Posts

JAMES BAY PERFORMS 'CHEW ON MY HEART' ON THE LONDON EYE.

Image
 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

ELLIE GOULDING 'S BRIGHTEST BLUE REVIEW-' HER ELLIEST ALBUM'

Image
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

GERMAN TOP 10 SINGLE CHARTS (14th AUGUST 2020)

Image
 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

BLOSSOMS FOOLISH LOVING SPACES REVIEW

Image
 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

VMAS 2020 NIMINATIONS ARE HERE: SNUBS, NEW CATEGORIES....

Image
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

BLOSSOMS IN ISOLATION

Image
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

BLOSSOMS BAND (Debut album and Cool Like You Review)

Image
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

CHRIS ALBUM REVIEW-CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS

Image
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

MIGUEL WILDHEART ALBUM REVIEW

Image
It has been five years since Miguel dropped Wildheart . The album fuses R&B with rock but making it sound as Contemporary or Progressive R&B.  This is Miguel's most risky proyect. Musically, the rock sound separates the record from Miguel's others, but beyond of that , Miguel was trying to show who he was. He wanted to define himself artistically and that is clear even in the title ( Wildheart ). As he said in an interview to Aesthetic magazine in 2018 ' it’s about knowing what you want enough to actually do it' . This is Miguel pursuing what he wants until he finally reaches it. The record starts with ' a beautiful exit'  , a piece that acts as an interlude and since the firsts seconds shows how rock-influenced it is . The track captures the spirit of the title when he sings ' Don't ever sell yourself short, sell your sad things/ Accept the new, don't mangle on the past/ Believe yourself, trust your intuition/ You're here for a reason

UK TOP 40 SINGLES CHART 26TH June 2020

Image
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