Some serious Neneh Cherry vibes going on in this video - which was shot in an abandoned waterpark.
That means it gets to continue an AlunaGeorge theme of dancing in empty swimming pools, which is probably a metaphor for something deep that I'll never understand.
Interestingly, Aluna's French record label has posted a second video for Mean What I Mean, after holding a competition to find dance crew who could create choreography for the song. It's pretty impressive.
After a couple of edgier, underground tracks, AlunaGeorge have announced the arrival of their second album with their poppiest song since You Know You Like It.
Mean What I Mean has an irresistible house bounce, while Aluna alternates between a diva croon and bluntly brushing off a man who won't take "no" for an answer.
It turns out the lyric is based on a real-life encounter, with someone who accused Aluna of "playing hard to get" when she turned down his advances. "I freaked out," the singer told Annie Mac on Radio 1. "I was like, 'Oh My God, I've got to get out of here.'"
Asked about turning the situation into a song, Aluna explained: "You go through these situations and, at the time, I personally don't think to myself 'oh, this is going to be great material'.
"Then you're in the studio and you've still got those feelings that you didn't resolve quite as well as you'd like to have done. And that's where I really pull my lyrics from. Like, 'OK, if I went back to that situation, what would I have needed to handle it better?'"
The song also features up-and-coming MCs Dreezy and Leikeli47. Listen to it below, and prepare yourselves for AlunaGeorge's second album, I Remember, this September.
It's a few years since we heard new material from Aluna and George aka AlunaGeorge. In the meantime, they've worked with Jack Ü and Zhu; while DJ Snake's remix of You Know You Like It (a track first featured on this blog in 2011) finally gave the band a hit in the US.
But now they've emerged like Leonardo DiCaprio from inside that horse, with a brand new song. I'm In Control is a slinky, dancehall-influenced number featuring Jamaican rapper Popcaan (you might know him from Jamie xx's I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)). It doesn't grab you by the balls like Your Drums, Your Love or White Noise - but there's something insidious about that groove that makes me think I'll come back to it time and time again.
Premiering the record on Annie Mac's show earlier tonight, Aluna explained the long wait for new material.
"Me and George have been working on the album and we thought at one point we had it finished. Then, because we're silly musicians, we woke up one morning and said, 'no, it's not done, we have to keep writing'. And then you'd find a new song and you'd be like, 'now that's the bar, now we have to make all the other songs as good as that.' And of course time goes on - but you just keep pushing, keep pushing. [But] when it finally comes out, sometime in the spring, it's going to be as good as you can get it."
The singer is going to be called I Remember, and it features production from Flume and Zhu. As well as George, presumably.
Songs You May Have Missed is a semi-regular round-up of music that's slipped through my fingers over the last seven days. This week's candidates include Duffy (yes, that Duffy) and all these other goodies:
1) Selena Gomez - Same Old Love
This Charli XCX cast off riffs on Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know, and was apparently intended for Rihanna before Selena nabbed it. It's Rihanna's loss. And Charli's. Gotye will be seeing the lot of them in court.
2) ZHU ft AlunaGeorge - Automatic
You might not recognise the name, but Zhu's Faded was one of the biggest club crossovers of last year (you'll probably recognise the hook - "baby, I'm wasted, all I wanna do is drive home to you...").
His new track enlists the Aluna half of AlunaGeorge for a similarly dark take on deep house. Stick around for the sax solo at the end. Very INXS.
3) Hailee Stanfield - Love Myself (acoustic)
A competently delivered performance of one of the year's toppermost pop songs.
4) Roman GianArthur - No Surprises (ft Janelle Monae)
Roman GianArthur is a member of Janelle Monee's Wondaland Arts Society, whatever that means. He's just released an EP of Radiohead covers (listen here) of which this is the absolute standout.
It takes the original's depiction of anaesthetised suburban life and turns it into an irresistible nu-soul duet. Radiohead fans may hate it but - judging by the time I saw Thom Yorke grooving away to Mary J Blige - he'd give it the seal of approval.
5) Aquilo - Good Girl
Aquilo are Ben Fletcher and Tom Higham, two neighbours from the Lake District who have previously specialised in tasetful, ambient electronica. But they seem to have found the emergency chorus button on their laptop, with this slinky little single, which is out on Island records imminently.
6) Rachel Platten - Stand By You
I was surprised to find out that Rachel Platten was 34. Not that there's anything wrong with that - it's just that I can't remember the last time a record label signed a pop artist who predated YouTube.
This song follows up to the UK number one Fight Song, and is a similarly percussion-driven arms-akimbo pop stomper. "It's a love song at its core," says Rachel "and it's about being the hands to catch someone if they need to fall. I'm honestly obsessed with this song. Is that okay to say?"
7) XY Constant - Do It Well ft Tom Aspaul
Falmouth-based producer XY Constant plays out the summer with this chiming and catchy - if somewhat undemanding - tropical dance track. As every blog under the sun has noted, it sounds exactly like Years & Years.
8) Duffy - Whole Lot of Love
Eagle-eyed cinemagoers may have spotted Duffy popping up in the new Tom Hardy movie, Legend, when it came out last weekend. The Welsh warbler cameos as US singer Timi Yuro in the Kray twins biopic - and this tambourine-tanged track is one of the soundtrack's standouts.
It'll be interesting to see if Duffy can orchestrate a proper comeback off the back of it... And if you're wondering where the Rockferry singer has been for the last six years, this article on Music Business Worldwide tells a cautionary tale for anyone entering the music business.
9) Halsey - Maida Vale session
Pop's shootingest star descended on the BBC's legendary Maida Vale studios last night to perform a couple of songs from her 4-star debut album, Badlands. You can hear Hurricane and New Americana at the start of this 28-minute segment - but stick around to the end for a rather astonishing mash-up of three songs: Her own Young God, The Weekend’s Often, and Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean?
10) Kendrick Lamar - Album medley (live on Stephen Colbert)
Kendrick Lamar was the final performer on Comedy Central's Colbert Report last December. On Wednesday night, he became the first musical guest on Stephen Colberts new show - The Late Show - on CBS.
It's a masterclass in how to perform rap live. Energetic but controlled, with a pin-sharp live band, Lamar runs through four tracks from his To Pimp A Butterfly album in just six minutes.
If you watch nothing else in this megapost, make it this.
Jack Ü is a joint project between speaker-bothering dubstep dons Diplo and Skrillex. It was announced years ago, but they only got round to relasing material last week. A whole album of it, to be precise, featuring contributions from Kiesza, Justin Bieber and Missy Elliot (together at last!)
The release "dropped" via a marathon 24-hour DJ set last Thursday - which, according to Billboard, didn't go exactly to plan.
"Instead of dancing, many guests had their smartphones held high," reported the magazine. "Eventually Diplo cut out the music in disgust. 'No, for real, put your phones away because you look like an idiot,' he ranted. 'If you want to be on Snapchat all night, make some noise. OK, you're a dickhead.'"
Oh dear.
Anyway, the music is as ridicubonkers as you might expect. My favourite so far is the collaboration with AlunaGeorge - first previewed two years ago. Called To Ü, it wobbles like Mr Jelly on a see-saw in an earthquake.
But you should also check out the Kiesza / Missy Elliot track - if only for Missy namechecking a whole bunch of Salt-N-Pepa tracks in the first of her two guest verses.
The "Songs You May Have Missed" post is often my favourite thing to write all week. It's simply a collection of songs I've stumbled across and filed away - some I'm still evaluating, others are too insubstantial for a standalone article, but they've all made my pop radar go ping. Some of the artists may disappear forever, but it's a good way to summarise my listening and the perennial quest to find new and exciting things.
Anyway, here's this week's collection. As always, I'd be interested to hear what you think in the comments field or over on twitter.
1) Taylor Swift - Out Of The Woods / Shake It Off (live)
In the same week that Taylor Swift topped Canada's iTunes chart with eight seconds of white noise (yes, really) she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's chat show to promote her new album 1989. And she promoted the heck out of it.
This performance, which shut down Hollywood Boulevard, is a proper pop moment.
2) Kiesza - No Enemiesz
At the outer reaches of her vocal register Kiesza sounds like a cross between Kermit and Miss Piggy, but you can't fault her for sheer effervescence.
The dancing in this video is carefree and joyous - which makes the soft-core pay-off all the more unnecessary.
3) Tulisa - Living Without You
I was pretty dismissive of Fergie and Gwen Stefani's underwhelming comeback singles last week, so it's refreshing to hear someone else claw their way out of the dumper after a protracted (and traumatic) period out of the limelight with something that sounds like a hit.
Of course Tulisa benefits from the gift of low expectations - but she sounds confident, hungry and (unlike the other two) current on this track, which utilises her husky vocals to great effect. Fans of Kiesza may notice a few similarities, though... See above if you doubt me.
4) Leon Bridges - Better Man / Coming Home
Leon Bridges hails from Fort Worth, Texas, where NASA has one of its big research centres, so it's not inconceivable that was beamed from the 1950s to the 21st Century in some sort of freak gamma ray accident.
Otherwise, how do you explain these recordings, which sound exactly as if they were ripped out of Sam Cooke's hands and smuggled into the future? Gorgeous music, and free to download via Soundcloud.
5) Bauuer ft AlunaGeorge - One Touch
Whisper it, but this collaboration is better than AlunaGeorge's own comeback record. Chopped-up, wonky pop with a weirdly infectious hook.
Unusually, the song came from a list of unreleased tracks that Baauer posted on his Facebook page last week, telling fans he'd release the one they liked best. You can't fault their judgment.
6) The Veronicas - Line Of Fire
A filthy, low-slung groove marks The Veronica's return to electropop after the devastating balladry of You Ruin Me.
7) The Veronicas - You Ruin Me (live)
Speaking of which, this X Factor Australia performance is a keeper.
8) r.e.l - Plateau
"Time's slipping away from me," sings Arielle Sitrick with earnest urgency on this lush, hushed indie-pop gem. Maybe it's a strange thing for a 19-year-old to come out with, but when you read the lyrics - about a stalled relationship - you begin to understand her desire to get on with life.
The track is taken from her soon-to-be-released debut EP, which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign to the tune of $8,000. Not bad, eh?
9) One Bit - Not About You
Clearly inspired by Disclosure, this Hertfordshire duo were plucked from BBC Radio 1's Introducing Strand and given a few plays on the daytime schedule last week. It's not difficult to see why - this economic dance track is smart, slick and soulful.
10) One Direction - Steal My Girl
One Direction have done the "video directors are morons" plotline before but, in true boyband tradition, why ditch a successful formula? This time, the video comes with added Danny DeVito and, to be fair, the parody of music video tropes is completely on the money. I laughed twice.
11) Seinabo Sey - Pistols at Dawn
Haunting song, chilling video.
12) Rita Ora - Grateful
Rita Ora's break-up with Calvin Harris seems to have delayed her second album, what with his decision to pull all of his songs from her album in the aftermath.
Still, this soundtrack ballad from the pen of Diane "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" Warren should help shift a few copies when it finally comes out. Diane certainly has confidence in the track: "Rita Ora did an amazing vocal," she told Billboard. "I think it can be a career song for her. It shows a whole different side to her and I'm hoping we get to... see her sing it on the Oscars next year!"
To be fair, it's pretty good.
If you made it this far, thanks for sticking around. Hope you found one or two new favourites. If not, send me suggestions for next week's roundup!
The band have been away for most of 2014, writing their second album and supporting Coldplay at "not very good for pop music but, hey, it's prestigious" concert venue The Royal Albert Hall. But tonight they handed over a new song to Annie Mac to whet people's appetites for their comeback.
It's been a pretty busy week on the blog - with excellent new songs from Lana Del Rey, and Sky Ferreira, and OneRepublic and Robyn in the mix. But here are some of the ones I didn't get round to writing about...
1) Clean Bandit - Rather Be (Live on Jools)
This is the first time I've ever seen Clean Bandit in the flesh. There are about 80 of them. Who knew?
2) Iggy Azalea ft Rita Ora - Black Widow
If you haven't latched onto the Iggy Azalea bandwagon so far, this could be the song to turns you around. Like Katy Perry's Dark Horse, it weds a sparse, minor-key verse to a soaring chorus that gets clipped just before you get to the good bit. It's a cruel tease, but it leaves you wanting more every time.
Clever writing, then, and a good trailer for Iggy's debut album, The New Classic, which "drops" (is released) on Monday.
For a start, it means albums like Parade and Sign O The Times will be remastered and re-released (and believe me, they need it - the original CD masters are woefully tinny and quiet). But the deluxe, 30th Anniversary edition of Purple Rain also promises a bunch of rarities from the Vault. Let's hope it includes an official release for this long-cherished, 14-minute bootleg of Computer Blue.
Sadly, that track can't be embedded - so here's Mr Rogers Nelson performing Purple Rain at the Brits instead.
4) Paolo Nutini - Recover
The mumbling Scotsman covers Chvrches, with spine-tingling results.
5) MNEK - Every Little Thing
It's pronounced Em-En-Ee-Kay, and he's the biggest UK pop star you've never heard of.
He wrote Need U (100%) with Duke Dumont. He plays the spoons on Rudimental's Spoons. That was his voice on Gorgon City's Ready For Your Love. Little Mix's Wings? He produced that one. And he's working with Florence + The Machine, too.
Somehow, in the middle of all that productivity, he's been making his own solo record. Every Little Thing is the 100% not bollocks first single.
6) AlunaGeorge - Kaleidoscope Love (Kaytranada Remix)
Montreal DJ/Remixer Kaytranada has taken one of the least-loved tracks on AlunaGeorge's debut album and turned it into a deep, dark house cut. The backing suits Aluna's ethereal vocals so well, it should give the band a hint of where to take their second album.
7) Future ft Andre 3000 - Benz Friendz (Watchutola)
The stand-out track on Future's new album is a two-hander with Outkast's Andre 3000, with both rappers insisting they do not care for a girl and her choice of automotive transport. Andre goes so far as to declare he'd rather ride his bike or walk. God knows why, but this is one the catchiest beats you'll hear all Easter.
8) Lulu James - Beautiful People
21-year-old Lulu James has been bubbling under for a year or so. Born in Tanzania, raised in South Shields, she's Jessie Ware with a harder edge and a voice that'd make Aretha Franklin jealous.
Beautiful People is the first track from her new, as-yet-untitled, EP. It starts quietly but builds and builds until your walls start vibrating. Spellbinding stuff.
9) Culann - All Reverie
I wrote an article for the BBC News site this week on "the return of rock" - based on the fact that, finally, the UK is producing some guitar bands good enough to be played on daytime radio.
Afterwards, I got no end of abuse on Twitter from hardcore rock fans who said I didn't know what I was talking about. Maybe, but the article wasn't targeted at Metal Hammer readers and, to the majority of Radio One and Two listeners, new guitar bands have been pretty thin on the ground for the last few years.
Anyway, the positive result of the piece was that lots of guitar bands sent their videos at me. Here's one I liked, from Scottish five-piece Culann. Singer PJ Kelly's Celtic lilt has a touch of the Biffy Clyros, while his band are clearly accomplished musicians - this single makes a lot of unexpected detours on its way to the chorus without ever descending into fretwanking. (Unsurprisingly, Culann say they're fans of prog bands like Yes and Rush).
The video, meanwhile, stars Rab Affleck, who you might recognise from his hard-man roles in Layer Cake and Gangs of New York.
10) Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell (Stink Mix)
A parping jazz remix to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nas's debut album Illmatic. You've got to love a rap song with a flute loop.
11) Pawws - Sugar
"Upsetting disco" says the bio on Pawws Twitter page, and I couldn't have put it better myself.
She's a London-based electro singer, with shades of Little Boots and St Etienne in her sugar-spun 80s pop. The cascading synth lines in her debut single are sweeter than Canderel. Just the thing for Easter.
That's all for this week, then. Happy Festival of the Chocolate Jesus!
HUGE congratulations to Haim, whose debut album beat part-time actor Justin Timberlake to number one by the tiniest of margins on Sunday (2,100 copies at the final count). Days Are Gone is a great record - a stroppy, songy masterpiece forged in the flames of the 1980s pop. But here's the thing: I've barely listened to it.
Why? Because by the time it came out, I already owned five of its 11 tracks. According to iTunes, I've listened to Forever and Don't Save Me over 100 times, so I never really need to hear them again. The CD is a physical souvenir of songs I loved on the internet last year.
And that's a big problem. Because, more and more, this is the way new bands are promoted. After all the buzz tracks, free downloads, exclusive sessions and chart-ineligible EPs, Haim's first album is over before it began. There's maybe one more single on it - then nothing for radio to play while they tour the album, and nothing to keep them in the public consciousness while they record the follow-up.
The same fate has befallen AlunaGeorge, who used up their best radio songs before radio was ready for them. By the time their album was finished, they were releasing You Know You Like It for the third time. Unsurprisingly, everybody who wanted the song had already downloaded it, with the result that a potential number one limped into the charts at 39, and was dropped from the latest Now album. It's almost like it never existed.
In the end, the AlunaGeorge's album charted respectably at number 11 - but now it needs a promotional push for Christmas, and the cupboard is bare. Had wiser heads prevailed, Your Drums Your Love would have been held over to this year. Instead we get Best Be Believing. Not a bad song, if you're into Paula Abdul album tracks, but a million miles from the band's best work.
I'm not sure setting the video in a "humorous" mental health clinic was the best idea, either.
So, a few new tunes cropped up during Glastonbury - which means that at least two music industry PRs weren't in Somerset over the weekend. Or maybe that the interns got left in charge of the YouTube password for a couple of days. Either way, here's what we missed.
1) Franz Ferdinand - Right Action
Franz Ferdinand are a band who seem chronically incapable of finding a new sound. Right Action has the same scratchy riffs and laconic lyrics of Holiday from the band's first album. But, after four years away, it sounds fresh again. Expect to see them relegated from Radio 1 to 6 Music, though.
2) Robin Thicke - Give It 2 U
Hey, ladies, here's the follow-up to the sex pest anthem of the summer. Robin is no more enlightened than last time round. "Girl, I got a big dick for you," he sings. What a charmer.
3) AlunaGeorge - Bad Idea
At the end of this radio rip, Lauren Laverne says of AlunaGeorge: "I remember we had them in for a session after just releasing one single. I was like, 'how hard can it be? Just do that 10 times and then you've got your album'. I said it ironically, but they sort of have just done that".
Well, that's massively uncharitable, given how adventurous the band have been with their R&B template. This song, a b-side to the re-released I Know You Like It, ups the tempo and goes for a more frothy vibe than the band have pursued in the past. I really like it.
5) The Staves - Icarus
Look, I'm not going to stop droning on about how brilliant The Staves are until you all agree with me. So why not just submit to their charms now and get it over with? Icarus is taken from the special edition of their album Dead And Born And Grown, which comes out on 15th July. And this video finds the Stavely-Taylor sisters traipsing around the world with an acoustic guitar and a lot of hair, doing singing and stuff. Gorgeous.
6) Duke Dumont ft MNEK - Hold On
The follow-up to chart-bothering club classic 100% is an altogether darker affair. Guest vocalist MNEK drowns in echo as he pleads "don't let go of what we had" over a late-night house groove with spooky "WooOOOooOOooh it's a ghost" backing vocals. It's absolutely gorgeous.
7) Gallant - If It Hurts
NYC Newcomer Gallant has the sugar-sweet vocals of D'Angelo, but backs them up with muted indie guitars and scrunched up drum loops. He's been working with William Orbit and Felix Snow - who handles production duties on his new single, If It Hurts. If you like this, you should also check out his magnificent cover of Ke$ha's Die Young on Youtube.
Phew! That's quite the run-down. Stay tuned for more.
Let's face it, there are worse jobs in the world than reporting on Glastonbury. Saturday may have been a 22-hour slog that combined mud, blisters and sunburn with a 4:30am start and 11 interviews - but I had an absolute blast.
So, here are my top 10 (and a half) moments from a busy weekend. I even got to watch some music.
10)Liam Gallagher liked my t-shirt.
Thanks, Liam, but Beady Eye are still shit.
9) A never-ending supply of Haribo.
Seriously, they were everywhere: Scattered in the dressing rooms, littering the production offices, propping up the catering tents. On Saturday, when the sun came out, they all started to melt and coalesce into one giant mecha-Haribo. I have come to the conclusion that the festival is secretly run by Gummy Bears.
8) Catching Aluna "AlunaGeorge" Francis scoffing a bag of crisps just before the band's inaugural Glastonbury set (but after she'd joined Dizzee Rascal - aka "the grime Black Lace" - on Friday evening).
7)Rudimental, whose tiggerish levels of bounciness led to one of the best shows of the festival. Imagine a Basement Jaxx gig played by James Brown's band. They're that good.
6.5) This slurry tank.
6) Hastily applying sun cream and running out the door to speak to Two Door Cinema Club. As the interview progressed, the cream started to melt and run into my eyes. Ever the professional, I kept the recording going for 10 minutes as my face streamed with tears. "Are you ok?" asked Alex Trimble after we finished. "Sorry," I replied, wiping my eyes. "It's just that I'm your biggest fan."
5) Watching Bruce Forsyth take over the Avalon field ("if you're good I'll play for two hours. If you're bad, I'll do four-and-a-half") then recording the best vox pop of all time.
Actually, I'm lying. That's only the second-best vox pop of all time. On Saturday afternoon, Colin Paterson was interviewing people on 5 Live when a woman walked past with the lyrics to Wild Horses tattooed on her arm.
"You must be going to see the Rolling Stones," he said.
"No, I'm gonna see Chase and Status."
"But you have their lyrics tattooed on your arm?"
"No, mate, that's the Susan Boyle version".
4) Speaking of The Strolling Bones - I've never been a big fan, and I would never have paid real money to see them, but they totally won me over. Music aside, the most amazing thing about their set was that almost everyone put their cameraphone away.
It also became clear why the band were reluctant to let the BBC broadcast their performance: The Stones' live show is designed for a stadium audience, low on subtlety and high on arm-waving, gurny-faced aerobics. Shrunk down to TV size, they were ridiculous and camp. In person they were spectacular.
3) The inestimable Lizo Mzimba, BBC Entertainment Reporter, former Newsround anchor, all-round gentleman and semi-professional Howard-from-the-Halifax-adverts impersonator. As the Rolling Stones took to the stage, he was broadcasting to News 24 from a platform overlooking the Pyramid Stage. 10 minutes later, the final chord to Paint It Black rang out and the audience erupted. But not for the Stones. No, they were chanting "Li-zo, Li-zo, Li-zo".
Lizo's notoriety produced another incredible moment later that night, when a slightly "refreshed" Dan from Bastille came across him interviewing the Stones' fans.
2)The Staves. Not only do they have the voices of angels, but they are bloody lovely people. My task for the weekend (self-imposed) was to follow them band around and document their Glastonbury experience for the BBC website.
It wasn't a difficult job - they're funny and friendly and supremely talented. Crouching next to them, holding a microphone to Jess's guitar as they performed In The Long Run in perfect three-part harmony for Radio 4 was literally breath-taking.
The sisters were originally at Glastonbury for three low-key shows across three days - but then they got a call from Ben Mumford, who wanted them to do this.
Watching that from the crowd, I felt like a proud uncle at the biggest nativity play of all time. They were justifiably over-the-moon afterwards - and it couldn't have happened to three nicer people.
1)ISLANDS IN THE STREAM.
THAT IS WHAT WE ARE.
NO-ONE IN BETWEEN.
HOW CAN WE BE WRONG?
SAIL AWAY WITH ME.
TO ANOTHER WORLD.
AND WE RELY ON EACH OTHER.
A-HA.
FROM ONE LOVER TO ANOTHER
A-HA.
A-ha-mazing.
There were plenty of other memorable moments: Jessie Ware threatening to climb the rafters; meeting Kenny Rogers in his dressing room; Haim being mobbed everywhere they went; Chris O'Dowd actually running away when I approached him with a microphone; and the shower in my caravan running out of water, which left me with no choice but to rinse off the soap suds with a bottle of mineral water straight from the fridge.
There's nowhere on earth like it, and nowhere I would rather have been.
Next year, we've worked out the headliners will be Kanye West, Fleetwood Mac and Prince, with Billy Joel doing the Sunday Afternoon "legend" slot. See you there.
Once she's caught that huge inflatable ball, Aluna out of AlunaGeorge is going to serenade you with one of the classics.
You Know You Like It is a song the duo first released in August 2011. Two years has done nothing to diminish its awesomeness - so their label has wisely decided to re-release ahead of the band's debut album, Body Music, in July.
Even better, they've stumped up £80 for a brand new video in a swimming pool and made Aluna dress up as one of Five Star. Bloody brilliant.
I don't know about you, but my most eagerly-anticipated albums of 2013 are the debuts by Disclosure and AlunaGeorge. Both bands are tugging furiously at the fraying seams of UK dance and soul, and the material they're unraveling is a whip-smart weave of chart-bound melodies and throbbing sonic experimentation.
The wait isn't quite over yet - Disclosure's album, Settle, is out in June and AlunaGeorge release Body Music a month later. Until then, we're left scrabbling for the tasty little morsels they've been scattering around the internet.
So here's hotpant enthusiast Eliza Doolittle duetting with Disclosure on the brand new track You & Me, followed by AlunaGeorge's first big TV appearance, performing their current single Attracting Flies on Jools Holland last night. Good work, everyone.
Some party music for the weekend? Don't mind if I do.
1) AlunaGeorge - I Wanna Be Like You
After Bruno Mars covered The Little Mermaid in the Live Lounge last year, AlunaGeorge have plundered the Jungle Book to record the scat jazz classic I Wan'na Be Like You. Unexpectedly, it's a perfect fit for Aluna's supple, slightly nasal voice. And, as it was originally a duet between King Louie and Baloo, can we temporarily rechristen the band BaloonaGeorge? No? Oh, alright then.
2) Justin Timberlake - Let The Groove In
The loose, unhurried grooves of JT's comeback singles lack focus. But, having read a few reviews, it sounds like the 20/20 Experience makes more sense as a suite of songs. Music for making out to, but not necessarily falling in with. It's up on Spotify today, so you can judge for yourself. My favourite so far is Let The Groove In, which Timberlake performed with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon's chat show earlier this week.
3) The Strokes - All The Time
They don't really get on any more, so why force them into a TV studio for a promo video? Here's 10 years of archive footage from The Strokes (and Lou Reed), to accompany their new song. Doesn't it look like fun being in The Strokes? Anyone?
I introduced you to promising young singer-songwriter Lauren Aquilina last month. Wanderlust, a desolate piano ballad, is her latest single - and it's raising money for Comic Relief. If you don't buy it, all the children will die.
5) Little Boots - Motorway
Little Boots first played this track two years ago... God knows what happened in the meantime. Maybe the motorway in question was the one Cheryl Baker and Rizzle Kicks got stranded on earlier this week. Anyway, it's arrived now, and it's rather beautiful in an ambient St Etienne kind of way. Motorway is a free download, and a new Little Boots album follows in May. Welcome back, Victoria!
After a week walking around the various arrondisements of Paris, there are bones poking through the soles of my feet. So what better excuse to sit back and listen to all the music that's been unleashed on the internet over the last seven days? Grab a cuppa, crack open the chocolate digestives and gather round the screen for an audiovisual treat.
1) Russ Chimes - Turn Me Out
I love this. I love this a lot. Courtesy of internet enigma Russ Chimes (he doesn't even have a wikipedia page!) it's the latest entry in 2012's rapidly expanding catalogue of '90s house revival tunes. Chunky bass line? Check. Handclaps? Check. Wailing diva vocal hook? Check x3.
The story goes that Russ churned this song out as a filler for his DJ set, but it went down so well that DeConstruction asked him to put it out as a single. Good call. You can buy it from 29 April.
2) AlunaGeorge - Attracting Flies
In which Aluna stars in a series of fairytales, directed in the style of Shane Meadows. The three bears are particularly grisly. I hope she didn't eat their porridge.
3) Agnetha Fältskog - When You Really Loved Someone
It seems strange that the woman who once asked "without a song or a dance what are we?" would shun music for nine years, but Agnetha Fältskog has never been one to conform to expectations. As she told me in this interview, she was only coaxed back into the studio by megafan Jorgen Eloffson (Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears), who'd written an entire album for her.
The comeback single - like the rest of the album - is more in the style of Eloffson's Westlife ballads than his Clarko megastonkers. When You Really Loved Someone is basically a Radio 2 crowdpleaser with a predictable key change. It's Faltskog's voice that sells it. Pure and clear, it's lost none of it's power over the years. She's still the A in Abba.
4) Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness (Ryan Hemsworth remix)
Fun fact: If you were to play all the remixes from Lana Del Rey's debut album back to back, the playlist would not finish until May 2047. This mix of Summertime Sadness, from Canadian beat machine Ryan Hemsworth, is one of the better ones, though. As sultry as they come.
5) Phoenix - Entertainment
This is one of the most cinematic music videos you'll ever see. Sumptuously shot, the Korean-set story is packed with romance and bloody violence. It must have cost an absolute fortune to make, and it's a must-see.
6) Justin Timberlake - Suit and Tie (Dillon Francis mix)
Take a boring song, cut it into tiny shreds, put it back together at random, add a donk or two for good measure and, hey presto, you've got a song they can play on Radio One with the rave klaxon on top. Job done.
Amazing musical portmanteau AlunaGeorge have just announced their new single, Attracting Flies. If you haven't been following the progress of the St Albans-based band, where have you been? They were the most-blogged about artists of 2012 (ok, not necessarily a recommendation) and came second in the BBC's Sound Of 2013 list.
As a result, the "proper" media has latched onto the future-funk electro-pop R&B duo and booked some interviews. Here's what we've found out by reading all the articles about Aluna Francis (she's the girl) and George Reid (he's not the girl) we could find.
:: They met on MySpace. "It didn't seem weird at the time," confessed Aluna, "but when you say that now it sounds a bit geeky! Like a dating agency or something." [The Line Of Best Fit]
:: They bonded over a shared love of Radiohead. Aluna gets a little squiffy about Thom Yorke. "I cried at his gig and everyone around me was like 'Are you okay?' and I was crying going, 'I'm fine! I'm just a really big fan! Just don't look at me!" [The Fader]
:: George got his first CD player in 1996. It was a Christmas present, and it came with Michael Jackson's HIStory and Huge Hits 96, which included such era-defining tracks as Breakfast At Tiffanys, Mysterious Girl and Ooh Ah, Just A Little Bit. You can clearly hear the traces of those classics in his current "oeuvre". [Mobo]
:: Writing music is easy peasy. "We've got good beats that are either sexy or dancey and then songs on top," says Aluna. [BBC]
:: Porn has not been ruled out as a career option. "Where will we be in five years? Getting our baps and balls out for money." [Idol]
:: Debut album Body Music is designed for a variety of uses, like a swiss army knife. "From dancing in front of the mirror, studying, or kissing your new boyfriend or girlfriend, painting a picture; there's a song for each kind of mood," says Aluna. [Digital Spy]
:: George is aware that he is the band's Chris Lowe. "When we were working together at first I didn't really see us being a band," he said. "I thought, 'Aluna's the thing here.'" But his foil "hated the idea of being a solo artist". [Evening Standard]
:: The duo have big ambitions. "Moon," declares Aluna. "First band to play on the moon." [The Brits]
Attracting Flies is out on 10 March, but Body Music won't be in shops until July.
Disclosure dropped a duo of dreamy dub-pop singles last year, by the names of Control (ft Ria Ritchie) and Latch (ft Sam Smith). The latter even propelled the dance act into the top 20, much to everyone's surprise and delight.
The band are, in fact, brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence, from Surrey. Aged 21 and 18, they spend their spare time defacing promo pictures with a Tipp-Ex pen, and describing their sound as "house, garage, chords, singing, drums", which at least saves me the effort of thinking up something better.
New single White Noise features Aluna Francis (sounding curiously like she's been sped up, Alvin and the Chipmunks style) and is quite simply gorgeous. It's out in March, which is AGES.
Get ready to sob uncontrollably, because pop music is having a massive sulky lipwobble. It's like that Harry Potter book where JK Rowling suddenly remembered teenagers can get sullen and self-involved, so every other paragraph said, "Harry was consumed with frustration" or "I just feel so angry, all the time".
If you're in the mood to wrap yourself in a duvet and stare vacantly out the window thinking about the sheer futility of existence, here's the perfect soundtrack.
ARTIST: WILLOW SMITH (yes, that Willow Smith) Title: Sugar And Spice Really deep lyric: "I tried to be Sugar and Spice, but I'm melancholy and can't do anything right" Reasons to be cheerful: Samples Radiohead's gloomy Pyramid Song Misery rating: 9/10
ARTIST: SKY FERREIRA Title: Everything Is Embarrassing Really deep lyric: "I've been hating everything" Giving the game away: About 3'28" into her debut TV performance, Sky breaks character with a brief dance flourish. Hang on - she's not glum at all, is she? Misery rating: 6/10
ARTIST: ALUNAGEORGE Title: Thinkin' About You Really deep lyric: "My eyes don't shed tears but, boy, they bawl" Wet blanket bonus: AlunaGeorge are covering "boo-hoo" songmeister Frank Ocean Misery rating: 8/10
So, the blog's had a mini Christmas hibernation - but, as the Village People once said, you can't stop the music. Here's some of the best bits from the last week-and-a-bit.
The "accolade" comes along with a big feature on the BBC News website and a video of Aluna and George visiting an aquarium, for no apparent reason. It's very cute, though. Especially when Aluna asks "Why are we so lame?"
2) Pulp release an excellent new single
"On the last night on earth, when the horses run free, the scriptures foretell of a party in Hackney". Amazing1,000,000,007
Apropos of nothing, Cheryl "this surname available for rent" put up a video for her Lana Del Rey-penned song Ghetto Baby on Christmas Day. It's the one that has the lyric "I know you're sick babe, I wanna get the flu," which is simultaneously genius and ridiculous.
But no-one's listening to the lyrics, they're just watching Cheryl in sweatpants doing crab bends on top of her boyfriend. Which is what everyone does on Boxing Day, right? RIGHT?
4) Miley Cyrus covers Jolene
Amazingly not shit. OK, The White Stripes version had more fire in its belly, and Laura Marling gave a more nuanced vocal performance - but this is a surprisingly powerful interpretation. Maybe Miley had a little help from her Godmother, a little-known songwriter called "Dolly Parton" (nope, me neither).
Miley is currently recording an album with the Neptunes. The mind boggles.
Understandably, Skrillex and his ex-girlfriend don't make an appearance in the video for Summit, but the visuals, by Aussie art magazine Pilerats, are quite diverting. I particularly enjoyed the bit where someone jumps out of a window on a skateboard.
Hello there! Hope you all had a good Christmas. I certainly did, if the number of bottles in the recycling bin are any indication.
Anyway, with the New Year rapidly approaching, it's time for the big TOP TEN of the year. As usual, I've based mine on iTunes play counts (with a little arithmetic to make sure songs released later in the year don't suffer). It's by no means definitive - I seem to have completely ignored some of the year's biggest hits - but if you don't like at least three of the following songs, you're dead in the soul.
10) Cheryl - Call My Name
Old swan dive herself, giving it some welly on a Calvin Harris-produced bum-rattler. "How do you think I feel when you call my name?" she asked. If we used her marital surname, the answer was "very stroppy indeed".
9) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
Gangnam Style aside, this is the best pop lyric of the year. Over a plinky-plonky xylophone Gotye spends two minutes whining about being dumped when, all of a sudden, his ex pops up and says: "Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over". Ouch!
They'll be teaching this one at the Brit School for years to come.
8) Kanye West and Jay-Z - N****s In Paris
There's a reason why Jay-Z and Kanye performed this seven times a night on their Watch The Throne tour: They're egomaniacs. But this time, they're forgiven. "Paris", as the radio edit was called, is the sound of two mega-stars goofing off and accidentally creating a hit single. That shit cray, indeed.
7) The Staves - Mexico
The Staves beguiling harmonies are a honey trap. They sound like three chaste handmaidens but take a listen to the lyrics of Mexico, and they're asking to be rogered on their lover's bed. Well, I never.
6) Girls Aloud - Something New
I suspect this made the Top 10 out of sheer relief. That Girls Aloud came back and didn't fumble the first single was a miracle. Sure, Something New has clunky bits (the uninspired rap in the first verse) but it's essentially a distillation of everything that made the band great. Sexy, shouty, stylish, skinny and ginger.
5) Marina & The Diamonds - Primadonna
This isn't a pop song, it just sounds like one. Or so Marina would have you believe. But if we paid attention to every pretentious ambition a pop star had for their "oeuvre" we'd never listen to anything.
Primadonna makes this list for one reason: The bit where Marina's voice drops an entire octave as she sings "I know I've got a big ego / I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though." A moment of melodic genius that stops the song being just another Katy Perry knock-off. The remixes were great too.
4) Little Mix - Wings
A fanfare. Some handclaps. Someone says "shhh" when they really mean "shit". Then it all goes a bit Aguilera. There's an almighty bridge, an astounding chorus. And, what's this? A second chorus. Incredible.
Admittedly, the lyrics aren't perfect. Girl Bands have been peddling the whole "you're beautiful on the inside" line since TLC's Unpretty with diminishing returns. But Wings is saved by that almighty military breakdown in the outro. Best pop moment of the year.
3) Alunageorge - Your Drums, Your Love
If anyone is going to save R&B from drowsy bore kings The Weeknd and Drake, it's AlunaGeorge. Mixing spaceship sound effects with the palatable bits of dubstep and chuffing great pop hooks, they should be getting a call from Beyonce's "people" any day now. This reached a wholly unimpressive number 50 in the charts last October. Seriously, what is wrong with you people?
2) Lana Del Rey - National Anthem
A cautionary tale about a wealthy man who seduces a young ingénue ("you tell me to 'be cool' but I don’t know how yet"), only for her to turn the tables in the second verse ("You said to 'be cool'... I said to 'get real'"). A love story for the new age, it should be the theme to Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby.
1) Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments
Wildest Moments is about a girl who threw a cake in Jessie Ware's face at a wedding.Honestly.
"My nightmare of a best friend," Ware called her in this interview, explaining: "I never fight with people, but me and her fight. That's my girl, Sarah, and that’s what Wildest Moments is about."
A ballad with drums the size of boulders, and a heart that's even bigger, Wildest Moments is neither the most obvious, nor the most original, song on this list. But it is absolutely the best.
