Author: Michael
Q3 Read It 2021
Among all the self-improvement books out there, one that appears every now and again is Cal Newport’s 2016 book, Deep Work. At the beginning, the book is more scholarly but then it starts to settle in to rules to follow. Much of today’s work life involves reading emails, answering instant messages, and being tugged in 20 different directions. What Newport gets into is the importance of going deep on a project without distractions for a few hours a day. He also preaches such ideas as getting off social media, think about problems when doing other activities, focus on important tasks, and not working so late that you burn yourself out. All of these items while simple in theory can be hard to do in the office so one must find ways to incorporate deep work into their routine. A fine book about an important topic.
8.5/10
Sebastian Barry’s A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005. The novel tells of Irishman Willie Dunne who signs up with the allies to fight in WWI. The war conflict also causes much conflict for those left behind in Ireland who are under British rule. Willie has a hard time connecting with his policeman father and the love of his life who he meets just before joining. The novel is wonderfully written as it speaks of the horrors of war on both the front and home lines.
7.5/10
…it’ll sound like jazz…
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever (2021)
At the time, 17-year-old Billie Eilish became one of the most talked about pop stars of 2019. Her Don’t Smile At Me EP from 2017 was a slow build that continued to grow then exploded with the release of her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? and that album’s hit single “Bad Guy”. After that, everyone wanted to hear more of the music that her and her brother Finneas were creating in their parents’ house. Instead of another cookie cutter singer, Eilish’s distinct voice when mixed with pop meets goth meets R&B meets dance music had a little something for everyone. Since then, Eilish has been on all sorts of shows, videos, tabloids, etc and those experiences all feed into her sophomore album, Happier Than Ever.
First track “Getting Older” rides a minimal synth beat which Eilish mumbles over becoming more clear in the chorus, the last line being the most vulnerable before it cuts to the head nodding drumbeat of “I Didn’t Change My Number”. Eilish unleashes the line, “I didn’t change my number/I only changed who I reply to”. “Oxytocin” is a dark electronic throb with an echoey chorus that treats sex as a drug before the Underworld like lyrics of “GOLDWING” catches Eilish telling us multiple times to “keep your head down”.
Several of the singles are reserved for the second half of the album including the fifth single “NDA” that flexes like the hardest rapper, making a lover sign a non-disclosure agreement before leaving. Acoustic guitar appears more frequently on “Your Power” and the title track before it switches to a distorted electric guitar that gets louder as it goes on.
Where the album drags is on several of the middle tracks including the spoken word “Not My Responsibility”. At sixteen tracks, the same themes pop up time and again (troubles with fame, love interests, the media) but doesn’t add anything new. At times it can be like listening to a friend talk for 56 straight minutes while you tune in and out. Still, the first several tracks are electric and the last few reach another emotional level. On her sophomore album, the title Happier Than Ever may be tongue in cheek but the teenage sarcasm is one worth listening to.
7.5/10
The Light Appears 