort – compromise on your lifestyle

When everything doesn’t seem to work out for you, go for the last resort: try reducing your lifestyle dramatically. Sell that luxury car. Move to a smaller house. Cut down on expensive dining.

Cash is King

Cash is king during recession. It is only in your best financial interest to acquire assets (stocks, real estate) during a recession.

Conclusion

There is a possible recession looming. Some people will be harmed and subsequently, the economy will be blamed. They are probably right now maintaining the status quo and simply hoping it doesn’t happen.

Prepare now and you will find that you will not be affected very dramatically. This will leave you in a better edge. Preparation for a recession will enable you to react to changing times and take advantage of select opportunities.

This was copied and I felt I should share it, given the times we are in.