WELCOME TO THE HOTEL featuring BRANDON SERAFINO, “Darlin'” (Saxena remix)
“Darlin'” is a perfectly decent pop introduction to new performers California’s Welcome To The Hotel and NYC-based singer Brandon Serafino, and perhaps more will be known about them as they make their social media presence. Dutch duo Saxena have taken the song on a sideways route, and amped it up big time with classic deep house rhythms, using Brandon’s voice to accentuate this style while accompanied by a lovely saxophone to give it even more pep. The result is an engaging, free-flowing 90’s flavoured dance track that’s bound to keep even the stingiest of dancers happy on the dance floor. My ol’ disco feet rarely lie so this one’s yours for free downloading at the link above.
The Chainsmokers continue keep our attention, with their debut album Memories…Do Not Open due this week, and a third song just released in advance of the album called “The One”. But for me it’s currently all about their collaboration with Coldplay on “Something Just Like This”, which scores a second appearance at #1 handily.
“Something To Say” by Toronto’s Loud Luxury and Ryan Shepherd has got such a great house groove but it’s also such a singalong to the lyrics of Craig David’s “Fill Me In”. I heard it at a club last night and it sounded amazing. “Something To Say” soars 8 to 4.
After laying low two weeks ago, “Memories Of You” by Miami’s Alyx Ander featuring Srey Davi is on the move again, climbing 7-5.
New to the Top 10 is another Toronto band called Blajk, who I’m hoping will surface to perform songs from their EP Limited, such as the one that moves 12-9, a seductive song called “Lethal” thanks to Jordan Radics’ unique vocal.
It’s 2-for-2 as L.A.’s Mahalo scores a concurrent Top 10 hit here with “WTFYWF”, once again featuring vocalist Cat Lewis, rising 15-10. “Be My Love” drops to #7 from its #5 peak, and the duo have released a 4th single called “Current Mood”, which I wrote about yesterday!
Movin’ On Up
All of last week’s debuts lead the big movers on the chart.
The fastest riser is “Stranded” by The Netherlands’ WRLD and Miami’s SMLE featuring a stunning vocal by Kiddo AI that will leave you hanging for more at the end. It vaults 21-13.
Not far behind is the riveting collaboration of Zedd meets Alessia Cara with the bouncing, joyful “Stay”, climbing 22-15.
“I Wonder” is a bright, shiny mid-tempo dance song that stands out in a crowd from Dutch duo The Him featuring vocalist LissA, and climbs 24-17.
“Worship” by The Knocks featuring UK singer MNEK will get you down on your knees on the dance floor in complete bliss. It’s from The Knocks’ new EP Testify and jumps 25-20.
Yet another Dutch producer, Lulleaux, is on the move with his latest song “Sinner”, featuring vocals by SVM, and it leaps 27-21.
Debuts
The 25 year old Swedish producer Alesso (aka Alessandro Lindblad) arrives on this chart for the first time with his beautiful new song “Falling”. I’ve always enjoyed Alesso’s style over the years, more so earlier songs such as “Calling (Lose My Mind)” with Sebastian Ingrosso and Ryan Tedder, and “Years” with Matthew Koma. “Falling” has a breathtaking uncredited vocal that marries beautifully with Alesso’s melody, and it bows at #23.
“Wasted My Love” is a mid-tempo indie EDM ballad by L.A. based singer/songwriter Axel Mansoor that’s available as a free download. It’s a lovely song sung with cool confidence about a relationship that was not meant to be, and premieres at #25.
Also on the indie tip at #28 is the versatile pop/dance song “Cruel” by another L.A.-based singer/songwriter, Eddy Faulkner. The slick production, sensitive vocal, and dark undercurrent make this one a winner.
View the full BILLCS Top 30right here, and be sure to click on the photos to hear all of the songs.
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
Listen for me onhttp://www.planetradio.caon Tuesday evenings (returning on April 11), and with my Pick of the Week segment returning on April 3, aired throughout the week at 2:20 6:20 10:20 AM/PM EST
L.A.-based producer Mahalo is on a terrific ride right now with collaborations with vocalist Cat Lewis on the more pop-flavoured “Be My Love” and the anthemic “WTFYWF”, which both currently reside happily on my own BILLCS Top 30 chart. So now you need to factor in a fourth release since late last year with some smooth house in “Current Mood”. Like the previously released “Energy”, Mahalo distorts, lowers, and plays with Cat’s vocal, and it works much better here as the melody shows off Cat’s true range, despite sounding very unlike “Be My Love” or “WTFYWF”. It’s got a great flowing rhythm to keep club-goers pleased, and “Current Mood” definitely deserves your attention, particularly if you’re a fan of British house of the early 2000’s. Give it a listen at the link above.
Victor Perry vocals continue to grace these blog pages with songs like “Sail” and “Missing”, and the now-NYC-based singer’s latest is featured in a soulful charmer by 19 year old UK producer Hambleton called “Back To You”. Victor’s vocal takes elements from many of his own favourite singers to create a unique, special performance which sounds like it could have leapt out of the UK 90’s R&B-influenced dance music scene along with singers like Mica Paris, Terence Trent D’Arby, Lisa Stansfield and others. Hambleton’s production is slick and spry, while the engaging lyrics tell a story that’s so easy to which anyone can relate. Do give it some love at the link above.
WITT LOWRY featuring TORI SOLKOWSKI, “Let Me Know”
Connecticut-born rapper Witt Lowry returns with possibly his most personal song to date with “Let Me Know”. Usually when records are produced, some of the more natural effects of a voice are smoothed over. But in “Let Me Know”, you can hear Witt’s voice break numerous times, and it drives the honesty and poignancy of the lyrics home. Tori Solkowski’s supporting vocal is a knowing, perfect foil for the heartbreak and edge brought up front by Witt. Kudos for the production team for thinking outside of the box to make a straight-forward song much, much more. Club DJ’s should give it a spin – it’s a head-turner. Listen to “Let Me Know” at the link above.
I had the good fortune to see NYC/LA duo Powers (guitarist/vocalist Crista Su and bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Mike Del Rio) for the second time last night at Toronto’s Adelaide Hall (where I first saw them open for DNCE in November 2015), and they performed an energetic set for a highly appreciative and dedicated crowd. Flash forward a few years from their rollicking and infectious “Classic” (with The Knocks) and Powers now mesh more rock flavour into their dance grooves, especially with two of the three songs released from their upcoming album, due (fingers crossed) in June on Republic.
“Heavy” (above) has another catchy vocal by Crista with a jaunty, almost Caribbean-inspired rhythm married with 80’s pop riffs which could be mashed up with Men At Work’s “Down Under”. It’s definitely that groove that will keep you moving and some remixers could have fun with it as they have had with some of Powers’ other songs. “Dance” (video below) is much more aggressive, again recalling 80’s power rock (think Joan Jett’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”), but loads of fun, with Mike and Crista letting loose in a video that manages to incorporate both a cowboy riding a bull and an astronaut. “Man On The Moon” (also below) veers away from the danceable side of things for a more alt.rock flavoured, lyrical song with some heavier instrumentation and harmonies at the bridge that still swings with an easier-going groove.
Though it was also great to hear other Powers’ songs like “Sunshine” and the hip hop inspired “Legendary”, I think the immediate future is looking very bright for this talented singing/songwriting duo, who also happen to be terrific, smart, positive folks in speaking with them after last night’s show. Check out “Heavy”, “Dance” and “Man On The Moon” and pick them up at your favourite online store, and watch for a solid album when it drops later in the Spring or early Summer.
I’ve written about Atlanta-based singer/songwriter Nick Hagelin so much in the last seven years, that it reads like a chronology of growing personal success that brought him, both somewhat logically and with a lot of hard work, to be an amazing Top 10 contestant on season 10 of “The Voice” as part of Christina Aguilera’s team, where his humble personal life also became front and centre, and only enhanced the appeal of all of his modest talents.
“Blue Moon” is a new independent release from Nick that tells a common story – being in touch with someone you want to know better, but not enough to call it a relationship. It’s more of a pop song this time that downplays a lot of the R&B influence from his previous releases, though you cannot deny that beautiful, soulful falsetto of his when it surfaces to bring the some home. Plus, we get to see some of his dance moves in the above video – as you may know, he’s a ballet dancer too. Nonetheless, like with some of the videos he released before “The Voice”, it’s nice to see Nick front and centre – simply Nick at his best.
“Love You To The Sky” is the first taste of the new Erasure album World Be Gone for duo Andy Bell and Vince Clarke, the follow up to 2015’s highly successful The Velvet Flame. That album put singles “Elevation”, “Reason” and “Sacred” back into the upper-end of the dance charts, where Erasure should rightly be more than 30 years after their first hit (my first club experience with Erasure was in 1986 😀 ). Andy also has a fab thing going on in collaboration with Dave Audé – two #1 Billboard club play songs in a row.
There’s nothing particularly new about “Love You To The Sky” – it’s reliably, solid Erasure with a straight-forward positive pop song about a summer romance with Andy’s recognizable voice front and centre, and a lilting, uncomplicated-sounding synth backdrop from Vince. It’s everything you know and want from Erasure that will be a singalong by the time they tour next. You can also head over to their page on Pledge Music where they offer up some incentives to help get World Be Gone finished and released. Check out the lyric video for “Love You To The Sky” above.
MARTIN GARRIX & DUA LIPA, “Scared To Be Lonely” (Joe Mason remix)
I wasn’t nearly impressed with “Scared To Be Lonely” in its original mix. Perhaps another song not so far removed from “In The Name of Love” came a little too soon after it, instead of one of Martin’s noted bangers. I don’t think either song are as big successes as what was anticipated, so that’s where remixes come in to give them extra shelf life! Landing with an official remix, Australian teen Joe Mason, about whom I’ve written about many times in the last year or so, jazzes up “Scared” with lots of spit and polish, adding more instrumentation and a perfectly placed reggae break that break up the melodrama of the original. And with a powerhouse machine behind Martin Garrix, Joe and his fellow “Scared” remixers will continue to make inroads creating fresh sounds that can accentuate the best from the pop/dance world. Check it out above and pick it up on iTunes.
You’re likely to get so wrapped up with the electro-house energy and power of “Rock Thiz” that you’ll be surprised that it’s over in a two and a half minute flash! Polish producer/DJ’s Dirty Rush & Gregor Es totally blast through the doors with this powerhouse which is out to not only work you out on the dance floor, but will totally slay you in the process. I’ve read the comments that some listeners say this is repping on “All Day” by Kill FM, and while there may have been some inspiration, I think the Polish duo make “Rock Thiz” stand firmly on its own. Listen at the link above, but be prepared to get silly while you do 🙂
