Saturday, February 28, 2015

FRESH OUT THE BOX: MNEK, Raylee, Elle King, Charli XCX, Deborah Cox, & more...




     For me, it's kind of been like you blink and suddenly February's over. March beckons TOMORROW and with it comes the end of 2015's Q1! Can you believe it? It's been a second since we've chatted strictly new music so here's a rundown of the tracks I've been playing the most. Click the titles for YouTube links to hear the songs.

ALESSO - "Cool" (feat. ROY ENGLISH)
Yes, the backing is a choice sample of Kylie Minogue's "Get Outta My Way". Think of it as an excuse to spin the entire Aphrodite album ad naseum all over again.

No, it's not the Billie of late-90's yore (pre-Doctor Who, am I right?). This Billie is from Belgium and "Give Me The Knife", an excellent slice of 80's meets early 90's-inspired discopop, is her first single.

When first perusing Sucker, this song didn't jump out at me but it's certainly grown in its appeal. Rita doesn't add too much to this but it makes sense that the two pop ladies best known in the mainstream for their featured tags on Iggy Azalea jams would pump out a good one together.

I wasn't expecting a solid multi-tempo dance banger to come from Deborah Cox. It's doubtful it will cross over but for the dance scene, this needs to be the biggest thing out there. Where my gay boys at? Let's DANCE.

Elle is the real deal, as evidenced to yours truly when I caught her during CMJ last year. Her full album, Love Stuff, came out the day before Valentine's Day (appropriate) and this one is easily my favorite and arguably the second most mainstream-friendly following single "Ex's & Oh's". It's somehow bluegrass-jangly and anthematic pop at the same time.

Again, another excuse to blare Minogue at 11. This woman can do no wrong.

This album cut from Imagine Dragon's latest leans heavy on the Kings of Leon side of things and is perhaps why I like it so much.

The former NLT-er/One Call-er has gone out on his own with his first solo offering. But wait - it gets better. A remix-ed version features...wait for...Yubin of the Wonder Girls. WHAT? When worlds collide, amirite? Obviously, cutie-pie Justin has good taste...

Island Records newcomer Madison Beer sounds fab on this dancey yet melodic cut. Very 2015 Guetta-esque.

Love her or hate her, "Living For Love" is a jam and so is this. 

The man who has written great ones for The Saturdays and Little Mix needs to be a solo star right now. This song gets stuck in my head like it's my job -- and not only that. After playing it at my workplace, it's now stuck in all of my co-workers heads, too (in the best way).

Because 1985 was a great year, wasn't it?

More nu-disco from the very capable.

This dancey jam by Norwegian teenage pop singer Raylee (real name: Charlotte Kristiansen!) is currently in the running to be Norway's 2015 entry for Eurovision via the Melodi Grand Prix competition (you might recall 2013's "I Feed You My Love" by Margaret Berger being my fave jam of that season). Whenever you couple catchy hand-clappy beats and a capable vocalist, I am there.

What a voice. Seinabo Sey exemplifies to me what I look for in the current pop music scene is: a little bit of dance, a little bit of electronic, and a whole lot of talent.

No comments:

Follow Me on Instagram via @melismaticdiva