Just to prove that his work with The Wanted and his soon-to-be-smash “Kiss Me Quick” are no flukes, Nathan Sykes dropped a live acoustic cover of Charlie Puth & Meghan Trainor’s “Marvin Gaye” for Capital-FM. It’s simply a killer performance of one of my current faves! Nathan’s voice gets right down into that soulful and sexy grittiness, and I do believe he adds a few more lyrics from Marvin’s own “Let’s Get It On” into the mix – now I’d love to hear him record a cover of that song in its entirety. Watch and bookmark this delight in your favourites 🙂
MELISSA MANCHESTER, “Open Spaces and Gas Stations”
Grammy-winning superstar Melissa Manchester carves out some new territory in her illustrious and busy career with “Open Spaces and Gas Stations”. What pop music fan doesn’t own at least one of her records? 🙂 This new single follows the New York-born singer’s recent pop/jazz success with You Gotta Love The Life, which features Al Jarreau and Dionne Warwick among others. The singer has nary skipped a beat over the years with album releases, performing, and teaching, and “Open Spaces” switches pop styles for Melissa, in this collaboration with Toronto-based singer/songwriter James Collins, who co-wrote Melissa’s “My Christmas Song for You” as well as the much-played “Frozen In Time (The New Wedding Song)”. “Open Spaces” treads successfully into Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac territory – think of Stevie’s duet with Don Henley on “Leather and Lace”, or maybe Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” or “As Long As You Follow”. The former to me is the best reference, which also captures not only the standout country-flavoured backdrop but also the delicate, seasoned production. It’s the kind of gentle song that makes you feel good and will hush an attentive audience in concert. It may not necessarily sound too much like Melissa Manchester in her heyday, but audiences will find much to enjoy with “Open Spaces and Gas Stations”. Give it a listen below.
Stalwart New Jersey quintet The Stolen continue on with a tight brand of power rock with “Chardonnay”. Featuring lead singer Dom Cuce’s sometimes rough-around-the-edges boy-next-door vocal, “Chardonnay” tells the story of a gal with a taste for certain guys befitting to her signature wine, so much so that, according to the video, she will hunt him down and take him home. The video might seem a tad odd at the start but stick with it and enjoy The Stolen’s energetic performance, which will probably go over more like beer than wine in concert. In fact, The Stolen is opening for Jake Miller on his brand new tour, and they play other dates as well. It’s no rocket science – “Chardonnay” is one of those ear-ringers that will keep you humming all summer. Watch the video below.
The Stolen plays The Cavern Bar in Toronto on Thursday, August 20.
“This Feeling” by Malcupnext is my surprise for you this week. While the mentorship by OutKast’s Big Boi definitely signaled an intriguing prospect, you don’t know it till you hear it – Cleveland’s Malcolm White has it signed, sealed and delivered with a beautiful tenor at only age 14. And don’t this is traditional old-style R&B – “This Feeling” is appealing contemporary R&B with enough hip hop swagger to get your groove into check 🙂 And it’s not Chris Brown or Li’l Bow Wow or anything like that either. Instead, think of the early years of Brandy, Monica, or Aaliyah. Malcolm White, or Malcupnext, that talented young man with the recognizable glasses, could be a male counterpoint, and like those young women, I’ll be interested in hearing what he sounds like after a few natural vocal changes take place. “This Feeling” can be equally enjoyed by of Radio Disney or BET. It’s a promising introductory showcase for Malcupnext.
The timing could be just right for veteran Toronto singer/guitarist David Celia with the release of his recent album Double Mind. Not only does David’s earnest and edgy rock sound recall fellow Canadian Sam Roberts and perhaps even older Neil Young songs, but it’s suddenly very current with the recent arrival of similar performers such as Hozier and James Bay. “The Grind” possesses a theme to which anyone can relate – trying to withstand and beat whatever ‘grind’ is pushing you down. It’s a folk-flavoured 3 minute record chock full of ace musicianship that goes down just easy, making it very radio friendly (which Canada’s CBC has already recognized). After more than a decade of releases (including one for Universal) and supporting other notable musicians, David Celia could get his due with “The Grind”. Watch the video above.
I enjoy songs which infuse different styles which arrives at a well-crafted pop song. So Montreal producer DA-P has done just that with trippy, hippy and melodic songs on his EP Sapphire. One of those songs happens to feature River Tiber, who I gush about fairly often – sometimes a live performing Toronto band, but usually on record the talented multi-instrumentalist also known as Tommy Paxton-Beesley, who is not only Justin Nozuka’s right hand guitar player, but also contributor to the recent BADBADNOTGOOD album and creator of the basis for Drake’s “No Tellin'” (actually River Tiber’s recent single “No Talk”). So DA-P and River Tiber’s idiosyncratic styles mesh beautifully, with Tommy’s voice up front, to form a song that takes its time getting going with its hypnotic EDM hip hop mix but then could easily have gone on for another minute or so, it sounds that effortless. Well done to all, and more, please 🙂
The single releases continue from UK singer James William’s debut album Lay Your Love On Me with “Crown You”. Already featured by the BBC, “Crown You” arrives just before a forthcoming summer EP from James. When he’s not knocking out audiences with his Olly Murs show overseas, James writes and performs songs like “Crown You”, which is perfectly suited for a key scene in one of those coming-of-age movies where the guy is batshit crazy over his gal and wants to treat her like a queen. To what extent will he go? Well I guess someone has to make the movie. But in the meantime listen to the chipper “Crown You” above and pick it up on iTunes.
While Chris Mann rose to national prominence as a contestant who finished in the Top 4 on “The Voice” in 2012, I was already sold on his talent back in 2010 with the release of a self-titled EP that contained a heartbreaking straight-up rendition of Kanye West’s “Heartless”. So to see him go far on “The Voice” as the pop singer with opera background, and then release the major label album Roads not long after has been terrific. And that all led to him touring as the lead in “The Phantom of The Opera” throughout the U.S.! After other achievements and the recent release of the Alzheimer’s anthem “Remember Me”, it’s nice to see Chris delve into his own archives and pull out the sunshine-y “L.O.V.E.” to coincide with the American government’s ruling on marriage for everyone. Love indeed wins every time, and it’s great to hear Chris back in a pop setting where he can exercise his chops a bit differently. There’s a lovely soulful undercurrent that anchors “L.O.V.E.” as a pop song that deserves to be heard this summer. Give it a listen and watch for its upcoming official release.
With nary a blip on the radar, I learned a while back that the promising Boston band Gentlemen Hall had become Tribe Society minus singer/guitarist Cobi Mike, who had left to pursue solo work. And right after Cobi Mike’s “Walking Through The Fire” arrived on my chart off to a great start, then the new EP by Tribe Society (still signed to Island Records as a quintet) called Lucid Dreams dropped. The EP is a definite about face from the sunny often danceable pop/rock of Gentlemen Hall, but with new direction comes great promise. Think of Tribe Society along the lines of Imagine Dragons meets Smashing Pumpkins. The lyrics here have a lot of depth and the craft of the previous band is unmistakable, with an almost progressive rock kind of backdrop. “Pain Told Love” is my favourite from the EP thus far and shows my fellow Canadian Kiesza’s talents are not restricted to EDM pop either. Watch for Tribe Society in concert currently supporting gigs by X-Ambassadors, and pick up Lucid Dreams on iTunes.
One of the first (and most read) blog posts I wrote back in 2009 was about the whereabouts of ex-soulDecision singer/songwriter Trevor Guthrie. Well of course eventually Trevor made his way to new, if unanticipated heights in 2013 as featured in Armin van Buuren’s dance classic “This Is What It Feels Like”, which became a massive radio hit in Trevor’s native Canada too. “Soundwave” followed last year as Trevor once again embraced dance music, and this year it’s “Summertime”, which I first heard when Trevor performed during Canadian Music Week. It’s a no brainer – honest-to-goodness feel good music for your summer partying pleasure. That it’s sung by Trevor in his friendly and engaging style makes it even better. “Summertime” is 2015’s summer song! 🙂 Watch the lyric video above.
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