English indie-pop singer songwriter, Michael Joseph Nelson, best known as BANNERS, has recently released his 3rd full-length album, "All Back To Mine". After spending seven years in Canada to work on his music career, BANNERS returned to his hometown of Liverpool, which inspired the themes of this album and is exactly where he wrote and recorded all the tracks for it within a span of nine months. Working alongside producer Cameron Blackwood and engineer Dan Moyler, BANNERS had initially recorded 40 songs for this album. These are the 12 that made the cut! Featuring singles released throughout the past year and a handful of new tracks, this is "All Back To Mine".
TRACKLIST
Name In Lights
Have You Ever Loved Someone
Anywhere For You
In Your Universe
There Goes My Girl
C'est La Vie
The Best View In Liverpool
Perfectly Broken - Duet Version
Broken Hearted
Tell You I Love You
Life's Just No Fun
All That You Made Me
BANNERS kicked off his career as an artist in 2015 and has been consistently releasing music these past 9 years. He took the world by storm when his single release in 2020, "Someone To You" got high recognition, earning over 1.5 billion streams across all platforms. He ended up performing the song on season 16 of American Idol. Prior to this, his other breakthrough songs like "Ghosts", "Half Light", and "Got It In You" were featured on hit TV shows such as Teen Wolf, The Royals, New Amsterdam, The Good Doctor, and America's Got Talent. Now, all of his songs have gained millions of streams and he has over 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. With his latest album release, BANNERS' takes us through a sound he describes as his happiest, like he's where he is supposed to be. Lets dive in.
Name In Lights
Kicking off the album with the strong focus track, "Name In Lights", BANNERS uses his roots to shape a folk rock and pop soundscape with Celtic influences. With it's use of strings and the rhythm, this particular song sounds like a mixture of Mumford and Sons and Coldplay, which is BANNERS favorite band. "Name In Lights" was released as a single almost a year ago in great anticipation for this album. The song is about being supportive of someone's dreams, believing in them even when they don't believe in themselves. Accompanied by a tear-jerking music video, "Name In Lights" is the perfect leading track to set the tone of this project.
Have You Ever Loved Someone
"Have You Ever Loved Someone" is an upbeat, fun-loving pop-bop that'll have you up dancing around like no one is watching. Another single that was released almost a year ago, we watch BANNERS show off his humorous side in a not-so-serious music video. This infectious track is about that type of relationship where you lose yourself in them to the point that your not quite in reality anymore. All you can think about is them, and you don't want it to end. We hear a strength and power to BANNERS' voice that stands out from his usual style. With a bit of an 80's synth vibe mixed with modern pop, "Have You Ever Loved Someone" is both a radio hit, and lyrically relatable, making it perfectly executed and easily lovable for anyone regardless of your personal tastes.
Anywhere For You
"Anywhere For You" is a stunningly emotional pop piano ballad. It's very reminiscent of the style of Lewis Capaldi. Featuring soaring vocals and an instrumental build, if you're someone who loves a strong love song, this one is for you! Everyone knows that relationships aren't easy. Life takes it course; both good and bad things happen as years go by and sometimes that can really take a toll on long-term partners. "Anywhere For You" is about reassuring your loved one that no matter what happens, you'll always be there for them. Even at their lowest low, you'll be right there by their side.
On the topic of "Anywhere For You":
Life is a journey and it's going to have its ups and downs. No relationship is simple and
nothing worth doing is ever easy. Sometimes you have to let someone know that you're
going to be there through it all. -BANNERS
In Your Universe
"In Your Universe" is a simple but beautiful love song. Featuring piano, guitar and a beat, it's a great transition from the previous track. The rhythm is single strung, creating this build that takes you on a groovy journey. Using astrological terminology, "In Your Universe' is simply about having someone in your life that makes the world a better place. You no longer can imagine a life without them in it. As long as you're with them, you're happy and content. You can really hear the Coldplay influence in this song, both lyrically and sonically. BANNERS shows off beautiful falsetto moments in his voice that really makes the track stand out from others.
There Goes My Girl
Giving off nostalgic early 2000's pop/rock vibes with a bit 80's synth is track five, "There Goes My Girl". This song is one of the brand new tracks, never heard before the album release. It's fun and groovy track about praising a girl you love who doesn't know just how amazing she is. She's so low-key that the rest of world has no idea that she is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone. You're so proud to have her that you just want to shout it from the rooftops, "there goes my girl!".
C'est La Vie
"C'est La Vie", meaning "That's Life" in French, goes back to that Celtic folk rock and pop sound of track one. With a really bright soundscape and stomping beat, it's a song that easily gets stuck in your head; especially the really fun synth during the chorus. The chanting harmonies and acoustic guitar give the song a really raw feeling. BANNERS shows off flawless vocal flips between chest voice and falsetto which adds a unique touch to the song. The gist of this song is, you can't stop bad things from happening but as long as you have that one person by your side at the end of the night, that is all that matters.
We have a full in-depth article for "C'est La Vie", which you can read here!
The Best View In Liverpool
It's no secret that BANNERS love his hometown of Liverpool. He is clearly proud of where he's from; that feeling of coming home is what inspired this album after all. Liverpool has a lot of beautiful sights to see. BANNERS sings of memorable places and moments that he loves about his hometown; but the point of this song is that as long as you're with the ones you love, no matter where you are in the world it'll always feel like home. This song has a very cenematic soundscape that features a big emotional build that makes your heart skip a beat when you hear it.
We have a full in-depth article for "The Best View In Liverpool", which you can read here!
Perfectly Broken - Duet Version
"Perfectly Broken" was originally a solo single released in 2022. It was a break-through track which ended up getting 10's of millions of streams. The track became a part of BANNERS EP released just last year, "I Wish I Was Flawless, I'm Not" and was the title of his headlining "Perfectly Broken" tour. Just three months ago, BANNERS collaborated with Hawaiian native soul-pop singer, Lily Meola to create a duet version, taking this already incredible song to another level. BANNERS' and Lily's voices blend together beautifully as they harmonize through this highly emotional song. Strings and acoustic guitar stand out as the primary instruments as the slow groove carries you along through the heartbreaking track.
We have a full in-depth article for "Perfectly Broken - Duet Version", which you can
Broken Hearted
"Broken Hearted" brings back that nostalgic, 80's synth and Coldplay influenced soundscape that is a common theme across BANNERS' discography. However, this particular song feels more raw and laid back in production than the others. "Broken Hearted" is about that love at first sight type of feeling; when you see a stranger across the room and you feel your heart sink to your stomach. You know that if you don't get yourself to go over and talk to them, that you'll forever regret it. Keeping the music light and fun-loving, this song has a build and progression that brings you higher and higher. You don't quite expect this song to be such a banger because of the title, but it is!
Tell You I Love You
"Tell You I Love You" is about falling in love fast; it might be too soon to say those special three little words, but you just can't help yourself. You have to tell them how you feel, whether it's a bad idea or not. "Tell You I Love You" starts off with the most beautiful and dreamy acoustic picking pattern that immediately draws you into the song. The full-band instrumentation that comes in gives this song a realness to it, something that radiates what music is supposed to be all about. It has a very classic soft rock tone while keeping that modern sound quality. It's a sonically stunning track and the effort that was put in to make it sound that way is clear.
Life's Just No Fun
Turning the tables as we go into one of the saddest tracks on the album and a song that wasn't heard until the release of the album, we have "Life's Just No Fun". This track is about losing the one person who made everything in life make sense. Everything was better when you had them, and now that they're gone, life's just no fun. This stunning piano ballad was written the moment BANNERS' had bought the piano of his dreams and it had just arrived at his home. Inspired by the style of Russian singer/songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor, BANNERS' put the piano at the forefront with just a little mixture of strings. The emotional build all comes from the voice and the dynamics of the piano.
All That You Made Me
Recording from start to finish in just one take, we have the closing track another piano ballad, "All That You Made Me"; and I must stay, what a beautiful song to end this project on. The honest emotion behind BANNERS' voice with just him and his piano is like you're there live in person with him while he performs. The sustained chords add to the emotional ambience of the song. "All That You Made Me" is about how you can't be who you are today without the people you've had in your life to help influence who you've become. It's a song of appreciation to those who have helped make your life better in some way. It's a perfect song to cry happy tears to, and the best choice to close this chapter of "All Back To Mine".
BANNERS has once again proven how incredible of a songwriter he is. This particular album really defines and solidifies his style and who he is as an artist. BANNERS doesn't stick to one particular sound; he's created this mixture of genres that are completely his. If I had to use a word to describe the sound of this album, I'd use the word home. You can tell how much it meant to him to be back in his hometown to write this new music; you can literally hear it within each song. He really knocked it out of the park in this collection of songs, lyrically, vocally and sonically. There's something for everyone on this album, regardless of your personal tastes. His words are highly relatable; he sings of situations that plenty of us have been through. BANNERS' is an artist for the people, and he's not stopping anytime soon. Make sure to follow BANNERS' below to keep up with what he does next!
Written By Kaitlyn Nicole
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