A rag tag grab bag of new swag*

So, as predicted, parenthood is thinning out the blog posts a little but DO NOT FEAR - I'm still getting my lugholes around the latest pop discs and groovy new tunes (as well as taking a crash course in dad speak).

Here are a few that caught my attention in the midst of the biggest and most rewarding learning curve of my life.

1) Labrinth - Let It Be

Steeped in a steamy soup of classic soul, Labrinth's comeback single starts out like an unnecessary Aloe Blacc pastiche. But you know young Timothy McKenzie will have a secret weapon in his production tool belt, and so it proves on the slightly mad, definitely brilliant, spaghetti western chorus.




2) Haim - My Song 5 (ft A$AP Ferg)

My Song No. 5 showcases the more experimental, riff-tastic side of the Haim sisters, but it's an odd choice for a single when My Honey & I is still waiting to be cherry picked from the album.

The video doesn't do the track any favours, either, with it's dated Jerry Springer Show parody bearing scant relation to the lyrics. Odd - but worth it for the Ke$ha cameo.




3) Juce - Burning Up

When I last wrote about this song in early July, it wasn't scheduled to be a single. But either someone has seen sense, or Juce's record label fancied writing off some money against their tax bill - because top summer jam Burning Up now comes with it's own "visual".

Mind you, it looks like it cost about £20 with change left over for a packet of Jaffa Cakes, but the London-centric tune ("Big Smoke is burning up") survives intact.




4) Laura Doggett - Phoenix

This may only be her debut single, but Laura Doggett is the first artist I'm calling for the BBC Sound of 2015 list.

Produced by SOHN, the track is barely there - a minimal, stuttering click track and a mournful piano - all the better to showcase Laura's pitch-black vocals. She sounds like Tracy Chapman or Nina Simone dragged into the sewers, and it's captivating.




5) Bondax - All I See (ft Tanya Lacey)

Just when you thought 2014 had enough killer dance anthems, along comes another one. Bondax (terrible name, sounds like a drain cleaner) are Adam Kaye and George Townsend, and the video for their tropical take on deep house was shot in Corsica and Lancaster. See if you can guess which is which.

That's all for now. I'm off to do some dad dancing.

* Sorry - I ran out of time to think up a better headline.

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Juce are burning up on new song, Burning Up

Juce, as you can see from this gloriously awkward photo, are not your typical girlband. You certainly can't imagine Louis Walsh or Lou Pearlman picking them out of a line-up and declaring: "Gentlemen, I have found the next Saturdays! With their glossy magazine smiles, my music industry contacts and this massive printing press, we'll have a licence to make money!"

But that's exactly why they're so cool. Combining the insouciance of Keisha Sugababe with the chunky R&B grooves of good-era Janet Jackson, they play their own instruments, write about living in London and are generally a gale-force breath of fresh air.

Recently signed to Island Records, Cherish + Chalin + Georgia uploaded the "it's hot outside" summer jam Burning Up to Soundcloud late last week. "My city is burning up, burning up / Burning like the summer sun," they sing, sounding like they're strapping on roller-skates as they go.

The band say it's "not a proper single" but it'd be stupid to wait and release it in October. Have a click (or, if you're reading this on a mobile, a jab of the finger) - then add it to your beachtime playlist at the next available opportunity.



"FYI" That photo at the top comes from the video to the band's previous single, (H)ours. It's definitely... erm, a unique concept.

Juce - (H)ours

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Juce squeeze out another big tune

Last week, the internet's favourite new girlband Juce signed up with Island Records. The deal was based on the strength of their single Call You Out, which very much sounds like Haim covering SWV (ie very good indeed).

The contract means they're going to start recording an album - which I predict will be (a) better than and (b) out before any new material from Mutya, Keisha, Siobhan.

For the uninitiated, Juce are Georgia, Chalin and Cherish - three girls from London, one of whom is a giant.

Eschewing the traditional vocal harmony group model, they write their own material and play their own instruments.

You can see them in action, via a busking video they recorded outside Radio 1's London HQ on Friday.


(NB: How big is that bass guitar?!)

To celebrate their new deal, the band donated a new song to Annie Mac's Free Music Mondays last night. (H)ours is a energetic slab of funk, built around a bassline that struts around like Mick Jagger doing the chicken dance through a minefield.

The singer (Chalin, I think) shows impressive range, too: Her voice scraping the floorboards in the first verse, before a long, slow climb to a roof-raising shriek at the four-minute mark.

It's not the instant earworm that Call You Out turned out to be - but for a free MP3, it's pretty terrific. Just click through to Annie Mac's Soundcloud page for the download link.

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Allow us to intro-Juce ourselves

I'm a bit late on this, but here's a new London three-piece, who release their debut single this week, and who've just got themselves added to Radio 1's Introducing playlist. So now is as good a time as any to write about them.

Juce (for that is their name) are Georgia, Chalin and Cherish, an R&B girl band from London. Their debut single, Call Me Out, hit 'the blogs' in February, and 'the blogs' instantly branded them "Britain's answer to Haim". I can see the similarity, but those chunky drum loops and descending vocal melodies remind me much more strongly of All Saints. (That's 'I Know Where It's At' All Saints, not 'Chick Fit' All Saints - which is a relief).

Here's the video, which tips its hat to TLC's Creep: "Watch us running around being tits in silky pyjamas!" the band declare.

Juce - Call You Out

Call You Out was produced by Dan Carey, who owns the Speedy Wunderground label. He then invited them to make a follow-up, abiding by the label's "24-hour" mantra - meaning Braindead was recorded and mastered in a single day with no further embellishments or production trickery allowed.

It's a subtler, more adventurous song - the hooks hiding in the spaces created by a cavernous reverb. If anything, it suggests Juce are capable of outgrowing the "girl band" tag very quickly. Ones to watch, then.



Like what you hear? Call Me Out went onto iTunes this week, while Braindead is available as limited edition vinyl from the Speedy Wunderground site.

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