He’s widely known on Instagram with over one million followers as an influencer, but Spanish singer Linards Zarins has a great thing going with his summery new single “Dusk Till Dawn”. In fact, you can let the video transport you to an idyllic environment with your special someone, with its beautiful (if deserted) resort-like scenery. While the video has already accrued over a million and a half plays on You Tube, much of this can be attributed to the song itself. “Dusk Till Dawn” is chill and timeless, with Latvia-born Linards’ effortless vocal leading the way over a mid-tempo ‘cha cha’ rhythm. “Dusk Till Dawn” is one of those songs for romantic dances on the beach as the sun goes down.
Brooklyn jazz/R&B singer/songwriter Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez is not afraid to lay her emotions bare on the table in “40 Days”. It’s a highly polished release that leaves touches of grit in her voice in songs where she can beautifully and frankly articulate her thoughtful lyrics. You can run the gamut of influences that you can hear in her voice, from Judy Garland and Billie Holiday through Diana Ross and Lady Gaga. “40 Days” is about pouring through the thoughts of someone over and over, someone that you need to let go, but you can’t stop dwelling on all that you’ve given and done for them. And you can find more music by Raina to check out, including her previous single “Better For You”, on her brand new EP If They’re Mine. Her music is classy and bold, reflective but unforgiving, and it’s all gorgeous for your ears to hear.
“last night (eclipse)” is full of so many vocal and production subtleties that it’s easy to let it slip away. But that merely paves the way for additional listens to this new song from Vancouver electronic producer Tails and Australian singer Aya Yves. The more you hear it, the more you appreciate its gentle nature and first class production in its story about giving in and being caught up in a special romantic night with someone. Aya Yves has one of those versatile voices that could bring any song to life and Tails often fuses it with the melody and rhythm with great results.
It may not immediately strike you until you find yourself awash in its deep funky groove, but “Woman On The Moon” by Portland, Oregon “future funk” producer/songwriter and viral performer Yung Bae and Phoenix singer/songwriter UPSAHL will grow on you quickly with its gender reversal of “man on the moon”. The song builds on the summery energy derived from its chugging bassline. It follows up Yung Bae’s fifth album Bae 5, from which you likely heard the much-streamed “Bad Boy”, which also featured Wiz Khalifa and MAX, as well as collaborations with Mike Posner and AWOLNATION. UPSAHL recently undertook a huge achievement, co-writing “Good In Bed” on multi-Grammy Award winner Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia album, as well as co-writing for the likes of Mike Shinoda and Madison Beer. Together they have a fun synergy, and “Woman On The Moon” has the potential for being a dance floor draw this summer.
The UK consistently brings the world fantastic deep house music which veered away into its own iteration from the classic US house music of the 80’s and 90’s. The latest banger to ring your chimes is “Give Me That”, a collaboration of producers Charlie Lane and the duo Gold 88 with the striking voice of Kate Wild. Though she has released several songs under her own name in 2020 and 2021, in fact Kate’s most famous releases are uncredited and are part of releases by the likes of David Guetta, Dillon Francis, Breathe Carolina, Jay Hardaway and even rockers Bring Me The Horizon among others. Her voice gives this song the magic touch on top of a glimmering melody and chorus (love the xylophone sound) along with the bubbly house rhythms. “Give Me That” solidifies that such dance floor gems that have been waiting for the pandemic to end will still be there for clubs and festivals as they begin again.
After previously being part of a rock band, late last year Tommy Buckley branched out on his own with three singles under the guise of Four Nights. One of those songs, “Want You Always” is resplendent in 80’s pop sensibility and currently resides at #11 on my personal chart. “Not This Time” is a heartfelt piano ballad with a strong build up that never goes over the top. Tommy’s story is easily identifiable to anyone who listens and is carried by a vocal whose appeal relies on its authenticity. The music of Four Nights isn’t flashy and doesn’t look to the latest trends to attract listeners. “Not This Time” is an example of solid pop with interesting songwriting that’s produced to accentuate Tommy’s strengths, and cuts through the dross in much of today’s pop on its own merits.
“Love Me If You Can” is one of those songs that immediately prompts your ears to perk up when you hear it. And when you find out that the singer/songwriter, Toronto’s Cmagic5, is still a teenager with such a well-honed voice, then you can see that there is enormous potential in her vision of creating dance/pop with a message and a sophisticated backdrop beyond her years. While this singer of Portuguese heritage won’t reveal her name just yet, Cmagic5’s moniker includes her actual first initial “C”, while “5” represents her birthday, May 5. With its polished production that still offers some soulful grittiness, “Love Me If You Can” is culled from her album Ready To Run. The song speaks to mental health mainly of young adults and teens by encouraging them to love themselves first and then spread that love as well. Fans of Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and SZA will enjoy what Cmagic5 brings to the new music scene.
As usual, the new chart is focused on the latest great pop/dance songs that I really enjoy, although pop, R&B, alternative rock also figure in the mix. With so much music that arrives every week, it’s harder than usual to find the gems within, but I always find them!
Lodged at #1 with no signs of moving anytime soon is “No More Looking Back”, the steadfast classic house-flavoured song by Idris Elba and Inner City with its fierce vocal from Steffanie Christi’an. I look forward to hearing more collaborations like this – “No More Looking Back” is a hard act to follow!
Porter Robinson just announced his upcoming US Nurture tour which will hit all major cities throughout the fall and into the early winter. His refreshing and thoughtful “Look At The Sky” moves up 3-2.
Soaring from 10-3, Sweden’s Eric Saade is in familiar Top 5 territory with “Every Minute”. Eric scored 6 Top 5 records on this chart between 2011 and 2015, including three #1’s: “Popular”, “Hotter Than Fire”, and “Backseat”.
“When I Lost You” is one of some exceptional dance music bangers on the chart. As brought to you by Norway’s Dunisco and NYC singer/songwriter Robbie Rosen, it glides up the chart 9-4. It matches Robbie’s previous #4 peak with “Fantasy” (with Saxity and Victor Perry) late last year.
One of Victor Perry’s many recent collaborations, with Italy’s Lordnox, becomes his latest Top 10 release on the chart, as his ballad “Stories” peaks at #5 and slides to #16. “Myself In You” is one of Victor’s best vocals and climbs 12-7.
You’re seeing double in the Top 10 with Mahalo at #8 with former #1 “Not Watching Anymore” and his recent release “Got That Love” zipping quickly into the Top 10, rising 15-9.
The Fastest Riser though belongs to the retro and charming “Leave The Door Open” by Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak as Silk Sonic, which soars 23-10.
Irish indie pop-rocker Four Nights breaks through a tough part of the chart and climbs 16-11 with the infectious “Want You Always”, whose 80’s flavour will remind you of Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy”.
Gryffin’s propulsive deep house track “I Want Love” wastes no time climbing 25-19 in its powerful remix by Brazil’s worldwide-respected brothers, Cat Dealers.
Season 12 winner of “The Voice”, Chris Blue, is in fine form both as vocalist and songwriter with “Moon”, which rises (pun intended) 27-20.
The Highest Debut of four entries this week belongs to Felix Cartal’s side project for deep house music, Glass Petals, which he created with his friend and fellow Vancouverite Johnny Jover. Their recent release “Heartbeat” arrives at #24.
Next up at #25 is one of the spring’s most pleasant surprises. Jessie Ware decided to release a “platinum” edition of the excellent What’s Your Pleasure album, and in doing so added a new song called “Please”, which is as good as the best songs on the album. “Please” is Jessie’s 10th appearance on this chart, which goes back to the end of 2013 for her appearance on the reissue of Miguel’s “Adorn”, which reached #1 on this chart.
At #26 is deep, dark house music from Australia, which finds electronic dance producer Needs No Sleep paired up with singer/songwriter Jeremy Beamish from The Beamish Brothers for “Unnatural”. The Beamish Brothers have previously charted twice, with Mark Mendy on “Black Gasoline” (#6) and on Revelries’ “Infinitum” (#12). The song is already flying high on the ARIA club charts and is one of the more unique records on this chart.
The final debut at #27 is the fun and uplifting quickie “Better Day” by mysterious British producers WH0, British vocalist Josh Barry, and the amazing Nile Rodgers on guitar, recorded at Abbey Road studios no less. It’s a rework of one of Nile’s late 70’s productions by Norma Jean called “High Society”, and it’s so nice to hear classic disco and house music with dashes of rock flavour. Nile has appeared three previous times on this chart, last in 2015, but all in the 2010’s: “Get Lucky” (#2), with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams; “I’ll Be There” with a rebooted CHIC (#5), and “The Other Boys” (#5), with NERVO, Kylie Minogue and Jake Shears.
NEW!!Planet Radio Canadahas returned to the interwebs with ‘The Musicman’ James Rogers and his “3D Variety Show” each week for three hours of great music as well as a few features. Listen to my New Music Pick of the Week (usually featuring a song on the chart) in the second hour of the show. Tomorrow, the show will feature the music of Rick Nelson! Planet Radio Canada’s “3D Variety Show” is simulcast on http://www.classichits.caand http://www.radiogta.ca from 6 to 9 pm EST.
The music from this chart and blog are also featured regularly on the online radio station Radio GTA. You can hear their Big 20 on Wednesday evenings, also with ‘The Musicman’ James Rogers, and listen for songs from the chart too 🙂Scroll down the station’s main page to listen to lots of variety from across the decades! I’m the new music consultant for the station so you can expect even more 🙂 You can start by joining Radio GTA’s new interactiveFacebook group too!!
View the full BILLCS Top 30right 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
At only 20 years old, Bangalore, India producer and musician Ashwyn Sriram already kickstarted his platform in pop music as a teenager as electronic dance producer Astra. Even with the support of Hardwell and a release on the producers Revealed Recordings, it was not enough for Ashwyn to get to the heart of what he really wanted to record. Already an accomplished electronic guitarist, Ashwyn has been releasing songs since 2019 rather quietly under his new guise, with growing additional support from Nicky Romero and Axwell as well as Rolling Stone magazine. “Sell My Soul” is a classic story about what you trade off and get back in return, and whether or not it’s worth it. The gentle vocal gives way to some terrific guitar work which makes “Sell My Soul” all the more memorable. As a producer, Ashwyn knows how to make a song flow, filling the gaps with interesting instrumentation and sounds. Currently studying at the Berklee College of Music, Ashwyn has plenty of new music coming, so stay tuned for more.
Ben and Jeremy Beamish have a plan for their music, and it involves a whole lotta fun set to R&B-influenced rhythms and beats in a pop setting that audiences enjoy in releases by the likes of Bruno Mars and Maroon 5. “Anxious” follows up their last release, the pointed but still fanciful “Dollar At The Heart”. While all ears are on Jeremy’s soulful vocal which taps into his spot-on falsetto, it’s the harmonies between the brothers that are really flaunted in the production. Add lyrics which during these strange times anyone can identify with, and “Anxious” has the total package which makes it an enjoyable and often ear-turning release. Check out the cool animated lyric video above.
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