As brought to you through Billboard today, “Fall Into Love” is indeed a lush and powerful affair from the duo otherwise known as Simon Curtis and Wolfy. It’s the happiest marriage of the talents of the best of friends – both have power and attack in their voices, but are so different that they compliment each other enormously, as we heard previously in very different duets on “Michelle” or “Wicked Baby”. Wolfy’s voice has also grown since the songs from her End Of The Rainbow album. The emotional qualities of the song echo back to anything that hit a chord with you from Simon’s 8bit Heart release, after all everybody has a favourite 80’s movie, right? “Fall Into Love” also has some similarities to Simon’s more recent “Heart In 2” or “Diamonds On The Dance Floor” but more pop-focused than electronica. Overall the song hits every mark to keep your head bobbing and ears tuned in, right through an almost tribal-sounding breakdown that gets reeled back in towards the end. While I think “Fall Into Love” will become a signature song for Wrathschild, I’m confident that the best is yet to come from Simon and Wolfy. “Fall Into Love” comes to you on March 31 with a long-awaited video to follow in April.
So we found out yesterday that the new project that L.A.-based singer Simon Curtis (8bit Heart, the Billboard-charting R∆) had been working on for the last while is in fact a duo, Wrathschild, with his great friend Wolfy Jones (Ro Danishei). The teaser impresses with a big lush sound. This pair did some great underrated work on Ro’s 2011 album End Of The Rainbow… find out about the whole story and song on Monday March 24 at http://www.billboard.com 🙂 Video to follow… spread the news!
More than any other year that I can think of in recent memory, 2013’s best songs were all about terrific vocal performances. Of course, any song with an insanely catchy rhythm can win you over on that alone, with vocals and lyrics coming in distant second and third. I think what I hear is great singers who really should be receiving far more recognition than they are getting. They can’t tour much, have dedicated fan bases, and spend a lot of time cultivating their path online. It’s too expensive for performers to travel great distances to play for 150 people unless they can get a break with the costs involved.
In the commentary that follows, I’m not talking about all of the songs between 75 and 41, particularly those where performers also had songs higher up. So consider what follows to be some highlights of the year 🙂
One performer who set the tone from the beginning to the end of 2013 is FrankMusik. Granted Vincent Frank does have some moderate success behind him, but to do what he achieved in 2013 stretched his resources. And achieve he did – two albums, Between and Between Us, an EP Far From Over, as well as two tours in the US and shows in the UK. I was happy to ride the FrankMusik train in 2013 even though I didn’t get to see him perform this time because you never knew what to expect next. Plus there’s his unbridled enthusiasm in creating his music, which ranged from frenetic to pensive. And the stories he told, mainly so very sad but cathartic at the same time. Two more FrankMusik songs appear higher up on my list. “Chasing Shadows” #72; “Life (Is My Revenge)” #69; “Fast As I Can” #56.
Another performer who had a great year, but with all of the bells and whistles possible, is Justin Timberlake. He hinted that he would release his first album since 2006 at the end of last year, which was quickly followed by his single “Suit & Tie”, featuring Jay-Z (#73). The powerful R&B/pop album The 20/20 Experience arrived soon after, the best selling album of 2013 no less, full of a varied set of songs that averaged in the 7 minute range, kind of risky in itself, but definitely a whole lot of fun when they weren’t too ambitious like the raucous “Let The Groove Get In” (#53). By the time second single “Mirrors” arrived, it was already known that The 20/20 Experience Part II was on deck, and the very 80’s and Michael Jackson-influenced single “Take Back The Night” (#49) was upon us. And with Jay-Z’s Holy Grail album, we were pretty much assured of hearing new Justin Timberlake music every day in 2013. But even with all of the money behind this project, was it a total success? I would say Part I achieved what it should have, and more. I think there were missteps with Part II arriving so soon after Part I even though many of its songs were stronger than those on Part I. But unlike recordings by independent artists, Parts I and II will pay for each other over time. It was great to have Justin Timberlake back though as his voice was in fine, fine form.
Newcomers:
UK soul singer Charlie Brown had been featured on many songs and mixtapes over the last five years, but broke into the UK Top 10 with his uplifting “On My Way” (#75).
17 year old New Zealand singer Lorde topped charts worldwide with her lyrically and melodically clever “Royals” (#68). I couldn’t get enough of it for the first several weeks before it ran its course and peaked at #11.
New York dance duo Ghost Beach arrived on my chart with a unique sound that bridges punk and dance in the Penguin Prison remix of “Too Young”, which is #70 for 2013.
20 year old Florida-born Ariana Grande was already well known to the teen set for her roles on “Victorious” and “Sam and Cat” as Cat Valentine. But her stunning vocal range came to prominence over the last few years, and her debut album Yours Truly saw release in late summer. It was however preceded by a winning single called “The Way”, featuring rapper Mac Miller, which got to #8 on my chart and is #66 for 2013.
UK pop singer James William has established himself with his Olly Murs tribute shows, but is also quite the astute songwriter as well. His bright and shiny “Lay Your Love On Me” ranks #54 for 2013.
Another UK pop singer draws more from classic R&B influences to arrive at a contemporary sound that recalls Simply Red a lot of the time. Sam Dickinson released his debut album The Stories That Occurred and “Learn To Wait”, its second single, is #50 for 2013.
L.A.-based Jarell Perry released one of the most sensational albums for free download in early 2013, Simple Things. It’s full of powerful songs that make a really cohesive listening party as an album as a whole, which is unusual considering most performers are opting for EP’s. The song that stuck with me most throughout 2013 was “9 2 5”, which tells why it’s so important to break out of a regular routine and experience life. “9 2 5” is #45 for 2013. Expect great things from Jarell in 2014, starting with the EP White.
NYC trio Andy Suzuki & The Method built on their existing east coast following (as well as a dedicated one in Brunei!) by releasing a full album, Born Out Of Mischief, which transcends rock, pop, jazz and country styles, led by fine vocals by Andy Suzuki. The impressive “Dirty Floors”, which could be the theme song for any indie musician, got to #7 on my chart and is #42 for 2013.
Continuing from 2012…
UK duo Bim released their Lifelines EP in late 2012, and one of its best and lyrically most powerful songs was turned into a video featuring comic book images. “Burn” is #74 for 2013.
UK teen favourite Conor Maynard paired up with Ne-Yo for the dance hit “Turn Around”, which is #64, while Ne-Yo himself brought some emotionally-charged R&B/dance to charts with “Let Me Love You (Till You Can Learn To Love Yourself)”, which is #61 for the year.
Daniel Bedingfield found much online success with his Secret Fear-Stop The Traffik EP and the award-winning video for last year’s “Secret Fear”, which he also directed. More good things are coming from Daniel in 2014! Joining the class of 2013 from that project is “O.V.E.R. U.” at #55.
Cambridge, MA quartet Passion Pit continued with singles from their 2012 album Gossamer, which often seemed to offer emotionally loaded lyrics over slight and bright melodies. “Take A Walk” is a little different and stands out from the rest of the songs on the album. It reached #6 on my chart and is #46 for 2013.
Australian dance duo The Presets offer synth-drenched otherworldly dance music which sounds like nothing else. Their album Pacifica wasn’t always successful but the focal point to me was the intense album track “A.O.” (which stands for ‘adults only’), which is an unmade science fiction movie unto itself. It’s #47 for 2013.
Returning Favourites:
At end of 2012, US quartet One Republic issued the single “If I Lose Myself”, which was eventually included on the band’s first album in 3 years, Native. The single signaled a more synth-led sound than usual which I found to be very appealing, though it wasn’t until later in the year with “Counting Stars” that the group once again achieved massive success, reaching #1 in the UK and Top 5 in the US. “If I Lose Myself” is #71 for 2013 – it may be re-released to follow up “Counting Stars”.
2012 was absent of music from our favourite boy robot, Simon Curtis. So the singer gifted us with an EP of songs written for others, called WWW, full of the expected electronic pop and dance bliss but somewhat different from what we had heard in RA and 8bit Heart previously. But “Berlin Wall” (#63) is an unforgettable singalong anthem paired alongside the likes of “Laser Guns Up”, while “Do I Have To Dance” (#48) is a shattering dance epic as the singer pleads “notice me” but alternately screams “how long do I have to dance?” as if it’s the worst thing in the world. Simon has a new song and dance video funded by fans which will appear in 2014.
Adam Tyler has been busy writing and recording his follow up to 2011’s Shattered Ice album after spending a lot of 2012 touring. He gave us a taste of what he’s working on with the dubstep-influenced “Fade Into The Light” at #58. The song was also featured on the essential dance compilation This Beat Is Poptronik… Volume 2… along with three others on this list!
L.A.-based Semi-Precious Weapons toned down their rowdy rock style a few notches for the anthemic ballad “Aviation High” early in 2013, which also serves as a lead-in to their upcoming release in early 2014. Can’t wait to hear what these boys have to offer us! Of note: Jarell Perry also recorded a spot-on soulful cover of “Aviation High”, proving the song’s instant versatility.
And at #41 for 2013 is the Oscar-winning “Skyfall” from Adele, which got to #7 at the top of the year.
SONGS 75 to 41
The prettier web version should be online by the end of Sunday.
75 CHARLIE BROWN On My Way 74 BIM Burn 73 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE featuring Jay-Z Suit & Tie 72 FRANKMUSIK Chasing Shadows 71 ONE REPUBLIC If I Lose Myself 70 GHOST BEACH Too Young (Penguin Prison Remix) 69 FRANKMUSIK Life (Is My Revenge) 68 LORDE Royals 67 OSVALDO SUPINO Ma Radio 66 ARIANA GRANDE featuring MAC MILLER The Way 65 MATTHEW KOMA One Night 64 CONOR MAYNARD featuring NE-YO Turn Around 63 SIMON CURTIS Berlin Wall 62 SEMI-PRECIOUS WEAPONS Aviation High 61 NE-YO Let Me Love You (Till You Learn To Love Yourself) 60 LAWSON Juliet 59 PARRALOX Headhunter 58 ADAM TYLER Fade Into The Light 57 RIVER TIBER What Are You Afraid Of 56 FRANKMUSIK Fast As I Can 55 DANIEL BEDINGFIELD O.V.E.R. U. 54 JAMES WILLIAM Lay Your Love On Me 53 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Let The Groove Get In 52 LAWSON featuring B.o.B. Brokenhearted 51 PET SHOP BOYS Love Is A Bourgeois Construct 50 SAM DICKINSON Learn To Wait 49 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE Take Back The Night 48 SIMON CURTIS Do I Have To Dance 47 THE PRESETS A.O. 46 PASSION PIT Take A Walk 45 JARELL PERRY 9 2 5 44 CHRIS WALLACE Keep Me Crazy 43 WILLY MOON My Girl 42 ANDY SUZUKI & THE METHOD Dirty Floors 41 ADELE Skyfall
In a powerful Top 5 last week, I was uncertain who would emerge at #1 on the new chart. But it’s Neverest whose latest single “Rewind” moves 3-1 this week. Neverest is in good company with River Tiber and Kwik Fiks & Bongiovanni as Canadian performers with #1’s on my chart this year. The quartet is also on a triple bill with Shawn Desman and Tyler Shaw at The Mod Club on November 16 in Toronto. Do catch their show if you haven’t! Always full of surprises and positive energy. PLUS near the bottom of this post (but before you look at the full chart) I am featuring a new song by the writer of “Rewind”!
The Rest Of The Top 10:
Ryan Adamés has a 3rd appearance at #2 with his warm and fuzzy cover of Justin Bieber’s “As Long As You Love Me”. That song is suddenly emerging on many TV talent shows but none of the covers that I’ve heard have the unique appeal of this rendition. It’s available for free if you go and like Ryan’s Facebook page 🙂
ARTPOP and new single(s) approach in the coming weeks, but Lady GaGa’s “Applause” is still climbing my chart at #3.
It looks like Miguel & Jessie Ware’s duet of “Adorn” is eye-ing #1 in two weeks. My excuse for being a latehead on the song earlier this year 😛 It climbs 8-4.
Kaden’s “Black Light” falls to #5, but he has another song, the title track from the compilation Fuel For The Machine on deck! You can listen to a preview of itright here.
Betty Who’s “Somebody Loves You” is one of the most joyous songs you’ll hear this year, and the Aussie-born New York-based singer climbs 10-6.
While we await what sounds like will be a compelling video for his song “Lift Your Head”, Sam Dickinson’s soulful and energetic “Learn To Wait” climbs another notch to #8.
Pet Shop Boys score their second Top Tenner from Electric with the sublime “Love Is A Bourgeois Construct” at #9.
Australians Parralox created one of the most interesting album of cover versions this year with Recovery. Excellent choices include Front 242’s memorable industrial club hit “Headhunter”, here given a full blown electronica dance treatment. It lands at #10 on the chart 🙂
Fast Risers:
The more I listen to Osvaldo Supino’s “I Have A Name”, the more I appreciate the honest beauty of the lyrics and the arrangement. It’s the fastest riser on the chart, soaring 21-11, while Osvaldo-with-a-boombox creates fun and havoc with “Ma Radio” further down at #15.
I can’t wait for more new music proper from DATABOY, but in the meantime their stellar mashup “We Can’t Stop Summertime Sadness” is doing the trick just fine thank you, and moves up to #12.
FrankMusik’s gorgeous “Hymn” from his acoustic piano album Between Us rises to #17. He’s playing two shows in NYC this week, on Thursday October 24 at Rockwood (which I will miss, dammit, because I arrive in NYC the next evening 😦 ) and Saturday October 26 for a Hallowe’en DJ set at Fox & Jane. More stops in Washington DC and Philadelphia afterwards for you fans!
“Can’t Hold Back” by Anton Ewald is the last fast riser, moving 28-21. I’m thoroughly impressed with his EP, called A. It’s really contemporary and diverse pop, and only the Swedes can seem to get this right!!
New to the Chart:
As older songs reach their maximum amount of appearances (10 = 20 weeks) and drop off, it helps make way for lots of fresh new tunes to dazzle you.
It’s no surprise to regular readers of this blog that two new songs by Simon Curtis make their debuts. Last week Simon unleashed a free mixtape called WWWwhich I wrote about. Forever our boy robot, Simon continues to impress – and this is the music that didn’t make the cut for his upcoming album, but were songs instead written for others. Fans are so glad these are available for download through theMuuMuse website. First at #19 we have the unexpected, hypnotic, and stunning dance epic “Do I Have To Dance”. Further down it’s a call to arms once again for the raucous, energetic “Berlin Wall” at #28.
I actuallywrote about this next debut quite a while back, but the more I hear it, the more it resonates with me. It’s also one of the rare songs that leaves a big lump in my throat at the end every time after “I want it more than ever”, followed by the saddest firework sounds you’ll ever hear. Beautifully sung by LA-based singer Jarell Perry, “4th of July” debuts at #25. And it’s also afree download right here.
Travis Garland is on tour and is coming to my town on November 7! Ticket bought! His Spanish-flavoured, seductive disco in the form of “Easy” is a departure for him in the songs on his self-titled album, but it works beautifully and bows at #26.
The final debut at #30 comes from a NYC dance troubadour whose songs are most often about fun and sex, and fun and sex 🙂 Nothing wrong with that. His new album is on deck for a November release called Seventh Star, and I’m talking about SIRPAUL with his single “Every Single Moment”,which I wrote about recently. You can buy it on iTunes. Two of SIRPAUL’s songs are also available on both volumes of This Beat Is…Poptronik 🙂
Bonus Feature:
The writer of Neverest’s “Rewind” is former basketball player and Toronto singer Corey Niles. Having a mentor in fellow Canadian singer Dru (noted for his own hits “She Can Ride” as well as his appearance on Doman & Gooding’s dance smash “Runnin'”, which got to #15 on this chart in 2009) who is featured in Corey’s song “Rollercoaster” is a huge plus. Don’t underestimate the presence of this song. It’s going to lend a fresh urban sound to radio here in Canada that you don’t get to hear much by Canadians beyond songs by Drake. “Rollercoaster” does not let up, it slams pretty hard in a sizzling blend of contemporary R&B styles, and gives a great introduction to the solo Corey Niles. Watch for what sounds to be an intriguing video debuting this week on MuchMusic. Listen and watch the lyric video below. BOOOM!
Listen to the songs or watch the videos using the links on the pictures on the pretty and detailsweb edition of my chart.
Here’s the full BILLCS Top 30
03 01 REWIND Neverest 02 02 AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME Ryan Adamés 04 03 APPLAUSE Lady Gaga 08 04 ADORN Miguel F/ Jessie Ware 01 05 BLACK LIGHT (Stormby remix) Kaden 10 06 SOMEBODY LOVES YOU Betty Who 07 07 TAKE BACK THE NIGHT Justin Timberlake 09 08 LEARN TO WAIT Sam Dickinson 12 09 LOVE IS A BOURGEOIS CONSTRUCT Pet Shop Boys 15 10 HEADHUNTER Parralox 21 11 I HAVE A NAME Osvaldo Supino 18 12 WE CAN’T STOP SUMMERTIME SADNESS DATABOY 11 13 ROYALS Lorde 16 14 I REMEMBER Nick Pes 17 15 MA RADIO Osvaldo Supino 05 16 SKIRT Kylie Minogue 20 17 HYMN FrankMusik 06 18 HOMEWRECKER Travis Garland New 19 DO I HAVE TO DANCE Simon Curtis 14 20 PROBLEM (Kat Krazy remix) Natalia Kills 28 21 CAN’T HOLD BACK Anton Ewald 24 22 IMPOSSIBLE Ryan Star 26 23 JULIET Lawson 27 24 REPLAY Zendaya New 25 4TH OF JULY Jarell Perry New 26 EASY Travis Garland 13 27 VOCAL Pet Shop Boys New 28 BERLIN WALL Simon Curtis 19 29 DIRTY FLOORS Andy Suzuki & The Method New 30 EVERY SINGLE MOMENT SIRPAUL
FollowingFriday’s post featuring links to preview songs from WWW, the full 8 song electropop mixtape surfaced today as a free download from Simon’s good friend Bradley Stern akaMuuMuse.com. Fans will remember that WWW features unreleased songs (which Simon announced today were written for other people) that will not appear on Simon’s upcoming official album release. That’s not to say that they are any less than what should be on an official release. Many times songs do not make the cut for a variety of reasons which have nothing to do with whether or not they were ‘good enough’. Straight away, the best song hands down is the epic dance track “Do I Have To Dance”. This is a massive club hit in the making, taking early house influences and marrying them with the Britney/Katy/GaGa pop of the day that Simon so adores. The song features some of Simon’s best vocals and showy production, giving his lower and higher registers a major workout. “Berlin Wall” is another battle cry that Simon’s fans love and the song just cruises along from beginning to end. Similarly “Fight For Your Life” draws listeners in as Simon makes it a highly personal experience.
The Swedish-pop-sounding “Heart In 2” (above) is the closest to what could be a pop hit, another fine piece of songwriting and production. “Diamonds On The Dancefloor” (below) is solid 3 minute serendipitous pop if a little more familiar sounding as some of Simon’s other songs. Even almost more unassuming is “Satellite”, another tidy pop song that clocks in at just over 2 minutes long. “Meteor” was quietly unleashed online after being featured in the ABC Family show “Twisted”, but it and “Neon Lights” are to me needlessly filled with autotune that detracts from Simon’s brilliant voice. These are the only songs on WWW which lose me. But I’m so glad Simon chose to offer WWW to us as a free download after more than two years without new songs. WWW finds him generally on a much more pure pop mission than in the past, thanks to input from new co-songwriters and producers, and this bodes well for what’s coming. If there’s one song that stands out though it’s “Do I Have To Dance”, a truly monster dance song revolving around Simon hypnotically and repeatedly singing “notice me”, for which I would love to hear remixes 🙂
It’s been two years since an official Simon Curtis release, and his robot army is sated at last that he’s releasing a mixtape called WWW ahead of his third album and upcoming video, for which there was recently an online fundraiser. The new music sounds decidedly more upbeat than second album R∆, solid electropop definitely in the spirit of Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Kesha. But of course it sounds fiercely and definitively Simon, not really like his other records, with four songs up for preview on hisSoundcloud page, “Neon Lights”, “Do I Have To Dance”, “Satellite”, and “Berlin Wall”. “Berlin Wall” sounds like a real crowd pleaser that would fit comfortably beside “Laser Guns Up”. There are three previews, available, do give them a listen, they will definitely whet your appetite for more!
Back in March, I wrote that L.A. based singer/songwriter and favourite boy robot Simon Curtis announced that he would be launching a ‘kickstarter’ project sometime soon. Always true to his word, I’m pleased to say that today (Saturday July 27), Simon revealed that the $5,000 goal to make a video for a brand new song had been met – in TWO DAYS.
This only proves more and more that investing personally in your favourite performers’ works and careers is becoming the way to go in these days where record companies are much more selective about who they sign and invest in. The rich do get richer, but that doesn’t stop the rest of us from helping to make things happen.
Also,you can read my commentsabout a recent and unreleased song of Simon’s called “Meteor”, which gives you a flavour of where the singer might be headed with new songs.
It’s summer and the best voices soar on a clear sunny day…
BETTY WHO “Somebody Loves You”
Australia has given us another divine new voice in the form of singer Betty Who, who dropped her EP The Distance amid oodles of praise. Add my endorsement – “Somebody Loves You” is a sparkling single that could weave its spell in the same way that Katy Perry’s best singles can overtake you. And while this single just glows, the EP, which is free for the downloading right here, shows much depth that will make her a keeper in the pop world.
SAM DICKINSON “How It Used To Be”
Sam Dickinson is a new British blue-eyed soul singer based out of Newcastle. Stop. “New British blue-eyed soul singer” is almost always a good sign for me with music, but even with that positive heads up, young Sam has a unique, powerhouse voice that will blow the roof off your local club. Take heavy doses of 80’s Simply Red and Style Council via contemporary dance tunes and add significant inspiration from the Atlantic/Stax era of the late 60’s, and you will hear where Sam Dickinson is coming from in “How It Used To Be”, from his forthcoming album The Stories That Occurred, which is due in two weeks. I will have the scoop on that album for you closer to that time.
LAWSON “Missing”
Just in advance of yesterday’s official UK and Australian release of “Brokenhearted” (featuring B.o.B.) (which I wrote aboutright here), promising UK quartet Lawson treated us to an acoustic performance of Everything But The Girl’s classic 1995 hit “Missing”. This is particularly impressive because the original version of “Missing”, from EBTG’s Amplified Heart album, was acoustic. But all eyes and ears are on singer Andy Brown, who embodies this cover with passion and desperation, very unlike the original. I hope they perform it in concert when I see them again in late August. In fact, the boys can take it as an official request – pretty please 🙂
SIMON CURTIS “Meteor”
Lately, one of our favourite American wunderkinds of this decade, Simon Curtis, has been chatting on Twitter about how one of his songs called “Meteor” was excerpted in a new TV show called “Twisted”. Yesterday, he let on that the song was available on the Internet to hear, for those that could find it! Always up to a challenge, I have indeed located this frenzied bit of arpeggio-laden Swedish-influenced pop, which according to the Soundcloud link was discreetly posted about 10 months ago. Even if it may not receive official release, it’s certainly way beyond a lot of the fluffy Europop that will grace your ears this summer. A very shiny sign of good things to come from Simon’s work-in-progress.
BAC2SSENTIAL featuring CHARLY MAE “Waiting For You”
Though I’m still digging her anthemic “Girls Go Hard”, UK singer Charly Mae has lent her big, big voice for the first time to a deep house club banger courtesy of Bac2ssential called “Waiting For You”. It’s got that familiar, infectious house bounce that is slayed by Charly Mae’s engaging vocal. Dance club DJ’s shouldn’t overlook this one.
MY FAVOURITES OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2013
Songs (in alphabetical order)
BEGGING Anton Ewald
BLUE ELECTRIC ROSES Travis Garland
CAPTAIN FrankMusik
THE CITY River Tiber
CLARITY Zedd featuring Foxes
GET LUCKY Daft Punk featuring Nile Rodgers & Pharrell Williams
LEARN TO LOVE AGAIN Lawson
LIFTED Kwik Fiks & Bongiovanni
MAP FrankMusik
MY GIRL Willy Moon
1998 Matthew Koma
OUTTA MY MIND Matt Blue
PARACHUTE Matthew Koma
PLAY THE GIRL Tao Hypah
SAIL INTO THE SUN Gentlemen Hall
SOMEBODY TO LOVE ME Eli Escobar featuring Nomi Ruiz
VOCAL Pet Shop Boys
A WORLD APART Davis Redfield
YEAH YEAH Willy Moon
YOUR TOUCH Blake Lewis
Albums (alphabetical by performer)
MATT DUSK My Funny Valentine: The Chet Baker Songbook
It’s been about a year since we last heard new music from L.A. based singer Simon Curtis. And while we’ve known he’s been busy with his projects, the 27 year old dropped the official news via Twitter yesterday:
Going to be launching a kickstarter in the coming weeks to fund the massive new project I’m undertaking…
I think it goes without saying that if you guys can help me make it happen, you will have a free album to look forward to…
*that is, a free album IN ADDITION to all the music I’m releasing this year with the new project
So keep your eyes, and ears, on alert 😉
And so tweets from Simon’s Army and his dedicated Robots went wild yesterday.
All you have to do is remember the 2010 campaign for the brilliant 8bit Heart (still available for free download via http://www.simon-curtis.com) and then, not to be outdone, 2011’s mesmerizing R∆, which charted at #19 on Billboard’s Electronic Albums chart and is available on iTunes. These are two of my favourite albums of this decade. I still play them to death!!
You can bet Simon’s fans will make the new projects happen and Summer 2013 should be all about Simon Curtis once again. They’re calling it #YearOfTheCurtis already. (I don’t mind that they’re using my middle name 😉 ).
Spread the news and prepare yourself! Below is the beauty of a video for “8bit Heart”.
BT is back and ready to take over dance clubs and radio with “Must Be The Love” in partnership with Arty and featuring the always compelling Nadia Ali on vocals. It’s a radiant 9:52 that moves by in the blink of an eye. That’s because its gradual buildup lasts three and a half minutes, but by the four and a half point, you are now hostage with no way out but to revel in it till the end. This is 2012’s return to Trance the way it should be done, and there’s no one who can take you for a better ride, with all of the glorious details, than BT.
Lifehouse featuring Natasha Bedingfield, “Between The Raindrops”
I was so worried when I found out the new single by Lifehouse would include a featured artist. But it was all for nought when I found out that Natasha Bedingfield was the collaborator on “Between The Raindrops”. In advance of the band’s sixth album, I find that this might be a little softer pop for Lifehouse outside of its ballads, but Jason Wade’s convincing vocals countered by Natasha’s charm make this way better than what I might have imagined.
Richard Barone “I Belong To Me”
It’s not a new song, but not one that you’re likely to know. You can change all of that with this free download which precedes the 25th anniversary of Richard’s seminal Cool Blue Halo album, from which the song comes. I’m a huge fan of the former Bongos singer’s solo albums Primal Dream, Clouds Over Eden, and 2010’s Glow. At the time, I found Cool Blue Halo to be offbeat for me and I didn’t enjoy its stripped away production. But after Richard’s impressive body of pop music work, I’m looking to get reacquainted with its songs again. Watch a recent video of Richard performing “I Belong To Me” below and find out more about the celebration around Cool Blue Halo at Richard’s website.
Adaku “Silent Treatment”
I introduced you a little while ago to Nigeria-born Adaku, with her comfort food for the soul in the form of “Or You Can”. She continues to dazzle, in a quiet but confident and impressive way with alternative soul in the form of “Silent Treatment”. The song sits comfortably next to others by Frank Ocean, Jill Scott, Eric Benet, and Alicia Keys. Download “Silent Treatment” for free right here, and keep your ears peeled for more Adaku.
Stone Walters “Dancing In The Dark”
UK singer Stone Walters has been a constant in this blog throughout the year, starting with the stunning heart tugger “Home”, and then with the hopeful “World Keeps Turning”. Now he takes a chilled out approach to Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark”- and you can’t mess with a song like this unless you can truly sing it. Listen to the song below, anddownload it for freeby heading over to Stone’s website with your email address.
Nik Miles “Beautiful People” (live snippet)\
Not many pop singers will abandon everything at their fingertips in New York City for Malmo, Sweden. But as you know from these pages and from those of other bloggers, Sweden could at any point take over the pop world, and not just in a retro Ace Of Base kind of way. So singer/actor Nik Miles is in good hands if the danceable pop of “Beautiful People” is any indication. He has a powerful, versatile voice that can transform nicely if given the right kind of song to sing. But as you’ll see from the live snippet, he’s got the personality, energy, and commitment to make it happen too. Much is in the works, so look to hear more from Nik Miles before the end of the year.
And don’t forget to check out:
The mind-blowing Skrillex-influenced Birdy Nam Nam remix from left field of Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen” that blew up last weekend.
The lyric video for “Dreams Are Gold”, the first single and title track of the debut album by DATABOY, which you owe it to yourself to have in your collection.
And one of the best and wildest EP’s you’ll hear all year from the reliable and unpredictable FrankMusik (in disguise as his Vincent Did It moniker) with The SOPA Opera EP, now available to hear via Soundcloud. Plus, Vince has a daffy and funky instrumental “Grasping At Nothing” available for free download, as well as his remix of “Flesh” by Simon Curtis.
BILLCSMUSIC BLOG 
You must be logged in to post a comment.