Charles Connolly

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙚 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 – 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙝

Charles rediscovers youth…

Another week has passed. Another week of not hearing from the artist I reviewed that week. It’s astounding how common this is. I think maybe some of you might understand now why I sometimes settle back into reviewing “the same old artists” time and time again. They are most grateful. I do really like to leap into the unknown and review someone that barely anyone has ever heard of. But very often I feel like my efforts were wasted. I’m never asking for heaped praise, flowers, or gold-plated gifts, but simply some sort of acknowledgement that they read it, they liked it and they were appreciative. Sharing the thing is proof that they liked it, but isn’t it kind of NORMAL to thank the person who spent around five hours writing the damned thing…? Anyway! Rant over. I do try not to dwell on these things (certainly not in public), but considering how common this is becoming, I couldn’t help but let my feelings be known. I am NOT a robot. These are NOT written by a machine. Those of you I have reviewed who HAVE messaged me afterwards, you must understand that this is obviously not aimed at you, and that you are in fact the model of respect and manners. And I thank YOU.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 – 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

Charles celebrates the good times, for there are no bad ones…

Birthdays are a thing. Whether you’re 7 or 70, they simply cannot be ignored. We all have one. In fact it’s one of the few things we all have in common. They all happen once a year, every year, but unlike Christmas, they are all different and are spattered throughout the year. When this day arrives, it is imperative that you do what my Birthday Song says: “It’s your birthday. You can do what you want. No one there to tell you what to do”. In other woyds, it is the one day you are truly allowed to be selfish. A similar sentiment to Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit, It’s My Party (produced by Quincy Jones – not a lot of people know that). Sometimes though, it is not about being selfish. Sometimes a birthday NEEDS to involve others. And sometimes it needs to, because the birthday is shared. Like twins, for example. Twins might choose a different way of spending their birthday, in which case they will either have to part ways for the day, or one of them will be unhappy. And we can’t have that. However, a differing choice is unlikely with twins, as they are so mentally connected. Mentally though – I’m not talking about conjoined twins here. So birthdays for twins will usually work out well. When it comes to organisations and companies, they too can have birthdays. They can and they DO! Every year, as it happens. And it is often these occasions where global happiness is NOT a thing. Too many different people want too many different things. And so there are bound to be unhappy chappies and chappesses. Usually. But some organisations are different. They are different because each individual is not there for the sake of the “job”. Each is there for the sake of the organisation and their love and passion for it. Let’s now ditch the stuffy word “organisation”, and replace it with “society”. Slightly less stuffy, and just a little bit more cultured and less businessy. Can’t stand business – as annoyingly important as it is. When discussing how to celebrate a much-loved society’s birthday, the decision is unanimous. Because they all feel the same. They all have belief, love and fondness for the society and everything it stands for. I am more specifically talking about the New Artist Spotlight and its “staff” celebrating its second anniversary. Happy Birthday NAS, you are now two years old! Let’s talk about that – thank you Rhett and also Link.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙨 – 𝙂𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙣

Charles is none the wiser…

To know or not to know… Is this the question? As our favourite Spanish waiter once said, “I know nutting” (nothing). Sometimes I really do empathise with those people who know very little. But at the same, I sort of envy them. You’ve all heard the phrase “ignorance is bliss”… Well it does seem to be that the happiest, most contented people are often the most unknowledgeable. Probably because of the thoughts of a “great” philosopher. Aristotle once said (can’t remember when exactly), “The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know”. Do you feel these “great” philosophers are somewhat over-immortalised…? I mean, I have said and thought similar things without having read their “stupendously brilliant” thoughts. Am I therefore also a great philosopher…? Nope, I’m just a bloke what finks. As are many of you (blokes and lady-persons). I would however alter his words to read “The more you know, the more you are depressed and crushed by doubt and perhaps fear”. Yet these less knowledgeable people skip through life seemingly without a care in the world. Ignorant to everything around them. Pure envy, I tell you! So this question of whether to know or not… It’s a difficult one.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙐𝙍𝙉-𝙊𝙐𝙏 – 𝙅.𝙃.𝙈

Charles strikes a match and waits…

The life of an artist can be an arduous one. But then again, so can any life. Let’s focus on the artist side of things, since that’s what we all are. Artists, right? Being an artist used to mean just that. The arty type who is brilliant (or so they think) at arting, and not very much else. It was always forgiven that they could barely brush their teeth and dress themselves, because “oh, just LOOK at what they create”… Correction: artists could do these things, but would very often not bother (in the same way that they would forget to eat), because it was just not important to them. Art ran in their veins. It was their raison d’être. It plagued them. It excited them. It sedated them. Once they had created their latest masterpiece, it would be handed over to the man who knew nothing about art, but who was good at business. It was his job to advertise it and eventually flog it. There could even be a whole team involved. The artist was left to do what the artist was intended to do. Art. This way, everyone was happy and everyone stuck to what they did best. If said artist wanted to celebrate the completion of another piece by drinking himself into oblivion, then so be it. Little would suffer as a result, except maybe his liver.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙜 – 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣

Charles celebrates 5 years of Connolly’s Corner…

Well…!! Here we are again, with another instalment of the CC machine. But this one is a little special. It’s one that I never really thought I would reach. I have been writing these things every single week for five years. Five bloody years, can you believe?! That’s the age of the New Artist Spotlight. Half a decade! You all know this as Tuesday Review Day, but for me it’s Monday. I always write these on Mondays. To me, Monday means writing day. It’s my weekly dose of creativity, where my mind goes wherever it wishes. Monday is never free, for I am busy doing this. Just this. Yes, it takes most of the day. It may seem like a half-hour dash, but it’s really not. Hence why I’m stunned to have reached this milestone. What milestone…? Well, my 250th review, of course!!! What a lotta woyds.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙤𝙪𝙩 – 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡

Charles reeds allowed…

Do you remember when you were 20 or so? I mean, I know some of you are maybe not yet 20, and others of you might be thinking “well, of course I remember; it was only a few years ago”. But let’s face it, for most people who read these articles of mine, age 20 was a while ago. I think I can safely say that. So, DO you remember it? Do you remember the feeling? Do you remember what you were thinking? Do you remember what your big, bold plans were? Did you have plans to change the world? Were you instead rolling around on the floor in a stupor, wondering what all the fuss was about…? Maybe Plan A with a side portion of Plan B? I think a lot of us were ready and poised for great things, no? As if it was all a matter of course. That things would simply fall into place. I personally had my entire early life mapped out. I was going to break out. Not in hives, but by the age of 23 I was going to be a rockstar/popstar. Obviously. I was going to be married at the age of 27, and the rest would simply just happen. At the age of 21 I already had my music degree from a tiny music college in a cruddy part of London (which has since moved to an equally cruddy part of London), and I sort of assumed I would simply “be discovered”. HA!! My naivety was slightly astounding when I look back on it. Worryingly so. These days I am a realist to the point of pessimism. But only because the reality is not so hot. I mean, just look around. I don’t see the vibrant smiles of 1996. The carefree attitude that once ruled London. Things seemed genuinely to fall into place. Breakout was obvious and inevitable…

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘿𝙖𝙮 – 𝘿𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles walks like an…

Egypt is a funny place, much like no other. Until recently, much of its famed land lay barren and dry. In fact, this land is STILL pretty desolate. Of course, Egypt is not only desert. I think many don’t realise its bustling cities and modern way of life. What do we imagine when we think of Egypt? What’s the absolute number one thing that springs to mind? Well I’ll tell you. It’s Toblerone. A stone version. Thousands of years ago the Egyptians took a bite of the delectable Western chocolate treat and loved it so much, they decided to build a huge shrine in its honour. Quite fascinating, really! I mean, just how on earth did they get their hands on a bar of Toblerone in the middle of Egypt? And wouldn’t it melt in the burning heat of the sun? The answers to these questions will forever remain unknown. There are other such peculiarities as how they built these trianguloid structures… A system of ramps, rollers and pulleys? Simply very strong men? Very strong women? And what about layers that aren’t on the “ground floor”…? They just threw them? Lobbed them up in the air and hoped for the best? These stone slabs weigh roughly 2.5 tonnes each!! For you Europeans, that’s 2,267,960 grams. I could probably just about manage the 960, if I remember to take my vitamin pills. So what’s it all for? Just for the sake of a bar of chocolate? Well, yes. And that is why Toblerone is so popular to this day. Their stone equivalent is now more famous than the chocolate bar itself, so people buy the bars to show their affection and appreciation for the gargantuan feats of engineering. Swings and roundabouts!

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙙 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles is sick of regurgitation…

You’d probably think I would be far too exhausted to write an article this week, what with having been crowned (or “coronated”, if you wish) just a few days ago. But I have commitments, and they must be fulfilled. I am not however going to be talking about my Coronation or anything to do with the extended celebration weekend. A glorious time was had by (almost) all, but we must now get back to work – if reluctantly. God Save the King!

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘽𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 – 𝙎𝙚́𝙖 𝘽𝙮𝙧𝙣𝙚

Charles travels faintly North and vaguely West, to the only Caribbean island in Eire…

I had forgotten what it was like to be on the open sea. Which makes sense, as I’ve never been on the open sea. Admittedly it is not a long trip from Liverpool’s docks to the the Irish coast, but nevertheless it can be rather exciting when you envision the paradise at the other end. Land ahoy! Although technically Ireland, this small island just off the coast of the mainland has its own extraordinary microclimate, its own people and its own way of life. Paddìsyaŕn is truly like a slice of Tahiti in the most unlikely place. Although popular, it is not widely known because of an international government agreement to keep the world’s prying eyes away from it – I am maybe breaking some sort of rule in even mentioning it here, but if we all agree to keep it a secret, mum’s the word.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝘾𝘼𝙂𝙀 – 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙤 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙨 & 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣

Charles is content in his cage…

Europe in the Summertime. A song I wrote years ago. Europe is fun in summer. We think of Roman piazzas. We think of English coasts. We think of Spanish villas. Sun, sun, sun, as it relentlessly beats down upon our already scorched arms. Summer is the time to get away. Americans call it vacation. We, in England, call it holiday. A break from the norm. A time to eat ice cream without feeling it has to be squeezed into a swift lunch break. But is it simply a break from the norm, or is it more than that? Is it wanted or is it needed?

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