Lately, dance music talent as diverse as The Knocks, Whethan, and Benny Blanco has found their way into alternative rock zones through radio play. And other artists already popular in alt.rock like Machine Gun Kelly and grandson, have added electronics prominently to their recent releases. So it’s no wonder that a song like “Alone Tonight” by indie singers/songwriters Perry Bancs and Gem Chantelle is also mixing minimal electronics with hip hop flavours and settling into alt.rock trappings, while meeting with favourable reaction. It kind of picks up with a style that Halsey and G-Eazy started albeit quite briefly with the Top 20 pop hit “Him & I” . “Alone Tonight” offers thoughts on two young folks who prefer to be alone much of the time for their own mental health reasons, but are still in need of companionship, compassion, and possibly more in their lives, and decide to get together. It stages that opportunity for one evening, which could just be for good company, or the start of something more. The singers have terrific chemistry in this uncharacteristic setting and have created a true “sleeper” that’s well worth hearing.
It is indeed the Ides of March, and I hope they bear good tidings on us for the rest of 2021. The year has started off well with music, and for the first time since 2014, this chart has had two number ones in a row that clocked up one appearance at the top each – the last to do this were the back-to-back #1’s “Latch” by Disclosure and Sam Smith, and “Proxy” by Martin Garrix.
So the successive one-two punch given by NOTD and Catello’s “Nobody” and “Like Gold” by Loud Luxury, Frank Walker and Stephen Puth yields to this chart’s new topper, “Synthesizer” by Faithless and vocalist Nathan Ball, which climbs 4-1. The veteran dance group would have had a #1 on this chart in 1997, had it existed when their classic “Insomnia” was released. That song became my#7 song of 1997.Not only are the music and arrangement in “Synthesizer” brilliant, but its wry lyrics catch you off guard and will make you smile while you’re singing.
“Lucid” by Rina Sawayama has been beaten to #1 by “Synthesizer”, but it moves up 3-2 anyway. Good luck to Rina at the Brit Awards – they recently got past some awkwardness and deemed her “British enough” to be included!
Illenium, Dabin and Lights have one of the biggest electronic dance songs in North America with “Hearts On Fire” (above), as it climbs 10-6. Illenium quickly included red hot “Mood” guy Iann Dior for his newest alt.rock flavoured release “First Time”, below.
The three latest arrivals to the Top 10 are “Jealous” (above) by French producer Wizzay climbing 11-8; Mahalo’s dance radio hit “Not Watching Anymore” (also above), up 12-9; and Brandyn Burnette’s “Airplane Mode” (below) which moves up 13-10. You can find Brandyn’s voice now at many Canadian Top 40 radio stations thanks to his appearance and co-write on “All Time”, with my fellow Canadians, producer Takis and Juno Awards nominated singer/songwriter Jamie Fine, also below.
Eyes are on the Top 10 in two weeks for electronic dance producer Jay Bird and vocalist Chrxstal Sarah with “Escape” (above), which jumps 17-11, as well as the Fastest Riser on the chart, which is the delightful ballad “Stories” (below) by Victor Perry with German producers Cal1 and L’essay, which soars 19-12. Watch for more new music on Friday from Victor with “Ready For Love”!
If you’re looking for a feel good, catchy dance pop song then “By Heart” by India’s DJ Shaan and vocalist/songwriter Londin Thompson is for you. It climbs 20-15.
While the rest of the chart is brimming with activity by some songs rising five or six places, I’ll catch up with them in two weeks in favour of the four newcomers to the chart.
Leading the new arrivals to the chart are two songs that I wrote about in a post about90’s house music being in comeback mode. With the Highest Debut at #25 it’s dynamic pairing of actor/producer Idris Elba and early 90’s house legends Inner City with the powerful and slick “No More Looking Back” (above), featuring a potent vocal by Steffanie Christi’an, whose voice is also heard throughout Inner City’s most recent album We All Move Together. And then at #26 is a song that has already become a surprise UK Top 5 hit for British producer Riton with the super fun “Friday” (below), featuring that classic sample from Nightcrawlers’ “Push The Feeling On” and additional vocals by Mufasa and Hypeman.
At #27 is the first chart appearance for Norwegian dance producer Dunisco with “When I Lost You”. The song is sung and co-written by “American Idol” Top 16 finalist Robbie Rosen, who recently appeared on the chart with “Fantasy” with Saxity and Victor Perry. This one is a banger with destination firmly targeted for the dance clubs when they resume.
Rounding out the chart at #28 is the first entry by Irish pop/rock artist Four Nights, which is actually the one person project by Tommy Buckley, called “Want You Always”. Its minimal production, keen vocal and 80’s pop flair are all winners in my book.
A reminder that the music from my chart and blog are featured regularly on the online radio station The New Radio GTA. You can hear their Big 20 on Wednesday evenings 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
“When is enough?” From its first thirty seconds, you’ll be pondering what is coming up next in the latest single by Spokane, Washington native BLAZAR along with co-producer DJ Chophead called “Enough”, for Anti-Fragile Music through Universal. Its immediate, brusque start may seem polarizing, but “Enough” is anything but that. There’s a lot of creativity in this production, which BLAZAR can describe himself for you quite aptly:
“The song is really about the zeitgeist of the world, we’ve all had enough, 2020 was hard, it felt like collective anxiety on a global level as we all sit in isolation.”
The music is a blend of rock with progressive electronica and effects, but strip away the latter and there’s a sincere melodic style that reflects on BLAZAR’s songwriting skills. Otherwise known as pop singer/songwriter Jerad Finck, BLAZAR previously won the grand prize in the USA Songwriting Championship, also won by the likes of Meghan Trainor and American Authors. Vocally, his now-edgy alt.rock style could blend in easily sandwiched between Green Day or grandson, and wins you over after the first minute thanks to some very touching, raw qualities. Overall “Enough” is intentionally quite a grab bag, but its ability to reach out to your senses and draw you in makes it a unique and promising listen.
“Better For You” is spicy R&B/pop of a slightly different bent, with plenty of lounge jazz flavour from NYC Latinx singer/songwriter Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez. It’s a very pointed look at women who want to both desire someone and be desired, and questions men through this song why it has to be so complicated. Yes, “Better For You’ is all about sex and is designed to make men uncomfortable while also giving extra thought to what it’s saying to them. Raina has a classic pop style that surely draws from singers like Lena Horne, Judy Garland and Billie Holiday, while invoking a directness you hear in more contemporary singers like Pink and Amy Winehouse that doesn’t mince words to drive her messages home. “Better For You” is entertaining and provoking, proving the two can co-exist in one song.
“Worthy” is a song that seems to belong in part to a couple of different eras, the post-grunge of the late 90’s when Green Day emerged, and the post-punk of the late 70’s when Elvis Costello and The Clash came into prominence. I’m not sure if that’s what Italy-born, London-based singer/songwriter M. Pike had in mind, but it certainly fuels his music with appeal. Labeling himself as “the artist of new era”, “Worthy” is bold, edgy and thoughtful – my immediate comparison is to 80’s British rocker Pete Wylie (aka The Mighty Wah), right down to the spoken word reassurance to us all at the two and a half minute mark. M. Pike’s voice reminds me of Wylie-meets-Billie Joe Armstrong, but with a soulful and more precise undercurrent. “Worthy” tricks you into thinking it will be an all acoustic jam, but the song ignites and you’re in for a pleasant, unique rockin’ ride for these times.
With a title like “Sensory Deprivation”, you might expect some heady, minimalist, experimental electronic work that might just go right over your head. Instead, meet the Finnish duo Lalalow (vocalist/keyboardist Nina Jackson and guitarist/bassist Tommi Laivamaa) who have put a lot of thought into creating a brief dreamscape with introverts in mind with “Sensory Deprivation”. This is not to say that everyone can’t find something to enjoy about the song. The worthy idea here is that introverts (like yours truly) enjoy their time with themselves and do a lot of creative thinking, so why not channel that into a mellow, surreal escape, with Nina’s voice sounding like a cousin of Jessie Ware over lovely instrumentation full of subtleties. At only 2:54, the song is over sooner than you are aware, making it well worth repeating. So in the end, don’t think, just sit back, relax, and imagine…
Perhaps even a deeper hidden secret in the music biz than fellow singer/songwriters Sia and Julia Michaels, Toronto’s Ava Kay has been behind the scenes for years writing for others, including Afrojack, Raghav and Tyler Shaw, and has had her songs placed in by Disney, Hallmark, and Canada’s CBC. Stepping out of the shadows, Ava makes a notable splash with her debut single “Wild Again”. Led with a beautiful, rich vocal, “Wild Again” is cinematic pop of the best kind, a reflective song that, as she says herself, was made “without any compromises”. I’m so glad to be hearing strings (or, as it is sometimes, synth strings) in recent releases again, and here they are used to their best effect, making the emotional song sweeping and magnetic. We can’t help it here in Canada if we keep churning out great talent – watch for Ava Kay to make her mark again, this time as a performer.
I wrote about Nordi Blu’s powerful debut single “Skin” back in 2019, and the promise of more music from the talented French-American (but Berlin-raised) singer/songwriter who had previously placed in the quarter-finals of “The Voice Of Germany” TV contest had to wait two years, which can be a long time in the fast moving music industry. Needless to say, she has picked up where she left off with “Eye Of The Hurricane”. Singers in the rock genre often don’t have polished voices with great tones, and that is where Nordi Blu has a noteworthy advantage. Her vocal allows “Eye” to be a better-than-average anthem, while contributing heavily to its taut, commanding atmosphere. I would love to see Nordi Blu duet with Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons and hear them both blow the house down! Now that she’s back, I hope we’ll get to listen to more fine new songs from Nordi Blu this year.
We now get to leave the short blah’s of February behind in favour of a longer, and hopefully Spring-flavoured March. And along with this comes changes in musical flavours, as older favourites depart and new ones arrive. This edition of the BILLCS Top 30 has a new number one song and three debuts, all by artists who have appeared on the chart before.
And one of the lead artists at #1 has been there before – twice in fact. Multiple Juno Award-winning production duo Loud Luxury get their third number one in collaboration with Toronto’s Frank Walker and vocalist/songwriter Stephen Puth with the deep house of “Like Gold”, which follows previous #1’s “Fill Me In” (with Ryan Shepherd) and “Show Me” (with Nikki’s Wives). And it’s just in time too as Loud Luxury have a new release coming soon!
Two challengers for the top reside at #3 and #4. The hefty punch and bounce of Rina Sawayama’s “Lucid” (above) allows it to move 4-3, while the ever-inventive Faithless climbs 7-4 with “Synthesizer” (featuring Nathan Ball, below) from their album All Blessed.
“Tell Me” by UK artists Bobby Harvey and Danny Dearden glides swiftly into the Top 10, up 13-7. “Tell Me” is one slice of deep house that gets under your skin and between your ears pretty fast. Also pay attention to Danny’s latest with Ethan James called “Dial My Number”, below.
French producer Wizzay – still a teenager – is not one to be underestimated as witnessed by his solid electronic dance EP Who I Am? which features “Hooked” (which I previously wrote about last year) as well as “Jealous”, which climbs 17-11. The vocals on “Jealous” are not credited, but by a singer/songwriter who figures as part of a group currently in the Top 10.
The fastest riser on the chart is the incredibly prolific dance producer Mahalo with “Not Watching Anymore”, soaring 21-12. Among the songs that Mahalo has released in 2021 so far, check out his latest “Got That Love” below. And he streamed a terrific set in episode one of “The Mahalo Show” on February as well which you can watch on You Tube.
Southern California electronic producer Jay Bird is making waves with “Escape” (featuring Chrxstal Sarah), which climbs 23-17. He’s quickly followed it up with a song of a completely different bent called “Let Me Go” (featuring Shiah Maisel), which you can hear below.
Victor Perry’s latest delight called “Stories” is off to a brisk start, as the collaboration with German producers Cal1 and L’essay moves up 27-19.
The rest of the debuts from two weeks ago are all setting footprints on the chart as they move up 7 places: The weird and wondrous “Space Melody” by VIZE and Alan Walker and friends (28-21, above); the charming and sultry “blue” by NYC indie singer/songwriter Reigen (29-22, below); and Toronto singer, dancer and choreographer D!XON with the lovely “Arms Around Me” (30-23, also below).
Something new for Spring by Porter Robinson is just what we need right now. Although his album Nurture hasn’t surfaced yet, you can expect a huge splash when it does. Porter has been curating its website for most of this past year, and the soothing and hopeful “Look At The Sky” is another good lead in as the Highest Debut at #24. In fact, “Get Your Wish”, which reached #1 for two appearances (4 weeks), arrived on this chart a year ago almost to the day!
Next up is the fun and frisky “Boys” by Florida singer/songwriter Lauren Mayhew and NYC-based electronic dance producer INViDA. It blasts on to the chart at #25, following Lauren’s #6 song from last year “We Are Home” (with Mariline). This is INViDA’s first appearance on the chart.
The third debut belongs to Martin Garrix who has gone outside of the box with the more progressive alternative electronica of “Pressure”, which features Tove Lo on vocals. It arrives at #27 and is Tove Lo’s first appearance on the chart, though she was uncredited on Alesso’s “Falling”, which reached #4 in 2017. It’s Martin’s 9th appearance on the chart since “Animals” led the way and got to #1 back in 2014.
A reminder that the music from my chart and blog are featured regularly on the online radio station The New Radio GTA. You can hear their Big 20 on Wednesday evenings 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
There are people we come across in our lives that never seem happy, they always seem to put on a false front or a smiling face at the right times. When you’re in a relationship with someone like this, then it’s best that they move on, for the best for both of you because one day they will find that “”Happiness” doesn’t ever hurt”, as sings British singer/songwriter Jazz Mino. It’s the new song and lead track from her EP Dirty Laundry, which includes her unique reflections on past relationships such as “Part Of This” and the exceptional “Like A Drunk Girl”, which reached #11 on my personal chart last year. Like those songs, you must stick with “Happiness” to let it gel and get more personal with you. The thoughtful lyrics and vocal are surrounded by cheerful synths that help make the song – and especially its chorus – sparkle.
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