Tag: NAO

Music Monday – Volume Ninety

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1) Zayn – It’s You

We know this has been featured before but we’re including the studio version this time. Stunning downtempo R&B track which utilises a minimalistic feel. Zayn’s gentle flasetto soars over fluttering synths and wailing guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Yvhblizmo

2) Bring me the Horizon – Follow You

Moody and powerful alternative-rock track with a huge chorus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uplb2OtGapc

3) Corrine Bailey Rae – Been To The Moon

Innovative neo-soul track which utilises jazzy guitars, twinkling keys and sonic elements. It’s electro verses evolve into a breezy chorus which mirror ’70’s soul.

4) NAO – Fool To Love

Another brilliant neo-soul/alt-R&B track from East Londoner Nao. Her vocals glide over industrious synthesisers and hip-hop beats, resulting in a chilled-out track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RX2xi2WSvo

5) Ratboy – Move

Brilliant hip-hop/indie rock fusion with an incessantly catchy chorus. It does remind us somewhat of another song, however… *ahem The Beastie Boys’ ‘Body Movin’…*

6) Riton – Rinse & Repeat

Punchy bass lines, house beats and Azaelia Banks-influenced vocals drive this huge club smash.

7) BB Diamond – Feeling

Reminiscent of 90’s house with synthetic piano riffs and sweet vocals, this disco influenced club track is both uplifting and brilliant.

8) The Knocks – The Key

Catchy electro-track featuring elements of soul and rap. Comprised of funky bass lines, squeaky synths and slick vocals, this is underrated perfection.

9) The 1975 – If I Believe you

We’ve wanted to include lots of material from The 1975’s latest album for a while but we’re waiting for it to appear on Spotify! We had to include this track, however so here’s a recent live version which is loyal to the studio one. Stunning and accomplished biblical track on which Matt Healy searches for and beseeches a higher power to curb his loneliness. It channels Prince and D’angelo, utilising organic percussion, spine-tingling gospel choir vocals, eerie electro elements and an understated horn solo to create the best track The 1975 have ever done. [Read our review of their latest album here.]

10) Gallant – Bourborn

Stunning alt-R&B track from American singer-songwriter Christopher Gallant, under his stage name Bourborn. Syrupy vocals, including a stunning falsetto, coat dreamy 80’s-influenced synthpop instrumentation.

 

January Mixtape

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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 Eighty One

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Music Monday is our weekly feature which showcases the hottest tracks in the world right now.

1) Wretch 32 ft Anne Marie and PRGRSHN – Alright With Me

Wretch 32’s commercial crossover is a triumph. Anne-Marie showcases her powerful vocals on an impossibly catchy hook whilst Wretch 32’s rap is refreshingly clear.

2) Babyface – We’ve Got Love

Whilst Babyface is an artist in his own right, he is also the songwriter behind many huge hits by the likes of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown and Beyonce. ‘We’ve Got Love’ is his latest single, a catchy & uplifting R&B track with elements of new-jack swing. It’s a song which is bound to fall beyond the radar commercially but it’s one of the best R&B tracks in years.

3) NAO – Bad Blood

Slick and soulful vocals coat an eerie electro track with reverberating vocal samples. Nao is an up and coming British singer-songwriter from East London with a sound best described as ‘neo-soul with electronic’.

4) Grace Feat. G-Eazy – You Don’t Own Me

Whilst it’s still not a patch on the original by Lesley Gore back in 1963 , Grace & G-Eazy’s modernised interpretation is enjoyable. Produced by legend Quincy Jones (best known for his work on Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’, ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad’ albums), G-Eazy’s rap and hip-hop beats bring the track into the 21st century.

5) Liss – Try

Danish band Liss perform a perfect spin on Pop music on the incessantly catchy ‘Try’. Abundant with broken vocal samples and tropical house-influenced synths, it’s a fun throwback to 80’s synthpop.

6) The 1975 – Ugh!

The 1975 perform their best Prince initiation on this R&B-Rock jam. Featuring heavily auto-tuned vocals, tinny guitars, luscious layered harmonies and rubbery bass-lines, it’s absolutely brilliant & fuses 80’s & 90’s music together perfectly.

7) Fleur East – Sax

Energetic and bouncy dance-pop track with funky guitar riffs and brilliant use of brass instruments. Whilst it’s been on the radio airwaves for weeks now, it’s still as hot as it was on its première.

8) WSTRN – In2

‘In2’ is West-London trio WSTRN’s début single; an R&B/Hip hop track with moody guitar riffs and an irresistibly catchy hook.

9) 99 Souls – The Girl Is Mine

99 Souls cleverly fuse two huge R&B tracks, Brandy & Monica’s ‘The Boy Is Mine’ and Destiny’s Child’s ‘Girl’ into a funky house track which is bound to become a huge club hit.

10) The Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir – A Bridge Over You

A strange inclusion on this edition, perhaps but in a chart so dominated by over-produced music, it’s refreshing to hear music in its simplistic form. Unaltered vocals accompanied only by a piano result in a gorgeous mash-up of Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’. And of course it’s for a brilliant cause.