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How Art and Creative Pursuits Enhance Well-being

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How Art and Creative Pursuits Enhance Well-being

There are not many people who do not enjoy some form of art. Art can be found in so many areas of life. Clearly in the form of painting or sculpture, however, film, dance, music, poetry, etc., are all forms of art. A good piece of art has the power to create an effect in the observer. It can change their mood. It can make them feel something new. However, this effect can be so much more powerful when someone partakes in a creative pursuit. By creating art and indulging thoroughly in art, you can boost your mental well-being. There is no doubt that art serves a beneficial purpose in our lives. However, have we ever stopped to consider why? Here are a few ways art can enhance your well-being:

Your Brain-Power

If you begin a creative activity, no matter what it is, from painting and writing to dance, it will impact the brain in a positive way. It enhances your brain waves and your emotions. It can also improve the nervous system. It raises serotonin levels too, which means that you become happier. It can help you with your memory, as a lot of artistic pursuits involve remembering things. Playing music can enhance the connection between your right and left hemispheres. Some of the best benefits are felt in older people. If they take up some form of performing art, like the theatre, or dance they can enhance their physiological well-being. It is also possible for them to improve their cognitive function within a month. More and more evidence suggests that art can improve someone’s mental health in so many ways. 

The Social Aspect

Art is by nature a social thing. You create something with an observer in mind. Whether it is writing or dancing, there will always be some form of social activity associated with it. Even if your particular activity appears solitary, like writing, you can always join a class or start a book club. After a while, you will want to share your art with other people to gain a deeper perspective on it. If music is your thing, you may want to play for an audience. You may join a music class and then you could visit musical events such as an Adele Concert together, to not only enjoy, but to discover more about the act of performing music. 

Art is a form of Meditation

We have all heard about the positive effects of meditation. It helps you reduce stress and to develop better mental clarity, which is a huge advantage in life. Seeing things clearly will help you navigate the best path. Well, by engrossing yourself in an artistic pursuit, this is like meditation. You become so focussed on the work at hand that in those moments, only you and the artwork exist. All your worries, troubles, stresses, and strains melt away, and you are one with the work. This can help you become happier and develop a better focus in life. It can also enhance your understanding of life itself too.

Enjoy the Convenience of a CBD Vape Pen

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Enjoy the Convenience of a CBD Vape Pen

Many people who decide to use CBD products are keen to find the most convenient and simple options available. CBD offers a host of benefits and is a great solution for those who want an affordable way to tackle a range of issues. This includes issues such as trouble relaxing or sleeping, high levels of anxiety, regular low mood, pain and inflammation, and more. CBD can effectively help with all of these issues, and there are now many different products that you can choose from in order to enjoy these benefits.

Among the products that you can choose from if you want to enjoy the benefits of CBD are drops and tinctures, capsules, edible products, and topical products. In addition, you can find products such as the Five Delta 8 vape pen, which is ideal for those who use vape devices and want a simple and convenient method of benefitting from CBD. In this article, we will learn more about why a CBD vape pen is a great option.

Some of the Benefits of Vape Pens

When you choose a CBD vape pen as your method of choice, you can look forward to a host of valuable benefits. Some of the top benefits of using this method include:

Fast-Acting Solution

If you are after a CBD solution that acts quickly, this could be a perfect choice. Vaping CBD liquid is known to be one of the fastest and most effective means of getting CBD into your system, so this is great for those who do not want unnecessary delays. When you use a CBD vape pen, you can look forward to a solution that is fast-acting and effective as well as simple and convenient. It is perfect for those who vape anyway, as it means that they do not have to change their routine.

Convenient and Simple

Most people that use CBD products are keen to find a method that offers the ultimate in simplicity and convenience. Many of the various methods available do offer both of these things, and a CBD vape pen is no exception. You can look forward to being able to vape whenever you like in order to get the effects of the CBD, and you can take your vape pen along with you wherever you go just as you would with a normal vape device.

Lots of Choice

One of the added benefits that you can look forward to is the range of options available when it cones to CBD vape pen. This makes it far easier for you to find the ideal one for your needs as well as your budget. You can choose from a range of flavors, so you can find one that suits your personal preferences and palate. In addition, the wide range of options means that you can find a CBD vape pen that fits in with your budget.

These are some of the many benefits that you can look forward to when you use a CBD vape pen.

Albums Out Today: The War on Drugs, Tori Amos, Charlotte Cornfield, Geese, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
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Albums Out Today: The War on Drugs, Tori Amos, Charlotte Cornfield, Geese, and More

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on October 29, 2021:

The War on Drugs, I Don’t Live Here Anymore

The War on Drugs are back with their fifth studio album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, out now via Atlantic Records. The follow-up to the band’s Grammy-winning 2017 record A Deeper Understanding was preceded by the singles ‘Living Proof’, ‘Change’, and the title track. It was co-produced by frontman Adam Granduciel and Shawn Everett. “From a songwriting point of view, I was set on having everything be concise and clear,” Granduciel said of the new LP in an interview with Pitchfork. “I wanted to cut as much fat as possible. I wanted things to have an arc and be dynamic. Most albums are illusions of a band playing, and as we kept working, the idea of the songs existing in a live environment became really important to me. What would this feel like on a stage? We wanted to make it feel as unproduced as possible, trying to make it sound like a band in a room.”

Tori Amos, Ocean to Ocean

Tori Amos has a new album out called Ocean to Ocean (via Decca). Her first full-length since 2017’s Native Invader, Amos wrote the LP during lockdown at her home in Cornwall, England. “This is a record about your losses, and how you cope with them,” she explained in a statement. “Thankfully when you’ve lived long enough, you can recognize you’re not feeling like the mom you want to be, the wife you want to be, the artist you want to be. I realized that to shift this, you have to write from the place where you are. I was in my own private hell, so I told myself, then that’s where you write from—you’ve done it before….” Ocean to Ocean includes the advance tracks ‘Speaking With Trees’ and ‘Spies’.

Charlotte Cornfield, Highs in the Minuses

Charlotte Cornfield has released her new album, Highs in the Minuses, through Polyvinyl and Double Double Whammy. Following the Canadian singer-songwriter’s 2019 album The Shape of Your Name, the new LP was recorded in Montreal with bassist Alexandra Levy (Ada Lea) and drummer Liam O’Neill (Suuns) at the studio of Howard Bilerman. It includes the previously released tracks ‘Drunk for You’, ‘Partner In Crime’, and ‘Headlines’.

Geese, Projector

Brooklyn band Geese have put out their debut LP, Projector, via Partisan Records/PIAS. Previewed by the singles ‘Disco’, ‘Low Era’, and the title track, the album was written, produced, and recorded by the five-piece while they were still in high school and was mixed by Dan Carey. Talking about the album’s themes in our Artist Spotlight interview, vocalist Cameron Winter said: “Back in early high school, I was trying to make these broad-strokes messages that were really dark and edgy. And for this one, I don’t think I was ready to do like a soul-bearing thing that much, so I usually tried to inhabit maybe different characters or tell something that has less of an overarching conceptual theme that everything sticks to and more like vignetted, small, low-stakes narratives.”

Marissa Nadler, The Path of the Clouds

Marissa Nadler has issued her latest album, The Path of the Clouds, out now via Sacred Bones/Bella Union. Marking the singer-songwriter’s first solo record of original material since 2018’s For My Crimes, the LP features contributions from Nadler’s piano teacher Jesse Chandler (a member of Mercury Rev and Midlake), Mary Lattimore, Simon Raymonde, Emma Ruth Rundle, Black Mountain’s Amber Webber, and Milky Burgess. The album was preceded by the singles ‘Bessie, Did You Make It?’ and ‘If I Could Breathe Underwater’.

Lunar Vacation, Inside Every Fig Is a Dead Wasp

Lunar Vacation‘s debut album, Inside Every Fig Is a Dead Wasp, has arrived via Keeled Scales. The record was produced by Daniel Gleason of Grouplove and includes the previously unveiled singles ‘Where Is Everyone?’, ‘Shrug’, ‘Mold’, and ‘Gears’. It follows two EPs, Swell and Artificial Flavors, which the Atlanta-based group – led by singer-songwriters Grace Repasky and Maggie Geeslin – self-released shortly after graduating high school.

Lily Konigsberg, Lily We Need to Talk Now

Lily Konigsberg has dropped her debut solo album, Lily We Need to Talk Now, via Wharf Cat. Following her compilation The Best of Lily Konigsberg Right Now, which came out in March of this year, the Palberta member’s first full-length LP features the previously shared songs ‘That’s The Way I Like It’ and ‘Sweat Forever’. “My lyrics are not happy all of the time,” Konigsberg remarked in press materials. “There’s a lot of sadness or strangeness in them. This album is clearly about breaking up with somebody that I love. But in all of my music, there’s humor. I don’t take myself too seriously.”

Sam Evian, Time to Melt

Time to Melt is the debut album from Sam Evian, the alias of singer-songwriter and producer Sam Owens. The LP, which he recorded and produced himself, features contributions from the likes of Spencer Tweedy, Chris Bear, and the War On Drugs’ Jon Natchez, as well as Evian’s partner Hannah Cohen. His debut for Fat Possum, Time to Melt follows his 2018 record You, Forever and includes the advance singles  ‘Knock Knock’ and ‘Easy to Love’.

Coco, Coco

Coco – the project of Maia Friedman (of Dirty Projectors, Uni Ika Ai), Dan Molad (of Lucius, Chimney), and Oliver Hill (of Pavo Pavo, Dustrider) – have issued their debut self-titled album. The band recorded the LP in three studios across the USA: The Paella Pit in LA, Three Sirens in Nashville, and the Lake House in Spicewood, Texas. It follows a run of anonymous single releases and includes the songs ‘Anybody’s Guess’, ‘Knots’ and ‘Come Along’.

Other albums out today:

Mastodon, Hushed and Grim; Mary Lattimore, Collected Pieces II; Lone, Always Inside Your Head; Lotic, Water; Bat Fangs, Queen of My World; Mick Jenkins, Elephant In The Room; Billy Bragg, The Million Things That Never Happened; Furrows, Fisher King; Ed Sheeran, =. 

CHVRCHES Surprise Release Three New Songs for ‘Screen Violence: Director’s Cut’

Konstantinos Pappis
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CHVRCHES Surprise Release Three New Songs for ‘Screen Violence: Director’s Cut’

CHVRCHES have released Screen Violence: Director’s Cut, an expanded version of their most recent album. It features three new songs: ‘Killer’, ‘Bitter End’, and ‘Screaming’. You can listen to them below.

Talking about the new tracks, frontwoman Lauren Mayberry said in a statement: “This album was thematically so different to previous CHVRCHES albums that it would have been rude of us to let Halloween come and go without injecting some more Screen Violence into it. ‘Killer’, ‘Bitter End’ and ‘Screaming’ were all started in 2020 and finished just after the album was released. As any good horror fan knows, just because the film ends, it doesn’t mean the story does.”

Lil Uzi Vert Drops New Song ‘Demon High’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Lil Uzi Vert Drops New Song ‘Demon High’

Lil Uzi Vert has shared a new single called ‘Demon High’. It marks the rapper’s first solo release since appearing on the soundtrack for Space Jam: A New Legacy. Give it a listen below.

This year, Lil Uzi Vert has released collaborations with Justin Bieber (‘There She Go’), Trippie Redd (‘Holy Smokes’), Pi’erre Bourne (‘Sossboy 2’), the late Juice WRLD (‘Lucid Dreams’), and Meek Mill (‘Blue Notes 2’). He dropped his second album, Eternal Atake, last year, and has teased a new project called Pink Tape, though no further details have been announced.

Alicia Keys Details New Album ‘KEYS’, Releases New Song ‘Best of Me’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Alicia Keys Details New Album ‘KEYS’, Releases New Song ‘Best of Me’

Alicia Keys has announced that her next album, KEYS, will be released on December 10. The LP will feature two different iterations: Originals and Unlocked. Along with the announcement, she’s released two versions of the first single from the record, ‘Best of Me’. Take a listen below.

“The Originals come from that classic side of me! It’s that AK that we WANT!! A homecoming,” Keys wrote on social media. “The Unlocked side, I wanted to sample The Originals to create a whole other sonic experience. So, [Mike WiLL Made-It] and I connected and made magic. Together, they are a fusion of the worlds within me with the KEYS as the main ingredient.”

Alicia Keys issued her most recent album, ALICIA, last fall. She also collaborated with Brandi Carlile on a single called ‘A Beautiful Noise’.

Wolf Alice Cover Alex G’s ‘Bobby’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Wolf Alice Cover Alex G’s ‘Bobby’

Wolf Alice have offered their take on Alex G’s ‘Bobby’, from his 2017 album Rocket. The cover appears on the new deluxe edition of their latest album Blue Weekend. Check it out below.

Blue Weekend arrived back in June via Dirty Hit. In addition to their rendition of ‘Bobby’, the Tour Deluxe version of the album also includes live recordings of four songs from the LP.

Jay-Z Shares New Songs From ‘The Harder They Fall’ Soundtrack

Konstantinos Pappis
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Jay-Z Shares New Songs From ‘The Harder They Fall’ Soundtrack

Jay-Z has released two new songs, ‘Guns Go Bang’ (with Kid Cudi) and ‘King Kong Riddim’ (with Jadakiss, Conway the Machine, and BackRoad Gee), which appear on the soundtrack for the new Netflix film The Harder They Fall. The OST also includes new songs from Koffee, Fatoumata Diawara and Ms. Lauryn Hill, Laura Mvula and Mayra Andrade, and Seal. Stream it below.

The Harder They Fall, which was directed by Jeymes Samuel and co-produced by Jay-Z, comes out on Netflix on November 3. It stars Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, and LaKeith Stanfield.

Kelly Lee Owens Releases ‘Unity’, the Theme Song for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Konstantinos Pappis
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Kelly Lee Owens Releases ‘Unity’, the Theme Song for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Kelly Lee Owens has released a new single, ‘Unity’, which will serve as the official theme song for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Give it a listen below.

“‘Unity’ is a song that I put everything I had into it,” Owens wrote on Twitter. “Rising arpeggios, rising basslines…. It’s led with my voice, but I wanted the sense of community brought in with choirs.”

Owens’ last studio album, Inner Song, arrived last year. Earlier this year, she shared a remix of Sigrid’s ‘Mirror’.

Album Review: Circuit des Yeux, ‘-io’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Circuit des Yeux, ‘-io’

The first thing Circuit des Yeux does is claim her own space. In the lyric sheet for her previous album, 2017’s Reaching for Indigo, she commanded the listener to “create your own language”; on her latest, she invokes that of the universe, the natural laws that bind us, before beginning to carve out her own. Cosmic is often the only direction that feels appropriate when grappling with the enormity of grief, and after an extended period of being unable to write in the wake of personal loss, it’s where Haley Fohr found her lyrics returning to. Before attempting to arrange any of it into song, the Chicago experimental musician introduces us to the world she’s built by sending out a signal in the form of ‘Tonglen | In Vain’, half a minute of sliding strings that sound like a lift-off. By the time ‘Vanishing’ comes in, with its apocalyptic swagger and long list of goodbyes, you begin to understand why Fohr called this world “a place where everything is ending all the time.”

The planet is named -io. It might bring to mind Squirrel Flower’s own Planet (i) or Strand of Oaks’ In Heaven, 2021 records that sonically belong to a different galaxy but are grounded in a similar premise: drawing a line between the vastness above and within in the hope of finding some kind of solace. Of course, the instinct is always to go bigger; Fohr was already making the most ambitious music of her career as Circuit des Yeux, but -io expands the scope of her work in ways that are intentional and compelling. For all its astronomical references, you can hear the bones of these songs, which, despite being arranged for and featuring a 23-piece orchestra, came together bit by bit, the initial process more solitary and less collaborative than before. The feeling of impending doom is never quite released, and instead of the explosive catharsis that tends to be a point of resolution for this kind of album, what it evokes instead is a kind of implosion, of something immense collapsing in on itself.

It’s this idea that feeds into ‘Neutron Star’, which ends on an imposing note: “Descend bold traveler and attain the center of the earth.” Astoundingly, Fohr finds the beauty in it. While obsessing over black holes, whose gravitational pull is mirrored in her dizzying compositions, she’s said the neutron star emerged as a “gorgeous representation of those that linger and those who wander” in the way it “uses this mass density that it carries around itself.” The track itself is one of the most striking and immersive on the album, its harrowing, voluminous guitars pummelling through with an electric charge that threatens to swallow the whole mix. But Fohr captures a delicate dance, and her songs thrum with a similar kind of density even when they don’t directly point to the cosmos: take ‘The Chase’, whose nightmarish mood and whispered vocals deftly channel a traumatic memory where “the walls are caving in like the valley in your mind.”

In this relentless rise and fall – the only movement that can contain Fohr’s sweeping, operatic vocals – it can be hard to fathom how -io could have possibly been conceived as an attempt to “explore the hard work of joy.” But even if that became more of an impossibility as she dove further into the process and the pandemic became an all-consuming reality, I find it harder not to see glimpses of that feeling here, particularly as the grand presentation gives way to a simpler framework following the climactic peak of ‘Neutron Star’. It’s then that the album seems to pick up where Reaching for Indigo and Fohr’s Jackie Lynn project left off, weaving in a quiet warmth between bursts of emotion, but with a renewed, empathetic perspective. ‘Stranger’ is a piano ballad about passing by someone on the street and being moved by the infinite possibilities that belie such an interaction – a profoundly human and earthbound experience, yet one that Fohr elevates into high drama with the arresting performance she spins off the word “street.”

It’s only fitting that in the Listening Guide for this record, one of her instructions is to “walk a very far distance” after taking a break around the halfway point, perhaps after the staggering ‘Sculpting the Exodus’. Whatever you end up finding there – between the floor and the ceiling, the clouds and the stars, darkness and light, yourself and someone – just giving off radiation, might in fact be its own small universe. Creating your language might be freeing in an abstract sense, even impossible, but as she suggests on ‘Walking Toward Winter’, there’s no gift like listening closely to someone else’s words and seeing them become your own.

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