NEW MUSIC: Marlene - Stay Awake

It's no secret that the Scandinavians produce top notch pop music, but one thing that often eludes them is, alongside all the addictive melodies and sharp synth work, producing anything genuinely vulnerable and emotional. That's often why it's so well constructed - Scandinavian pop prides itself of its musical merit and production above sounding human. 

The voice of Sweden's Marlene however, manages to channel the aches and pains of American popstar JoJo on latest single "Stay Awake". Her voice breaks and hiccups not in a traditionally quirky European pop way, but in a way that suggests that she has listened to a lot of over-emoting US pop singers. With the melodramatic synthpop/R&B hybrid "Stay Awake", Marlene manages to find the happy medium between the perfectly crafted pop songs of her homeland, and a delivery which suggests she has desires to reach a commercially minded audience worldwide, not just a niche European one.

FOR FANS OF: MØ, JoJo, LIZ (Mad Decent)

- Joe Copplestone, 29.01.14

LIZ - XTC

Now as much as I love Diplo's label Mad Decent, its dancehall, moombahton and trap based output never really had a place on a pop music blog like this. That is, until now. This will be, without doubt, a cheesy dated mess to many people, but it's an ultimate retro R&B guilty pleasure for me. A deep, langourous trap rhythm is sweetened no end by LIZ's (I'm assuming it's stylized in capitals) feathery, caramel croon and 80s-tastic grandiose keys. And yet, for me, it all comes together to make something quite gorgeous.

FOR FANS OF: Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, Ashanti