Better late than never, here’s 20 songs old and new that we’re loving right now.
Tag: fresh
Music Monday – Volume Ninety Four
1) Nathan Sykes & G-Eazy– Give It Up
Ex member of The Wanted, Nathan Sykes returns with another brilliant single from his upcoming début album. Featuring rapper G-Eazy, ‘Give It Up‘ is a huge, catchy R&B track with funky guitar riffs and slick production.
2) Alesso featuring Nico & Vinz– I Wanna Know
Swedish producer Alesso returns with this huge club track. Featuring vocals from African-Norwegian duo Nico and Vinz, (best known for their number one smash ‘Am I Wrong’) it’s a low-key, chilled-out approach to club music through its avoidance of loud synths, instead utilising wailing guitars in a similar fashion to Robin Schulz’ remix of Mr Probz’ ‘Waves‘.
3) The Last Shadow Puppets – Miracle Aligner
Brilliant psychedelic rock track, featuring baroque-pop and experimental rock influences by British super-group The Last Shadow Puppets. The chorus avoids making a big deal out of itself, yet is effortlessly catchy.
4) All Saints – One Woman Man
Another dramatic and massive pop track from All Saints. Taken from their new album ‘Red Flag’, luscious harmonies soar over orchestral riffs and thunderous percussion.
5) Bry – Don’t Go Alone
Irish Singer-Songwriter/YouTube blogger Bry releases this euphoric pop-rock track, the first single from his début album.
6) Chelsea Lankes – Secret
Brilliant electro-pop track from Texas musician Chelsea Lankes. Sugary, almost-whispered vocals over distorted guitar riffs evolve into an infectiously catchy chorus.
7) Raye – Distraction
South-London singer-songwriter Raye returns with this massive R&B track comprised of electro-elements, hip-hop beats and sweeping strings. Both the track and her vocals are often reminiscent of Rihanna at her best.
8) Michael Franti & Spearhead– Crazy For You
Soulful and uplifting track comprised of funky guitar riffs and plenty of brass instrumentation. Brilliantly catchy.
9) Ben Watt – Fever Dream
Gentle and relaxing acoustic-based track by English singer-songwriter Ben Watt. Released ahead of his upcoming album with the same title, it is a collaboration with fellow musician Bernard Butler.
10) KAYTRANADA & Anderson Paak – Glowed Up
Canadian music producer Kaytranada teams up with Californian singer and rapper Anderson Paak on this alternative R&B/neo soul fusion. Utilising hip-hop and soul, it’s a chilled out track with a retro vibe.
Music Monday – Volume Eighty Four
1) Rationale – Something for Nothing
Soulful R&B track featuring fluttering synthesisers, jittering guitars, broken samples and funky bass lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q79owpLDjo
2) Beachbaby – Sleeperhead
Energetic guitar-driven indie track from four-pieced band Beachbaby. It’s a moody but powerful track, integrating other genres such as shoegazing, Pop and post-punk.
3) Field Music – Disappointed
Low-key indie rock track from Sunderland band Field Music.
4) Walk The Moon – Avalanche
Energetic, catchy Pop-py track from US pop-rock band Walk The Moon. Indie-guitar riffs, synthpop synths and a driving beat makes it particularly reminiscent of the ’80’s and it works beautifully.
5) Travis Mills – Don’t Need Much
Dirty house track featuring little more than club beats, a funky bass lines and Mills’ rap. Incessantly catchy.
6) Craig David & Big Nastie – When The BassLine Drops
Craig David returns to his roots with this huge Garage track, aided by grime artist Big Nastie. It’s reminiscent of his 1999 début ‘Re-Rewind’ and is a welcome return for David after six years away from the music industry.
7) Selena Gomez – Hands to Myself
Saucy, steamy and sultry dance-pop track, reportedly inspired by Prince’s signature sound. Gomez whispers over minimalistic instrumentation comprised of little more than bouncy percussion, hand clips and tribal-pop elements.
8) Reba McEntire – Just Like Them Horses
Sweet piano-led Country ballad by American country music singer Reba McEntire from her twenty seventh album ‘Love Somebody’.
9) Nate Reuss – Take It Back
Gentle waltz-like ballad by Fun. frontman Nate Reuss. Dreamy, reserved with a delicate sprinkle of Reuss’ quirky, idiosyncratic vocals.
10) Walk off The Earth – Hold On (The Break)
Uplifting, inspiring and catchy Pop track from Canadian rock band Walk off the Earth. Ascending bass lines, clinking percussion and gorgeous layered harmonies result in an epic arena anthem.
January Mixtape
After adapting Music Monday to make it strictly about current and new music, we realised that there was no way to draw focus to older music on this blog. So we have decided to publish a mixtape (or Spotify Playlist) of 20 songs on the first day of every month.
This makes January’s rather late but with no further ado, here’s the Music Box’s January Mixtape:
Music Monday – Volume Seventy
1) One Direction – Infinity
This week, One Direction announced their fifth album ‘Made in the AM’ in addition to the release of this new track. An emotive pop-rock ballad featuring weeping guitars, reverberating vocals and syrupy sweet harmonies, the song features an epic climax.
2) Carly Rae Jepsen- Let’s Get Lost
Funky track in a similar vein to The 1975 featured on Jepsen’s new album ‘Emotion’. An effervescent affair featuring funky guitar riffs, clinking synthesisers, gorgeous layered harmonies and a rogue saxophone solo, it’s a piece of pop perfection.
3) Carly Rae Jepsen – All That
Jepsen continues her 80’s synthpop vibe on this gorgeous slushy ballad. Giggly synthesisers and whimpering bass lines lead the track whilst Carly’s seductive vocals trickle gently atop. The climax is rather powerful too.
4) Ryan Adams – I Wish You Would
Whilst Ryan Adams and Taylor Swift share a musical background which covers country music, the concept of indie singer-songwriter Adams covering Swift’s entire synthpop ‘1989’ album sounded like an awful idea on paper. Amazingly, however, it works beautifully. Adams turns this into a moody acoustic ballad with wailing guitars and his heavy vocals endlessly reverberating.
5) Ryan Adams – Bad Blood
Adams somehow produces a cover better than the original. This alternative rock interpretation works perfectly, rife with various guitars.
6) Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike & Ne-Yo – Higher Place
Moody club track built around gentle piano riffs and the gorgeous contrast between Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike’s bass, low registered vocals and Ne-Yo’s gorgeous higher-toned vocals.
7) Mariah Carey – Dreamlover
Catchy Pop-R&B track which enabled Carey to break into the pop market. It’s all very ’90’s with its fierce drum machine and glittery piano riffs but it’s impossibly catchy and a lovely feel-good track.
8) REM – Man on the Moon
One of alternative-rock band REM’s biggest hits, this track is lyrically a tribute to performer Andy Kaufman.
9) Mumford and Sons – Believe
Upon release, ‘Believe’ marked a musical departure for the band. Best known for their organic, acoustic instrumentation, ‘Believe’ enters a more electric and alternative territory. A gentle, eerie opening develops into a powerful and energetic stadium-rock anthem.
10) Duke Dumont – Ocean Drive
Duke Dumont demonstrates a different side to him as ‘Ocean Drive’ enters a more funky, electropop territory compared to the usual deep-house tracks he produces.
Music Monday – Volume Sixty Four
1) Chris Brown – Your World
Verging slightly on Beiber territory, on paper, this shouldn’t work but it somehow does… It’s easy to see why this didn’t make the main tracklisting for Brown’s album ‘Fortune’ (it only appears as a bonus track on the Japanese edition) – it’s a little on the cheesy side but it’s a pretty little R&B track.
2) Liberty-X – Holding on For You
Slushy pop ballad from one of the UK’s best and most underrated pop groups. A beautiful melody leads the track, lined by tight harmonies and catchy production.
3) Razorlight – America
A song too easily forgotten until its occasional re-play on the airwaves. Gentle dreamy verses escalate into a huge stadium-anthem chorus. Irresistibly catchy; one of the greatest indie-rock songs ever recorded.
4) Rita Ora and Chris Brown – Body On Me
Steamy and sensual R&B track with crashing beats and a rousing chorus. It’s a massive track; another success in both artists’ ever-increasing discography. One of the hottest tracks currently around.
5) Sigala – Easy Love
The song of the summer. Cleverly sampling massive Jackson 5 hit ‘ABC’, it’s a huge dance track full of house-tinged piano riffs and synthesisers mimicking steel pans, not too dissimilar to Duke Dumont’s huge 2014 summer hit ‘I Got U’. It’s impossible for this song not to leave the listener with a huge grin on their face.
6) Stylo G & Gyption – My Number One
Catchy reggae track. Depends on mood for the enjoyment of this one but it’s a great summer song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPoHZ-IifZ0
7) Jess Glynne – You Can Find Me
Brilliant Prince styled track full of punchy percussion, gospel layered vocals, funky bass and 80’s synthesisers. SO good.
8) Galantis – Peanut Butter Jelly
It’s hard to determine if this is meant to be taken seriously or as a novelty track. Either way, it’s an impossibly catchy dance track full of sweeping 60’s styled strings.
9) Robbie Williams – Nan’s Song
Beautiful acoustic ballad which closed Williams’ best album ‘Escapology’. Williams croons about the loss of his grandparent, aching with sincerity. One of very few tracks Williams wrote alone, its a well-written and lovely track.
10) Michael & Janet Jackson – Scream
Aggressive and explosive electro-rock track by two of the Jackson siblings. Both Jacksons more or less spit the lyrics in assertion as they demand the press to “Stop f*****g with me”. The fury in the track is understandable considering it was Michael’s first single release since his 1993 child molestation allegations. Awesome, powerful track.
Music Monday – Volume Sixty One
1) Aqualung ft Lianne La Havas – Eggshells
Haunting piece of electro-pop comprised of eerie synth sounds, soft beats, tinny guitars and fierce piano chords. La Havas’ soulful vocals and Aqualung’s excessively auto-tuned vocals are a surprisingly effective combination.
2) Years & Years – Memo
Stunning electropop ballad which closes Years & Years’ début album. Olly Alexander’s vocal performance is powerful and sincere as it drifts effortlessly over soft hip-hop beats, piano chords and distorted synthesisers.
3) Years & Years – Eyes Shut
Another beautiful gospel-influenced ballad with jazzy chords and soulful vocals from Olly Alexander. One of the highlights from Years & Years’ début album.
4) Years & Years – Ties
Years & Years doing what they do best; a powerful electronic piece with slamming beats, stuttering synths and sincere lyrics.
5) Seal – Kiss From A Rose
One of the most beautiful love songs ever written. Seal’s raspy vocals have a distinctive flare and powerfully soar above sweeping strings and acoustic guitar strums. It’s hard to believe this gorgeous ballad was not initially a success upon its release until it was included in the movie Batman Forever a year later. It’s also a shame Seal hasn’t maintained this level of success – his music is still just as well-written and powerful. One of the most underrated British artists around.
6) The Internet ft Kaytranada – Girl
A rich fusion of neo soul, electro and R&B with gorgeous vocals, shuffling percussion and littered with eerie sounds.
7) The Blue Nile – Sentimental Man
One of the most underrated bands of all time, not aided by their very limited output over a twenty+ year career. Gorgeous track from their 1996 album ‘Peace At Last’.
8) Nothing But Thieves – Trip Switch
LOVE this right now. Explosive track from Essex-born band Nothing But Thieves with a massive chorus. Conor Mason’s robust vocal delivery often drifting into his falsetto range really drives this powerful song.
9) Matthew Morrison & Laura Michelle Kelly – What You Mean To Me
Absolutely stunning ballad composed by Gary Barlow & Eliot Kennedy for the Broadway musical ‘Finding Neverland’. Matthew Morrison & Laura Michelle Kelly is a perfect pairing and their voices gel perfectly on this dreamy duet.
10) The Corrs – What Can I Do
Upon release in early 1998, this song wasn’t a hit until it was remixed by Tin Tin Out who added the punchy percussion and metallic guitar riffs. The remixed version was released in the summer 0f 1998 and became a massive hit. One of the greatest pop songs ever written with a syrupy sweet melody, gorgeous strings, a catchy beat and awesome vocals.
Circa Waves – Young Chasers Album Review
Every now and then, the release of a new album affirms the UK’s continuing affection of the indie scene. Liverpool’s Circa Waves are the latest act to do just this with their début album ‘Young Chasers’. It’s fun, it’s uplifting and a great album, one which will no doubt be the sound blaring from many teenagers’ tinny, portable speakers at the park this summer. A throwback to the indie scene a decade ago, it’s influenced by Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight and the Libertines; an album of youth, enthralling love and boozy Friday nights. Whilst most of the album documents the vertiginous, infinite moments of adolescence, occasionally, frontman Kieran Shudall’s contemplations capture the transition from adolescence to adulthood, professing trepidations such as “I’m a little too young with not enough time”. Refreshingly, producer Dan Grech-Marguerat avoids frolicking around with computer generated sounds and instead focusses on the recording of the band itself, their two guitars, bass and drums.
Part of the album’s success lies in its length. ‘Young Chasers’ avoids being presumptuous and clocks in at forty minutes in length with many of the tracks being just two minutes long. This keeps the album succinct in nature and avoids becoming monotonous.
What ‘Young Chasers’ lacks in innovation, it makes up for in charm and charisma. It’s a fun, festival fuelled album and a very enjoyable listen.
Rating: 4/5.
“Young Chasers” is available now on Universal/Virgin EMI.
Music Monday – Volume Twenty Five
1) Katy Perry – This is how we do
This is so catchy, so cool and such a great, uplifting summer song. One of her best off ‘Prism’ and I’m so glad Katy’s releasing it as a single. Great video too.
2) Tulisa – Young
Whatever you think about Tulisa and N Dubz in general, this remains one heck of a tune. This is uplifting, summery and so damn catchy.
3) Take That – It only takes a minute
A massive guilty pleasure, this was a great interpretation of an old disco classic. Its sound and production has certainly been left in the ’90’s but it still sounds awesome and Take That’s version is perhaps the best loved and most known version. Such a catchy chorus.
4) Take That – Once you’ve tasted love
One of Take That’s most underrated songs of their entire career. It may have been on their début ‘Take That and Party’ which is undoubtedly cheesy and lacks credibility in places but it remains a great, great album. This song is infused with electro-pop influences and it’s just so well written/produced. Big chorus too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTSoPCNLN0U
5) The 1975 – She Way Out
Almost a year later and I’m still just as addicted to The 1975’s début album as I was upon my first listen. ‘She Way Out’ is definitely one of my favourites. It’s repetitive but it’s so damn good, so catchy and has an unbeatable sing-along chorus.
6) Jessie Ware – Tough love
I’ve heard this on the radio for months now and I’ve begun to realise I fall in love with it a little bit more with every listen. It’s soft, understated but remarkably beautiful. So chilled out and a great song.
7) John Mayer – Good love is on the way
A song that’s never appeared on a John Mayer studio album, this has only been included on John’s live albums. It’s an awesome song, however. I love the guitar instrumentation and the lyrics. Very catchy and an awesome tune. Would love a studio version someday.
8) Charlie Simpson – Long road home
I decided to check out Charlie’s new album the other day and was pleasantly surprised. Every song was beautifully written with smooth harmonies and heartfelt lyrics. This is the opening track to Charlie’s second album and it’s a killer opening. Awesome tune.
9) Charlie Simpson – Hold On
Smooth, fluttering harmonies and gorgeous lyrics. Love the guitars in this and the feel of the song in general. Incredibly beautiful.
10) Madonna – Don’t tell me
One of Madonna’s best, I particularly love the stutter-y production on this. It’s smooth, low-key and very summery. I loved Madonna’s music of this era – the country themed songs and minimalistic production.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRLHro9EPD0
Music Monday – Volume Twenty Four
1) Mark Owen – Stars
Mark Owen’s solo career is massively underrated. All of his four solo albums have been fantastic but have achieved only moderate success. 2013’s ‘The Art of Doing Nothing’ is probably his best and lead single ‘Stars’ is a masterpiece. Unusual chord structure, electronic sounding, fantastic instrumentation, beautiful vocals and thoughtful lyrics. SO good.
2) Mark Owen – Giveaway
The opening track to ‘The Art of Doing Nothing’. Haunting introduction, Mark’s echoing vocals and a fine way to open the album, building into a catchy track.
3) Demi Lovato – World of chances
I discovered John Mayer had co-written this song with Demi for her 2009 album so decided to check it out. It’s a beautiful song and I can hear both artist’s influences stamped all over it. Such a great track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC3oCfh57BA
4) Republic of Loose – Comeback Girl
Catchy as hell with minimalistic instrumentation. Great summer track.
5) Take That – When we were young
Beautiful song that deserved to fare better in the UK singles chart. A song that returned Take That back to their pop-rock style after the whirlwind that was 2010’s ‘Progress’, it’s warm, heartfelt and beautifully performed.
6) Take That – Happy Now
One of my all time favourite Take That songs and one of the best from their career. An amazing backing track from Gary Barlow with paranoid, robotic and dark verses before a disco, Bee-Gee-esque chorus that’s catchy as hell. It’s an incredible piece of electro-pop with well-written lyrics and the blend of the dark verses with the optimistic, catchy chorus works fanatically and makes it stand out amongst other songs of a similar genre.
7) Take That – What do you want from me
Haunting, heartfelt and emotional. Mark Owen puts his heart and soul into this and Stuart Price’s production is incredible. Awesome song.
8) Michael Jackson – Scared of the moon
Out-take from the ‘Bad’ album which appeared on the 2005 box set; ‘The Ultimate Collection’. It’s simple with just Michael’s voice, a piano and strings but it is absolutely stunning. Michael & Quincy Jones were right to leave it off ‘Bad’ as it simply wouldn’t have fit but it’s an incredibly beautiful song nonetheless.
9) John Mayer/Lawson – Gravity
John Mayer’s signature tune, this is absolute perfection. Silky smooth, Blues-infused and with minimal but heartfelt lyrics. It’s a song John tried to write for a long time before finally getting it right. Lawson are one of my favourite bands who also admire John. They have performed a cover of this song a couple of times, both live in concert and on a live-stream. Their cover is absolutely beautiful so I am including it below too.
10) John Mayer – Wheel
Understated, soft closing track to 2003’s ‘Heavier Things’. It’s a beautiful song with fantastically written lyrics and it has the ability to leave you heartbroken. Gorgeous track and the perfect way to end an album.
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