Tag: Taylor Swift

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Bronte Alva Lays Past Bare With “Taylor Swift”

Dharawal/Wollongong-based indie-rock artist Bronte Alva has wowed me with her new single “Taylor Swift.” It’s a deeply personal song that recounts Bronte’s own experiences dating someone ten years her senior as a teenager.

She says the song captures “Heartbreak and growing pains within the power imbalance of dating an older man in my teens. I was 17. He was 27. He was my gym instructor. A week before my 18th birthday he ghosted me. I felt angry, sad, betrayed, played, manipulated and pretty damn stupid. It wasn’t until later with a lot of reflection that I realised it wasn’t my fault. One song in particular that connected to me was ‘All Too Well’ by Taylor Swift. It follows her reminiscing on her experiences dating an older man and all that comes with it. I wrote the song when I was 18, ruminating and reminiscing on the experience. It taught me my worth and ultimately those were growing pains that got me to where I am.”

Bronte has a stack of gigs coming up. Catch her at the following venues:

11 August 2023 – Botany View Hotel, Gadigal/Sydney
18 August 2023 – The Basement, Ngunnawal/Canberra
19 August 2023 – The Alley Band Room, Gadigal/Sydney
20 August 2023 – Icebreaker Festival, Gadigal/Sydney
26 August 2023 – Stag and Hunter, Mulubinba/Newcastle
1 September 2023 – Klok Fest @ La La La’s, Dharawal/Wollongong
14-15 October 2023 – Yours & Owls Festival, Dharawal/Wollongong

Image used with permission from Good Intent

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Will Taylor Swift Crack Hottest 100? And Why All the Fuss?

I’ve read with interest all the hoo-ha surrounding the campaign to have Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” included in the Triple J Hottest 100. At the time of writing it’s unclear whether the song will be deemed ineligible due to KFC inadvertently breaking official voting rules, whether Taylor will take her place in the countdown, or whether those ardent supporters simply won’t have the numbers to see her cracking the list.

Either way, I’ve been a bit bemused by the staunch Triple J supporters who insisted that Taylor has no place in “their” countdown. I admire that sense of loyalty to an ideal of what Triple J is, but I can’t help feeling that it’s a bit misplaced here. I pay very little attention to what’s commercial and what’s not. I’ll love something because it’s good, not because it’s mainstream or underground or even Australian. And I must admit, one of the songs I loved this year was “Shake it Off.” So much so that for the first time in my life, I found myself forking over money at my local JB for a copy of 1989. “Shake it Off” deserves a place amongst the top 100 songs of the year, and to suggest otherwise seems a bit elitist to me, like pop music is somehow less valid than other genres.

Pop music might not be Triple J’s go-to genre, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t belong in their countdown if the voters want it there badly enough. Personally I struggle to see too much of a difference between “Shake it Off” and “Uptown Funk,” which everyone is sure will come close to the top 10. Is it Mark Ronson’s name attached that makes this number one smash a bit cooler? In previous years we’ve had big commercial singles like “Pretty Fly for a White Guy,” “Thrift Shop” and “Amazing” take top honours, yet no one batted an eyelid. Some argue that the song shouldn’t make the countdown because it wasn’t played on Triple J, but neither were Alanis Morissette, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and U2 songs that made the cut in the past.

So why the outrage? Does it all come down to the fact that this is a pretty young blonde singing a song without a hint of edge? Can that really be so threatening? It reeks of musical snobbery to me. Personally I hope “Shake it Off” does make the countdown. It’s one of the most well-crafted songs of the year, regardless of its genre or artist, and that’s what counts.

Image source: Angela George @ Wikimedia