2011年 Sep 11日 Sunday, 18:55

Pixie Lott – All About Tonight (6-9-2011, UK)
Pixie Lott broke through in 2009 when her first single 'Mama Do' hit the first spot of the British charts. Since that moment she scored five other consecutive top 20 hits. And I guess her new single, ‘All About Tonight’ will make that six and probably will end up on the first spot (edit: I wrote that before she actually reached the first spot). The song has got ‘hit’ written all over it. It’s a contemporary pop/dance song with cheeky lyrics about going out to a party and forgetting her ex-boyfriend (‘Grab someone if you’re single, grab someone if you’re not, it’s all about tonight’). Pixie is definitely following the trend with this instead of setting it, but I’ll forgive her that. It’s not as good as ‘Mama Do’ or ‘Cry Me Out’, but ‘All About Tonight’ is an enjoyable piece of pop with a catchy chorus and perfectly suitable when preparing for a night out. It will probably do well in the UK and it may even be her second Europe-wide hit single.
8/10

Nicola Roberts – Lucky Day (18-9-2011, UK)
For me, (ex-)Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts’ ‘Cinderella's Eyes'-album is one of the most anticipated records of the year. I love everything she has done so far. Even the ‘Beat Of My Drum' b-side ‘Disco Blisters & A Comedown' was brilliant. And things didn’t really change with her new single ‘Lucky Day’. It’s a very good pop track that always puts a smile on my face when I hear it. The style of the song reminds me a bit of Kylie Minogue, but Nicola has a unique voice that really adds something authentic to her music. I also love the fact that she (co-)writes her own songs. If you compare ‘Lucky Day’ to ‘Beat Of My Drum’, the first is a bit more radio friendly, so I guess her new single has better chances for success in the charts. Although ‘Beat Of My Drum’ also deserved to be a smash hit. Nicola brings something fresh to the British music scene with her own style and unique voice and I hope she will do very well in the charts from now on.
8+/10

Florence + The Machine – What The Water Gave Me (23-8-2011, UK)
Florence + The Machine are finally back with a new single after their very successful debut album ‘Lungs’. Their new single is called ‘What The Water Gave Me’ and it’s basically the perfect first single for a second album. They continue with the sound that made them so popular, but ‘What The Water Gave Me’ is certainly not a copy of the ‘Lungs’-singles. It’s something more like a progression actually. Of course Florence’s powerful voice is a central element again and the harp, that was a main characteristic on ‘Lungs’, plays its part. Other than that the song sounds somewhat more heavy and dark than her previous singles (some of her albumtracks were quite dark too with cutting hearts out and stuff), both lyrically and instrumentally and that makes the song very interesting. I love the references Florence makes in the lyrics to author Virginia Woolf (‘Pockets full of stones’, referring to Virginia committing suicide by drowning herself in a river with stones in her pockets) and painter Frida Kahlo (‘What The Water Gave Me’ is the title of one of her paintings). The structure of the song is really strong as well. The song starts out relatively calm and slowly builds up to a more powerful sound concluding with Florence showing off her amazing voice. Throughout the whole song the lines ‘Lay me down, let the only sound be the overflow, pockets full of stones’ get repeated in the same structure (first calmly, later more powerful) and these lines most of all make the song for me and stay in my head. Overall, the song is atmospheric, haunting, dark, but at the same time catchy and refreshing. I haven’t decided yet if I like it better than ‘Cosmic Love', my favourite Florence song, but it definitely comes close!
8,5/10

Olly Murs – Heart Skips A Beat (feat. Rizzle Kicks) (19-8-2011)
I’ve never really been a big fan of Olly Murs. I liked him on X-factor, but Joe McElderry was definitely my favourite. Although I liked his first single, 'Please Don't Let Me Go', my interest in his music was over after the second single, ‘Thinking Of Me', which didn’t do much for me. But I was pleasantly surprised when I heard his new single ‘Heart Skips A Beat’. It’s catchy, it’s danceable and has a very good vibe overall. It sounds like summer! This song manages to put a smile on my face every time I hear it. And also important, this song sounds fresh. I couldn’t think of another song on the radio right now that sounds the same as ‘Heart Skips A Beat’. Like many other artists Olly gets some help from rappers. Rizzle Kicks rap a verse and that works well with the song. I’m curious to see if the rest of his second album will be more remarkable than his first.
8/10

The Saturdays – All Fired Up (UK, 6-9-2011)
Even though I like the Saturdays a lot, they never really impressed me with a single or album. I like most of their songs but I never get a ‘wow’-feeling from them, except from the single ‘Up’, which I love. But I have to admit they had my full attention when I first heard ‘Notorious’. It sounded different from their previous work and I liked the dance style. New single ‘All Fired Up’ continues the dance-trend and in a better way than ‘Notorious’ did. ‘All Fired Up’ is an up-tempo song with a killer chorus, something ‘Notorious’ lacked. The song is a bit repetitive, but that doesn’t bother me because the repeated parts are the best parts. I love the ‘DJ blow my mind’ sentences and the moment where the chorus explodes with ‘All fired up I feel alive’ is great. Would love to dance to this in a club. If the Saturdays continue this style I’ll probably love their new album!
8/10

Part 2 is coming soon and will feature new releases from Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, JoJo, Tove Styrke and more!