Newcomers @BeauCollins & #Osrin offer sophisticated and pretty “Wonderland” featuring @allaboutMaggie

BEAU COLLINS & OSRIN featuring MAGGIE SZABO, “Wonderland”

It’s another global collaboration, this time newcomer producers Beau Collins from The Netherlands and Sweden’s Osrin with the sophisticated and pretty “Wonderland”.  Not only does “Wonderland” have layers of interesting synths and drops in all the right places, it features an appropriately gracious vocal by award-winning Canadian singer Maggie Szabo, who is now based out of L.A.  That vocal is always on point, and I enjoy that that producers have kept it a little gritty in spots.  The signs are all pointing to 2018 being a year filled with futuristic emotional electronic pop, whether sad or uplifting, and “Wonderland” is off to an early start in that regard.  And if these guys are as young as they look, then we’ll be hearing plenty more of Beau Collins and Osrin.

It’s a @Spirixmusic remix for “I Want You” by @Robotaki & @ManilaKilla featuring @MatthewJohnKurz

ROBOTAKI & MANILA KILLA featuring MATTHEW JOHN KURZ, “I Want You” (Spirix remix) (free DL)

Young L.A.-based producer/remixer Spirix has scored with a handful of both originals and remixes while he continues in college, with every one of them offering a somewhat signature sound that will serve him well going forward.  To me, Spirix actually improves on the original of “I Want You” by the awesome duo of Robotaki and Manila Killa (of Hotel Garuda), featuring a killer vocal by Matthew John Kurz, who himself has appeared in these blog pages a number of times.  It’s all about ear-dropping future bass beats and high end synths, so very complimentary to Matthew’s heartfelt vocal.  “I Want You” was a pre-holiday remix gift from Spirix, so get it while you can at the link above.

L.A.-based @Teffler has a well-rounded winner with “Never Let Me Go” with @iamDane8

TEFFLER & D.A.N.E., “Never Let Me Go”

Unless you recall the days of having a ‘formula’ for a hit record, songs that have both pop and electronica dance mixes that work for their audiences don’t come around too often.  L.A.-based Teffler and Chicago’s D.A.N.E. are two producer/DJ/songwriters who have tapped into something quite good with both the radio edit and club edit of “Never Let Me Go” for Wall Recordings.  Teffler has already been bringing the goods for a number of years as a DJ – an outlet for his own anxieties, many will relate! – remixer and songwriter for the likes of Ellie Goulding and Nathan Sykes. Featuring the sweet sizzle of an uncredited vocal by Christa Gniadek, the radio edit grabs the longing of the lyrics and leads them towards the bounce of the chorus, whereas the club edit focuses less on the lyrics and more on a classic piano 90’s flavoured house melody to make it pretty darned irresistible for clubs and dance radio shows.  Check out both versions at the Spotify link above.

Clever and sunny “In The Mood” scores for Belgian producers @HenriPFR and @RomeoBlanco featuring Canada’s @beingVeronica

HENRI PFR & ROMEO BLANCO featuring VERONICA, “In The Mood”

“In The Mood” combines many winning elements to make a sunny pop and dance hit for the winter month.  It comes together courtesy of Belgium’s Henri PFR and Romeo Blanco featuring a delightful vocal by Canadian Family Channel favourite Veronica.  It’s already a Top 30 chart hit in Belgium (Sony is behind it there), with Canada (where it’s an independent release) not far behind with lots of initial pop radio support thanks to Veronica’s presence as well as having Canadian songwriters.  The video for “In The Mood” is also both sly and enjoyable and well worth a watch at the link above.  I think you’ll be hearing “In The Mood” a lot over the next several months.  Some dance remixes would also enhance its staying power!

Have fun with two doses of @Throttle and @Nikomakesbeats, with “Piñata” and a cover of @JTimberlake’s “Signs”

THROTTLE x NIKO THE KID, “Piñata” and “Signs” (which is a free download above)

My but Australia’s Throttle and recent Grammy-nominee Niko The Kid (for his work on Odesza’s album) make a perfect playful pair with two recent releases, “Piñata” and a cover of the Snoop Dogg/Justin Timberlake collaboration “Signs”.  “Piñata” definitely takes some cues from the Martin Garrix school of fun deep house instrumentals, which will make you pine for arid sunshine and margaritas with a DJ spinning tunes on the side.  “Signs” is quite far removed from the 2003 hip hop/pop original, trading R&B rhythms for lighter, feel-good summery vibes, really only recognizable through its lyrics.  The guys gifted this one to us on New Year’s Day so you can download it for free above.  After some remixes as well as these two releases, maybe we’ll see a joint tour for Throttle and Niko The Kid one day!  

“I Wish U Heaven”, a YouTube playlist tribute to Prince, features @DarrenHayes’ stunning cover

DARREN HAYES, “I Wish U Heaven”

Rarely do I write about songs made available online-only, but when it means a new Darren Hayes vocal, then exceptions are made!  We’ve had no new music from Darren since 2011, while he works on other projects, making the occasional brief live appearance (such as the one I was lucky to see in April 2016 in L.A.).  Debuting on Christmas Day, in case you missed it, Darren seamlessly covers Prince’s brief “I Wish U Heaven”, originally from the 1988 Lovesexy album.  The song wasn’t a North American hit but did well overseas, particularly in the UK.  With a minimal arrangement of strings and piano, Darren’s vocal lovingly pays tribute to pop’s purple hero.  It’s not the first time Darren has covered Prince.  In concert 10 years ago as part of the Time Machine tour, which I saw in Toronto, he dazzled us by incorporating Prince’s “Baby I’m A Star” into a medley with his own playful funky pop of “Pop!ular”.  Perhaps we will see a video of it one day.  While I encourage you to check out Darren’s cover above, you can also listen to the entire “I Wish U Heaven” playlist right here.

Eurohouse flair shines through in “Moves” by #BigFish featuring @MikeGomesmusic

BIG FISH featuring MIKE GOMES, “Moves”

If you like your tropical house with add Euro flair, then you will particularly enjoy “Moves” by Italy’s Big Fish for Tipsy Recordings.  Though the artist is new, the song does a great job of selling itself with its totally engaging melody and slick production.  It also has this vibrant vocal by Mike Gomes of American duo Xuitcasecity – not an entirely unexpected place for Mike to show up, as you’ll remember Xuitcasecity’s memorable presence last year on “Runaway” by Spirix.  “Moves” is an easy add for club DJ’s who want to encourage their audience to strut their stuff rather than simply watch the DJ at work.  Check it out at the link above.

Toronto’s @RiverTiber returns with hypnotic, R&B-influenced “Patience”

RIVER TIBER, “Patience”

If his new songs are anything like “Patience”, 2018 is going to be a stellar year and well worth the wait for singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Tommy Paxton-Beesley, aka River Tiber, about whom I’ve written regularly over the last number of years.  We haven’t heard from Tommy since his quickie 2016 EP for Red Bull, “Illusions”, and his critically acclaimed album Indigo.  Never sacrificing quality for quantity in much the same vein as his friends and collaborators such as Grammy-nominee Daniel Caesar (at whose Toronto concert he recently performed), Kaytranada, and BADBADNOTGOOD, “Patience” is as layered and complex as ever, but it jumps back on to the R&B groove that pervaded and took to another level past River Tiber songs like “Let You Go” and “No Talk”.  The story of “Patience” unfolds in a rather understated way but is then anchored with a full-on intense and hypnotic jam, and a stunning vocal chorus, but not until the 1:35 mark, so wait for it!!  Be sure to add “Patience” to your playlists using the Spotify link above.

River Tiber performs at The Mod Club in Toronto on Friday December 29.

K-Pop Stars @weareoneEXO feature @BrandynBurnette/@missMollyMoore song “Been Through” in new album “Universe”

exo

EXO, “Been Through”

K-Pop stars EXO break away from their pop roots with the alt.rock flavoured “Been Through” in their new album Universe.  The song has the real potential for a North American breakthrough, though, thanks to being written by none other than BILLCS Music Blog favourites Brandyn Burnette and Molly Moore!  Though sung entirely in Korean, it’s a darker, more reflective song than the others on the Universe album, which also feature some lyrics in both English and Chinese.  BTS clearly are not the only K-Pop group on the international breakout scene.  With more song choices like these, you can expect EXO to appear on more than just K-Pop charts.  And word to Brandyn and Molly:  I, and many others I suspect, would love to hear the English language version of “Been Through” too!!  But way to go on this one to everyone involved 🙂  Listen below!

NYC singer @Reigenmusic offers love-struck, heartfelt cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams”

REIGEN, “Dreams”

It’s not easy to cover songs by the seminal 90’s alt.rock band The Cranberries and capture their unique take on music at the time.  However, somehow NYC singer Reigen has gotten well under the skin of their hit “Dreams” (the follow-up single to “Linger”), centering the song around the phrase ‘you’re a dream to me’, which is often isolated in the mix here, whereas the original to me focused more on the gorgeous melody and production.  Originally sung for some friends at their wedding, Reigen’s rendition of “Dreams” is soulful, love-struck, and heartfelt, and is set beautifully in its video (above) to a few first-encounter vignettes which will make you warm and fuzzy.  Call it mission well-accomplished – I’m so very glad “Dreams” was officially released.  It does follow up Reigen’s recent single “Rollin'”, which I wrote about not long ago, and for which there is now a video (below) full of heart-pumping determination to draw you in even more.