17 year old Amelia Lily scared the shit out of other UK X-Factor 2011 contestants when the judges broke all the rules and allowed her back onto the show. Ultimately Little Mix and Marcus Collins both beat her and released shit music, including a cover of Seven Nation Army that made my ears bleed Stigmata style seemed like a really good idea.
A hybrid of Ladyhawke and Pink, somewhere between lady and punk, Amelia’s vocals were rule-breakingly incredible. Exciting then that her Xenomania produced (Girls Aloud, The Gossip’s latest) debut single finally has a video, which looks roughly like it cost $250 to make, including the car hire and her outfit from Dangerfield.
What do you think? Will it be a hit in the UK? Or will it playing in supermarkets by October?
It feels like only a few years ago, a fresh-faced girl from Hell’s Kitchen blended old school soul and modern hip-hop to create one of the definitive albums of the last twenty years. Fact is, it was over a decade ago when Songs In A Minor re-wrote the rules of R&B, selling over 13 million copies and earning her five Grammys in the one year. Alicia then backed it up with the arguably superior sequel The Diary of Alicia Keys, gaining her another nine million sales and three Grammys, proving Songs was no fluke.
Third album As I Am may have been a career lowlight (but still received positive reviews), but it delivered her biggest solo hit to date – No One. Shaken by the suggestion that her creative mojo and relevance was floundering, Alicia came back with my personal favourite, The Element of Freedom. Retaining the innovation of her debut but providing a different direction and solid production, it may have not been her biggest seller, but it was an incredible album.
Two Alicia Keys songs have recently surfaced, a hip-hop racket produced by her husband Swizz Beatz called New Day (potential lead single / train wreck) and the gorgeous and very Alicia-esque A Place of My Own, which she performs below and I implore you to watch.
In a lengthy time (over a decade), Alicia Keys has created masterpiece after masterpiece and news of another album is exciting enough for me to waste half my weekend to concoct the Top 5 Alicia Keys Songs.
5. How Come You Don’t Call Me (Songs in A Minor – 2001)
Alicia Keys is no stranger to covers. Her duet with Adam Levine, a cover of the Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses, is embarrassingly good and if it wasn’t a duet, would be placed much higher. This Prince re-do flows so naturally, it doesn’t even sound like it was recorded in a studio. Alicia’s vocals are as powerful one minute as they are vulnerable the next, making this yet another not so happy ending anthem.
4. If I Ain’t Got You (The Diary of Alicia Keys – 2003)
There are a few certainties on reality singing competitions. A stupid has-been singer who has zero relevance will annoy everyone. Someone who can’t sing for shit but has a heartfelt history will get further than they deserve. Somebody will sing If I Ain’t Got You. Why? It is an emotional apocalypse, a song that so perfectly sums up lost love that almost anyone could relate.
3. A Woman’s Worth (Songs in A Minor – 2001)
It could be the smoking hot beat, it could be the 60s girl group repeated lines, it could be her almost pornographically sexy vocals, or it could just be that it makes me feel like a strong, independent woman…A Woman’s Worth just added to the love and respect I developed for Alicia after hearing Fallin‘.
2. Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart (The Element of Freedom – 2009)
Many people didn’t take to The Element of Freedom. While it’s her most popular album to date in the UK, the atmospheric and epicly produced corker didn’t fare so well in the US. Fuck ‘em. The peak of this delectable slice of soul/R&B album was this instant classic and modern masterpiece ballad, with thumping percussion and tortured lyrics, “Anybody could’ve told you right from the start it’s ’bout to fall apart, so rather than hold on to a broken dream, I’ll just hold on to love.” That’s exactly what I tell myself after my third bottle of red every night.
1. Fallin’ (Songs in A Minor -2001)
The song that introduced the world to the talent. Showing teens that classical was cool and proving to anyone above 30 that R&B can be credible, Miss Keys creates her own genre, introduces herself as one of the most exciting American artists in history and goes to no.1 on the US charts.
Ok, so here’s a reminder of the Top 20 that led us to this point:
20. Gossip – Move in the Right Direction
19. M.I.A – Bad Girls
18. A-Trak, Mark Foster & Kimbra – Warrior
17. Ellie Goulding – Lights
16. Ed Sheeran – Small Bump
15. Goldfrapp – Melancholy Sky / Yellow Halo
14. Rudimental – Feel the Love
13. Major Lazer – Get Free
12. Calvin Harris – Feel So Close
11. Nicola Roberts – Memory of You
10.Fun. – We Are Young
9.Nicki Minaj – Starships
8.Santigold – Disparate Youth
7. Florence & The Machine – Never Let Me Go
6. Icona Pop – I Love It
So let’s get back to it…Because I know that absolutely noone everyone is dying to know what the Top 5 are!
5.Hot Chip – Flutes
Hot Chip are like that amazingly hot boyfriend/girlfriend that all your mates love, is a demon in the sack and cooks you a shit hot brekky in the morning. One day, like that partner, Hot Chip won’t be around and everyone will realise what fuckwits they’ve been for neglecting them.
It took me a while to comprehend the brilliance of Flutes. Unconventional and chaotic yet utterly clever, it’s a challenging mind-fuck of modern dance. It’s also an exceptional piece of work and more exciting than anything else on radio right now.
Unfortunately, the vision hasn’t transferred to the video clip – the camera literally spins for a full minute like it was attached to Regan’s head from The Exorcist. Five spews out of five.
4.Drake & Rihanna – Take Care
More people have worked on this song than Joan Rivers’ face.
Originally a track by the late and great Gil Scott-Heron, Jamie xx of The xx remixed the shit out of it. Drake then picked it up and rapped over it, ultimately inviting Rihanna to sing the chorus.
I’m a big believer in both Drake and Rihanna’s talents, but the pair have generally made public defence quite difficult in the past. Rihanna’s had some scorching tracks (Umbrella being a milestone) but this is the best thing either have, or probable ever will do.
It’s a dark and downtempo R&B/hip-hop affair, with Rihanna’s vocals never sounding better and lyrics that actually involve a thought process, “I know you’ve been hurt by someone else, I can tell by the way you carry yourself, if you let me, here’s what I’ll do, I’ll take care of you.”
Oh…and check out the Florence & The Machine version. No words.
3.Rebecca Ferguson – Glitter & Gold
The most obvious single choice on Ferguson’s sensational album Heaven, Glitter & Gold comes across as Sade’s honey vocals covering Amy Winehouse’s motown pop.
Effortlessly memorable and unique, the track is a prime example of why Ferguson took the UK’s pop crown in 2011. What makes listening to Rebecca Ferguson so amazing, beyond her one-of-a-kind voice and reinvention of classic genres, is that she clearly writes the music herself. When Ferguson sings, it is unquestionable that she sings from experience, “All that glitter and gold won’t buy you happy when you’ve been bought and sold.”
A fitting statement from someone who stuck her middle finger up at the music exes so she could write her own CD. In countless syndications of infinite reality shows, second place X-Factor contestant Rebecca did the impossible last year, she made reality TV credible.
2. Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
What an exceptionally moving piece of music. I want this song to be played at my funeral, which at the current rate of alcohol consumption, should be in September. It’s BYO by the way…
1.Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans
When I leave voicemails on a guy’s phone after one date, “I will love til the end of time,” it doesn’t go down well. When Lana Del Rey swoons over a gorgeous indie pop ballad, it’s grandiose and epically romantic.
People lost their shit over Video Games, but if you ask me, it’s all about Blue Jeans. There’s also the ambitious Azealia Banks remix from Smims & Belle) but whatever you do, don’t watch her performance on Saturday Night Live. It sounds like Chewbecca passing a kidney stone.
You might know We Are Young for a multitude of reasons. There’s the unforgettable clip, which recreates the perfectly normal behaviour of a party that runs out of booze. You might know it for the ridiculously epic chorus, that no matter how stupid you’re going to sound singing it – you have to. Chances are, you know it because it has been no.1 on every country on Earth for eternity.
However, demerit points for hiring one of the most talented singer/songwriters in the world right now and doing absolutely NOTHING with her. A corn on the cob could have contributed as much as Janelle Monae’s bridge.
9.Nicki Minaj – Starships
There are two types of people. There are those that understand the berserk amazingness of Starships, and then there are fucking idiots.
Starships was a risky move for Nicki Minaj. Although she can’t decide whether she wants to a pop princess who scales the charts with tracks like Super Bass or the fresh indie mixtape maker, Starships cemented her as the former – in fact, Starships just broke a record by spending more consecutive weeks in the Top 10 than any other song in history.
The song makes zero sense, the lyrics could have been written by a foul-mouthed pre-schooler and the vocal-free chorus sounds like a robot orgy, but I love the shit out of it. NB, her next single Pound the Alarm is exactly the same song except for…no, it’s exactly the same.
8.Santigold – Disparate Youth
I make no secret of my love for Santigold. She’s realised two incredibly high-calibre albums and when I saw her live at Parklife last year – she was simply remarkable – and the highlight of the event.
Her most recent album was another success and deservedly I gave it a glowing review. Sandwiched between a shitload of amazing songs was Disparate Youth, an R&B/rock fusion that has Yeah Yeah Yeah’s fingerprints all over it.
To me, Santi is the perfect artist. Commercial enough to be accessible to the masses but credible and indie enough to change the game, it’s no wonder I dress up like her on a Saturday night and sing into an empty Shiraz bottle.
7. Florence & The Machine – Never Let Me Go
Lungs was an out-of-the-blue triumph for Florence & The Machine. Refreshing then that the band survived sophomore album syndrome when they released an arguably superior Ceremonials. Managing to find the happy medium between giving their fans more of the same and also challenging by taking us in a slightly different direction, Florence & co nailed it.
Never Let Me Go is a remarkable achievement. In an album where the filler is more capable than most lead singles from other artists, it manages to hold itself on par with tracks like Shake it Out, a track that isn’t disposed of the second it leaves the charts.
While most popstars bang on about getting drunk in a club, rooting around and how fast their cars are, Florence (and her machine) leave this as their legacy, “In the arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold, and all this devotion I never knew at all, And the crashes are Heaven, for a sinner released, and the arms of the ocean, deliver me.”
NB: Spectrum and Breaking Down are also proper amazing.
6. Icona Pop – I Love It
Sweden. It’s fucking cold. There are lots of Vikings. For a country with not much going on beyond icy rape and pillage, they sure do churn out amazing musicians. Robyn, Miike Snow, The Cardigans, Lykke Li, Kleerup, The Knife as well as The Hives, Peter Bjorn and John – not to mention ABBA?!
The latest Swedish global threat comes in the form of electro-pop duo Icona Pop’s I Love It. Written by Charli XCX (also amazing), the track is a monster. The girls are the epitome of cool, the semi-spoken singing has that head banging 80s feel and the whole production is perfection.
Unfortunately the song has been attached to Snooki & JWoww’s new reality show, which means you now have to secretly like it. Sad face.
Sure, they’re technically two different songs BUT one was a single without a video, the other has a video without a release, so for the sake of my writing and Spice Girls methodology, 2 become 1.
Realistically, Goldfrapp is probably my favourite artist of all time. Controversial to throw it out there on the table, but she has provided four stunning albums (Felt Mountain, Black Cherry, Supernature and Seventh Tree) that touch on everything from disco to folk and ambient to electronica. Head First was a disappointment of sorts, for while its 80s glam feel was fun, it was camper than Project Runway: The Musical.
Goldfrapp’s next step was to release an incredible Best Of, which showcased (with a few missed exceptions) a solid body of work…but not without two impossibly brilliant singles. Melancholy Sky and Yellow Halo are back-to-basics Goldfrapp. Minimalist, acoustic and gorgeous, it meant that the Best Of has more favourites than my Grindr profile in a Turkish prison.
14. Rudimental – Feel the Love
When a song comes out with more musical genres than I have friends on Facebook, the result should be a hot mess.
Instead, Feel the Love is like rocky road ice-cream or dessert pizza – all your favourite things together to make an ultra-favourite thing. Somehow, the best elements of jazzy horns, soul vocals, drum n bass and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) even dupstep, fuse into one of the most uplifting tracks of the English Summer.
Despite being the antithesis of pop, Feel The Love has peaked at no.1 on the UK Singles Chart and is likely to celebrate similar success in Australia. If Rudimental can make dubstep sound good, I hope they have nothing to do with Tony Abbot’s political campaign.
13. Major Lazer – Get Free
The thing about parading that I know more about music than ANYONE ELSE IN THE HISTORY OF ANYTHING, is that I hate it when people put me on to something that ends up being my favourite song.
Sometimes pop, sometimes calypso, sometimes electronic but always amazing, GetFree is scarily good. The anti-establishment lyrics make me want to burn down my apartment, change my name to Rain and become one of those freaks that only eat things that die naturally.
Major Lazer may have not released hit after hit, but Get Free proves that Hold the Line wasn’t a fluke.
12. Calvin Harris – Feel So Close
While I loved both, the Kelis duet Bounce and Rihanna’s We Found Love rubbed a lot of Calvinites the wrong way. Personally I love a dance song sung by a diva, but I must admit, this track feels so close to the sound of Calvin.
His almost clumsy vocals fit perfectly with the breezy piano chords but it’s the synthy lyric-less chorus that’s so epic, that if you play this at a party and people aren’t dancing – you need new friends.
A career peak for Calvin.
11. Nicola Roberts – Memory of You
There are four things that I know about Memory of You.
1. It is technically not a new song. Girls Aloud (of which Nicola originates) sang the original four years ago.
2. It technically wasn’t a single, but rather a B-side to the lacklustre Nicola single Yo-Yo.
3. The song is the only one in the Top 20 without a video. It is actually so amazing, that it breaks all the rules. It also only has 6,894 views on YouTube, which means more people have slept with me than watched this video…and neither lasts more than four minutes.
Memory of You is almost the perfect pop song. Synthy, dreamy and with that chorus, Nicola seduces us assuredly. This is a pretty remarkable feat for someone that looks like a Cabbage Patch Doll.
Whether you know it or not, pop producers Xenomania have been responsible for more addictive tracks than Courtney Love’s arm. They have almost single-handedly made sure that Girls Aloud are referenced more for credibility than shagability, giving us iconic single (Biology), after iconic single(Call the Shots.)
Switching effortlessly from gossip rag fodder to indie-rockers The Gossip, Xenomania have enabled Beth Ditto to get her disco on, something which she toyed with on her solo EP. Move in The Right Direction suggests that the right direction is wherever ABBA is playing.
19. M.I.A – Bad Girls
M.I.A has struggled with the balance of being a badass Bollywood bohemian and top-of-the-pops Timbaland tart. Her first album was ground-breaking, yet alienating, while her second proved to be surprise hit, with her Clash-sampling Paper Planes assaulting the US charts. However her third album, Maya, received tepid reviews and failed to achieve airplay (because well, it was a giant wank.)
With Bad Girls, it appears M.I.A has nailed the happy medium. The Eastern influence is as undeniable in the tune as it is in the video, but the hip-hop percussion is Americanised enough to hear it in retail stores globally.
A welcome return to form.
18. A-Trak, Mark Foster & Kimbra – Warrior
Part of Converse’s consistently amazing Three Artists, One Song campaign, Warriorbrings together Mark Foster (Foster The People), A-Trak (Duck Sauce) and Kimbra for an 80s synthed ménage-a-trois. Sounding like some sort of sequel to Mark Ronson’s Bang Bang Bang, Warrior might just be the finest addition to the Converse campaign yet.
Between Kimbra’s sensational debut Vows, her scene stealing spot on Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know and her career peak of Miami Horror’s I Look To You, she can barely put a foot wrong. Ditto Mark Foster, for while this pushes the envelope on Foster the People’s sound, still has his fingerprints all over it.
Belligerently appealing, the track has that kind of indie-electro feel that is heroin to hipsters.
17. Ellie Goulding – Lights
Ellie Goulding had already ridden a giant wave of success in the UK, but there was something missing from the formula to keep her from world success. Though likeable, Ellie’s reputation as being about as boring as Amish pornography meant being confined to success only in her homeland.
In saying that, her remake of Your Song was so amazing that the royal couple asked her to perform it at the wedding, when they could have easily asked the queen (by that I mean original artist Elton John.)
However it was Lights, a scorching hot synth-popera with a dark twist that led Goulding to take over the US Charts, where her song has now gone double platinum for sales of two million copies.
Ellie’s real achievement though is managing to justify dating a man with zero talent – Skrillex.
16. Ed Sheeran – Small Bump
Fifteen years ago, a video clip emerged of a foetus singing the lyrics to an accompanying song. That song, Teardrop by Massive Attack, went on to become my favourite song of all time.
When dealing with a topic as sensitive as a miscarriage, there are only two possible outcomes: contrived soppy shit or epic ballad that draws on raw emotion. The success of Small Bump stems from Ed Sheeran’s genuine lyrics that reflect on a close friend’s miscarriage, “You were just a small bump unborn for four months then torn from life. Maybe you were needed up there but we’re still unaware as why.”
After all, there’s only one thing sadder than a miscarriage and that’s a ginger pop star.
You have to hand it to Lana Del Rey – she takes this whole “artiste” business quite seriously.
Whether you admire her ambition of recreating the idealistic 1960s America concept or think she’s a fuckwit for impersonating Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O, National Anthem is somewhat of an event.
The lush string intro, the call-for-action chorus and her already trademarked dramatic trip-hop sound establish the epic feel of National Anthem, but it’s the clip that makes the track so special.
In the wrong hands (aka anyone else), this would have been a hot mess of wankery. Instead, Del Rey has committed whole-heartedly to a 7 minute and 40 second open dialogue about societal changes, racial issues and the American Dream being a hoax.
Some people will want her lynched for attempting to make anything more conceptual than flashing her tits at camera, but you have to remember this is the same girl that delivered Video Games and Blue Jeans. Once the hoopla of her performance on Saturday Night Live dies down (it did sound like a howler monkey having an exorcism), people might just go back to realising what Del Rey actually is: an artist, not just a singer.
Now, please make the next and final single Radio and bring on album no.2!
