The windy city’s own Nick Winholt and Austin Woo bring us one of their best original offerings yet with “Chicago”. A familiar, playful melody is set against the recognizable voice of Bryce Fox, who we got to know last year with his own “Burn Fast” (which Win & Woo also remixed). It’s obsession versus nature in Win and Woo’s hometown as the singer wants an affair that’s not meant to be, even if it was helped by the windy city itself, as the singer pleads till the song’s end. Alas big cities can’t always fulfill our dreams, even the crazy ones. Win and Woo have pop whimsy more in mind this time instead of an EDM club shaker, and it all works out well as a whole. Pick it up at your favourite digital store.
If they are showcasing their purest pop talents as duo Cosmos & Creature, then Molly Moore and Brandyn Burnette have created a personal best with the original “Bad Drug”, this time for the PMRD label. Unlike some of their deeper, more adventurous songs as individual performers, “Bad Drug” is pretty straight-forward with an unintrusive EDM backdrop which helps lead to a singalong before the song ends. So “Bad Drug” becomes one of those quintessential 3 minute pop songs that stick in your head long after it’s over and makes you want more. That Molly and Brandyn have C&C flourishing as a third side to a triangle of all of their talents, both with original music and being featured on other performers’ songs, is amazing unto itself. Check out “Bad Drug” above and pick it up at your favourite digital store.
One thing’s for sure – we need more Troye Sivan music after the remarkable pop transformation that was his Blue Neighbourhood album, which should have yielded more pop and dance club hits than “Youth”. Some things happen in strange ways, and the thought of a collaboration between Troye and Martin Garrix may not have been expected, until it actually debuted on stage at Coachella in April. Martin can still dazzle his hardcore EDM fans with his originals and remixes, but it’s totally refreshing to hear “There For You” as his non-instrumental follow-up to collabs with Bebe Rexha and Dua Lipa. It’s the most unique of all three, with Troye lending that earthy, sincere vocal quality that brought the songs vividly to life on Blue Neighbourhood. I think you’ll be hearing this one on the radio sometime soon, and then hopefully with dance mixes for clubs to follow – I’d love to see this one at the top of the club charts.
After coming third in season four of the UK’s “X Factor”, Sean and Sarah Smith, the brother-and-sister duo called Same Difference, garnered a Top 20 hit and acquired quite a following for years in their country which didn’t extend much beyond its border. And after a third album that was to contain production by the likes of Pharrell Williams didn’t materialize in 2014, the duo called it a day. In the meantime, Sean has stepped out on his own, and with new songs like “Magic” (for Energise Records), he may yet get that international attention. With a buff’n blond, sultry new look and a sexy new video (below), all of the right buttons are being pushed, and taking it one better is the sweeping dance remix (above) by Andy Sikorski which would fit into a club set anywhere. Featuring a powerful and honest vocal, sometimes all it takes is the right song, and Sean Smith has the goods with “Magic”.
NEPTUNICA featuring VICTOR PERRY, “Nighttime Baby”
“Nighttime Baby” in its original version is a sparkling soulful ballad that appears on Victor Perry’s fine EP from last year 4 A.M. Nostalgia. It’s no wonder at all that such a well-written song has got attention of others, and German production duo Neptunica has refashioned it as a downtempo club ballad without taking anything away from the original, and included it on their EP Trapical Movement. DJ’s can make a perfect segue out of a busy set to allow folks to get close on the dance floor and let Victor’s high notes tantalize their ears. What’s special about this redux is that it’s not riddled with special effects. Neptunica seem to go by the KISS principle and as a result the song could find a whole new set of fans. Give it a listen at the Spotify link above, but also check out Victor’s inspiring live-off-the-floor performance of it from last year below.
I’m enjoying my fellow Torontonians Loud Luxury & Ryan Shepherd’s “Something To Say” far too much for it to depart #1 after one appearance, so it stays ahead of a few others for another chart.
Looking to ascend to the top next week is the gorgeous “Wasted My Love” (above) by L.A.’s Axel Mansoor, vaulting 9 to 2. Even better, Axel has one of four debuts with another beauty, “Out Of My Head” (below) arriving at #21. Axel has one of the best new voices of the year and his songwriting is on point!
Also arriving in the Top 5 is Alesso’s huge club hit “Falling”, moving up 6 to 5.
It’s turning out to be a massive hit, and Zedd and Alessia Cara’s “Stay” continues to climb, up 7-6.
“I Wonder” by The Him and vocalist LissA is a real earworm, climbing 8-7 – you’ll find yourself singing and humming and dancing to it for days 🙂
New to the Top 10 without much surprise is “Sign Of The Times” by Harry Styles, which continues to gain fans after all these weeks of release thus far, and rises 11-9.
Movin’ On Up
The infectious independent release “P A R T Y” by Philadelphia duo NiGHTS continues to soar, up 17-11, as a third single “B R E A T H” is released.
Charlie Puth follows up the Top 5 duet with Selena Gomez “We Don’t Talk Anymore” with his new bass-laden pop hit “Attention”, which is the fastest riser on the chart, rocketing 23-15.
UK producer Murky along with Polish singer Anuka climb 20-16 on this chart with a beautiful EDM ballad “Heavy Hearted”, which is available as a free download.
Bobby Nourmand’s latest “D U S T”, which is also a free download, continues to look promising as it climbs 24-19.
Our final debut from last week is the intriguing “Silent Games” by German producers Lars Beck and Henri Purnell, and featuring vocalist Zekt, who hails from Honolulu. It rises 26-20.
Martin Garrix returns to the chart for the first time since last year’s collaboration with Bebe Rexha “In The Name Of Love”, which got to #10. This time it’s with fellow Dutchman Brooks on the rollicking instrumental “Byte” (and a very flashy video) which arrives at #24.
Shawn Mendes grew up about 20 minutes from where I currently live in Pickering, Ontario. He has his first BILLCS Top 30 chart entry with “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” which bows at #27. And it’s a danceable affair this time; so far the NOTR remix has been released, but others are coming!
Welcome To The Hotel’s independent single “Darlin'”, featuring vocalist Brandon Serafino, gets a boost from a saxxy Saxena remix, which arrives at #28 and is available to download for free.
As it starts of with a delicate beginning followed by a deliberate drum beat, “Benny” by Smashing Satellites then launches into one of the most ferocious bars of music that the band has written. Like with past efforts like “Waterfall” from 2015’s Sonic Aluzion, “Benny” is a personal, emotional song, but like none other we’ve heard from Salvatore Costa and his band mates. “Benny” was written as Sal came to grips with his recent addiction to Benzo’s – and who would have known other than those close to him? – as is best explained by him on Smashing Satellites’ Facebook page this past week:
“Welcome to my nightmare. At 21 years old a began a scary love affair with Benzo’s that lasted over 8 years. Like most people, I started taking it to “even” myself out… to make the grueling tour schedule a little easier and to help put on a happy face for everyone while I was slowly dying on the inside a little more every day until there was nothing left of me but an empty smile. I wrote this song in the thick of my addiction right before I gained the strength within to decide to pull the plug and face the battle of quitting. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It took over a year of recovery and therapy, most of which I was in physical agony… feeling like I was dying. I was one of the lucky ones though.”
It’s a cathartic, angry song with a perfect rock ‘n roll backdrop, and I’m so glad Sal, now the father of a very young daughter, chose to share it with fans as it could help others too. Now onward to a new EP this summer called White Elephant, and hopefully some more concerts, where we can get out and support one of the warmest and caring individuals I know in the biz. Listen at the link above and then pick up “Benny” at your favourite digital music store.
Miami house music producer Adam Foster returns with another slice of reverent dance music with “Too Much” for Xtended Records. Featuring a sassy and soulful vocal, “Too Much” takes its cues from early 80’s dance music just at the time that house music was starting to surface out of the major dance music centres of Chicago, New York, and Miami. It’s got a positive vibe that is strictly meant for the dance floor. Adam’s fellow DJ’s will eat this one up and I hope word gets out about “Too Much” before long. It’s also great to see that Adam will be taking his house specialty to Europe this summer. You can get “Too Much” for free at the link above – it will slide into just about any dance playlist!
There has been stranger dance music to come out of Europe, but DJ Mirko B from Italy has tweaked “Leval’s Polka” enough for you to have fun with it on the dance floor. I’m not really sure why this particular song; my searches on the Internet seemed to reference Anime, so perhaps it’s known to gamers and Anime lovers. The accompanying video of synchronized animated dancing babies is ultra-cute. So with “Leval’s Polka” you can stop, let loose, and laugh and smile for just under three minutes. Check it out at the link above.
“Higher” is going to be one of those songs that club goers will be talking about and jamming to all summer long. It’s a bit of a shift this time for Norwegian duo Lemaitre -who were more recently emphasizing a rock-inflected sound, particularly in concert last year with a full band and lots of guitars – to a dramatic, atmospheric sound thanks to the distinct vocal of dance music go-to Maty Noyes. And aside from Maty’s glorious tones, the rhythm is crunchy future bass/trap that will have more than heads bobbing. All in all, it’s an intoxicating mix that the most picky of dance/EDM fans will thoroughly enjoy, signalling signs of more terrific Lemaitre tunes on the way from their upcoming Chapter One album.
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