S PRING 2015
P AGE 7
Rixton’s Rise to Fame
First album and a tour with Ariana Grande
Alison Dennehy
Staff Writer
Rixton hit the scene in early 2013,
playing tiny venues with no major
recognition. Fast forward two years
and the band has released a few catchy
singles with an album (“Let the Road”)
in the works. The band is composed of
Jake Roche (lead vocalist/rhythm
guitarist), Charley Bagnell (lead guitarist/vocalist), Danny Wilkin (bassist/
keyboard/vocalist) and Lewi Morgan
(drummer/vocalist). Each member has
a love for R&B and pop with influences, including Bruno Mars and
Maroon 5, that contribute to their
soulful approach to pop music.
As with many new artists, Rixton can
give thanks to the internet for their
success. They began posting YouTube
covers of artists like Chris Brown,
Usher, and even Taylor Swift. These
covers racked up views from a quarter
of a million people, including music
manager Scooter Braun. Braun is
linked to the success stories of Justin
Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Carly Rae
Jepson. With a manager like Braun,
this group of songwriters was able to
land a deal with Benny Blanco, an
excellent producer credited with
Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” and
Katy Perry’s “Roar.” Together, Blanco
and the boys are creating “Let the
Road,” Rixton’s debut album that will
be released on March 3.
Rixton’s debut single, “Me and My
Broken Heart,” quickly went to No. 6
on the U.S. charts early in 2014. Their
most recent release is “Wait on Me,”
another single.
Yes, these songs are catchy and danceable, but the full album shows off the
band’s true talents. “Appreciated” is an
acoustic-guitar-accompanied piece that
also features live drumming, which the
group prefers over programmed beats.
This track also shows off the band’s
vocal abilities through harmonies
found throughout the song. ” It’s a
standout because it’s not about love or
heartbreak, but appreciating those that
stay under the radar while being compassionate towards everyone.
posted on YouTube. The song appears
to be a ballad about losing someone
and the pain felt in their absence after
a purposeful departure from your life.
The music video follows a woman who
appears to be distraught over the loss
of her boyfriend, who left her, but this
is not the full story. The woman saw
her boyfriend’s flighty behavior and
took the only chance she had to make
him stay, and that was to kill him. This
haunting portrayal of the song is extremely different from their video
“Make Out,” that is full of jokes and
parodies on other artists. Roche, the
band’s “natural frontman” as The
Times (newspaper of London) said, is
a master of falsetto-sung songs. The
Times went on to say, “We All Want
the Same Thing” “(is) a stomp along
anthem built for arenas.”
The band recently performed at the
DCU Center in Worcester, supporting
Ariana Grande on her Honeymoon
Tour. www.rixtonband.com
“Hotel Ceiling” will be the band’s third
single off “Let the Road.” The music
video has gotten over half a million
views in just one week after being
Young adult novel keeps you guessing
Ally Snow
Contributor
The story follows Cadence
“Cady” Sinclair, a 15-year-old
member of the Sinclairs, a rich,
beautiful, athletic and privileged
family. There is only one prob-
lem; Cady has amnesia. She narrates the action as she tries to
figure out how she lost her
memory. Cady doesn’t know
and neither does the reader.
The title “We Were Liars” might
make you wonder who the author is referring to, especially
since it is about a girl with amnesia. How would she know? Perhaps it is because the Sinclairs are
liars. They make everyone believe they are perfect, but they
are far from it. The Sinclairs
have been plagued by addiction,
death, and tragedy, but they hide
it. So, everyone thinks everything is just fine.
This story’s style is surprising.
“Yes, these
songs are
catchy
and
danceable,
but the
full album
shows off
the band’s
true
talents.”
— A LLISON
D ENNEHY
In “We Were Liars” – What You See Isn’t What You Get
The young adult book “We
Were Liars” by E. Lockhart (an
alternate pen name used by adult
fiction author and picture book
writer Emily Jenkins) has become a New York Times best
seller. Lockhart has had some
other notable works such as,
“The Ruby Oliver Quartet” and
“The Disreputable History of
Frankie Landau-Banks,” which
won a Printz award honor book
and Cybils Award for best young
adult novel.
Rixton (Publicity Photo from GoMoxie)
At times it can be poetic, like
when Lockhart describes Cady’s
cousins as “bounce, effort and
snark,” or “sugar, curiosity and
rain.” Other times the words
express choppy thoughts that
come to Cady as she suffers from
terrible, amnesia driven migraines. We follow Cady’s
thought process as she struggles
to remember how she lost her
memory.
I would tell you how it ends, but
in an author’s note Lockhart
writes “If anyone ask how it ends
just lie.” I suggest you read it to
find out what happens, because
this book will leave you guessing
until the very end.