Recent Releases: Ollie Hayes and Protect Your Heart

Grace-Elizabeth
Apr 17
6 min read

Welcome/welcome back to the blog! It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted because I've been ill and it's been the festive season, and at this point, most people know I do try and take a month off around the festive period, but with very few releases coming out, and no gigs for a while yet, I've taken 2 weeks off between Christmas and New Year, and then I'm going to try and chill out between now and my birthday because in the coming weeks I want to be doing the 2021 Annual Lemon Awards. Not the half a year thing, the full year. A year in review, where I look at all releases from January 1st to December 31st. So, let's get these last few releases from 2021 reviewed so they can at least be a contender for the Lemon Awards.

Up first, let's talk about Protect Your Heart because that's only a single to talk about, whereas Ollie's review is an album review. So a few weeks back Protect Your Heart released their latest track "Worst Side of Me" and boy, this is a belter. This has a heavier feel to it than some of the previous singles, but this one slaps so hard. This is the one. I know they always win me over, but this one is just something else. I am blown away by this track. It's phenomenal. This track is extraordinary and it really is surreal. This track packs a punch and it does so much for me. The lyrics hit home, and this whole track just has such a badass feel to it. The vocals on this track are something else, and the guitar is another stand out feature of the track. Although I love all elements of this track, they're the 2 stand out elements, and that bridge goes hard as well! I'm a sucker for a good bridge and breakdown and all that, so this track is winning on that front because of that bridge. I'm telling you, Protect Your Heart might be in the running for best newcomer this time round. There's been solid single after solid single, and this is potentially their best track. It's already made its way onto my daily playlist, where I put all the songs I love for heavy rotation. This song is just something else. I'm blown away by it, and I absolutely love it! This is another solid 5 out of 5 lemons track from Protect Your Heart, these lot know exactly what they're doing and they're killing it! I can see them going onto achieve great things, and this track is proof of that. So, if you haven't heard Protect Your Heart before, or not heard this track yet, stop sleeping on them or the track, because their talent is surreal! Where To Find Protect Your Heart:SpotifyInstagramTwitterFacebookYouTubeApple Music

Now, moving on, let's talk about Ollie's album. I've worked with Ollie for a while now, and I had every intention on getting this review up sooner, but life had other plans for me. now this album does feature 2 singles, which are Fallen for You and Online, and because they're not new tracks to me, I won't have that much to say about them.

The 9 track album opens with Glitch, now, being brutally honest, I don't vibe with this intro track. I don't really rate it. It's an intro track, but it's long and repetitive with a lack of vocals, although there are vocals on the track, it was a track I was left wondering when it would end, but I've spoken many a time about my disliking of tracks that are quite monotone, and have long instrumentals. It's something I'd expect as a filler track or something on a The 1975 album, I don't hate it, but I want more from it.

The second track is Strange which is a lot more of a promising track compared to the intro. This has a sort of Busted feel to it. It's got them rock elements in it making it a pop-rock track, and I quite like this one. I think this is an engaging track, and I'm actually quite a decent fan of this track. I think this is a solid track, and I can't fault it. It's decent, and I'm here for it. I'd happily skip Glitch and start the album here because this is a decent track with a nice feel to it. I'm really into this.

Next up comes Online, which I did do a review of, and I really liked this track. Although it has a more electronic feel to it, it's a decent track. I've listened to it a fair amount since the original review and I still think it's a groovy, feel-good track. It just radiates good vibes, and I really like it. As I said, I did a full review of this, so there's not much new to say about this.

The fourth track is, Liars, which has a darker, more grungy electronic vibe to it. It's fast-paced so I can't complain. It holds my attention, and this is a pretty solid track, and the chorus is a lot more different to the rest of the track. It's decent and I can't complain, I really dig it and I think it's a solid track, and one with a of potential. It is still a more electronic song, but I don't hate it. It's decent. That's 3 solid tracks in a row.

Next up comes, I Wouldn't Say I Love You (But I Like You Quite Alot). This again is another electronic song, and it's better than anticipated, because I just don't really vibe with electronic tracks a lot, but this is decent. It's got a very long-winded intro though, which sets the track back, and in reality, the song lacks many vocals. If I've got to wait over a minute for vocals, I want more. That's personal preference, but it is something that has to be considered. It's not a bad song, but it's not great. It's indifferent to me. To me, this is a filler track.

Now, we progress onto Who Do You Think You Are, this isn't as electronic as the previous tracks, it's still electronic and I think that's just the vibe of the album, but this one has vocals, and it's nicer. I actually really like this track. This is top 3 material, and I'm really into this track. It's decent enough, I'm not against it. It's alright, I like it. This is one of the best tracks on the album.

Now comes LSKC, this is a slow track and the longest on the album, and it feels like the longest as well. I do quite like this track, I think it's great, but this is one of those tracks I need to be in the mood to listen to, whereas the likes of Online, Who Do You Think You Are and Strange I could listen to no matter what the mood was. It is a beautiful track though, and one that Ollie carries very well. I do really rate this track, and I'd probably put it in my top 5 from the album.

Second to last, the penultimate track, and we have Fallen For You. This is a single that many of us have come to know, and it will forever be a solid one. It's got a classic The 1975 song to it, and I do really like it. I love the whole vibe of it, and the lyrics are pretty good too. This is a solid track and one that I can't pick fault with. I do really like it, and I'd highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already. It's a solid track. It's not new to me, so a lot of my first impressions I can't speak on, but I do really like this track, and I think it's solid.

The final track is Blessings, which I do like, not too much of a fan of the intro to it, but the actual body of the song is decent. So although the album didn't start well for me, it ends alright. This is of course, an electronic track, but it's decent. I'm not opposed to it. The lyrics vibe with me, and it's decent. I do quite like it if we forget the intro didn't exist.

So, overall, The Dream is a decent album, some tracks weren't it for me, but again, it's personal preference, if you like more electronic tracks, you might really like it. I really didn't vibe with Glitch, but most of the other songs were alright, some I really liked, and some were just a like. Overall, I'd give The Dream a 4 out of 5 lemons. This is a nice enough album, and I know many people will love it, I love some tracks off it, and I know some of the tracks will make it into heavy rotation, so, check it out, and see if it's for you.

Where To Find Ollie Hayes:

Where To Find Me:

Here on LifeIsALemon more days than not, at 7pm (UK Time)

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook