Our editors have been hard at work this April, but they’ve got to relax at some point right? So, what tunes have kept them churning through the lockdown work load? Here’s the definitive Platform Picks playlist for April 2020…
Thomas Rhett – Be a Light
At the start of the month, Thomas Rhett released his new single Be a Light, and I have had it on replay all month. Thomas has teamed up with a whole host of country stars for this feel-good song, including Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Reba McEntire, among others.
Set with a simple backbeat of not much more than an acoustic guitar, the uplifting ballad was exactly what listeners needed to hear. Thomas Rhett and the featuring country stars sing “in a world full of hate, be a light” and “in a race you can’t win, just slow it down”. Whilst he wrote the song last year, Thomas decided to release it early in order to raise funds for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A great song for a great cause!
Rating: 9/10
By Faith Pring (Editor-in-Chief)
Frank Ocean – Dear April (Side A – Acoustic)
April 2020 probably hasn’t been a month I’ll hold dear to me. Luckily, new Frank Ocean content is enough to keep my spirits up. Frank dropped two new singles on Spotify this month, the best of the pair being the acoustic version of Dear April. This song is a welcome return to the style of his 2016 LP Blonde – an all-time favourite of mine – with tranquil production and plaintive lyrics that I just can’t help but reinterpret from a lockdown perspective: “Take us through it and wake us up again.” Music has a way of doing that in difficult times.
Rating: 8.5/10
By Jamie Morris (Deputy Editor)
Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes – What Kinda Music
My top pick for this month has got to be What Kinda Music by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes. Being a big Tom Misch fan, I was apprehensive on the release of this album; his last release, Geography, has been played non-stop since it came out back in 2018 and I feel like I was subconsciously hoping for a repeat. However, I could not have been more pleased with What Kinda Music. All tracks have a resounding focus on the instrumental talents of both musicians, rather than lyrics, coming together to what can only be described as an incredibly groovy masterpiece.
Rating: 10/10
By Jess Goddard (Travel and Lifestyle Editor)
Niall Horan – Heartbreak Weather
I’m known to be a fangirl, especially of Niall Horan. Therefore, at the top of my “On repeat” playlist (according to Spotify) is Heartbreak Weather – Niall’s second album released back in March. Compared to his first album Flicker, it is more upbeat and even though I loved Flicker, there is something about Heartbreak Weather that’s more meaningful and makes me want to keep listening. Something I love about this album is the different style Horan has compared to One Direction. For now, it will continue to stay at the top of my playlist, even past April.
Rating: 10/10
By Katie Green (Culture and Entertainment Editor)
Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
I know I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but I’ve recently listened to Hamilton after my friend recommended it and now, I’m completely obsessed. I love the format, it’s a musical but made very differently. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the story of Alexander Hamilton, the ‘forgotten founding father’ comes to life. I adore the mix of music that you hear when listening – going from Rap and Hip-Hop in one song to a good old fashioned show tune in the next. This is a musical for non-musical fans and I loved it as soon as I heard it!
Rating: 9.5/10
By Sophie Puffett (Deputy Head of Design)
Nothing But Thieves – Holding Out For A Hero (cover)
Choosing a cover of a song that originally belongs to Bonnie Tyler is certainly a dangerous game to play, but here I am. This version of the song has first appeared in the Vikings series, five years ago, but it just recently got into my playlist. What is making it even better than the original version, in my opinion, is the drama that builds up and the crescendo that amplifies in the first part of the song – creating a completely different atmosphere to the song featured in Shrek 2.
During the coronavirus lockdown, when we are all in isolation “holding out for a hero”, the song is no longer about lust and love, but a desperate call for a happy ending to come soon.
Rating: 9/10
By Olimpia Zagnat (News Editor)
One Direction – Four
Lockdown has led to me finding things to do I would normally never get around to – one of which has been deleting all the playlists on my Spotify and starting again.
Going through my saved music, combined with the rumours of a reunion, has brought back my One Direction phase in a BIG way (although, if we’re being honest it never left).
Their penultimate album, Four, began to show a change from the pop-by-number music being produced before it’s released, and brings back so many memories of going to their final tour with friends I’d made over the band’s five years. Few albums make me smile like this one does.
Rating: 8/10
By Lollie Hancock (Fashion and Beauty Editor)
M Huncho – Huncho For Mayor
For me this is one of the best songs off M Huncho’s latest album, Huncholini the First. In this song he talks about how he has grown from being a bricklayer to being in a position where he feels he could take over as Mayor of London. There was even a petition launched for him to become Mayor off the back of the song. My favourite part of the song is where he says, “I’ve never had a rich neighbour, but my neighbours have a rich neighbour,” this again reinforces the idea of how he came from nothing to be something.
Rating: 9/10
By Alex Brinton (Sport Editor)