Kelly Clarkson initially came on the scene as the first ever winner of American Idol back in 2002, but let’s not hold that against her. Since her victory she’s done more than enough to earn her place in the pop pantheon and now sits on the verge of releasing her fifth album, ‘Stronger’ due out in October.
‘Mr Know It All’ is the first glimpse of this new record and finds Kelly putting the boot into the guy described in the title. Basically, this dude sucks. The song highlights his myriad flaws in a manner that should be welcomed by anyone who has ever been wronged by a man (or woman). “I’m trying to hone in on my inner Tina Turner,” she told Rolling Stone. “I wish I could hone in on her freaking legs – that would be even better.”
Despite her reputation as a ‘big’ singer in the Carey or Dion mould, ‘Mr Know It All’ steers clear of the vocal histrionics that often blight these types of songs and the track is all the more effective for it. Just because you can sing a million notes in 35 seconds doesn’t necessarily mean you should.
Kelly has worked with a range of collaborators for the forthcoming album, including Howard Benson, Eric Hutchinson, Toby Gad and super-producer Darkchild, the man behind the Gaga/Beyoncé mega-hit ‘Telephone’. “This album was influenced by Prince, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Radiohead and there’s a little bit of a country vibe/influence on a couple of songs,” Kelly says. That’s quite a roll call. Let’s hope ‘Stronger’ lives up to its name.
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Kelly Clarkson
Looking at how long he’s been on the scene, it’s kind of hard to believe that the world is still waiting for the self-styled Hottest in Da Hood’s debut album. Since first appearing on the New York hip hop scene in 2005 Red Café has dropped numerous singles and mixtapes, but an album proper has remained frustratingly out of reach.
That’s finally set to change with the release of his as-yet-untitled LP scheduled to emerge on Valentine’s Day 2012. After the long wait, Red is conscious that he has to deliver something pretty special, hence his claim that the record will be made up of 14 first singles. ‘Fly Together’ provides a pretty effective statement of intent. The sparse, gently clattering beats and understated bassline clearly reflect Red Café’s underground roots while the hook seems precision-tooled for the charts. Drop in a verse from Rick Ross, the go-to-guy for guest appearances, and you’ve got yourself a pretty tasty package.
But short-term chart success isn’t Red Café’s principal goal. He’s in the business to create music that stands the test of time. “Records like that are not easy to make,” he told The Boombox. “Even though you got Ryan Leslie on there singing, that’s an infectious record. I’m talking about making them anthems that stick. That don’t go away. ‘Hottest in the Hood,’ ‘I’m Ill,’ ‘Paper Touchin’,’ that’s not easy, ’cause we would have a million of them right now. People come up with little things, throw a little sample here and it might sound cool for the time being, but it’s not timeless. That’s what I strive for, making that timeless s**t. That’s why I’m still here and I’m still relevant with no album.”
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Red Café
Despite not being an homage to everyone’s favourite Ted Danson-starring eighties sitcom, Rihanna’s latest still has plenty of spirit (sorry). It’s a laid back ode to the simple pleasures of kicking it with some good friends and a refreshing beverage, making it the perfect antidote to the abortive summer many have just lived through.
To be fair, Rihanna could use a little downtime. She’s recently spent months on the road all over the world promoting her mega-selling album ‘Loud’. She’s also been testing her acting chops in the forthcoming movie ‘Battleship’, mystifyingly based on the popular board game of the same name.
Speaking to Kanye West in Interview magazine, Rihanna outlined the approach she took for ‘Loud’. “I wanted every song to have its own subject, its own story, its own look, its own sound-and I feel like we did a great job of accomplishing that,” she said. “I just wanted to create something that was timeless, that wasn’t locked into the moment when it was made. And I wanted it to feel really good. I just wanted to make 11 great individual songs that all made sense together.”
‘Cheers’ is the seventh single to be taken from the album, so thoughts are now turning to its follow up. Initial plans were to record additional songs for a re-release of ‘Loud’ but thankfully sanity prevailed and a brand new record is now the primary objective. Initial reports indicated that the album would be out before the end of the year, but there is still no official release date. While we may be thirsty for more information, we’ll just have to make do with ‘Cheers’ for now.
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Rihanna
Xavier de Rosnay & Gaspard Augé – aka Justice - are ready to release their massive new single ‘Audio, Video, Disco’ on September 26th through Ed Banger Records/Because Music.
This second taster from their new album is also the title track and finds the pair in hyperactive form. Whereas previous releases have been jarring electro monsters, this one sees the Gallic duo taking on a wider range of rock influences. It follows on from previous single, ‘Civilization’, which landed after a seemingly endless wait for new material. While their last video featured some enigmatic shots of a statuesque landscape; for ‘Audio, Video, Disco’ we get a glimpse into the pair’s likely routine over the last few years: eating; sleeping; living and breathing in the studio.
These news were also accompanied by a shocking story this week, when it was reported their Ed Banger colleague and friend DJ Mehdi died after a tragic accident in his Paris home. The sad event inspired thousands of shocked tweets from friends and fans, including former collaborators Chromeo who commented “We lost our brother. No words.”
Jon Davies Tag Of The Day Justice
Anyone only familiar with Cobra Starship from earlier work ‘Snakes On A Plane’ (I think it was on some film soundtrack) might be a little perplexed by ‘You Make Me Feel’. In place of the electro-tinged pop-rock with which they made their name, it seems the band have morphed into an out-and-out dance act.
Which is not to say this is an unwelcome transformation. If Cobra Starship have caught the house bug, it clearly suits them. With its four to the floor beats, lashings of phased synths and liberal use of the vocoder, ‘You Make Me Feel’ has proper dancefloor chops. Bringing Sabi on board certainly helps. The former Britney Spears collaborator adds the big diva vocals that are an essential ingredient in any proper club banger.
But rather than a wholesale conversion to dance music, ‘You Make Me Feel’ is really just the latest in a list of ongoing stylistic shifts. “That’s always something we try to take into consideration,” the band’s Alex Suarez told The Aquarian. “What’s really important in making a record for us is really exploring different genres, you know? Like we’d be like, “Hey why don’t we do a song that sounds like a T.I. record, just to see what happens?” I feel like from the very beginning we’ve been pretty cross-genre in our albums, which is cool.”
The other tracks which have surfaced from the band’s latest album, ‘Night Shades’, seem to back up these claims. Cobra Starship display a commendable reluctance to be pigeonholed, so it’s probably best to continue expecting the unexpected.
You can check the video here.
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Cobra Starship
It’s a long time since country music was the sole preserve of weather-beaten men who looked like they would be more comfortable operating farm machinery than getting on stage. Like hip-hop, country has transcended its roots to become a dominant force in the charts. Miranda Lambert perfectly epitomises this.
Since coming third in the 2003 season of TV show ‘Nashville Star’, Lambert’s glossy, slide guitar-soaked music and good ol’ girl persona have seen her become a major player on the country scene.
‘Baggage Claim’ is the first glimpse of new album ‘Four the Record’, slated for release in November. As the follow up to last LP, ‘Revolution’, which spawned two number one hits in the country charts as well as netting nine CMA awards and a Grammy, it’s got some pretty big (cowboy) boots to fill. The new record is inspired by husband and fellow country music star Blake Shelton, who Lambert married earlier this year and some of her musical heroes.
“On this record I collaborated with pretty much a lot of my friends, some of my heroes, and Blake,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “We wrote a song together on the record, and hopefully on this next record we’ll have a duet together.
“It’s a good time. We haven’t had one, and we’re ready to take that next step and do a really serious duet. But I collaborated with a lot of people that influenced my life on this next record.”
You can check the track here
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Miranda Lambert
‘Stereo Hearts’ is far from being the first time that Gym Clas Heroes have supplemented their essentially hip-hop sound with vocals from a more traditionally ‘rock’ source. The band are signed to Pete ‘Fall Out Boy’ Wentz’s Fueled By Ramen label and have regularly collaborated with Wentz’s bandmate Patrick Stump. Bringing Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on board makes perfect sense.
Featuring a massive star like Levine on your track is never going to hurt, but the band insist that the collaboration happened for artistic rather than monetary reasons. Speaking to The Aquarian, drummer Matt McGinley said: “When we went in to record ‘Papercut Chronicles’, I actually brought in a copy of [Maroon Five’s debut album] ‘Songs About Jane’, and I said, “I want my drums to sound like this.” I sort of blended the styles of Maroon 5 and Questlove, and that’s what I came up with. Overall, it’s crazy to see something like that come full circle to the point where we’re actually working with Adam Levine directly.”
The collaboration also paid off recently when the band ran into Levine on a studio lot in L.A. After jamming the song a few times, they were invited to perform on TV show ‘The Voice’, where Levine moonlights as a judge.
‘Stereo Hearts’ sticks to the trademark upbeat hip-hop that made 2007 single ‘Cupid’s Chokehold’ such a smash. It’s the first track to be revealed from forthcoming album ‘The Papercut Chronicles II’, scheduled for release in October. The band’s decision to echo the title of their debut record clearly positions it as a return to their roots. Based on ‘Stereo Hearts’, it sounds like Gym Class Heroes are very glad to be home.
You can check out the video here
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Adam Levine, Gym Clas Heroes, Maroon 5
For his first solo release, the N-Dubz man and unlikely recent cover star of Total Carp magazine, is in a reflective mood. He’s made some mistakes, but he’s going to work through them and become a better person in the process. It’s a surprisingly heartfelt message from someone better known for his bad boy attitude and collection of unusual hats.
With N-Dubz on a break following being dropped by their US label and bandmate Tulisa fronting X-Factor, it’s clear that Dappy isn’t looking at his solo foray as a mere time filler. On the contrary, he’s got his sights set on the top of the charts.
“Wiley’s had a couple of number ones, Tinie Tempah’s had number ones, Tinchy Stryder’s had number ones. I need to make sure I keep up on that level,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “If I’m not anywhere near them in the chart, I feel like I’m bad at that. Big things, that’s what I want to do. I want to try and quickly succeed. I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life and it’s the first three and a half minutes of magic that I’ve made.”
The slick, US-influenced R&B of ‘No Regrets’ should give Dappy a reasonable stab at that number one spot. Full marks too for a number of interesting namechecks, ranging from Chris Brown and Kurt Cobain, to Michael Caine and that notorious urban inspiration Richard Branson.
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Dappy, N-Dubz
If Lil’ Wayne’s rap career ever goes down the tubes – and that seems highly unlikely considering his latest release became the fastest selling album on iTunes when it was released last week – he can always rest easy that his record label is in good shape. Wayne’s imprint Young Money has been riding high on the ongoing success of Nicki Minaj’s debut ‘Pink Friday’; but things are set to go stratospheric when Drake drops his long awaited sophomore record, ‘Take Care’.
The latest single, ‘Headlines’, hints at an electronic sounding production and introspective mood for the forthcoming album: one not far from Kanye West’s ‘808 ‘s And Heartbreaks’. Drake stays true to past form, concentrating his verses on the grand scale of his bank account. Yet many of the lyrics hint at uneasiness. “Money on my mind / then she wanna ask when it got so empty,” is just one example that shows Drake contemplating the spoils of the rap game. Like the previous single, ‘Marvin’s Room’, Drake’s latest work shows that he consciously self examines himself in a way that most rappers would never dream of.
With collaborations with Lil’ Wayne, Rick Ross and soul legend Stevie Wonder all confirmed, ‘Take Care’ is sure to be at worst a highly competent hip hop record. At best, it could be one of the albums of the year.
You can check the video here
Stephen Titmus Tag Of The Day drake, Lil Wayne
Jason Derulo has packed a great deal into a very short time. At the age of 16 he was writing songs for esteemed artists such as Lil’ Wayne and Diddy. His eponymous debut album, released in 2010, spawned five hit singles and saw him support Lady Gaga on her Monster Ball Tour. Now he’s readying his second LP, ‘Future History’, set to drop at the end of September.
The second release from his forthcoming record, ‘It Girl’ finds Jason Derulo in a loving mood. He’s met a lady and it’s just possible she could be the one. Being with her is better than winning a Grammy and he’d very much like it if she would give him ’25 to life’. All these sweet nothings are ably complemented by gently strummed guitars and Derulo’s pleasingly acrobatic vocals. As modern love songs go, ‘It Girl’ has all the bases covered. To its considerable credit, the song even resists the urge to throw in a near obligatory key change in the final chorus. Full marks, Mr Derulo.
In recording ‘Future History’, Derulo claims to have written somewhere in the region of 150 songs before settling on the final tracklist. “’Future History’ is my greatest accomplishment thus far in my life,” he told Direct Lyrics. “I’m not going to mention the collaborations, because there’s a huge surprise. But there are so many different faces on this album; it goes from straight urban to having super pop, and having rock influence, to having euro-dance influence. It has something for everybody, and it’s really exciting because I feel like I’ve never done something this great.”
Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Jason Derulo
