Leona Lewis feat. Childish Gambino – “Trouble”
Published August 21st 2012
Filed under Reviews
Leona Lewis’ Trouble, featuring Childish Gambino, premiered today on UK radio. So far, I don’t know what to make of it. It sounds like a Leona track without sounding what you’d expect a Leona track to sound like. By that I mean, it doesn’t sound like anything she’s done before but at the same time it suits her perfectly.
Trouble isn’t very instant. On first listen, it’s not the most memorable track. It doesn’t have a catchy melody but it has “something”. So while it’s not the kind of track that gets stuck in your head for hours, it’s interesting. And for that reason, it makes you want to listen to it again. It’s also nothing like Collide. It’s not a dance-pop song. It’s a ballad, but more interesting than a typical Leona ballad.
Childish Gambino’s verse on Trouble is actually surprisingly fitting and sounds good. I was expecting it to sound like “oh, we’ll put a rapper on this track for the sake of making it more credible”. But it doesn’t sound like that at all.
Overall, while I don’t love the track yet, it’s definitely a song that will grow on me after a few more listens. It’s hard to know what to expect from Leona’s upcoming album since both singles have been completely different to each other. I don’t know how this will fair in the charts but with the right video to accompany it, the song might make more of an impact.
You can listen to Trouble below:
Trouble is out on October 7th following an X Factor performance.
Nelly Furtado – “Parking Lot”
Published August 19th 2012
Filed under Reviews
Nelly Furtado’s upcoming third single from The Spirit Indestructible is Parking Lot. Nelly performed the track a few weeks ago during her AOL Sessions. I’ve had that version on repeat ever since. Each song that is premiered from this album is better than the last and it’s shaping up to be an extremely good collection of songs, all of which, aren’t trying to sound like anything else out there at the moment.
Parking Lot in studio form is a lot different to the live version. It’s a slower tempo for one. But the huge difference is the vocals. Nelly actually sounds like she was drunk when she recorded them, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Her vocals sound a bit out of tune even though it was intentionally meant to sound that way.
Like Big Hoops, lyrically the song is a throwback to Nelly’s teenage years. It’s simply about being carefree, driving around with friends and blasting music with nothing to do. In the live version, some of the lyrics are delivered with more emphasis which is really lacking in the studio version.
Production wise, Parking Lot sounds a bit unfinished. Big Hoops and Spirit Indestructible gave me this impression as well. But at times, the rawness of the tracks is what makes them refreshing compared to all the polished, over-produced dance music controlling the charts at the moment. This is also the reason Nelly’s singles so far from this campaign have flopped badly.
You can listen to Parking Lot’s radio edit below:
The live version is below to compare it to:
Overall, Parking Lot is a great song and I’m excited that it’s being released as the third single. It may not save the album campaign from commercially failing, but it’ll be another great song to add to Nelly’s impressive back catalogue. After hearing these three singles, I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.
Kelly Clarkson – “Get Up” Free Download
Published August 14th 2012
Filed under Reviews
Kelly Clarkson has recorded a new song for Pepsi Anthems for Dallas Cowboys called Get Up. The track, while not being lyrically about anything other than “wanting to be a cowboy”, is actually pretty good and would fit in well on her current album Stronger. It’s also a free download.
You can listen and download Get Up below:
Alphabeat – “Love Sea”
Published August 13th 2012
Filed under Reviews
Alphabeat’s new single Love Sea has been released on iTunes. It’s the second single to be taken from their third studio album Express Non-Stop.
Love Sea continues in the direction of previous single Vacation. It’s very pop with strong catchy melodies with a chorus that will get stuck in your head for hours. The song starts off at mid-tempo with a sample from the intro of The Who’s Baba O’Riley before Stine and Anders SG begin to sing harmonies throughout the first verse. Stine’s perfectly pop voice blends so well with Anders SG’s and sounds amazing on top of quite a simple backing track. The track fades to silence at the end of the verse and then breaks into an uptempo pre-chorus.
Lyrically, Love Sea is very simple with lines such as:
1, 2, 3 you’re in love with me
Woah, woah, it’s imagination
3, 4, 5 away we dive
Woah, woah, woah
and
Come on closer, come on close to me
Jump on in, jump in the sea
Jump on in, jump with me
Jump on in the love sea with me
But with such a catchy melody, the simple lyrics only help keep the song embedded in your mind for hours after you listen to it.
As I said before, the chorus reminds me of Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know which isn’t a bad thing because it really suits the song.
The overall sound of the Love Sea is 80’s and 90’s pop with polished production. While Alphabeat may have moved away from the electronic sounds of their previous album, this new direction is exactly what Alphabeat is all about and now I’m really looking forward to hearing what they’ve come up with for the album.
You can listen to Love Sea below:
Love Sea is available on iTunes now.
Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen”
Published August 09th 2012
Filed under Reviews
Ellie Goulding’s first single Anything Could Happen, from her second album Halcyon, premiered today on BBC Radio One.
Anything Could Happen is a synth-pop song, solely written by Ellie. It’s in a similar vein to her previous album Lights, but shows some progression to her sound. While there’s no real chorus, the phrase “anything could happen” is repeated throughout the song. It would really benefit from a proper chorus because it falls short as it is. It’s not the most instant catchy song like Starry Eyed, but might be interesting enough to pull off a hit.
Take a listen to Anything Could Happen below in the lyric video Ellie uploaded:
Anything Could Happen is out August 21st followed by the album Halcyon on October 8th.