Katy Perry – “Unconditionally” Second Single

Published October 21st 2013
Filed under Reviews

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Katy Perry has released the lyric video to her second single from Prism, Unconditionally. Unconditionally is a ballad produced by Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut.

Check out the lyric video below:

McFly – “Love Is On The Radio” New Single

Published October 21st 2013
Filed under Reviews

8a58571e1321033188e91dedc5bbad0dMcFly released the lyric video for their new single Love Is On The Radio, the first single from their upcoming 6th studio album.

On first listen, it’s hard to distinguish where the chorus starts. It’s not very obvious as it sounds more like a pre-chorus. However, on subsequent listens it becomes clearer and the chorus actually gets stuck in my head when I’m not listening to it. Love Is On The Radio is a bit of a new direction for McFly. While the melodies are typical McFly, the track is very folk sounding and has elements of The Lumineers’ Ho Hey throughout. The song isn’t an obvious smash but McFly aren’t looking for obvious smashes anymore since they went trend-chasing on their previous album Above The Noise and decided it wasn’t for them. It could be a decent sized hit just like their greatest hits single Love Is Easy last year.

Check out the lyric video for Love Is On The Radio below:

Love Is On The Radio is out on November 24th.

Katy Perry – “Dark Horse” New Promo Single

Published September 17th 2013
Filed under Reviews

Katy Perry has released the first promotional single Dark Horse from her upcoming album Prism. The second promotional single will be Walking On Air which will be released at the end of September.

artworks-000056300465-0j1ugm-t500x500Dark Horse is produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke and features rapper Juicy J. Katy asked fans to vote between two songs called Walking On Air and Dark Horse to be released before her new album Prism drops. Unfortunately Dark Horse won. From the clip I could tell that Dark Horse was the weaker track. After Katy held her listening parties for Prism, the reviews also revealed Dark Horse to be the weaker track – and possibly the weakest track on the album. Walking On Air was hugely praised and was said to be second single material.

Dark Horse was released to iTunes today and the full version is disappointing. Until I heard Dark Horse, I had yet to dislike a Katy Perry song. I even like all her Columbia Records demos and collaborations with The Matrix. But with Dark Horse, it feels like it’s trying so hard to be as brilliant as E.T. from Katy’s previous album, but fails miserably. Juicy J adds nothing and his parts are a bit annoying, especially the vocoder. The verses feel so disjointed from the chorus. The chorus, which actually sounds like a pre-chorus, sounds like it’s building up to a massive chorus but then stops with a beat drop and fizzles out into the next verse. What’s most annoying is that the “chorus” is quite good and has so much potential.

Fortunately, Dark Horse is only a promotional single and not the second single which Katy has made very clear. And fortunately we’re getting Walking On Air in two weeks time.

Take a listen to Dark Horse below:

Britney Spears – “Work Bitch” New Single

Published September 15th 2013
Filed under Reviews

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Britney Spears’ new single Work Bitch, from her upcoming 8th studio album, has leaked a day early. The track is produced by will.i.am and Antony Preston.

On first listen, Work Bitch sounds a bit messy. Britney talks for most of the song. It sounds like will.i.am gave Britney her own solo version of Scream & Shout. Britney is heard doing her British accent again – as heard on Scream & Shout. It’s possibly her weakest lead single ever but hopefully after a few listens it will grow on me.

Take a listen to Work Bitch below:

Work Bitch is out tomorrow (September 16th) on iTunes.

Diana Vickers – “Music To Make Boys Cry” Album Review

Published September 13th 2013
Filed under Reviews

Diana Vickers’ second album Music To Make Boys Cry is finally out after what feels like a life time of a wait. It’s been over three years since her debut album Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree was released.

Music To Make Boys Cry is a huge progression for Diana. Every track on the album deserves to be on it. There’s no filler. Even though some songs were recorded two years ago, it still feels very current.

MusicToMakeBoysCryMusic To Make Boys Cry, the title track, was one of the songs Diana gave away for free at the end of 2011. The updated version on the album sounds a lot more full. Its only fault is the excluded ad-lib on the final chorus.

Cinderella, while being the first single, was one of the first songs recorded for the album and definitely contains elements of different songs on the album. It’s clear that this song was a template for the direction of the album. The chorus still reminds me of the Tony Lamezma remix of Girls Aloud’s Call The Shots.

Lightning Strikes is probably the most pop song on the album. It’s full of catchy melodies and hooks. Lyrically it’s very similar to Natasha Bedingfield’s Touch. The chorus is so infectious and only gets better when the final chorus hits and the “hey, na, na, na, na, na, hey” is added which sounds like a sample of Dario G’s Sunchyme. It’s definitely a contender for the third single.

Dead Heat is a lot more laid back than the first three tracks. It’s mid-tempo dance pop. It reminds me of something that would’ve fit onto Hilary Duff’s Dignity.

Boy In Paris is one of the tracks that leaked early. Diana premiered a short clip of this song on her SoundCloud shortly after she gave away Music To Make Boys Cry. The full version subsequently leaked. This new version on the album has slight changes. The 8-bit video game intro has new production with a more subtle bass line, the second verse has added background production and the final chorus has a brand new instrumental. This is also a single contender.

Mad At Me is one of the less instant tracks on the album. The melodies aren’t as catchy. It’s like Diana tried to make her own version of the track Hit (The Sugarcubes cover) from her debut album. This is definitely a grower.

Smoke is the first slow moment on the album. It’s a heart-wrenching ballad. It’s not single material but it’s one of those album tracks that fans will wish to be a single.

Mr. Postman reminds me of an old Christmas song. It takes a while to get into it but once the first chorus hits, the song soars. Diana sounds a bit like Ashlee Simpson singing the verses. It has some funny lyrics like “you lostme.com” and “don’t mean we’re lovers just because you follow me on Twitter”.

Diana was spoiled for album titles with these songs. Love Sounds Better In French would’ve made a great title. Better In French – the shortened title, is one of the songs Diana performed at all her summer shows last year. It’s dark, electro-dance song. It’s the other less instant song on the album but seems to grow every listen.

Blame Game is one of the newer songs Diana recorded for this album. It’s very Girls Aloud and could’ve easily fit on Out of Control. It’s another track full of strong pop-hooks and melodies. It closes the album on a high.

Hopefully this album sells a decent amount so that So Recordings warrant a third album from Diana, and more singles from this one. It’s such a strong album and deserves to be a success.

Music To Make Boys Cry is out on September 15th.