Finally… after 3 number 1 singles in Ireland one of the most exciting new acts to emerge in the last few years is preparing to launch their career in the Uk. The band is Industry and if you haven’t realized that you love them yet this is your chance to catch up.
They’ve relased 4 singles to date and proved that they can sing absolutely anything. And now the band is enlisting their fans to help them with their next single choice. 2 one minute clips have been relased and fans can give feedback on which song they want released in the Uk.
Your choices are Drown In The Music and Kill The DJ. Both songs offer a new club friendly vibe and both songs are FANTASTIC!
Imagine this… The first Semi-Final at Melodifestivalen. The lights dim and the spotlight hits the stage as a familiar face begins to sing. It’s “Velvet’ back for 2010 after ‘The Queen’ failed to make it to the finals in 2009… then a second spotlight hits the stage and the one and only Linda Bengtzing steps onto the stage singing in English for the first time at Melodifestivalen! The two stars have come together for a one of a kind duet called ‘Victorious!’
Wouldn’t that have been AMAZING?! Well the bad news is that it could have happened. This song exists and it was submitted for Melodifestivalen 2010 and was turned down! As we’ve seen already the focus was to bring in a lot of new talent that hadn’t competed in the competition before. Unfortunately we’ve seen the result of that gamble because although there have been a few surprises, most fans are looking for great songs from established acts or song writers. Poor Linda is rejected from the competition for a second time (Her duet with Markoolio also failed to enter the contest, although the song was a massive hit and topped the charts in Sweden.)
The good news is that you can now hear the track! Now I’m clearly gutted that Linda didn’t make it to the competition this year but after hearing the song I think maybe it was for the best. The track is cool because it’s Linda and Velvet together… but I don’t know if it would have been strong enough to make it direct to the finalen, instead I think it would have gone to Andra Chansen and perhaps lost there. And as much as I want to see Linda back in Melodifestivalen. I only want her back if she can go to the finalen with a massive hit single.
That doesn’t mean the song is bad by any means! I would describe it more as a Velvet song with Linda singing on it rather than a Linda song with Velvet singing on it even though it’s credited differently on the single. The chorus is catchy but I’d love to hear the track with a building schlager backing track rather than a simple dance backing. The line “We’re Going To Be Victorious” needed to have music that was a bit more hard hitting.
So what does this mean for Linda? Are we going to have an album from her in 2010 or will she wait until 2011 when she can give Melodifestivalen another go?
Well this is perfect timing! Just the other week I was thinking to myself… what ever happened to the Star Pilots?! Today I checked out the Swedish singles chart and surprise surprise Star Pilots are currently sitting at number 24 with their new single – I’m Alive.
I was pretty excited because I was a huge fan of ‘Higher’ and ‘In The Heat Of The Night’. ‘I’m Alive’ picks up right where the last two singles left off lifting similar parts of the previous singles and sneaking them into the arrangement of the new single as well as using classic song titles in their lyrics; the entire song is basically one giant copy cat! That being said it’s definitely their sound and is a fun song to dance to but it isn’t nearly as good as it should be considering how long it was between singles. I’m curious to know if Johan Becker is still signing vocals for the group.
The return of Sanna Nielsen is upon us and it has definitely been worth the wait! Last week Sanna Nielsen released the first single from her next album and it’s definitely a step in the right direction. What makes this track great is that it’s different from anything else being released right now. We already know she can belt out a ballad and sure I’d love an album full of Vagar Du, Vagar Jag’s but since that’s never going to happen I’m going to say that this is a great song for her. The only thing I will say is that I think the song is missing a really strong and hard hitting climax. Sure there is a key change in there but I think it definitely could have been a little stronger and arranged differently.
I think it’s funny that she’s releasing this track right in time for Melodifestivalen and it’s awfully close to the 3 minute mark required for the competition… was this song rejected from the competition perhaps?
But my verdict is two thumbs up! Let’s hope there are some other big upbeat tracks in store when the album is released.
Who is Suzie McNeil and why have I never heard of her? Yesterday I went bowling and this track came on the radio and it immediately got stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Since I still don’t have Shazam I had to google the lyrics until I found the right track and this is it!
Turns out Suzie McNeil is a fellow Canadian and has been around for awhile now. Her big break came on the 2005 reality show Rockstar:INXS where she vyed for a positon as the new lead singer of INXS where she came in 4th place.
Since then she’s become a relative star in Canada after releasing 2 albums and 8 singles, appearing on various Canadian television shows and being nominated for a Juno award.
This track probably isn’t the best representation of what Susie McNeil is all about. It’s a radio remix which answers the question what if Lady Gaga and Pink were to merge? The answer is catchy and upbeat and could easily be a hit around the world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After a year off the boys of Westlife are back! Some of you will be cheering while others are probably wishing they`d dissapear already.
The band debuted their new single on X-Factor tonight and it looks like they`re guaranteed a number 1 single with this one. The good news is that its a slightly new sound for the group, a bit rockier than their previous singles. The new album will be released November 30th and is rumoured not to be as ballad driven as their previous albums. The bad news is that despite rumours that they would no longer release any cover songs… the new single is indeed a cover of Daughtry`s `What About Now.`
That being said their performance tonight on X-Factor showed that despite waning success over the past few years… the band still have staying power and they`re not going anywhere. Check out the performance HERE.
So first off nobody probably reads this anymore, since I basically dropped off the face of the earth.
But so much has been happening in the world of Pop that I think it’s important to help do what I can to keep the momentum going and speading the word. So let me begin by catching up on a bunch of tidbits.
1. The journey to Melodifestivalen 2010 has already begun with the first 27 songs being announced, the web joker tracks online and tickets already sold out!
What do I think so far? I’m a little worried about the state of the competition in 2010. Judging by the song writers and the rumours it seems that 2010 is very light on established pop artists. So far it seems like we can expect big names like Ola, Sibel and Jessica Andersson but after that things seem to get a little cold. Not only that but the big powerhouse song writers don’t seem to be represented as well as they have in previous years. Henrik Wikstrom didn’t even submit any songs for 2010, ‘Pling’ is nowhere to be seen and the amazing Fredrik Kempe has only one song this year.
This has me asking… “What does this mean for MFest 2010?” It seems like they may be moving away from Pop/Schlager after the relative failure of the Swedish songs at Eurovision over the past few years. That being said I still have faith that the songs will be amazing and just think of all the new fantastic artists we may be exposed to once the songs are released. We aslo still have 4 Wild Cards to be announced and with rumours swirling that Lena Philipsson will make a return in 2010 we still have a lot to look forward to.
If I went through each of your music libraries I’d be sure to find a few guilty pleasures that we all hate to love. A few years ago Europe went head over heels for one such song when everywhere you went all you heard was the chant of “Ma Ya Hi, Mi Ya Ha!’ when O-zone was at the top of the charts with ‘Dragonstea Din Tea.’
Well get ready for a new guilty pleasure with the introduction of Crazy Loop the alter ego of a man better known as Dan Balan who coindicently was a member of O-zone. Not only is the song infectious but the video is surprisingly good quality and a lot of fun. If you haven’t seen the video check the link above. The track was released in the Uk digitally last week and can be found on iTunes now.
3. Industry – One To Watch!
There are a lot of hopes riding on the band ‘Industry’ who hail from Ireland. The band have already had 2 number 1 singles in Ireland and are about to release their 3rd single which should have no trouble making it 3 for 3. Their success in Ireland is due to a tonne of promotion, a charismatic band with great vocals. After the release of their poptastic first single ‘My Babys Waiting’ maybe thought they’d bomb and end up being dropped before a second single would ever be released. But with all the success they’ve achieved at home they’re hoping that success can be duplicated in the Uk. The band are finishing their debut album and have been working with song writers responsible for hits from Girls Aloud, Justin Timberlake, Rhianna and Beyonce.
Their new single ‘In Your Arms’ was written by Lee Hutton of the band and will be released on November 13th. I’m excited to see what is in store for the band and what their album will sound like. This is a band that can sing anything from upbeat pop, a soulful r and b tune or a sweeping ballad. If there is one act to watch for in 2010 it’s Industry.
Stephen Gately – Saying Goodbye
By now everyone is aware of the tragic passing of Boyzone singer – Stephen Gately. I don’t have a lot to say about it because I don’t really know what to say. Boyzone were one of the very first Uk acts I had ever heard of. I remember when I first discovered pop music I would sit in my room and turn on a radio show that played here called ‘The World Chart Show.’ They used to play songs that weren’t released in North America but were big in Europe. One day they played a song called ‘Words’ by a band called ‘Boyzone.’ I remember recording it from the radio onto a tape and playing it all the time. The album – A Different Beat was one of the first cds I ever bought. From that moment on I was always a fan of Boyzone. Sure they were never a ground breaking artist but you could always rely on them to deliver a great ballad that you could sing along to. In 1998 the entire world knew who they were when ‘No Matter What’ became an anthem of sorts and even led to some appearances in the US.
As cheesy as it sounds he was a role model in a way. With the release of songs like ‘No Matter What,’ when he came out in 1999 to overwhelming support from the public and most recently with videos like ‘Better’ which show him with a male love interest. He helped teach people that you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, it’s ok to be yourself.
It’s been almost 2 years since Lady Gaga burst onto the scene with her debut single ‘Just Dance’ but with the release of her new album – Fame Monster we’re finally getting some new tracks and a brand new single. I’m a little dissapointed that they couldn’t be bothered to do a completely new album, instead opting to re-release her debut album with 8 new tracks. But with a new tour starting in December she needed to have enough new material to do a full show.
The new single ‘Bad Romance’ is really good! Look at the success she’s had up to now with her debut album it’s been out for over a year and her singles are still in the upper ends of charts across the world. How do you follow up success like that? Was her debut album a fluke? Is there anything else she can do to shock us? Well ‘Bad Romance’ proves that she knows how to write a great track and that she is definitely not a one-album wonder.
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.
