The three tracks are named ‘Staying at Home‘, ‘Tryna Look Good‘ and ‘Everyday Feels the Same‘, which immediately reflect the standard experience for everyone in lock-down over the last few months. This is Shakka’s intention; he described the work as, on his Instagram, a ‘batch of quarantine diary freestyles‘. The unsubtle references do not end there for the artist, the mix-tape’s cover is a drawing of a dejected Shakka next to a bottle of Corona beer. The hook of the project’s first tune emphasises Shakka’s state of mind, repeating over and over ‘staying at home is long fam‘. The beat is unlike the lively bop’s that propelled the performer into the public consciousness, but it displays his full vocal range. The track is given a lively lift through a remix by Donae’O, which is included at the end of the project.

View this post on Instagram

I took some time off social media for a sec to process everything. I ended up writing this. Hope you guys connect with this one. TAG & SHARE to ALL your friends who you think may need this #Tribe4Life #QuarantineDiaries #BlackLivesMatter

A post shared by Shakka (@iamshakka) on Jun 25, 2020 at 1:00am PDT

‘Tryna Look Good‘ documents the struggles of impressing a love interest on Face Time, despite not having a hair cut or shave in a good while. He uses the tune to lament that he has not ‘had a fade in like 40 days‘, a reference that may well be outdated following the further lift of restrictions on the 4th of July. ‘Everyday Feels The Same‘, the projects final song, is the most upbeat of Shakka’s new tracks. The three freestyles are all under three minutes, with the final two both wrapped up in under a minute and twenty seconds each, which gives the project an impromptu feel.

‘Cabin Fever‘ is a project born in the swathes of free time that most have experienced during lock down. It therefore reflects a style of mix-tape that may become popular between artists in the near future. It is thrifty, and seems as though it has been composed and produced at Shakka’s home. The life of musicians have been greatly altered in the last few months, and studio time at a premium. It displays creativity to produce a body of work with the limited tools available. ‘Cabin Fever’ demonstrates Shakka’s willingness to adapt musically to the current situation, despite his displeasure at adjusting socially. It may not have resulted in his most iconic work, but Shakka’s ‘Cabin Fever’ may just provide a blue-print for other, Corona-affected, aspiring artists to follow.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

Pleased to release The Cabin Fever EP A batch of Quarantine Diary freestyles along with with some dope remixes by the Funky House veteran @Donaeo, and rising artist -producer @Happimusic. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Available now, Everywhere. Link in Bio. Artwork by the amazing @Lemongraphs. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Happy Quarantine Independence day. #Tribe4Life

 

A post shared by Shakka (@iamshakka) on Jul 3, 2020 at 1:41am PDT

The mega producer took to his Twitter, detailing how the cover came together. “I bet everyone here has a song (or two, or fifteen) that they’re been rinsing during this period,” wrote Ronson.

For him, the 44-year-old referred to “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” by iconic duo Richard and Linda Thompson. The “Uptown Funk” hitmaker said that the song was the one he could not stop listening to as well as “the ultimate song about a messy weekend night out.”

“I imagine the reason I’ve been so drawn to this song is because I miss that all very much, I bet a lot of us do.” He added, “I suddenly had this idea to cover the tune and hopefully make a video by asking you all to send in pics and vids of your cities at night.” Read the whole statement from the post below.

NEW SONG: “I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT” ft Raissa https://t.co/N6latnyBlh pic.twitter.com/ogrm5k5Zgl

— Mark Ronson (@MarkRonson) May 11, 2020

Ronson invited Raissa, who he recently welcomed to his record label Zelig West: “She had never heard the song before but loved it and within hours sent me back an incredible vocal that brought a freshness to the tune I hadn’t imagined.” Check it out from the video below.

In the tweet, he also thanked everyone involved with the project, including Jamie-James Medina who is behind the making of the music video. “[Medina] was able to make maybe one of my favourite videos I’ve ever been involved with,” said Ronson.

The cover of “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” is Ronson’s latest work since the release of the fifth studio album, ‘Late Night Feelings‘, last year. The album is a gigantic feat-fest from A-listed stars with the likes of Miley Cyrus (“Nothing Breaks Like a Heart“), Lykke Li (“Late Night Feelings“), Camila Cabello (“Find U Again“), and Alicia Keys (“Truth“).

This is another track to listen to while being locked up for a good cause in this time around. Despite postponements and cancellations of both concerts and the releases of new albums by numerous artists, it is delightful to see a lot of musicians using this quarantine to craft great music to bring us safe-at-home joy.

The “Can’t Stand Me Now” group took to Twitter, giving out their current offering to help everyone in quarantine—on an entertainment aspect. “We’ve decided to share a series of videos over the coming weeks to entertain household fans – some you may have see or heard before, plus some exclusives.”

. pic.twitter.com/39QVM9g2wZ

— Libertines (@libertines) April 28, 2020

“7 Deadly Frenchman (Legs 11 Demo)” is a one-minute instrumental track that took us to the good old days when garage rock music reached its peak. The video also features the image of the co-frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barât smiling side by side, which would definitely melt all the Libertines’ fans.

Elsewhere, drummer Gary Powell just joined other indie superstars in the cover of “Chasing Rainbows” by Shed Seven. The line-up includes Matt Bowman from The Pigeon Detectives and Barry ‘Baz’ Fratelli from The Fratellis, with BBC Radio 6 DJ Mark Radcliffe and Virgin Radio presenter Eddy Temple-Morris accompanying the singing.

The “Chasing Rainbows” cover is aimed to raise money for the NHS, while the viewers of the track are kindly asked to donate for The North Midlands Charity as well. Read the full story here.

Last year, the four-piece went on the road in the UK for their extremely successful tour, including two sold-out shows at O2 Academy Brixton, London. They have reunited in 2015 for the third studio album ‘Anthems for Doomed Youth‘ after disbanding in 2004. The album was well-received commercially and critically, spawning singles like “Gunga Din“, “Glasgow Coma Scale Blues“, and “You’re My Waterloo“.

In the post, he discussed their plans for going forward. With his bandmate, Jordan Fish and videographer Brian Cox, the three teamed up during self-isolation. “We’ve been isolating since & are all well.. so here’s our plan,” Sykes said.

Oli added: “We are going to continue to write at home & even record some songs, we have everything we need to create the new record,” 

Sykes laid out ideas to involve fans throughout the process of producing the new album, and that they “will be sending constant updates of our progress, doing live chats and streams”.

View this post on Instagram

✨hey world hope everyone is coping with the quarantine o.k, shit is upside down right now.. we were working on BMTH8 in the studio and obviously we had to abandon everything. We’ve been isolating since & are all well.. so here’s our plan. @jordanfish86 and our videographer @brian_c0x are travelling down to Sheffield to isolate with me, we are going to continue to write at home & even record some songs, we have everything we need to create the new record. & we want to involve you in the whole process- so from tonight, we will be sending constant updates of our progress, doing live chats and streams with you guys.. hopefully to bring a bit of joy & light to you guys in these dark times. Stay tuned, stay safe wash your hands & try & beat my face mask by @fabulousbeasts_ ✨ #isolationinnovation

A post shared by Oliver Sykes (@olobersykes) on Mar 20, 2020 at 3:59am PDT

Last week, the ‘amo’ band unveiled the BMTH8 project, releasing an announcement video through their Youtube channel. Just yesterday, they released their most recent update entitled ’13BMTH8 -lockdown-.mp4′.

Last December, the band released an eight-track project, featuring a long-awaited collaboration with Halsey. The project was named, here goes… ‘Music to listen to~dance to~blaze to~pray to~feed to~sleep to~talk to~grind to~trip to~breathe to~help to~hurt to~scroll to~roll to~love to~hate to~learn Too~plot to~play to~be to~feel to~breed to~sweat to~dream to~hide to~live to~die to~GO TO’.

It’s an extraordinary album with one track, ‘Underground Big (HEADFULOFHYENA)’, (a team-up with BEXEY & Lotus Eater), lasting 24 minutes. Yes, 24 minutes. BEXEY, Yonaka, Lotus Eater and Toriel further feature on the project.

If you want to keep up to date with Bring Me The Horizon’s progress on their eighth album in the meantime, check out their official Youtube for all thirteen uploads.