A brief pop blitz

Not to bother you with "real world problems" but work has been unbelievably hectic today, and I'm just hurtling out the door out to watch Tove Lo play a gig in London's London (more on that another time). But, before I hurtle, her are three brand new videos that caught my attention...

1) Clean Bandit - Extraordinary
Following up their number one smash Rather Be, Clean Bandit stick to the house music + string quartet script on Extraordinary. The video is delightfully silly.



2) Mapei - Don't Wait
Mapei is a Rhode Island-born, Stockholm-based singer who used to share a flat with Lykke Li. Don't worry, though, this isn't a borderline suicidal pop dirge. In fact, it's an utterly gorgeous, rhythmically diverse love song. Or, in Mapei's own words, "a hip-hop beat with some nice singing over it."


3) Icona Pop - On A Roll
The further away we get from I Love It, the more it begins to seem like a fluke. But Icona Pop really don't deserve to go down in history as one hit wonders: Their "This Is..." album has more spunk and vigour than all of The Saturdays back catalogue put together. I'm not sure On A Roll is the song to set the duo back on track, but the spilt-screen video is just about worth three minutes of your life.

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Three fantastic future soul songs (and one old school one)

I have four tabs open on my browser, three of which contain a sophisticated, innovative slice of futuristic soul. The other one has a new song by Prince. They're all worth a listen...

1) Solange Knowles - Cash In
A slinky, soaring love song, this is Solange's first new material since last year's groundbreaking True EP. It takes a while to get going, but when the harmonies kick in at the 2-minute mark, all the hairs on the back of your neck will go "ping".

Cash In is the last track on Saint Heron, the alt-R&B compilation Solange has curated for Saint records. For some reason, it's not available on iTunes or Amazon in the UK - but you can download it from Fairshare Music, which gives all of its profits to charity, so you can feel good about spending your £7.99 even if the rest of the album is rubbish (NB: it isn't).




2) Mapei - Don't Wait
Stockholm's Mapei mixes Djembe drums with sitars and doo-wop finger clicks on this propulsive love song ("if it wasn't for you, I would be on my own"). For the first three minutes her voice is fed through a vocoder (sounding very much like Imogen Heap's Hide And Seek) and then, suddenly, she breaks into a Double Dutch skipping chant.

On paper, it shouldn't work. In your ears, it sounds incredible.




3) Neneh Cheery - Blank Project
After 16 years away, Neneh Cherry is readying a new solo album for next year. One track features Robyn - but sadly we can't hear that yet. Instead, this is the title track. Produced by FourTet, you're in for some simmering electrojazz and a chorus that seems really slight, then sticks in your head for the rest of the day.

OK, it's not quite Manchild but then what is?





4) Prince - Da Bourgeosie
Prince isn't kicking the ball as far forward as the other artists on this post - but this is a fantastically funky old-skool studio jam, nonetheless. Reminiscent of goofy, spontaneous Vault tracks like Cloreen Bacon Skin and Movie Star, Prince seems to be making it up as he goes along - riffing a lyric that about a "bearded girl at the 'caba-ray charles'" over a delicious Paisley guitar riff.

"No mammals were harmed during the recording of this track," noted Prince on his 3rdEyeGirl Twitter account, shortly after giving the song away as a free download. What a nice chap.

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