Summer is finally here, and the change of seasons is pretty apparent based on our influences from the week. We were inspired by fun new music, blockbuster movies, light-hearted TV, and some truly unique design work. As the weather heats up and our moods change, so does our consumption -- and it's always evident in the Friday Five!
Mt. Joy - Orange Blood
We kick off the week with one of our favorite things: a new album from a great band. Mt. Joy is back with their third studio release, Orange Blood, just in time for summer. As with all their music, the album is full of great vibes for long, hot summer days in the sun. There's a nice balance of mellow grooves and rock tracks, providing a surprising amount of variety in just 33 minutes. Given how short the album is, it's very easy to leave it on repeat for long stretches, but you never get bored -- it'll just put you in a great mood. Mt. Joy definitely tinkered and experimented on the album, but they did it without losing their signature sound, which is what we fell in love with. We highlighted "Lemon Tree" as a single, and it's still one of our favorites on the album, but you really can't go wrong. From the quiet, acoustic-driven bookends of "Orange Blood" and "Bathroom Light," and everything in between, Mt. Joy will make you smile this summer.
Elvis
For more music to make you smile this week, you can head to your local movie theater. That's because we finally get to hop in the time machine and see Baz Luhrmann's long-anticipated Elvis Presley biopic. Elvis has all the makings of an over-the-top and heavily stylized Luhrmann classic, complete with a killer soundtrack. While we are beyond excited for the music, it's obviously the performing and dancing that launched Elvis into the stratosphere, and we're hoping the movie can do it justice. Austin Butler really dove headfirst into the role, so much so that he still is speaking in the accent in interviews. Between his performance and Tom Hanks' character work, there should be some really entertaining acting to check out, on top of everything else. After seeing how Luhrmann has taken on musicals and classic stories, we are ready for the ostentatious glitz and glam of the movie -- even with its bloated runtime. Whether or not the movie is for you, we still think it'll be worth it to hear The King's music blaring out of a movie theater sound system. We might've gotten a false start from Top Gun: Maverick, but summer blockbuster season might actually be here.
Logic - Vinyl Days
If you aren't tired of music yet, we've got one more rec from the industry this week. Another one of our favorites, Logic, is back with new music. While the rapper was allegedly retired, he's still been cranking out new music, and Vinyl Days is really killer. The album starts out with a Morgan Freeman intro, and that sets the tone for a whole bunch of features and skits on the album. Figures from Yankees superstar Aaron Judge to comedian Michael Rapaport kick off tracks with fun introductions which give the album real personality. Lyrically, a lot of the tracks are about coming out of retirement, doing things his own way, and clapping back at people who didn't believe in him. Of course, all of it is done in Logic's signature flow, which is really impressive. There's a cool finish to the album with "Sayonara" as the artist looks back on his career and officially says goodbye to Def Jam Records. He thanks people that helped him break through, and reflects on his journey, weaving his own story seamlessly into the music. As always, we were blown away by his ingenuity -- and were left wondering if this is really it for him.
Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend
Speaking of coming out of retirement -- the OG cooking competition is back on Netflix. Iron Chef was a classic, and set the stage for a lot of the cooking shows that followed over the next couple decades, and now we've got a new season! One of the perks of the streaming model is that, every once in a while, they nail the reboot of a show that you actually missed. This new season features five of the best chefs in the world in each episode, and they have really fun competitors challenging them for the throne, cooking an incredibly wide variety of cuisine. Sometimes on cooking shows, the food doesn't actually look good -- but that's definitely not the case here. You're not going to want to go into this show with an empty stomach -- or if you do, at least have food ready to go nearby. While it's always fun to binge-watch (which we did), we recommend taking your time with Iron Chef. We were pretty sad to see it end, and like with a lot of competition shows, the episodes blend together if you watch them too quickly. Like any good meal, you'll want to savor this one.
Cover Art Guy
For our design account this week, we're highlighting something that we could only describe as "trippy collage art." Cover Art Guy drops photos of people that appear to be from the 50's and 60's into different settings, which are often in outer space or the future. It's a very specific reference point, but a lot of the images give off the same vibes as the Vertigo movie poster -- which is definitely high praise from us! There's something uniquely cool about seeing a Mad Men-era businessman walking into an inter-dimensional portal, or a 1950s housewife setting a table on the moon. The colors, designs, and just scenes themselves are all eye-popping, and make us stop our scrolls. It's definitely just a fun, unique, inventive artist to add to your feeds and keep things bright.