I definitely didn’t see this coming. You never know who is connecting with who in this busy music biz. Belgium’s Lost Frequencies (Felix De Laet) is back after his wonderful single earlier in the year with Flynn called “Recognise” (and its gazillion remixes) to preview his upcoming album Alive And Feeling Fine with “Black & Blue”. It’s definitely a softer offering for the producer who somehow has paired with a current fave of mine, Nashville singer/songwriter Mokita – first R3HAB and now Lost Frequencies! Mokita’s delicate vocal glides over the acoustic guitar and its soulful melody. These guys make it sound so easy together! “Black & Blue” should definitely be pitched to pop and dance radio stations as a sophisticated-sounding release that goes down so easily.
Last year, RetroVision (aka Mathieu Arnaud) brought us one of the most-played highlights of the year with “Get Down”, his fun homage to the UK and dance smash “Lola’s Theme”. This year, “Take Off” should be a real crowd-pleaser at clubs and at festivals. Like “Get Down”, it doesn’t hold anything back as a brisk 3 minute + ride featuring trance-y sounding synths, effectively pitched-up vocals, soulful screams, and key pauses that make you wait for the synths and beats to come and conquer again. Keep warm by dancing your way through Fall with “Take Off”.
Shanghai-based producer/DJ Carta is Asia’s #1 DJ at only 23 years old, and “Your Love” is foot-stomping dance bop that will keep you pumped through the Fall festival season. Carta definitely plays on a familiar formula as the basis for “Your Love”, having some fun with sonic adjustments along the way. “Your Love” is one of those songs you’ll hear and remember because it begs for colourful flashy lights amid a frenzied crowd of club-goers. I’ll be happy to wait for an extended remix of this one!
Rounding out September and as we sail into the Autumn months, I’m definitely one guy who isn’t looking for dreary, downtempo music. And as such, the top of the new chart stays the same – at least the Top 3. Gradual change is afoot, which means that songs on the rise outside of the Top 10 will soon make their presence felt. Four new entries by artists who have all previously appeared on the chart also make it interesting!
So it’s the mesmerizing pulse of “Push” (above) by Ukrainian dance group Kazaky that continues up top for a third appearance (six weeks), and I still cannot endorse its amazingly choreographed video enough! “Higher Love” by Whitney Houston in a Kygo reboot remains at #2, while L.A. producer Eric Sharp and vocalist Zhao also stay put at #3 with the cool house of “Monday Blues”.
The power of Avicii continues as “Tough Love” (above), featuring Agnes and Vargas & Lagola, climbs 5-4.
My fellow Canadians Loud Luxury arrive in the Top 5 moving up 8-5 with “I’m Not Alright”. Featuring Bryce Vine on vocals, the lads had a great appearance with James Corden last week, above.
New to the Top 10 are Simon Curtis’ “Graduate” (13-9, above), with one of Simon’s finest vocals in recent years – it’s only Simon’s 17th appearance in the Top 10 as lead or featured act!! – as well as the power trio of producers Ken Summit and Eric Kupper with vocalist Amy Douglas for the bassy 90’s house of “Give Me Love” (12-10, below).
Looking to make inroads in the Top 10 next week is “Like Like” by UK indie singer/songwriter Lostchild, currently on a brief tour in the US. The brilliantly fun OKJAMES remix soars 19-11 (above, video of its original version below).
Australian singer Peter Wilson is looking splendid on the chart in the Stormby edit of “Don’t Break My Heart” which rises 22-16.
Right behind are the hedonism delights of “Poolside Vibe” (above) by Pretty Sister and MarcLo, gliding 24-17. The prolific pair of producers renown have since released two similarly-themed tunes, “New Fire” and “Tequila” (both below) which you should check out to keep the summer vibes going.
UK singer/songwriter Benedict Cork breaks into the Top 20 with his fabulous voice in “Breaking Hearts” (27-20).
Not far behind, The Knocks and Kah-Lo’s ode to everything positive, “Awa Ni” (above), moves up 28-22, while NYC-based producers and brothers Anden climb 29-23 with “Flicker” (also above), totally tailored for the NYC nightlife.
Leading the four new entries is the more-than-dynamic pairing of talents from completely different decades who sound so natural together. Reminiscent of Pet Shop Boys’ own previous meet up with Dusty Springfield is the new connection to Years & Years in “Dreamland”, which bows at #21. I can’t be more excited to hear what PSB and Y&Y might continue to concoct together. “Dreamland” is an amazing start! It’s Years & Years’ 8th chart entry.
MAX returns to the chart after the #4 success of “Love Me Less” (now available in various remixes and also featuring one with Kim Petras) with the enticing “Acid Dreams”, featuring rapper Felly, bowing at #24. Check out the colourful, eye-popping video above, which also features MAX’s wife Emily. It’s MAX’s 8th chart entry, too.
Toronto’s Ryan Shepherd is back with his third chart entry and the slick house of “Who’s Gonna Love U”, which features singer/songwriter Heather Janssen. It arrives at #26.
After scoring a #1 Billboard Dance Club Play chart entry with Vassy called “Concrete Heart” not long ago, Nick and Danny, aka The Disco Fries, land on the chart with their retooling of Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair” at #27. It’s fast, furious and fun!
View the full BILLCS Top 30right here! Click on the hyperlink on the song titles to hear the songs or watch the videos!
Listen to the BILLCS Top 30 Songs on Spotify! Click on this link to take you there, and follow me on Spotify:BILLCS Top 30 Songs
Aside from remixes, an original Chet Porter release is becoming an event in the electronic and dance music genres. So a few weeks back, social media was all abuzz about “The Longest Day Ever”, the talented Canadian producer’s first release in about three years. Like when you first heard the music of Porter Robinson and Illenium, you’ll find that Chet’s music is both innovative and challenging. He seems to find that place in-between genres and fills a void that you didn’t even know was there. “The Longest Day Ever” is progressive electronica, essentially an instrumental with a classical-styled melody. When not basking in that melody, Chet fuels some big beats with powerful synth rhythms which will be head-turners at festivals and in clubs. Set your emotions to ‘open’ because “The Longest Day Ever” takes you on a 5 minute ride that you will hope will continue in some shape or form. I don’t think it will be another three years, so let’s listen for what Chet will bring us next.
After a couple of quieter, perhaps more experimental singles, L.A. singer/songwriter Molly Moore has turned her talents towards a sultry, soulful side that we haven’t seen too much with “London”. I’m sure this song was inspired by a recent trip to that city, and sometimes with new places come new perspectives. “London” also taps into classic jazz influences that we’ve previously heard, making it a standout release in her growing catalogue of recordings. If you like Jessie Ware, Dusty Springfield, or Lisa Stansfield, then be sure to add “London” to a similar playlist. Hint: A 4 or 5 song EP in this style would be more than welcome!!
Scotland’s Ben Davidson has one of those captivating voices that will alternately make an uptempo song more vibrant or let a softer song make you melt.
Ben recently released the single “Anything” for Energise Records, but in its original mix I find his vocal doesn’t so much go hand-in-hand with the production’s additional layers of sparkle. In its remix by Handbag House, “Anything” is so well suited for the deep house genre that you would think it was the original mix. Like with Sam Dickinson’s “Wild Sun” last year, Handbag House offers a solid alternative for dance clubs to relish.
While Ben co-wrote “Anything”, it and “In The Rain” were co-written by Dan Scholes, a veteran British producer who also records as DSM. Instead of Ben, “In The Rain” was co-written with Canadian Kim Williams, and it’s an independent release that puts Ben into more-than-comfortable ballad territory, which invokes a story of a past relationship and being constantly haunted by the anguish some memories can cause. DSM and Ben are so in tune together, making “In The Rain” a stylish and memorable treat for those who like softer music with a great voice to lead the way.
After touring the hell out of North America for more than the last year, US progressive electronic producer Elephante (aka Tim Wu) has still found time to make more new music. To follow up his 2018 release Glass Mansion, Elephante brings us “Diamond Days”. And with this release, he has offered up his own quite pleasing voice to sing the song. It’s a downright lovely and reflective song, much more personal-sounding than some of his other recent songs which have been sung by powerhouse singers which took them to another level, especially the dance music radio hit “The In-Between”. “Diamond Days” brings the intensity down a few notches in the vocal department, but it’s compensated by some big beats and rich electronics that transform the song after its chorus. It’s quite refreshing and will make you recall when you first heard one of his very best known songs, “Closer”, more than three years ago. Elephante continues to surprise with each of his releases, but I’ll take a few more like “Diamond Days”, thank you.
Now based out of Los Angeles, British electronic performer Frankmusik, written about much in these blog pages over the years, returns with his first new solo music in two years called “Do What”. This one could be an extension and update of some of Vincent Frank’s best known music from 2013’s Between album, such as, “Captain”, “Map” or “Cake”. He now may have stepped aside from his highly personal and melodic independent releases of the past few years, “AW17”, “Daybreak” and “For You”, in favour of returning to dance music. “Do What” is definitely a welcome reboot, with Vince playing with and distorting his own wonderful voice to interesting effect. The rhythm is carried by consistently punchy house beats and piano riffs which will sound perfect in clubs. And the pitched-up vocal near the end definitely provides the whacked-out feel of the earlier songs mentioned above without being as frenetic. I’m hoping that this new amusing and entertaining Frankmusik sound in “Do What” is back to stay!
Vedado is Atlanta duo Ralf Popescu – aka electronic producer Popeska, making a return to the music scene after a lengthy absence – and Matt Petters, two friends who first started writing together 5 years ago, and are now committing music to recording with their debut single “Messing Around”. It’s got a tight pop/rock sound thanks to the surprising ample presence of electric guitar, which carries the song’s melody all the way through, and lets synths and other instruments play second fiddle to flesh it all out. To be honest I’m not sure what the song is all about and yeah, perhaps the guys aren’t 100% on the mark with the vocal. But it’s an infectious song that definitely gives you what Vedado hoped – a fun, light-hearted, collaborative vibe. And who could knock them for that?
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