ÁTM-Music

2020 CMT Awards are set to be next week and because of that, I remember today Brett Young and Boyz II Men live show for CMT Crossroads ,CMT section that brings together a country singer/group with a musician from other genre to play live songs from both artists.  It is usually interesting to see different genres artists singing country songs, which contributes to globalise country music. Due to country music's progressive spin to pop music , these live shows have shown bonds and things in common between pop and country singers . Great example is Nick Jonas and Thomas Rhett's gig . Thomas Rhett has recognised his admiration for Bruno Mars and some of his songs sound like Maroon 5's ones. We can see it too in the last Crossroads show, starring Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey. Tracks like ' Miss Me More' or their collaboration ' The Other Girl' , highlight that they are truly pop.  Let's focus now on Brett Young and Boyz II Men 's show! The show took place

Today Dua Lipa releases a new video for 'Levitating', featuring DaBaby(Billboard baby). It seems that the Blessed Madonna, Missy Elliott and   Madonna were not enough (at least  commercially or chartly enough).  With  'Hallucinate' out of the US singles chart and  peaking on number 31 on the UK Official single chart, Dua is ready for a proper new single. 'Let's make it 2020' - Dua must be thinking. This decision is maybe promoted by 'Club Future Nostalgia' failure: Only selling 28K in its first week, after changing its release date to a week later. One great thing brought back in this remix is adding back the chorus. The Blessed Madonna remix speeded up the song, eliminating the chorus parts, which were the key of IDGAF's success.   It is remarkable that Dua decides to do two remixes of the same song, instead of dropping music videos for singles off Future Nostalgia. 'Love again' or 'Pretty Please' might be a good idea for singles

 2020 Latin Grammys' nominations have been announced today, just  hours ago. As Rolling Stone Magazine says,'J Balvin leads this year's nominations with 13, followed by Bad Bunny with nine nominations and Ozuna with eight;Anuel AA, Josh Gudwin and Collin Leonard each received seven nominations'. This proves reggaeton predominance , which separates from last year's controversy. A lot of Reggaeton artists (Daddy Yankee,Karol G , Maluma...) dennounced the lack of  reggaeton's protagonism , launching the hashtag #SinReggaetonNoHayLatinGrammys. (There are no Latin Grammys without Reggaeton) Let's start! -Record of the Year:     "China" — Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G Featuring Ozuna & J Balvin  "Cuando Estés Aquí" — Pablo Alborán  "Vete" — Bad Bunny "Solari Yacumenza" — Bajofondo Featuring Cuareim 1080  "Rojo" — J Balvin  "Tutu" — Camilo Featuring Pedro Capó "Lo Que En Ti Veo" — Kany Garc

 Last Thursday Michael Kiwanuka was announced as the winner of the 2020 Mercury Prize. After the big announcement, Michael performed ' Light' on Later...with Jools Holland  .  Early this week, Michael talked to the Mercury Prize's Youtube channel about the inspiration and the making-of the album. Based on 70s Black Music, Michael is not afraid of embracing his roots, his heritage. He is confident like never before. That is why the album is called ' KIWANUKA'.  There is some kind of joy on the record, shown in ' You Ain't The Problem ', an ode to confidence and persistence on being true to yourself . African drums melt with the alt-rock spirit (emphasized with warm vocals, such as in ' Rolling ') that exists throughout the whole album and a raw honesty in the lyrics. There is also time for searching hope  ( I've Been Dazed) in a religious way and for delicious piano-ballads-interludes.  'Hero' addresses Black Lives Matter.  The reviv

 Two years ago , Christine and the Queens dropped her second studio album, which we have already reviewed back in July. With a new image, Christine tried to show something has changed from her vulnerable, but also determined debut album, Chaleur Humaine.  The first single, Girlfriend, had Christine not picking up between a genre, neither musically (she oscillated between funk and synth pop). Dancing got also more theatrical, with a brilliant set design, which developed in a 'must' to understand the album, to complete CHRIS experience. That is why we are going to go over the best performances of Christine while she was touring this second chapter. 1 . GLASTONBURY 2019 :With this album, she could return to Glastonbury after her 2016 set. This crowd was special to the singer, who had demonstrated its affection during her festival debut . 'Glastonfreaky' she claimed during Girlfriend performance. 2. COACHELLA 2019 : Apart from Glastonbury, she toured around the world '

 James Bay released ,back in July, the first single, Chew on My Heart , for his third studio album. In an interview with NME he described the new record as  ' the most positive thing I’ve ever written' and that is clear on the first single. Chew On My Heart starts with James' vocals and a guitar . It could feel that it is another slow-tempo track from James Bay, but it is not. It is extremely joyful, hopeful and a celebration, maybe a celebration of love. Despite its cheerful spirit it has moments full of honesty          (   I  know no one could ever love me better // Take all night, you're the truth that is breaking me) . If James changed, by surprise, to alt-pop in his second project, he also surprised us this week with an unusual performance of the song for the Late Late Show with James Corden. He performed it on the London Eye . As he explains in the making of , he wanted a social distanced special performance and he really got it. He sang alone in a capsule whil

After a five years hiatius , Ellie Goulding finally dropped her new album, Brightest Blue .  Despite the incredible success of Delirium (2015), it seems like Ellie did not feel herself in her last album. In an interview with The Guardian , she describes it as  “ A damn good pop album – maybe not an Ellie Goulding record.” . In this one, she wants to make the world know who she is. This project is a double album, with two sides. The first one is Brightest Blue, her most vulnerable record yet   , and the other one is ' EG.O' , kind of alter ego side , with her most commercial songs and the one that contains the biggest features.The record is a liberation for Ellie Goulding , who really wants to show her true music, but , in the same time, she is tied to her mainstream artist condition and to the label demands . That explains the second size, titled EG.O, that contains most of the features and the most commercial and chart-successful tracks of the record. Presented as her alter

 Last Friday , German music charts were updated . There are three new entries in this week's top 10 and a new number one.  I have been observing German top 10 single chart for over a year now and it is usually full of local trap or hip-hop , in its majority (but american rappers also seem  to have success there, such as Gunna ,Travis Scott or DaBaby and Roddy Rich , with their song Rockstar . It is not only hip-hop , Ava Max's Sweet but Psycho was number one (I think) for a few weeks ) and these genres (or  artists) are very prolific, they usually release singles with little time between one and the next one (Last year Capital Bra and Samra released a few collaborative singles and all entered, in their first week, on the top 10) . This also leads to falls of a few places in the charts the following week to its release.  Germany is also a good precursor of the songs that are going to become huge worldwide or , at least, in Europe . For example , this happened with Topic's B

 Back in January , Blossoms published their third album, Foolish Loving Spaces. The album comes months after the release of Your Girlfriend , the first single of the project . Blossoms told Radio X in a Track by track of the album , that they planned to do three different albums with the almost 25 songs they have written . The money it would have cost , made Blossoms choose to release only one album and , by this time, they had also the first single, Your Girlfriend.   In the Track by track   Joe Donovan explains that the record , without being a concept album , could work as a love concept album. This reflects in Your Girlfriend . Tom wanted , as he explains in an interview to Radio X, to challenge himself as a songwriter and write about love in a different perspective. This time, Tom sings about a guy who is in love with a friend's girlfriend . This imaginary journey (cause it is not a real life experience) drives Tom to talk about the emotions that everyone could feel in this ty

The nominations for the 2020  MTV VMAS have been announced . They are always controversial. This joins to the special circunstances that surround the awards. First, due to the cornavirus and the resulting lockdown , artists have not been able to shoot videos during this time, which has lead to an animated videos' avalanche . The VMAS answer to the situation creating two categories : 'BEST MUSIC VIDEO FROM HOME' and 'BEST QUARANTINE PERFORMANCE'. Despite this two categories , in the others there is no place for a video improvised during lockdown. The nominations in the big categories do not include any video of this nature . This drives artists to depend on having recorded videos for their music before lockdown. If not, better forget about a nomination for the biggest categories (well, the only exception may be  Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's STUCK WITH U ). One of the biggest categories is Video of The Year . The nominees are Billie Eilish (Everything i wante

During lockdown, Blossoms have been uploading covers or quarantine versions of their songs. What started like a way of keeping busy during quarantine, has developed into a complete new project  , which will be available physically by the end of the year.  Some of the covers were suggested by fans on Twitter, but others were chosen by the band . The first one I got to hear was the Frank Ocean cover of Lost. By this song, my two quarantine discoverements  were connected! It was followed by The Beatles' cover of Paperback Writer , which features in the playlist Tom shared that includes music he has been listening during quarantine . This is an amazing cover, nailed by the band .  Tom also  covered You're Gorgeous by Babybird, a song that he always sings by the end of   My Favourite Room , as he said on Twitter. The covers also include features. They joined Miles Kane for the Tame Impala cover of The Less I Know The Better   and Liam Fray (The Courteeners) for Please Don't ver

Apart from Frank Ocean, during lockdown I discovered Blossoms . The English band from Stockport was formed back in 2013, but gained relevance with their debut single, Charlemagne. With it,  they stated the synths' predominance that will remain in their songs and was in their first single, You Pulled A Gun On Me   . Tom Ogden's vocals and his special way of writing love stories made the rest and drove to the band earning a nomination for the BRITS awards . First singles ( You pulled A Gun On Me, Cut Me And I'll Bleed, The Urge  and Blow ) have Tom Ogden singing roughly, with great chorus to sing along and much rawer guitars than later on the band music. . In Winter Kiss  they demonstrate they can do great slow-tempo songs , sounding soft-pop, with an acoustic guitar base, which could have served for a country song. Some of these songs were included in their debut-self titled album (2016). Alongside with a half of new tracks. Throughout the album Tom sings about love in diffe

After successing with Chaleur Humaine,  her first, soft and vulnerable album, Christine and the Queens came back in 2018 with her second chapter Chris . The title is a true statement. She is not vulnerable now, she is fearless, confident, ready to embrace her sexuality, often playing with gender ambiguity. The record opens with Comme Si  ,a synth-pop track where she declares that this new persona ( Chris) has always been there (I've been there ,infectious). The second track is Girlfriend. This is a true affirmation of Chris non embracing a gender (Girlfriend/ Don't feel like a girlfriend/ But lover/ Damn, I'd be your lover)  alongside Dam-Funk's  vocals and his fantastic keytar that drives the song into a funky addictive piece. In The walker (video shot in Spain)   , while Christine searches for violence in her skin, her voice seems a little more vulnerable and sincere ( People politely smile to make sure I won't come any closer). Chris is not afraid of talking abo

As every Friday,  a new Top 40 is announced  and there are climbs, slopes and  2 new entries.  First, let's talk about Perfect' 's ,by Ed Sheeran, return to the charts. It returned last week to the top 40 nearly three years after its  video release! That is huge, really huge and it could possibly increase the whole album (Divide) listenings. The two new entries are Midnight (The hanging tree) by Hosh &1979 ft JALJA, which has been circling over the charts for weeks and finally enters in nº34 and  Burning by M Huncho ft. Dutchavelli on number 13. The biggest fall is  Nicki Minaj and 6ix9ine's TROLLZ which drops 19 places. This contrasts with TROLLZ reaching number 1 on Billboard Hot 100 after asking fans to buy the song multiple times to increase its position on the charts. On the other hand, the biggest climb is for Jason Derulo and Jawash 685's Savage Love . It has been only for two weeks in the charts and it is probably aiming for number one the following wee

The 1975 has released  'Notes On A Conditional Form' , the successor of 2018's 'A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships' . Since August, the band has been releasing singles, giving us a taste of the variety of genres that would be on the record: The punk anthem 'People' , which gots Matty Healy singing violently , as a warrior ; The retro-90s-dance track 'Frail State of Mind' , the 2000s pop-rock inspired love story 'Me & You together song' and the country influenced  'The Birthday Party'.  In april, they published 2 singles : Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America (ft. Phoebe Bridgers) showing the 1975 is unafraid of talking about controversial topics (homosexuality and religion) and If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know), their most commercial successful track yet (reaching number 14 on the UK Official Chart). This song gets back the usual topic on the last album, oline relationships, and has got a similar energy to It's Not Liv

Christine and the queens ha regresado antes de lo previsto . Tras la publicación de 'Chris' en otoño del año pasado, parecía que iban a tener que pasar años para escuchar una nueva canción de Heloise Letissier (este verano colaboró con Charli XCX en 'Gone'), igual que ocurrió en el intervalo de tiempo desde su primer capítulo , Chaleur Humaine, hasta Chris. Esta vez , Christine and the queens sorprende con un tema que podría haberse incluido siguiendo a 'Paradis Perdus' de su primer álbum 'Chaleur Humaine', pero con uso del autotune , que parece haber tomado tras la colaboración con Charli XCX , que lo usó constantemente en su álbum 'Charli'. La canción desprende la intensidad, fuerza de un sentimiento. Los coros profundizan y enfatizan en el sentimiento de Christine. En el puente , vuelve a referirse al tema de la adolescencia ,que ya había tratado en 'What's her face' de su álbum Chris. Antes de terminar , no podemos olvida