NEW MUSIC: Allie X - Catch

Canadian electropop singer Allie X has a corker of a debut single. "Catch" is the best song CHVRCHES never wrote, with a contorted Charli XCX-esque melody and biting chorus. There is always space for more mid-tempo electropop singers for UK bloggers to rave about and to give semi-crowded gigs to 17 year old girls and 27 year old gay men at XOYO in Shoreditch, so let's see what you got next, Ms X!

FOR FANS OF: CHVRCHES, Charli XCX, Say Lou Lou

- Joe Copplestone, 18.02.14

Ballet School - Heartbeat Overdrive

Berlin new kids on the synth-block Ballet School manage to merge a spectrum of (predominantly 80s) influences on their debut single "Heartbeat Overdrive". The result is a triumphant and glorious track that sounds delirious and atmospheric enough to please shoegazers and funky and danceable enough to please synthpoppers. Singer Rosie Blair's confident, hiccuping voice sounds like Grimes after rehab, or Alison Goldfrapp just before.

Sign up to see the band's debut London show at The Shaklewell Arms for FREE on August 23rd by clicking on the image to the left.


FOR FANS OF: Goldfrapp, CHVRCHES, Grimes

Betty Who - High Society (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Hailing from Australia, who seem to be doing pretty well for themselves economically whilst the rest of us weep into our Poundland Rice Krispies, it's no wonder Betty Who sounds so elated. But the dramatic synthpop Ms Who brings overseas is downright infectious, and "High Society" has the euphoric energy to make even the most dreary of us feel high on life. But in fact, it's the burbling basslines taken from Robyn's best shouts, hooks the size of China and a rally for us all to drink "Chardonnay through the day". It's a joyous slice of pop heaven that'll make any europop fan's heart skip a beat, and there's plenty more where that came from on her FREE "The Movement" EP, available to download on her website.

FOR FANS OF: Robyn, CHVRCHES, Florrie

MS MR - Hurricane (CHVRCHES Remix)

MS MR are one of the more subtle female fronted bands of the last couple of years, choosing a Florence-esque majesty over the all out synth onslaught of acts like CHVRCHES and Charli XCX. But every subtle song has an unexplored jubilant side, and the brilliant CHVRCHES smother "Hurricane" with 80s new wave electro, right down to its ridiculously authentic sampled snare drum. Whilst MS MR only predicted an oncoming storm in their original song, CHVRCHES bring the 80s synthpop tremors with panache.

FOR FANS OF: Hot Chip, Passion Pit, CHVRCHES (obviously)

Annie - Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts

After 4 years of silence from the reliably classy Norwegian popstress, Annie returns with "Tube Stops And Lonely Hearts", an unusual yet strangely addictive stop/start dance number that takes generously from her Europop roots, with hints of 80s and 90s revival that ensure Annie's twinkle-twinkle-little-star croon translates effortlessly into the 2010s pop scene. CHVRCHES, Purity Ring et al better keep an eye on Annie, she might just be biding her time to reclaim her europop throne.

FOR FANS OF: Charli XCX, Saint Etienne, Grimes

GivePopAChance's Summer 2013 Playlist.

So the year's first perfect sunny weekend bids a hopeful farewell to a miserable 7 month winter, and as May approaches, festival season begins to rear its defiant head. Visions of cider drenched, Diplo-worshipping, scantily clad music lovers passing out in fields, outside clubs and on stony beaches seem so much closer.

It seems like the perfect time to share a dance-heavy Summer playlist of sure fire hits and lesser known, but equally deserved ones, that you can expect to be on heavy rotation throughout the summer. If GivePopAChance had its own radio station, you would indeed expect these tracks to be A-listed until October.



The return of Daft Punk is perfectly timed, and sets the tone worldwide for a summer of chilling out, partying and getting lucky. In the UK, Duke Dumont led the 2012/13 House revival to the the top of the charts a couple of weeks ago, and Basement Jaxx's crazy comeback tune is a defiant "anything goes" statement.

If anything really does go this year in dance music, hopefully DJ Snake's bizarre tweet-trap (quite literally) number "Bird Machine" will make its way to your confused but welcoming ears, and if that's too way out, Major Lazer is bringing Jamaica back through the medium of crushing dancehall beats and hyperactive synths.

Watch out for Moon Boots, whose soulful, irresistibly funky 80s take on the new wave of House music has sported two of the years most effective, sun-kissed remixes. They morph Singer/songwriter Alison Valentine's "Peanut Butter" into something altogether more blissful and euphoric, and their take on Bondax's "Gold" drags the track back to 1991, where it clearly belongs. Miaoux Miaoux's glorious, synth-laden take on CHVRCHES' "The Mother We Share" occupies similar airspace, so bright and grin-inducing it's almost impossible to look directly at.

After the huge,anthemic electronic dance of Swedish House Mafia and Madeon dominated dancefloors and dance festivals last year, 2013 has its fair share of big dance tunes. After his godly, life-affirming "Language", Porter Robinson teams up with Mat Zo, to bring something just as breathtaking for 2013, in the form of "Easy", Kat Krazy comes down hard on Bastille's hit indie single "Pompeii", transforming it into this year's "Don't You Worry Child", and Russ Chimes' stunning "Turn Me Out" is fist pumping, Balearic heaven.

Also queued up is the D&B anthem of the summer, Drumsound & Bassline Smith's "One in A Million", the dark Gold Panda-produced electro of goth-flecked starlet Charli XCX's "You (Ha Ha Ha)", the similarly quirky and groove-laden vibes of Flume's "Sleepless", the drunken, woozy beats of the UK hip hop tune of the summer, Dream McLean's "Sloe Gin" and perhaps the sunniest of them all, Mausi's carefree piano house ditty "Move", graduating straight from the 2003 school of blissed-out house.

Whatever the weather, dance music in 2013 seems to have one defiant goal, to have fun, not take itself too seriously, and to party harder than ever. And judging by the gradual lean towards dance music that the Top 40 is beginning to show, looks like we're all on the same page.

IYES - Glow

Brighton based IYES released their debut track "Lighthouse" onto Soundcloud 5 months ago, a gorgeous synth-drenched fusion of the xx and Daughter, but along comes "Glow" this month, and totally ups their game. Taking from their peers The 1975 and Chvrches, the band mix euphoric electronic flourishes with an anthemic indie mindset. The vocals of Josh Christopher and Melis Soyaslanova compliment each other perfectly, Melis' cracked, gentle voice breaking ripples in the water in the verses, before Josh's Chris Martin sized voice causes a full on tidal wave in the exhilarating chorus, where Josh cries "You make me glow" as a wall of synth battles it out with an over-eager drum machine. More please.

FOR FANS OF: Passion Pit, The 1975, Chvrches

Chvrches - The Mother We Share (Miaoux Miaoux Remix)

Although this has been circulating for a few months now, I recently found this rarity - a remix of an already joyous song that manages to create something even more uplifting. The inexplicably spelt Chvrches' "The Mother We Share" is a already an infectious synthpop stomper, but Miaoux Miaoux's take lightens up proceedings with featherlight, bouncing synths and a much brighter chord progression.

FOR FANS OF: Little Boots, Passion Pit, Moon Boots

Yadi - The Blow

In an era where female fronted pop is getting considerably more gothic in both image and sound, the dramatic guitar-driven new single from petite London-based singer Yadi is perfectly timed. Everything about "The Blow" is melodramatic and desperate. Distorted guitars rage like a Paramore track and tribal drums pound, whilst Yadi's husky crow-call is halfway between the sultry musings of Charli XCX and the operatic wail of Marina Diamandis. "Your love is like a gun shot... just keep on shooting, 'cause I can't feel the blow" cries Yadi in the hook-laden chorus, and it's very much the effect the song has in general.

FOR FANS OF: Chvrches, Charli XCX, Marina & The Diamonds

TOP 10 SONGS OF OCTOBER.

10
"Your Body"
Christina Aguilera

"...Indeed, it's an obnoxious club anthem, with a chorus ripped straight from Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", but it's jam packed with (other) hooks, has some top notch yelping from Christina, and is no doubt aeons ahead of the dull "Not Myself Tonight"..."

READ MY REVIEW OF "YOUR BODY" HERE.



9
"I Know You Care"
Ellie Goulding

After all the chirpy synthpop anthems on Lights, it was inevitable that Halcyon would be the "difficult" second album. And indeed it is, and it's a hard record to warm to. Despite a misleadingly uplifting and familiar-sounding single, "Anything Could Happen", on Halcyon as a whole, the butterfly-winged voice of Ms Goulding is no longer accompanied by chopped-up folky guitars and crisp poppy beats. Instead we've got dubsteppy beats, thick walls of electronic sound, and reverb heavy soundscapes. It's not a bad record at all, and it fact it does retain just enough personable character and melody to allow for a little maturity and emotional self-indulgence.

However, one song aside from "ACH" is instantly likeable on the album, and that's the piano ballad "I Know You Care". It's new ground for Ellie in many ways. The only other acoustic number of note in her back catalogue is "Your Song", which was twee and light, sickly in a way, like a Britain's Got Talent entry. "I Know You Care" however, with its gentle piano bobbing up and down like a buoy on a calm sea, showcases a surprisingly restrained vocal from Ellie, one that allows meaning behind the words to resonate. For the first time, the fragility in Ellie's lyrics and voice are really allowed to shine.



8
"22"
Taylor Swift

"...closer to Avril Lavigne pop than to the country anthems of yore, but the hooks are irresistible, the chorus is insanely moreish, and Taylor's voice is twangy and gutsy, and it's quite simply the perfect song for her."

READ MY REVIEW OF "22" HERE.



7
"Thinking About You" (feat. Ayah Marar)
Calvin Harris

Fans of older Calvin Harris material frequently turn their noses up at his newer, more profitable, commercial direction. However, the fact is, this transition from solo artist>producer to producer>solo artist makes his tracks much more tuneful and song-focused than his new-found peers Guetta and Swedish House Mafia. On album highlight "Thinking About You". Credible upcoming pop singer Ayah Marar provides a housey vocal that suits Harris' ibiza-friendly chord sequences perfectly, and the whole track is a perfect meeting of 2004 house and 2012 dance. Say what you like about Harris, but to his credit, he never completely abandons his roots.



6
"The Raver"
Ayah Marar

From feature to focus, Ayah Marar has an underground credibility with a voice to conquer the charts. "The Raver" is the best of both worlds. Like DJ Fresh's "Hot Right Now" but much, much later at night after a lot of drinks and whatever else, "The Raver" breakbeats its way into oblivion and Marar's voice is sexy and sultry as it effortlessly rides the raging beat. A truly invigorating crossover track that could well set in motion a real drum & bass revival in the charts, one that DJ Fresh has been very much alone in instigating thus far.



5
"Talk Through The Night"
Dog is Dead

Indiepop is nauseatingly oversaturated in 2012, you can't move without tripping over an Alt-J or an Of Monsters and Men. However, the good thing about an increased output is that the likelihood of coming across a brilliant tune is tenfold. "Talk Through The Night" is everything an indie anthem should be: youthful, exuberant, nostalgic and, above all, irritatingly catchy. Yet Dog is Dead manage all of this and still manage to be endearing and likeable. Maybe there is hope for indie yet.



4
"Oh Yeah"
Bat For Lashes

A lady who can seemingly do know wrong, Bat For Lashes aka singer/songwriter Natasha Khan, takes a more anthemic, 80s-tinged approach to her wistful, haunting pop on long-awaited third record The Haunted Man, and "Oh Yeah" embodies all its best qualities. Khan's voice is delirious and fluttering as ever, almost lustful as she cries "here am I, looking for a lover to climb inside", and the pivotal synth hook is punchy and striking in a bold step into new sound territory. If Khan had only hinted at anthemic before, it's clear she is warming up more and more to the idea.



3
"The Mother We Share"
CHVRCHES

If Purity Ring cheered up and stopping singing about sternums and teeth clicking they might sound as glorious as scottish electropop act CHVRCHES do on "The Mother We Share". Musically majestic with pop-perfect hooks and a gorgeous melody, this track really shines in its lyrics. Describing a dying relationship, bound together by "the mother we share", the message is gorgeous and poignant. A pop song that can be perfectly pitched lyrically and musically whilst still finding space for creative flair is rare. And judging by the quality of their earlier single "Lies" also, this rare skill is abundant in CHVRCHES.



2
"Mainline" (feat. Syron)
Tensnake

"..."Mainline" itself is out and out 90s, more than a little Inner City with unashamadly hooky and flirtatious brass synths and organ basslines, but its balearic feel is still unmistakably Tensnake. And Syron, for a white girl, she can't half pull off a camp diva growl..."

READ MY REVIEW OF "MAINLINE" HERE.



1
"Tidal Wave" (feat. Alpines)
Sub Focus

"..."Tidal Wave" takes the angelic, La Roux-esque vocals of Alpines, and pairs it with an epic yet jagged edged march that bursts into break-beat just as you get comfy with it, synth fireworks abound..."

READ MY REVIEW OF "TIDAL WAVE" HERE.