Shall we all take a little trip back to Sweden?!

So I’m WAY BEHIND with these two track and not only has every pop blog featured this track but it was the Song Of The Day on ‘Popjustice.com’ and is now available on the UK iTunes Store.  Hearing Linda Bengtzing sing in English is one of the biggest treats of 2009 and while she won’t be back to Melodifestivalen 2010 I’m betting we’re going to hear from her again in 2011.  This song wins the award for best use of the word ‘Wacko’ in a single.

Kim Lian & Linda Bengtzing – Not That Kinda Girl

Speaking of songs that completely passed me by… I only JUST heard Nanne’s ‘Otacksamhet.’  I was pretty busy this summer and had no clue this has even been released.  But it’s never too late for a little Swedish Schlager.  So if you missed this track as well you can play catch up with me.

Nanne – Otacksamhet

And I’d like to make a prediction right now that Elin Lanto is about to release one of the best music videos of the year when the video for her new single ‘Love Made Me Stupid’ is released.  You can listen to her new single on her Myspace page.  Turns out Elin Lanto was in the running for Melodifestivalen 2010 and we’ll find out very soon if she will be singing at the competition when the acts are announced.

Why didn’t Jennifer Brown sing this at Melodifestivalen 2009?  I was never a fan of her song ‘Haven’t Been Here Before’ and never really gave her any attention until this summer with the release of ‘Mr. Running Man’ which I featured here on my blog.  Now I hear a song like this and think why didn’t you send this instead?!  I think a song like this would have easily made it to the finals!  This song has just jumped to my most played track of the week.

Jennifer Brown – Out Of The Ashes

There is no stopping the dynamic better known as SAME DIFFERENCE!  The ink has barely dried and in 2010 you will be hearing brand new music from Sarah and Sean once again.  They were cruelly dropped far too early before they were really given a chance to shine.  Their High School Musicalesque debut single “We R One” was released to cater to the young tweens but their album was full of some quality pop tunes and after they were dropped a lot of people missed out on hearing the album.

The good news is that they have been signed once again and their new material is taking them in the right direction with a slightly more mature sound but just as fun and carefree as they’ve always been.  New music, new websites and exciting news from Same Difference is coming your way soon… Stay Tuned!

One of my favorite songs from the last year is “Right Between The Eyes” which really takes you on a musical journey as it starts quite subtle and gently builds layer upon layer until a fantastic pop choir climax at the end.  SIGH!  This is why I love pop music right here, I dare you not to love this track.

Same Difference – Right Between The Eyes

Here is someone you probably never expected to hear from ever again!  Flashback to 1998 when Jennifer Paige had a number 1 smash hit across the globe with the infectious ‘Crush.’  While she followed it up with 2 other singles and a second album due to poor promotion and mis-management she never saw much more success and parted ways with her record label in 2003.  It’s a shame as well because despite what I thought was a boring first album, her second album ‘Positively Somewhere’ had some great pop tracks that deserved to be recognized.

After her career imploded Jennifer Paige stepped back from the spotlight but continued to write music for other acts until 2007 when she signed with an inde label and as a result she released a new album last year in several European c0untries releasing 3 singles which were actually quite impressive.

Next week her 3rd album is being re-released with a few bonus tracks including a new single which could be the song that finally puts her in the upper reaches of the charts again over 10 years after her first and only number 1 single.

‘Beautiful Lie’ is a strong effort from Ms. Paige.  It’s not a ‘big comeback’ track by any means but it’s a fun song that will re-introduce a lot of people to her music and hopefully garner some interest in her album.  Something about the songs feels a little dated to me like maybe it should have been released back in 2003?  Does anyone else feel like that?

Either way the song is fun and if you read my blog you’ll know one of my all time favorite songs is from Nick Carter, so I definitely don’t mind hearing him in this track.

Jennifer Paige and Nick Carter – Beautiful Lie

If you’re interested this was Jennifer Paiges first single from her 3rd album – Best Kept Secret

Jennifer Paige – Wasted

Speaking of the Backstreet Boys I’m pretty dissapointed about their new single.  ‘Bigger’ has to be one of my favorite songs of the year and was the track I was most looking forward to from their new album.  It was written by musical genius Max Martin and I could listen to it all day on repeat and quite frankly I already do   What has me frustrated is that they took an amazing track and absolutely destroyed it with a horrible horrible video which is basically their home videos from a recent trip to Japan.  Seriously?!  That’s your music video?!  UGH.  Did someone from their camp pull out the old Westlife – I Lay My Love On You video and think… wow… Westlife really knew what they were doing with this video… let’s re-create it!  Our first single bombed so I really think a home video montage would be perfect for this track.

So please don’t watch the video… just enjoy the track.

Backstreet Boys – Bigger

Last month Amy Diamond released her 4th studio album – Swings and Roundabouts off the back of the first single – ‘Up.’

For those of you that are fans of Swedish pop this is probably her least Swedish sounding album of her past 4 albums and as a result if probably the most disappointing; it’s definitely a departure from her first 3 albums.

I was a huge fan of ‘Music in Motion’ which has to be one of my all time favorite pop albums and is still on heavy rotation on my playlist.  So when I ordered the new album I expected it to pick up where Music in Motion left off.  The first thing I noticed when I checked the song credits was the lack of familiar faces.  The songs on her first 3 albums were all heavily written by Tysper/Mack/Grizzly who, for example, wrote 9 of 16 songs on her last album.  Her new album doesn’t have a single song written by her previous song writers and while the resulting sound is a touch more ‘mature,’ with the exception of ‘Up’ and maybe one or two others the 16 tracks on the album are pretty forgettable and leaves the album feeling sort of cheap and not in the good way!

I don’t really know what else to say… I was so excited to get the album and now that I have it all I have is an empty feeling in my heart.

The good news is that ‘Up’ is a great single and is an improvement on her Melodifestivalen track – It’s My Life.

So let’s just forget this album ever happened and listen to ‘Up’ on repeat for the next week.

Amy Diamond – Up