I've been a bit slack with new music these past couple of weeks, being all self-absorbed in my own projects y'know. BUT, the start of 2 weeks holiday and things are about to change. I had a pretty satisfying NEW MUSIC session today, and made some interesting and pleasing discoveries.
In obvious news, Bombay Bicycle Club's latest single "Shuffle" is irresistible, an indie dancefloor instant classic, with a fuzzy piano hiccup being new sample-tastic ground for the band. I have a feeling "Different Kind..." is going to be something very special.
Something less obvious: Olly Murs' single is actually pretty "current" sounding as Simon Cowell would say, and actually rather good, riding a stoned 90s house rhythm even with flecks of 2 step here and there... the british Bruno Mars? Maybe once, but now I'm not so sure. Come on Murs, impress me.
Olly Murs-love is a surprise enough, but today's biggest surprise for me is how affected I am by Will Young's new single. Now as much as I like Sade, and although I grew up with so much Lighthouse Family that I became conditioned to it, the kind of easy listening mum-pop that Will Young has stood for over the years has been occasionally pretty, but often too dull for me to give a second glance. However, new single "Jealousy" has a melancholy synthpop pulse to it that Robyn would be proud of. In fact, although it owes probably a bit TOO much to the seminal "Dancing on My Own", the similarity actually aids the message of yearning, insecurity and loneliness. He has a new album coming out soon, could Will Young become the British male Robyn? Also, for any gay male reading, the video is knowingly poignant.
Never thought I'd dedicate a paragraph to Will Young, note to self: mustn't ever write people off! What else? Oh yea, there's a great track by a new indie dance band called Fixers, you may have heard of them, and I was blown away by "Swimmhaus Johannesburg", a bludgeoning 90s dance beat, tacky piano chords and an impossible-to-shake melody. Think Bloc Party's "One More Chance" given an further injection of nu rave energy. I almost gave this'n a popdar mention today, BUT, sorry guys...
POPDAR ALERT.
...there's a new girl in town and she's prettier than you. Lana Del Rey is the ever so pretentious alias of New York songwriter Lizzy Grant (not quite as glamorous), and she's got a voice that emerges from those luscious lips to match the looks. "Video Games" is a sad, cynical anti-love song, one that would sound tired from most other current female crooners (Adele would fall flat on this one), but 'Lana' has a sultry, unimpressed and effortlessly sexy tone that drips with 60s authentic cool. "I heard that you like the bad girls, honey... is that true?" PURE SEX.
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