This week's 'Track of the Week' come from a singer who has been absent from the charts in his homeland, the UK, for a while but has had success around the world, has recently been seen as a judge on X Factor - Italy, and if there's any justice in the world he should get some mainstream recognition for this song. The singer is question is Mika with 'Last Party'.
Last seen in the UK charts 6 years ago with 'We Are Golden', Mika is back this summer with a new album, 'No Place in Heaven', and our 'Track of the Week' is the first release from it. Gone are the cartoonish images and glass-shattering falsetto's of former pop glories 'Grace Kelly' and 'Relax, Take it Easy', replaced with a much more plaintive and soul-searching sound. Simple piano backing works beautifully with Mika's more delicate delivery, a real sense of melancholy haunts this song:
"If you could look into the future, would ya?
If you could see it, would you even want to?
Got a feeling there's bad news coming,
But I don't want to find out."
Midway through some staccato violins join the party for added drama, but the star of the show is Mika's voice, showing light and shade we haven't heard before he shows he isn't just all about shiny pop hooks, he can break your heart too. In my opinion he hasn't sounded this good since, 'Happy Ending'.
'No Place in Heaven'is out in the UK on June 22nd with 'Last Party' as an instant grat track if you pre-order. Take a listen to our 'Track of the Week' Mika's 'Last Party'.
This week we bring together a squeaky-clean pop princess and the reigning king of commercial dance music, our musical mashup marriage this week is Carly Rae Jepsen and Calvin Harris.
Carly is (yet another) product of TV talent shows, in this instance 'Canadian Idol' and, unless you've been in a coma for the past few years you will know her from her earworm of a breakthrough single 'Call Me Maybe' which nearly blew up the planet itself it was that popular! Since that huge smash of a record her careers have weaved through genres in attempt to replicate the initial success, she's flirted with dancier material on 'Good Time' (a duet with Owl City) and 'Tonight I'm Getting Over You', and more MOR material, such as 'Curiosity', to varying degrees of success. However, she has recently made a return to the upper echelons of pop with the catchy, 80's-influenced 'I Really Like You' (I'm not sure I've ever hear so many uses of the word 'really' in one chorus before!).
Calvin Harris has come a long way since being born Adam Wiles in Dumfries, Scotland, he's been the world's highest paid DJ for the last two years, has released 4 massive hit albums and worked with some of pops biggest names. He holds the record for the most UK top 10 singles from one album, an incredible 9 from the album '18 Months' (including the epic 'Bounce' featuring Kelis and 'I Need Your Love' featuring Ellie Goulding) and has had 3 #1 dance hits in the USA.
The two tracks in our featured mashup this week are the aforementioned international smash 'I Really Like You' and Harris' 'Outside' (originally featuring Ellie Goulding again). The synths and flamenoc guitars of Calvin's production work really well with the sweetness of Carly's voice and as THAT chorus kicks in the dance quota starts to rise and the perfectly timed drop at the end of the chorus emphasises the burst of euphoric synths that gatecrash your ears a second later.
It, somehow, works REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY REALLY well!
We featured Jenn in our first week of blogging as the inaugural '(this should be more) POPular', she's a star on the rise, her debut EP, 'Lapse of Time', is an absolute corker and you should check it out right now if not sooner! So we thought we'd get in before she blows up and hits the big time...
Pop is Not the Enemy: Hi Jenn, thanks for agreeing to answer some questions for us, we love your EP at PINTE HQ, but for those who haven't heard your tracks (fools) how would you describe your sound and who has influenced you as an artist?
Jennifer Davies: Hey! I would say I strive to make thought-provoking, imaginative pop music. I take influences from all kinds of artists, I heavily connect with the the punk aesthetic. I loved that era and the fact that it was so easy to form a band and it had so much rebellious energy. I love strong female artists like Debbie Harry, Karen O, Gwen Stefani, Goldfrapp, Robyn, Bjork and Shirley from Garbage.
PINTE: You released your debut EP 'Lapse of Time' for free last year, what was the motivation behind a free release?
JD: I just wanted it to be a taste of what's to come, a
chance for people to get a little snapshot into what I'm about as an artist.
PINTE: Do you feel music releases need to adapt to the 21st century?
JD: I think music is in a very weird place right now and I can't say I like it. I feel there is a lack of support for new talent and it feels like you're supposed to be this complete package right from the off. That works out for some but others need time to develop without pressure. Some of my all-time favourite artists had failed first albums. I just feel like with the attitude some labels have currently those artists wouldn't get a chance to do a second one with the way the industry is currently.
PINTE: You're playing the Sound City festival in your hometown of Liverpool this month and recently supported The Wombats at their homecoming gig, how does it feel to be playing 'Lapse of Time' live?
JD: I absolutely can't wait for Sound City! The Wombat's support slot was so much fun, it was incredible to play to such an amazing crowd. Tord (The Wombats) co-wrote my EP with me and he managed to sneak out and watch my set from the crows wearing a big hoody haha!
PINTE: Do you have any plans to do more gigs around the country?
JD: I would definitely like to do more, it's my favourite part of it all,
PINTE: You have worked with up-and-coming fashion designer Nabil Nayal, how did this collaboration come about and can you see the two of you continuing to work together in the future?
JD: We were introduced by my dear friend Maxx Peter who directed all the videos for the EP. We see ourselves as a little collective and help each other out wherever possible. They both inspire me hugely and are two of my best friends. I think it's that trust and honesty, that friendship that helps us work so well together. I'm very grateful to them both for all they do.
PINTE: You've been through a few incarnations in the music industry, including singing lead vocals in alt-pop band Soft Toy Emergency and releasing material under the name Vela. Do things feel different this time?
JD: Yes, because I feel 100% me now. I used to be a real people pleaser, but I've realised that first and foremost you have to be true to yourself. I've found this whole project extremely liberating. I follow my gut instinct and when something isn't quite sitting right with me I face it head on.
PINTE: The video for 'Silhouette' showcase some impressive moves, have you had much experience with dance?
JD: I've always loved to dance but had no formal training. I've never even attempted contemporary dance before so that video was a real challenge. We worked with a French choreographer living in Birmingham that we found on YouTube. He was an amazing person and really pushed me in rehearsals! I was covered in bruises from all the lifts...and a couple of falls, haha!
PINTE: Stylistically the tracks on 'Lapse of Time' are quite different, if you had to choose a favourite which would it be and why?
JD: 'Choke' because it's the most persona and honest song I've ever written.
PINTE: So, what's next for you? Can we expect new material in the near future, maybe even an album?
JD: Yes to new music in the near future and I've already started work on my album!
PINTE: Jenn, thanks so much for talking to us, good luck with the Sound City gig and can't wait to hear the album!
JD: Thanks so much for the great questions,
The 'Lapse of Time' EP is available through Jenn's website www.jenniferdavies.co.uk and it's bloody brilliant!
You know that thing when you hear a song and you can't believe it hasn't been a massive hit? Yeah, that...
This week's hidden gem comes from a British popstar who flirted with the mainstream early on in her career but has since taken a more independent path as her music has developed.
Little Boots (Victoria Hesketh) is a electropop pixie from Blackpool who more than know's her way around a bloody good pop song. An ex member and lead singer of the now-defunct electropunk band Dead Disco (responsible for the rather wonderful 'Automatic') she went solo in 2007 and started to upload original songs and covers to Myspace and YouTube. In just over a year she had enough material for an album and started to work with producer Greg Kurstin. The fruit of their labours was the album 'Hands' which was home to her first single 'New in Town', pop masterpiece (co-written and produced by RedOne nonetheless) 'Remedy' and the criminally underrated 'Earthquake'. (Also check out the glorious cross-generational duet with the Human League's Phil Oakey 'Symmetry', what a tune!)
'Hands' was a moderate success but despite this, winning the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and being nominated for the BRIT's Critic's Choice award Little Boots didn't managed the mainstream success her material deserved.
Little Boots retreated from the limelight, parted ways with her record label and set up her own, On Repeat Records, through which she released her sophomore album 'Nocturnes' in 2013. Less mainstream pop and more dance-influenced her second album contained the old school house-inflected 'Shake', a 6 minute monster of a tune, the Pet Shop Boys-esque 'Every Night I Say a Prayer', 'Broken Record' and the gorgeously euphoric 'Satellite'.
Last year Little Boots returned to the pop landscape with her latest EP 'Business Pleasure' and this is home to our featured track this week, the rather superb 'Taste It'
A prowling bassline and stuttering beats work well alongside Little Boots' pop vocal (those 'la la la's' are such an earworm. Much more sparse and challenging than her previous material it was probably never going to be a massive chart smash, but it's great to hear Little Boots making the music she so obviously wants to, damn convention and what is successful in the charts right now.
"Just to taste it, you want it,
No questions, no drama,
There's a chink in your armour.
And you cannot be broken,
You're a drop in the ocean,
Now the wheels are in motion."
Also, can we just have a moment for the random, bizarre and 80's-tastic video - Little Boots suits being a power-suited bitch!
This makes me very excited for the upcoming 3rd album, 'Working Girl', scheduled for release in July.
For Throwback Thursday every week we're going to shine our poplight on a stone cold classic.
This week's 'Throwback Thursday' is a quality tune from a massively under appreciated album that never even received a release in the UK, although it was a big hit on the dance charts in the USA. I'm talking about something from this little lady...
It is indeed Roisin Murphy (yes, 'er off of Moloko, if you must!). With a new album out next week, the deliciously titled 'Hairless Toys', and a tour kicking off in Manchester next Tuesday I thought I'd shine a light on a pop masterpiece from her second album, 2007's 'Overpowered' (also home to the rather wonderful 'You Know Me Better' and 'Let Me Know'). However, the song in question for this article is the cocking brilliant 'Movie Star'!
Kicking off with a tasty, delicious buzzing bassline the pumping beats soon crash in and then we get Roisin's gorgeous smoky vocal, the falsetto section before the chorus is just bliss! And while we're talking about it, what a chorus - that high hat is so infectious! Witty, barbed lyrics paint a picture of an ambitious starlet who is willing to do pretty much anything to 'break into cinema':
"So he's a headstrong guy and perhaps I shouldn't listen,
There's a million girls wanna be in my position.
And if he tells me lies I'll suspend my disbelieving,
I'll leave it all behind, I ain't asking for permission."
It's tongue in cheek, sharp and utterly catchy from the get go. There are echoes of 'Supernature'-era Goldfrapp in this, possibly Roisin's poppiest solo moment, but it sticks in your head on it's own merits. Backed by a truly amazing cover of Bryan Ferry's 'Slave to Love' it really was a stand out track from the album, which is no easy thing on an album of this caliber). Also, I need to just pay service to the brilliant video, it's campy and hilarious with more than a few nods to the high camp of John Waters (in particular the Divine lookalike) and Roisin's mother being played by DJ and drag queen extraordinaire Jodie Harsh - obviously!
HOW WAS THIS NOT A MASSIVE HIT SINGLE?!?!?!?
I'm going to lie down before I burst a blood vessel.
This week's track of the week is a slinky guitar-led pop tune of the highest order from a popstar who, after a few false starts, is starting to make moves towards breaking through. This week's track is 'Bad Dream' by Chloe Howl.
Signed to Colombia Records when she was 16 Chloe released her debut EP 'Rumours' in 2013 home to first single 'No Strings' (a REALLY good slice of pop dripping with 'fuck you' attitude) that also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie 'Kick Ass 2'. Next came a moment of pure pop that should have been a massive breakthrough (let's not dwell on the fact it only reached the heady heights of number 184 in the UK charts - what is wrong with people??). 'Paper Heart' is a juggernaut of a tune with it's buzzy bassline and the lovely interplay between Chloe's usual nonchalant delivery and the glorious shiny topline. She was nominated for the BBC Sound 2013 poll and was also in the running for the BRIT's Critic's Choice award the same year, although she missed out to some bloke called Sam Smith. In 2014 she followed up with a one-two of darker pop; 'Rumour', all squelchy basslines and fizzy beats with a BIG chorus and lyrics from the 'Mean Girls' songbook, and 'Disappointed' with chugging guitars and a beautifully bitter chorus.
This now brings us up to date and with an album planned for release later this year Chloe is back with the sublime 'Bad Dream'.
Starting with an instantly catchy guitar riff it soon adds slinky beats and staccato strings, Chloe's vocal sounds more sultry than ever before due to some nifty filter work on the verses. This leads beautifully into a simple and underplayed chorus that floats above the darker content of thenverses. The lyrics paint a bleak picture of someone stuck in a mundane everyday life that won't let them go:
"You got mouths to feed,
You got a rep to keep,
But no one understands,
You can't see dry land."
'Bad Dream' has a real retro feel, the guitars have a distinctly 60's flavour to them, more than a passing air of film noir or spy thriller. So why not take a listen to this week's 'Track of the Week', 'Bad Dream' by Chloe Howl?
(Unfortunately there's no official video yet, only an audio file on YouTube.)
Bloody lovely, and fingers crossed that Chloe now starts to get the attention she deserves!
For our next featured mashup we're featuring an artist we've talked about a lot on Pop is Not the Enemy, Sia, and arguably one of the most globally popular British artists at the moment, Ellie Goulding.
'Burn', Goulding's first number 1 single in the UK, showed her stretching her pop wings and making possibly her most poptastic moment to date (although that may have now been beaten by the sublime 'Love Me Like You Do') and it reaped major rewards internationally. I don't really need to say anything about 'Chandelier' by Sia, if you can't recite most of the lyrics to this and know it instantly from it's stuttering opening beats you've obviously been living under a rock. In my humble opinion it is one of the finest pop singles of the last 10 years and it signaled the birth of Sia as a worldwide popstar on her own terms.
The eerie synths in the opening verse perfectly compliment Ellie's feather-light vocal delivery, then the backing soars as the chorus kicks in - perfect timing! It's a winning combination of the darkness of Sia with the light of Ellie Goulding, and it sounds pretty damn good!
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