Gentle and reflective “Vice” is new from Australia-based indie singer/songwriter @Vincent_Pine

https://soundcloud.com/vincent_pine/vice

VINCENT PINE, “Vice”

I wrote about “Perfectly Familiar”, the debut release by Australia-based indie singer/songwriter Vincent Pine earlier this year, and it threw me back to the late 80’s and early 90’s and some wonderful songs of a similar fashion which came out of Britain at the time (the artist is originally from the UK).  With his rich and deep vocal, fine song structure, and production here which saves the best for last, Vincent’s guitar-based songs are well-suited to fans of Classic Rock, Folk, and Americana genres.  “Vice” is a gentle and reflective song where a familiar story unfolds and at around the 3 minute mark the song rocks out nicely in a way that would be perfectly suited to a live performance.  The music of Vincent Pine may seem to be very unassuming but it’s certainly convincing and well worth hearing as his style and songwriting develops.  

#BILLCSTop30 #536 – May 28/18

Some recent favourites give way to new ones in a particularly competitive Top 10, and there are three debuts.  

The Top 10

  • It’s French producer Mercer who gets to #1 in his first appearance on this chart with the rollicking “Satisfy”, featuring a terrific vocal by Chicago’s Ron Carroll.  There’s no wonder why the best DJ’s were playing this one back at Miami Music Week, where I first heard it.

  • Last week’s songs 4 through 8 each move up a notch. About songs 3 through 5:
    • Also prevalent at Miami Music Week was MK whose “17” (above, up 4 to 3) was a Top 10 hit in the UK at the end of last year, and it subsequently became a Top 10 dance club hit in North America.  
    • Duo Sofi Tukker are happily straddling the pop and dance music worlds, and my favourite song from their album Treehouse remains “Baby I’m A Queen” (also above), which climbs to #4.
    • “Everybody Hates Me” by The Chainsmokers (below) is poised to make its key move in two weeks as it rises to #5.  The duo won three Billboard Music Awards last week in the Dance music category!  Bravo!!

  • Jesse McCartney gets his first Top 10 on this chart since 2009’s #6 “How Do You Sleep” with “Better With You”, which rises 13-8.  So great that it was co-written with blog faves Brandyn Burnette and Molly Moore!
  • Quickly following “Prisoner”, Bobby Nourmand racks up another Top 10 with songs from his EP Subterranean – the title song and the dark and eerie “Estranged”.  They soar into the Top 10 rising 15-9.

Movin’ On Up

  • He only just turned 19 but he’s already on his way to having a Top 10 record on my chart.  That’s Chicago’s Whethan, who got to feature acclaimed New Zealand duo Broods in the compelling “Be Like You”, which climbs 17-13.
  • While talented Canadian singer/songwriter Tyler Shaw already has a Top 20 national hit with “Cautious” (up 18-15 in its Famba remix), he already has a second single out from his upcoming album.  You can check out “Anybody Out There”, with female vocalist Amaal Nuxx, below.

  • Brandyn Burnette’s upcoming album is called Emanate, and the debut single from that album is “Run”, which jumps 22-16.  The second preview of the album is “Layup”, below.

  • Not surprisingly, the fastest riser on the chart is the title song from the upcoming album by Troye Sivan called “Bloom”.  It zips up the chart 26-17 to follow up the departing “My My My!”, #1 this past week on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart!
  • Not far behind is Miami producer Adam Foster’s bold rework of Marvin Gaye’s classic hit from 1969 “Too Busy Thinkin’ About My Baby”.  Omitting the chorus, he makes a new one as he rechristens it “Time”, available as a free download, and moving up 27-19.

  • Norway’s Matoma and US singer/songwriter MAX are a joint force to be reckoned with in “Lonely”, which rises 28-24.  You can hear it now in 4 remixes, including one by Steve Aoki and another by MAX’s side project Party Pupils, below.

Debuts

  • James Bay has made a transformation from folk/rock troubadour to glamorous pop star in one fell swoop.  His new album, Electric Light, is one of the best of the year, so I am belatedly debuting its best song and second single “Pink Lemonade”, at #25.  It’s got unexpected 80’s influences all over it – I hear mid-80’s New Order for one.  The album is diverse and well-produced.  Don’t be surprised if other songs from Electric Light land on the chart in the coming weeks.
  • UK producer bvd kult arrives on the chart for the first time with the sunshiny pop/dance of “Let You Go”, featuring vocalist OT, which I wrote about a while back.  It debuts at #26.

  • Florence & The Machine gets its 6th chart entry with “Hunger” from the upcoming album High As Hope.  It has one of Florence Welch’s best recent vocals, and “Hunger” is also their first chart entry since 2012.  The band’s highest peak was attained with their first entry, the #2 “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, back in 2009.

View the full BILLCS Top 30 right 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

Check out and ‘like’ the new BILLCS Music Projects Facebook page 🙂

 

“Broken Love” by @TheHim and @ParsonJames is a danceable pop feast for the ears and heart

THE HIM and PARSON JAMES, “Broken Love”

I don’t say it very often, but “Broken Love” by Dutch producers The Him and featuring acclaimed American vocalist Parson James, is one of those genuine, well-made pop records that is going to resonate through the rest of 2018.  Following up the soulful “White Lies”, Steven and Jeroen always come up with something new with each release, with their high standards all intact (including a big, winning anthemic chorus), but here I must say that they’ve thrown the showcase to a brilliant vocal by Parson James that will make you melt.  Parson has already had success with the worldwide hit “Stole The Show”, which was performed with Kygo no less.  But that was in 2015 – seemingly so long ago now.  That gap in time (in which he still released his debut EP The Temple) however helps make “Broken Love” sound quite fresh and bring on all the necessary feels.  “Broken Love” is a killer one-of-a-kind blend of production, songwriting, and vocal talent, and I hope we will hear from The Him and Parson James together again soon.  

“Love That About You” is beautiful, thoughtful ode to love from @McEwenofficial

McEWEN, “Love That About You”

Following his return earlier this year with original music with “Neon”, the former Adam Tyler is now McEwen with “Love That About You”.  The song is a seriously touching and thoughtful ode to love, being that he wrote it about his husband Erik for their wedding three years ago.  Their recent experiences as parents of twin girls are also well-documented and very entertaining as McHusbands on You Tube.  I’m so glad that “Love That” is released to share with everyone as you can feel the joy that it radiates from your speakers.  It’s also got slick enough production and a swirling rhythm to help you kill it on the dance floor with your special someone.  Although I enjoyed Adam’s darker and edgier dance music from earlier in the decade (well documented in these blog pages), “Love That About You” is as fresh as a reboot that anyone could want, and I’m hoping it’s a launching pad for similarly marvelous songs to come.  Adam and Erik also set the song to clips from their wedding, which you can enjoy below (and expect to finish very misty-eyed) 🙂

“Cold Heart” is a convincing fusion of pop, techno and dubstep from L.A.’s @Prizmofficial

https://soundcloud.com/prizmmusicofficial/cold-heart

PRIZM, “Cold Heart” (free DL)

Quickly following up the more pop-flavoured “Lifeline”, which I wrote about earlier this month, is “Cold Heart” from L.A. producer Prizm.  It’s the start of learning more of what is indeed up this creative producer’s sleeves, as his new songs have been brewing for a while, having previously recorded under another name.  Here he fuses pop, techno, and dubstep, along with anonymous female vocal, to make a delightfully terse but still quite accessible song for dance fans.  The commanding but alternately irritating/compelling pulse throughout the song is reminiscent of Basement Jaxx’s “Red Light”, ultimately the heartbeat that is the constant for the melody, and everything is built around it.  Drawing from influences like Porter Robinson and K?d, you’ll know from “Cold Heart” that you’ll want to hear more from Prizm, so much that you’ll download the song (under the “More” tab) from the link above while you can!

“Misunderstand” by UK singer/songwriter @Jazz__Mino surrounds a breakup with a sparkling melody

JAZZ MINO, “Misunderstand”

A while back, I brought to your attention Jazz Mino’s “Warriors”, a bright celebration of taking a stand despite what anyone else thinks.  “Misunderstand”, the British singer/songwriter’s follow up, is a delightful contrast to that song as it documents the emotion of being mistreated and misunderstood, and surrounds it with a sparkling melody to make it more about carrying on than dwelling on the past.  You can hear the affect of the lyrics in her vocal, which comes to terms graciously with it all, but all of the high notes and synth flourishes can’t bring the story down, so we can choose to dance it all away.  Songs like “Misunderstand” should continue to open doors for this intriguing new talent.  Add it to your Moving On From Love playlist using the Spotify link above.

“Warriors” is horn-soaked R&B-flavoured dance music from NYC trio @TooManyZooz and UK producer @KDAbeats

TOO MANY ZOOZ and KDA, “Warriors”

“Warriors” is a fun, jazzy R&B instrumental from NYC’s Too Many Zooz that becomes a showy dance floor filler with astute additional production from UK producer KDA, who appeared on my personal chart last year with a more classic house mix of “Just Say”.  Too Many Zooz make the most of power from their horns and bass drum, whose joyous live sounds frame the glorious announcements of the trumpet and the dirtier, more aggressive sax tones, with the percolating fast-paced house backdrop from KDA.  It’s all very reminiscent of 90’s American groups like Us3 or Arrested Development who brought similar elements to the table, though I think KDA also adds some 80’s UK classic dance to the party, influenced perhaps by records like Bomb The Bass’ “Beat Dis” as well as British house music of the day.  You can also check out the original version of “Warriors” in its entertaining video below (ya never know what goes on deep in NYC subways!).  “Warriors” is a definite grower so watch for it.

Australia’s @Acaddamy and @iamDoubleAgent bring sparks to the dance floor with “Hearts On Fire” with singer Quails

ACADDAMY & DOUBLE AGENT and QUAILS, “Hearts On Fire”

One can never underestimate the dance music that comes out of Australia, often on a completely different bent from the rest of the world and standing out in a mix.  “Hearts On Fire” definitely fits that picture with the pairing of producers Acaddamy and Double Agent, bringing the versatile voice of Quails to the proceedings.  “Hearts On Fire” is one of the more fast-paced house songs I’ve heard in a while, and it works and flows really well, nary bringing it down for only a few seconds only to rev back up again.  Add “Hearts On Fire” to your Don’t Stop Won’t Stop house playlist using the Spotify link above.

New Canadian singer @Dallaspaige17 has a sultry, rhythmic winner with “Spaceship”

DALLAS, “Spaceship”

You can tell 19 year-old Toronto-born Dallas has grown up with great songs by the likes of Rihanna and Beyoncé at her disposal, which puts her in similar contention to newer successes like Jhané Aiko and Kehlani.  While not as Top 40 focused as the recent success of fellow Canadian Jessie Reyez, “Spaceship” is more about the flow and groove, much along the lines of what another award-winning Canadian, Melanie Fiona, has been releasing over the past 10 years or so.  Dallas’ voice is well-suited to “Spaceship” and has a lot of potential to grow in subsequent releases.  Produced and co-written by 3Stripe and singer/songwriter Veronica, who continue to be very prolific and in a change of pace here, R&B fans will enjoy “Spaceship”.  Add it to your Into The Flow playlist using the Spotify link above.

Miami’s @IamAlyxAnder “Casually” nails another fine house record with @RedondomusicNL and #MariaZ

ALYX ANDER & REDONDO and MARIA Z, “Casually”

Miami’s Alyx Ander isn’t as crazy-prolific as many of his counterparts, but when he drops a track, the fine quality is all in the listening, and of course, dancing!  Thus a production with Dutch duo Redondo allows another team up with singer Maria Z, yielding, “Casually”, a follow up to last year’s captivating “Wake Up For The Night”.  Stylistically, “Casually” is a real throwback to classic 90’s house while staying slick and contemporary to vie with the best of today’s house music.  The theme here is a breezy instant love story and the playful vibe of “Casually” aims to please anyone who listens and feels compelled to dance – and it works quite well indeed.