Sia
‘Alive’ is one of Sia’s most successful hits and featured on her 2016 album This is Acting. ‘Alive’ is a song about coming back from a broken place. It pairs strong lyricism with an impressive vocal performance featuring possibly the only voice crack which people actually want to hear. I’m not necessarily Sia’s biggest fan but came away from this song pleasantly surprised by its hopeful message and catchy chorus. ‘Alive’ no doubt helped cement Sia’s place among pop’s most captivating performers
Black Eyed Peas
‘Alive’ is a forgotten classic from the Black Eyed Peas’ 2009 album The E.N.D. However, upon first listen you discover that it would probably be perfect for the atmosphere of a club night in the Toon. The song has an incredibly danceable groove to it, which is complemented by the use of autotune and synths throughout. The drum and hip-hop breakdown towards the end of the track is a fitting conclusion and undoubtedly makes ‘Alive’ one of the Black Eyed Peas most underrated songs. This one might be worth a revisit in 2019.
Empire of the Sun
I must have been under a rock somewhere when Aussie electronic duo Empire of the Sun released ‘Alive’ back in 2013. However, having emerged from underneath that rock I discover a funky track which has a very upbeat sound and message. Having never heard of the duo before I didn’t know what to expect but I found ‘Alive’ to be an enjoyable song which would be perfect for a summers day.
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam are one of my all time favourite bands and helped define the Seattle Grunge scene in the 90’s Eddie Vedder delivers one of his best vocal performances on this track, one so breathtaking you often forget about the dark lyrical content. Nonetheless, ‘Alive’ is an all-time great song which I was fortunate enough to see live last summer when Pearl Jam rocked the O2 Arena in London. ‘Alive’ captures the true spirit of Grunge, which is often unfortunately forgotten about in the landscape of today’s music and epitomises one of the most captivating musical movements in history.