Coldplay, Demi Lovato and the rest of the best of new music Friday

Obviously the new Lorde album is the only new release you need today, but here's a few other tracks worth checking out once you get bored of it on Wednesday afternoon.

1) Coldplay - All I Can Think About Is You
Coldplay are uncharacteristically mellow and muffled in this love song, taken from their new Kaleidoscope EP. It's hardly Chris Martin's finest lyric (he compares himself to a shoe), but Guy Berryman's sinewy, agile bassline is worth the price of admission alone.




2) Jax Jones - Instruction (ft Demi Lovato & Steflon Don)
"If you're the supreme, then I'm Diana Ross," is the best worst lyric since Selena Gomez and "like the battle of Troy, there's nothing subtle here". But this song has such a massive grin plastered all over it's face that it's easy to forgive.

Musically, it's practically a carbon copy of Jax Jones' previous single, You Don't Know Me (especially in the rap-sung prechorus) but why tweak a perfect formula? A strong contender for song of the summer.




3) Arcade Fire - Creature Comfort
I admit, I was really prepared to hate this... After five albums of whining about modern things, Win Butler's "instinct that something isn't right with the human condition" is starting to look less like concern and more like misanthropy.

This song, a sort of electro nursery rhyme about suicide, contains what seems to be a particularly self-serving line about a girl who "filled up the bathtub and put on our first record". But towards the end of the song, Win clarified: "It's not painless. She was a friend of mine, a friend of mine" - and, all of a sudden, my own cyncism was punctured.

I thought Arcade Fire might have lost the power to move me. Turns out I was wrong.





4) George Ezra - Don't Matter Now
A distinctly odd comeback from George Ezra, he of the deep voice and the album inspired by a Eurorail ticket.

It's all mariachi horns and big, dopey backing vocals - as George recites a mantra about switching off from the big, bad world that Arcade Fire live in and having a nice old shindig at his place.

Maybe, given the horrors of the last month, this is just the song we need - like an Agadoo for the Trump era.




5) DJ Khaled - Wild Thoughts (ft Rihanna)
"I know you want to see me naked," sings Rihanna, in a video where she appears with her baps right out. How thoughtful of her to consider our desires in such a forthright manner. I wonder if her next song will also contain the line, "I know you'd like me to put them away once in a while and get on with the job of making incredible pop music."

Because make no mistake, this is not incredible pop music. Sure, it wears the clothes of incredible pop music - the beat from Busta Rhymes' Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See, and the guitar riff from Santana's Maria Maria - but the garments are as threadbare as Rihanna's blouse in the video.




6) Tove Styrke - Say My Name (acoustic)
Still an absolute tune.





7) Calvin Harris - Feels (ft Pharrell and Katy Perry)
This probably won't give Katy Perry the number one she so desperately needs right now, but Calvin's bouncy brand of diet funk is always welcome around here.





8) Hey Violet - Break My Heart
This actually came out two months ago, but Hey Violet's album was released today and contains at least five totally brilliant pop song; including one gallantly called Fuqboi.

The young band have quite an interesting back story: They were once a punk-rock project called Cherri Bomb, before they ditched their singer and signing to 5 Seconds of Summer's record label. There, they started working with Julian Bunetta, who co-wrote and produced all the good One Direction songs, and "went pop".

You can read more about the transformation on Stereogum, or just forget all that nonsense and enjoy the music. Bands are whatever you want them to be, and that's why pop music is great.




9) Jorja Smith - Teenage Fantasy
This was actually out last week, during one of my increasingly frequent lapses in blogging, but the video came out on Monday, giving me the perfect excuse to wang the song into this week's round-up.

Simply a perfect summer soul jam.




10) Dizzee Rascal - Space
As grime emerges as a full-blooded force, Dizzee comes back into the fold with this sparse and tough rap track.

"Can't find enough time to dine on rappers, all of these MCs are looking like tapas," he chides the competition. "Ain't no point in playin' it safe." Well, quite.

There you go, then. And now it is time to go back to the Lorde album. See you next week...

Tweet

Five thoughts on the new Rihanna single

1. You can see why none of Sia's songs made the tracklisting for Anti. By this point, her style is so identifiable that it threatens to eclipse Rihanna. Try listening to this without imagining Sia's vocals on the demo. You can't.

2. That said, I'm putting this on a playlist with FourFiveSeconds, This Is What You Came For and the eight good tracks from Anti to make a proper Rihanna album.

3. The lyric "you're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer" is as brilliant as "my tears left a swimming pool of salted crimes" is terrible.

4. Rihanna's vocals are getting more and more impressive over time.

5. If you think the song sounds good on its own, check it out on the official Star Trek trailer. Goosebumps.

Tweet

Rihanna in a box

Nice to see Rihanna being a proper pop star again in the (belated) video for her Calvin Harris collaboration, This Is What You Came For. No nudity, no murder, no tabloid-bating "controversy", no Drake. Just Rihanna being all smoky-eyed and enigmatic. In a box.

Also, lasers.

Tweet

The Billboard Music Awards were very good

Clothing averse pop star Britney Spears opened last night's Billboard Awards with an eight-minute medley of hits (not including her biggest hits, but she did Toxic so that's ok).

As always, Spears is teetering on a tightrope - will she pull it off or collapse like a souffle in a vacuum? - and the tension is delicious.

When she did a backflip during Touch Of My Hand I felt inexplicably proud of her.



Adele premiered her new video, Send My Love (To Your New Lover) at the ceremony. If you've ever wanted to see 10 Adele's super-imposed over each other with the opacity set to 40%, then this is the video for you.



Bieber, DNCE, Demi Lovato, The Go-Go's, Ke$ha and Tove Lo (ft Nick Jonas) also played - the latter being a short, but sexually-charged blast of power pop.


Bbut my favourite performance of the night was the simplest. With no flam or fanfare, Rihanna delivered a vocally-flawless, impassioned rendition of Love On The Brain, bathed solely in a feather boa and a green spotlight.

Breath-taking.


You can watch the whole thing on 4 Music later tonight.

Tweet

Songs you may have missed... Bumper edition

Hello, I have woken from my slumber and discovered a sackful (technical term) of brand new music waiting for me. Here's what you (I) missed during the last three weeks of inactivity.

1) Little Mix - Hair
In which we discover that Little Mix wear slinky lingerie and full make-up for a girls' night in. Of course they do.




2) Roisin Murphy - Mastermind
When she said there was a ton of material left over from last year's Hairless Toys, it turns out she wasn't lying. This is the first single from a new album called, intriguingly, Take Her Up To Monto.





3) Taylor Swift - New Romantics
Accompanied by a video that is the dictionary definition of "will this do?"




4) Carly Rae Jepsen - Boy Problems
Nice mullet.




5) Grimes - A full gig by Grimes
This is amazing. A complete half-hour live set, direct from the BBC's Maida Vale studios.




6) DNCE - Cake By The Ocean
I'm sure you're aware of this one by now - but the video version is much more sweary.




7) Honne and Izzy Bizu - Someone That Loves You
Dreamy electro-soul, with an undercurrent of unrequited lust. This is sublime.




8) Slowolf ft Kimbra - White Feathers
Danish producer Slowolf is a drummer - and it really shows on this jittery, polyrhythmic potboiler. Kimbra provides an impassioned vocal, and it's all recorded live in a scrapyard for some reason.




9) Michael Kiwanuka - Black Man In A White World
The BBC's Sound of 2012 is back, still sounding like the sound of 1971. I still maintain he's found a vault of unreleased Bill Withers tracks and is pretending they're his own material.




10) Will.i.am ft Pia Mia - Girls & Boys
If you put 1,000,000 will.i.am's in front of 1,000,000 laptops, one of them will eventually write an above average pop song. And here it is.




11) Broods - Free
New Zealand brother-sister duo Broods have upped the ante with this, the first single from their second album. Free is strident, powerful and ever-so-slightly abrasive - the sort of thing that would have been perfect on The Hunger Games soundtrack.




12) Blossoms - Getaway
Blossoms are the indie band most likely to cross over in 2016, and for good reason. Never shy of a melody, and fortuitously telegenic, they're a music programmer's dream. Getaway is their catchiest single yet, and it comes with a video that appears to be a lost episode of 1980s spookfest Dramarama.



13) Rihanna - Kiss It Better
The director says this is inspired by "surrealism and dadaism" - which is funny, because I don't remember either of those previously being associated with soft porn.



14) El El - Animal
This slice of summery, feel-good indiepop reminds me of MGMT (when they were good) Phoenix (when they were good) and Empire of the Sun (when they were good). So check out this eight-piece Nashville band before they go completely off the boil.

Tweet

Songs you may have missed: The comeback edition

Woah - where did the last three weeks go?

Well, mostly I was in bed fighting off an horrific viral infection. Then it was the Brits (Adele won a few, you may have heard) and now I finally have some time to write my poor old neglected blog.

To make up for lost time, here's a mega "songs you may have missed" post, with six word synopses for every song. Buckle up and get ready.

1) Beyonce - Formation
Impressive visuals. Impressive lyrics. Underwhelming song.




2) Lorde - Life On Mars
Dignified and understated. A perfect tribute.





3) Rihanna ft Drake - Work
Rihanna's BOGOF offer. Warning: contains nipple.





4) Tinie Tempah - Girls Like (ft Zara Larsson)
"Tell JK that I'm still Rowling."




5) Dua Lipa - Last Dance
Is Dua Lipa Kosovan for "two lips"?




6) All Saints - One Strike
A genuinely perfect comeback single: 9/10





7) Pet Shop Boys - The Pop Kids
Nostalgia never sounded more contemporary.




8) Halsey - Colors
Stay tuned for the shock twist.





9) The 1975 - The Sound
Desperate, shallow, cringeworthy. Trying too hard.






10) Lissie - I Will Always Love You
Stop you in your tracks amazing.




11) Little May - Remind Me
Melodic indie direct from Sydney, Australia.




12) Little Mix - Black Magic (Brits performance)
They deserved to win best single.




13) Katy B, Craig David, Major Lazer - Who Am I
A ballad. A big, ballbusting ballad.




14) FKA Twigs - Good To Love
Rick-Nowels co-write. Possible breakthrough single?



15) Usher - Chains (ft Nas and Bibi Bourelly)
Unflinching, powerful call for police reform.





16) Charli XCX - Vroom Vroom EP
Harder, darker, dirtier. Welcome back, XCX.





17) Jake Bugg - On My One
Scratchy bluegrass from, er, Nottingham.





18) Icona Pop - I Want Someone Who Can Dance
"Not someone I can talk to."

Phew. Well done if you made it this far. And do let me know if there's anything I missed.

Tweet

I listened to the new Rihanna single so you don't have to

Rihanna's new single, Work, has just premiered "on top 40 radio around the world". It's a sparse, minimal, dancehall-inspired tune. More subtle than We Found Love or Bitch Better Have My Money, but instantly memorable nonetheless.

If you missed the premiere you can play or purchase the song (a duet with Drake) on Tidal - the streaming service Rihanna reportedly has a 3% stake in [Update: It's now on iTunes, too, where it's billed as having "a love-at-first-listen hook fuelled by Auto-tune magic"].

But if you can't be bothered to sign up for that, here's a blow by blow account of the first track from the long-delayed #ANTi album.

0:00 We open with a supine bassline. It's sparse. It's slinky. It's a mid-tempo Rihannabanger.

0:10 Heeeere's Rihanna! "Work, work, work, work, work, work," she sings.

0:12 Furthermore, she adds: "I’mma work, work, work, work, work, work."

0:15 "You see me do me dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt," Rihanna continues.

0:17 In conclusion, she notes: "There’s somethin’ bout that work, work, work, work, work work."

0:19 So far, it's a lyrical masterpiece.

0:23 At this point Rihanna starts to sound a little woozy. Maybe she needs a rest after those first 13 seconds of vocal effort.

0:34 Great lyric >>> "Nobody touch me in the righteous / Nobody text me in a crisis."

0:46 Amazing flute motif arrives.

0:53 Rihanna pronounces "foundation" as "fownd-ay-she-yawn". Love that Bajan accent.

1:04 Oh, the "work, work, work" bit is the chorus.

1:22 But now she’s just singing "nah, nah, nah". It's not like the lyrics were difficult to remember in the first place.

1:31 Muted steel drums prove Rihanna is "on trend" with the “tropical house” sound.

2:07 Rihanna has become so drowsy that "work, work, work" is being pronounced "weh, weh, weh". The poor lamb is exhausted. Someone get her a blanket.

2:11 Here's Drake. He sounds like Drake (ie monotonous).

2:31 Nice harmonies here.

2:47 Guitar solo!

2:48 Only joking.

2:39 Although any kind of musical development would be welcome at this point.

3:01 Repeat chorus to fade.

3:26 I'm going to listen to this again.

Overall, I'm giving it an early 6/10 (ratings out of 10 may go up as well as down). It's a confident, if slight, scene-setter for the album - but one I expect will be eclipsed by the second single.

Tweet

Rihanna rocks in Rio

I can't believe this will remain on the internet for more than 24 hours, so get it while you can - Rihanna's brilliant, provocative performance at the Rock In Rio festival.

Lasting more than an hour, the set contained no new material and revealed nothing about the star's long-gestating R8 album.

Rihanna even acknowledged the long wait, describing FourFiveSeconds as "a new one", before adding sheepishly, "well, new-ish".


Rihanna recently told the NME that her eighth studio album is still "not done," suggesting executive producer Kanye West was partly to blame.

"Kanye definitely wanted to be involved in making the album," she said. "So he did start helping me make it. Now we just have to wait to get back in the studio together. His schedule and mine are totally opposite right now, but I think this month we’ll be back in the studio."

Let's hope she caught a private jet to Ye's house straight after this performance.

Setlist:
Intro
Rockstar 101
Only Girl (In The World)
S&M
Phresh Out the Runway
Jump
Birthday Cake
Rude Boy
What’s My Name?
Talk That Talk
Live Your Life/Run This Town/All Of The Lights
Man Down
Umbrella
Unfaithful
Love The Way You Lie
Take A Bow
Cold Case Love
Take Care
Where Have You Been
We Found Love
FourFiveSeconds
Stay
Diamonds
Pour It Up
Bitch Better Have My Money

Tweet

Rihanna's BBHMM video

Violent, debauched, funny, feminist, anti-feminist, angry, playful, enigmatic, provocative, gratuitous, uncompromising - Rihanna's video for Bitch Better Have My Money is a lot of things, many of them contradictory.

The 7-minute clip sees the star kidnapping and torturing her accountant's wife after he leaves her bankrupt (apparently this is a true story, aside from the kidnap and torture bit).

If Rihanna is this generation's Madonna, then she's deeply into her Erotica / Sex phase - her boobs are everywhere, but the music isn't what it used to be. Her videos are an echo chamber of her media portrayal, while sticking two fingers up at music's moral guardians.

Bitch Better Have My Money is the apotheosis - gleefully depraved, brilliantly produced, but ultimately lacking in soul.

Rihanna - Bitch Better Have My Money

Tweet

A tiny Jessie Ware concert, and other songs you may have missed.

A semi-regular round-up of all the music I couldn't squeeze onto the blog in the last seven days.

Here's this week's selection...

1) Jessie Ware - Tiny Desk Concert
The brilliant Tiny Desk series on US radio network NPR requires musicians to play a no bells and even fewer whistles acoustic set in their offices.

Jessie Ware is the perfect artist for this sort of thing. Her gorgeous, complex alto is enough to keep you captivated, even when the backing track disappears.

She performs Say You Love Me, Wildest Moments and Champagne Kisses. The best 15 minutes you'll spend all week.





2) Rihanna - James Joint
Released in celebration of cannabis enthusiasm day 20 April (420 in American calendar-speak) this is a brief interlude from Rihanna's forthcoming LP.

Suitably laid back and hazy, it's easily the best thing she's released this year.






3) Raury - Fly
Written immediately after news broke that police officer Darren Wilson was not being indicted for murdering unarmed teenager Mike Brown, Raury's heartfelt, complicated plea for a peaceful revolution was a sucker punch to the gut when it premiered in January.

It's even more powerful now that it has a video, which takes an animated trip through the highs and lows of black history in America.





4) Wolf Alice - Bros
Sadly not a tribute to Matt, Luke and Ken, the new single by Wolf Alice is instead a sentimental ode to childhood best friends.

It's been re-recorded since the 2013 original, much to the anger of fans, who seethed on Soundcloud: "Another great song completly ruined by the record business".

I think both versions approach perfection.







5) Natalie Imbruglia - Instant Crush
A Mad Men-inspired video for Imbruglia's acoustic take on the Daft Punk / Julian Casablancas track. What's not to love?





6) Hudson Mohawke - Ryderz
Hudson Mohawke sounds like a Hoxton clothing brand, but actually it's Scottish producer Ross Birchard. He's the backroom boffin behind many of Kanye West's more sonically adventurous productions. In fact, it was to his studio that West fled after this year's Brits to finish off All Day.

He's got his own album, Latern, coming out very soon and this song - which samples D.J. Rogers' Watch Out For The Riders - is one of its many highlights.







7) Chemical Brothers - Sometimes I Feel So Deserted
Back after a break of five years and sounding exactly the same as they did in 1998, here are the Chemical Brothers doing a song that goes bleep and bloop with the sort of computer generated visuals that make stoned people think they're in hyperspace.

Their eighth album, Born In The Echoes, will feature vocals from St Vincent (hooray!), Q-Tip (huzzah!) and Beck (Beck!).




8) The Go Team! - Ya Ya Yamaha
This Record Store Day exclusive is described as "a French girl on a motorcycle song," whatever that means.

All I know is that it's bloody racket, and all the better for it.





9) Sia - Fire Meet Gasoline
Starring Heidi Klum and Game of Thrones' star Pedro Pascal, this video tells an age-old story: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love, boy murders someone with a rock, boy shows girl the murder weapon, boy and girl have sex, boy and girl burn a house down.

Don't say it hasn't happened to you, too.




10) Tove Lo - Elastic Heart
Earlier year, Tove Lo had to cancel a bunch of performances to have vocal surgery - and doctors warned her she may never sing again.

After coming round from the anaesthetic she "couldn't say anything for five days," the singer told Billboard. "I almost choked on a spring roll because I wasn't supposed to cough! My voice started coming back a little; it sounded very different at first, which is scary."

But judging by this Sia cover, her voice is better than ever. Welcome back, Tove!





11) Young Wonder - Sweet Dreaming
Irish electro-pop duo Young Wonder have been biding their time while they piece together their debut LP. Rather than rush out a half-finished record to capitalise on the success of their eponymous 2013 EP, they've spent 24 months getting it just right.

The delicate production buoys Rachel Koeman's overlapping vocals to create something people are going to be very, very fond of.






12) Jones - Indluge
A gentle love song that's as wickedly indulgent as clotted cream.






13) Adam Lambert - Ghost Town
I've never warmed to Adam Lambert's music - whose lack of originality runs in direct proportion to the intensity of his eyeliner.

But teaming up with Max Martin seems to have solved all of that. Ghost Town is unexpected and unusual, combining guitar-pop and house beats with a surprisingly catchy whistled hook.





14) K Stewart - Keeping You Up
KStewart says she's influenced by Mariah, Whitney and Christina - but thankfully it's only the restrained, pop-centric moments she's interested in, as evidenced on this bubbly, 90s-style slice of harmonic pop.

Self-released on her own imprint Cherry Jam Records, it is one amazing remix away from being the sound of the summer.

Tweet

Songs you may have missed: Easter edition

Happy Easter, everyone! The sun is out and spring has sprung - and we all need new songs to sung. Hark a listen at this week's round-up of newbies.

1) Jamie xx - Loud Places
Taken from Jamie's first solo album, Loud Places begins with the downbeat cool of an xx track (not least because it features his bandmate Romy on voals). But the majestic, gospel-inspired chorus takes you to unexpected places. Lovely stuff.





2) Madeon - You're On (ft Kyan) - live session
Madeon makes the process of hitting buttons on a samplepad seem like the most exciting form of live performance ever invented, even though it's just... well, pressing some buttons on a samplepad. How does he do that?





3) Girlpool - Chinatown
Girlpool are Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker, two musicians from Philadelphia whose main selling point is that they make punk music without feeling the need for drums.

Their new single is a bit of a departure, though: A bluesy, meandering ballad that borrows the riff from Sheryl Crow's Leaving Las Vegas, it's shot through with a hesitant vulnerability most punks would sniff (glue) at.





4) Beyonce - Die With You
Sitting behind a piano, her hair braided and tucked into a baseball cap, here's pop megastar Beyonce singing a ballad for her husband on their seventh wedding anniversary.

I don't know about you - but if my wife had done this for me, I'd have taken her straight to the bedroom for a jolly big smooch. Jay Z just filmed it and put it on his new streaming site for some reason (money).






5) Rihanna - American Oxygen
A surprisingly mournful hymn to the American dream, Rihanna's latest song is a soulful antidote to the obnoxious (and obnoxiously catchy) Bitch Better Have My Money.

You have to sign up to Tidal to hear it properly - but here's a live version, performed at the March Madness concert over the weekend.






6) Janelle Monáe, Jidenna - Yoga
Ever wondered what Janelle Monae would sound like if she stopped pretending to be an anti-establishment robot from the future? Well, you're in luck.

The R&B star cuts loose on Yoga, a new track with rising MC Jidenna that will appear on The Eephus, a compilation EP starring the artists she's signed to her Wondaland label.

And it's pure filth... as Janelle Monae repeatedly instructs her lover: "Baby bend over, let me see you do that yoga."

The track also contains the best / weirdest lyric of the year: "You cannot police me, so get off my areola." Crikey.






7) Alesso - Cool (ft Roy English)
Perfectly acceptable Radio 1 daytime fodder, this is only notable for the video, in which Alesso plays a nerdy schoolkid who seduces his teacher. Wish fulfilment much?






8) George The Poet - Wotless
Another thought-provoking rap-poem from George The Poet, who charts his evolution from prodigal schoolboy to successful musician. It's an unflinching sketch of how black kids (especially those in a predominantly white, middle class environment) can feel pressured into becoming stereotypes.

Compelling stuff.






9) Mirror Talk - 1/M/T
Posted by the ever-reliable Nicola Roberts on her Tumblr page, this is shimmering, 80s-inspired synth pop from LA quartet Mirror Talk.

Produced by Tony Hoffer (M83, Beck), the title stands for One More Time.






10) Wax Tailor - Que Sera
I fell in love this sampladelic cut-up as soon as I heard it yesterday. Then I discovered it's a decade old... But what the hell. This post isn't called "songs you may have missed" for nothing.






11) Brandon Flowers - Can't Deny My Love
The only video you'll see this week that's based on the Puritan short story Young Goodman Brown, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1835. And that's a guarantee.

So there you go. Hope you haven't overdosed on chocolate during the course of this blog post.

Oh, and I'm taking the rest of the week off. See you on April 13th.

Tweet

Lessons in live performance, pt 227

Nothing says "self-sabotage" more than agreeing to perform a song live on television to an audience of millions.

Think about it. Have you ever seen a transformative, spiritual gig - then watched it back on TV to discover a squall of bum notes and missed cues? Live music is messy and spontaneous. Television demands perfection.

And so we find ourselves at last night's iHeartRadio awards (whatever they are) witnessing Rihanna perform her underwhelming new single Bitch Better Have My Money; and Madonna, wisely sitting down for once, as she duets with Taylor Swift on Ghosttown - aka the best song she's released since Sorry.

Guess which one is a thrilling, pulchritudinous showstopper, and which one sounds like a school assembly cover band?



Poor Madonna.

Tweet

Christ, this Rihanna song's a bit of a mess

Rihanna recently told MTV she was making an album that "felt real, that felt soulful, that felt forever".

"I wanted songs that I could perform in fifteen years," she continued, "not any songs that were burnt out".

So how on earth have we ended up with this? Bitch Better Have My Money is a ropey old diss track, with all the keyboards on default settings and some of the most inane lyrics of Rihanna's career. And that's say something for the woman who brought Cockiness (I Love It).

The song's only saving grace is that it takes it's title from a depressingly misogynistic 1992 rap song ("pussy ain't nothing but a game to me") and turns it into an anthem of female empowerment. Or Rihanna empowerment, to be more precise.

Produced by Deputy and Kanye West - who could also do better - you can stream it below.


Bitches who have money can buy Bitch Better Have My Money by visiting iTunes now.

Tweet

30 seconds of Rihanna and 12 other songs you may have missed

Here it is: A semi-regular round-up of songs I haven't managed to blog about, from pop powerhouses to rejuvenated indie icons, And ending with two chancers who can't believe their luck.

1) Rihanna - American Oxygen
Rihanna's latest song was teased in a promo for the new basketball season (obviously) which you can see below. It's a meagre 30 seconds, but we'll take what we're given from the Bajan pop queen.





2) Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really, Really Like You
Look, if Tom Hanks agrees to appear in your video, you don't say "no". Even if he insists on "being you". Even if he doesn't really understand how to lip-sync. Even if the climactic dance number is borderline humiliating. Just roll with the punches. It's Hollywood, baby.




3) Marina and the Diamonds - Forget
Congratulations to the hair stylist on this video. Marina looks incredible.

And in "good news" news, the release date of Marina's third album FROOT has been moved forward to 16th March. That's 10 days, people!





4) Madonna - Ghosttown (live)
The best song on Madonna's new album is also her best song in a decade. Easily.

Even the slightly wobbly vocal on this live performance can't rob it of its charm.





5) MIA - Can See Can Do
"Some people see planes, some people see drones" - a typically provocative lyric from MIA, who's back for the first time after 2013's Matangi.

There's no word on whether this is a single or just something she's knocked off in the studio, but it sounds like filler to me.






6) Everything Everything - Distant Past
There's a bit in the mid 8 where this threatens to turn into the Crossroads theme tune - and, what with this being an Everything Everything single, I half suspect it's deliberate.

Otherwise, it's business as usual. Ridiculous falsetto, polyrhythmic drum lines and lyrics like: "Two thumbs, I cross the Rubicon".

It's nice to have them back.




7) The Violent Femmes - Love Love Love Love Love
It's 15 years since the Violent Femmes released new material - and 32 since their ode to onanism Blister In The Sun - but they sound undiminished on their return. And is that an oboe solo??

Recorded on New Year’s Eve in Hobart, Tasmania, its the lead track on a 4-track EP that's coming out on Record Stay.






8) Conor Maynard - Talking About
Let's face it, Conor Maynard is a shit pop star. But if this came on the radio, and someone told you it was the new one from Disclosure, you'd probably be quite impressed.

Well played, sir.





9) Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight (live on SNL)
The new Alabama Shakes single has been compared to Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved and James Brown's Cold Sweat - which is pretty impressive company - but frontwoman Brittany Howard hinted at another inspiration on SNL, wearing a pair of earrings bearing Prince's lovely face.

Now, where can I get a pair of those?






10) The Staves - Make It Holy
I've run out of ways to gush about The Staves, so let's just accept I like this a lot without any further adjectives.





11) Joywave - Somebody New
Coming out of Rochester, Joywave are making uplifting indie-pop in the vein of Friendly Fires and Passion Pit.

Their new video will please anyone who used to play Tony Hawk games on the PS2, although what it has to do with the song is beyond me.






12) Kid Cudi - Love (ft Ratatat)
Things have been quiet on the Kid Cudi front for quite some time now, so this upload caught fans by surprise on Tuesday night.

An unreleased track from last year's Satellite Flight album, it's an uplifting hug of a record, as Cudi sings: "Don't be so down, come on young homie / You'll be OK, you'll find real love".

Writing on Soundcloud, Cudi says: "Hope it brings you some peace if you have a lonely heart out there. byeeeee :)"





13) Electro Velvet - Still In Love With You
The UK's Eurovision for 2015 is by a Mick Jagger impersonator and a woman who couldn't convince a single person to turn their chair around on The Voice. So that augurs well.

The song itself is an odd fish... basically will.i.am's Bang Bang without the production values. It seems content to repeat its derivative four-bar hook a dozen times without any modulation or progression - which isn't necessarily a bad tactic when you're trying to make a lasting impression in three minutes. But you're left with the overwhelming feeling of "is that really it?"

And that's this week's supplement. Tune in for more tomorrow.

Tweet

Songs you may have missed: Making up for lost time edition

Hello, and apologies for the temporary hiatus - which was mostly self-enforced due to half term and the Oscars, and partly actually enforced by nasty bout of Norovirus.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME HERE IS SOME MUSIC.

1) Rihanna - Towards The Sun
Nice to hear a more optimistic Rihanna on this track - taken from the soundtrack to the DreamWorks animation Home (which seems like it might be Jim Parson's Aladdin).

Turn your face towards the sun," she sings. "Let the shadows fall behind you." It's a midtempo banger that's crying out for a dreamy Penguin Prison remix.






2) Ed Sheeran - Dirrrty (live lounge cover)
I will personally give Ed Sheeran £500 if he plays this at tomorrow night's Brits wearing Christina Aguilera's ass chaps.





3) George The Poet - Cat D
George The Poet has noticed something. Certain people are damaged - but you don't notice because they project an aura of confidence.

He's noticed something else, too. Some second hand cars aren't as good as they're made out to be. AND THAT'S A BIT LIKE PEOPLE, ISN'T IT?

At first, you think he's going to stretch this tortured metaphor to breaking point. Then he goes way beyond that. And then, somehow, it comes full circle and becomes rather touching. Odd, but brilliant.





4) Calvin Harris ft Haim - Pray To God
I am firmly of the belief that Haim can do no wrong.





5) Clare Maguire - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
I naturally recoil from anything recorded "especially for Burberry" - but, oh hell, Clare's voice on this could melt the icecaps. Astonishing work on the Carole King / Gerry Goffin classic.

And note that this is a live vocal. Fucking hell.






6) Blur - Go Out
Oh, I do wish Damon Albarn would stop singing in that "won't someone please just give me a hug" whine. But, hey, it's nice to hear his increasingly polite melodies being scuzzed up by Graham Coxon's deliberately atonal guitar lines, even if it's just for old times' sake.

This is from the band's first new album in 12 years, The Magic Whip, which is a great title.





7) Kanye West - Wolves (ft Sia and Vic Mensa)
Imagine if Kanye just turned up at the Brits, played this, then dropped a new album on iTunes. It won't happen. But imagine if it did. (It won't).

(But imagine).





8) Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
I'm as much a fan of the handbag house revival as the next man, but it's nice to hear Jess Glynne drawing inspiration from Shanice's I Love Your Smile, too.





9) U2 - Every Breaking Wave
The one Noel Gallagher called "a fucking tune". The one you shouldn't have deleted from iTunes in a fit of pique because Bono is a twerp. The one that's about "the troubles".

The video is awesome, too: Shot by Belfast-born director Aoife McArdle, it video depicts a Catholic boy who falls in love with a Protestant girl at a punk show in 1980s Northern Ireland until (you guessed it) their burgeoning romance is torn apart by the realities of the troubles.




10) Hozier - Problem (Ariana Grande cover)
It's a cover that makes you realise how astonishing Ariana Grande's tonsils are... Nice switch into Warren G's Regulate at the end, too.





11) Lennon and Maisy - Boom Clap
Lennon and Maisy are the singing siblings who play Maddie and Daphne in country music soap opera Nashville. Their Charli XCX cover was uploaded to YouTube just before the show returned from a mid-season hiatus in the US - and the lush, folky harmonies give the song new life.





12) Ariana Grande - One Last Time
We're definitely in fourth single from a hit album territory here, but the apocalyptic video is something of a surprise.




13) Chvrches - Cry Me A River (live lounge cover)
Taking a break from recording their second album, Chvrches popped into Radio 1's Live Lounge to play their Drive: Rescored track "Get Away" and this masterful take on Justin Timberlake's breakout ballad. It somehow manages to be vulnerable and menacing at the same time - like one of those terrifying dolls in Toy Story.

Incidentally, an album of Chvrches cover versions would be a welcome thing. Remember this version of The Arctics' Do I Wanna Know last year?

Phew! Well done if you stuck around to the end (the Chvrches thing was your reward for not closing the tab as soon as I mentioned U2).

Normal service should return to the blog in the next couple of days once awards season dies down. I've missed you guys. All eight of you.

Tweet

10 must-see moments from the Grammys

Rihanna killed it vocally, Katy Perry brought the tears and AC/DC were about the only band who didn't bore everyone off with a ballad.

These are the Grammy highlights, and the tweets that best explain them.

Get them while they're hot. And by hot I mean still available.

1) Rihanna, Kanye and Macca - FourFiveSeconds

Paul McCartney did you forget the words? #GRAMMYs

— Danielle Zimmerman (@Danielekincaid) February 9, 2015

2) Sia - Chandelier (with Kristen Wiig and Maddy Ziegler)

Kristin Wiig just perfectly summed up how us normals look when we sing Sia songs into the mirror alone at home. #GRAMMYS

— Rosemary Hallmark (@rohallma) February 9, 2015

3) Madonna - Living For Love

Taylor Swift was SO into Madonna at the #GRAMMYs: http://t.co/4K0kkYGDIt pic.twitter.com/EcdOSGFt6c

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) February 9, 2015

4) AC/DC - Rock or Bust / Highway To Hell

AC/DC gets a Teleprompter assist at #GRAMMYs. “It’s rock or bust.” http://t.co/Bc1xixvqat pic.twitter.com/F8yHQBD32Q

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) February 9, 2015

5) Katy Perry - By The Grace of God
Katy Perry's performance was preceded by a speech about domestic abuse by Brooke Axtell, from Austin, Texas (sadly clipped out of this video).

She spoke about her "romance with a handsome, charismatic man".

"I was stunned when he began to abuse me," she continued. "Authentic love does not devalue another human being. Authentic love does not silence, shame or abuse."

Brooke Axtell's is the most important voice we're gonna hear tonight. #GRAMMYs

— Emma Gray (@emmaladyrose) February 9, 2015

6) Kanye invades the stage



7) While Jay-Z and Beyonce watch




8) ELO and Ed Sheeran - Evil Woman / Mr. Blue Sky

Paul McCartney dances like nobody Is watching, notices somebody watching #Grammys http://t.co/qRSmMuLIvi

— Gawker (@Gawker) February 9, 2015

9) Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (with John Mayer)

So far the biggest thing I've learned tonight is that Ed Sheeran's album X is pronounced "multiply" and not "ex"

— daniel. (@dandal1on) February 9, 2015

10) Pharrell - Happy (with Hans Zimmer and Lang Lang)

Ah, we knew Pharrell's outfit looked familiar... http://t.co/0eOeNPwSbF #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/L7Eb0ZdkoS

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) February 9, 2015

Tweet

Here's the new video from Paurihanye

Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West - or Paurihanye, as literally no-one is calling them, have just unveiled the video for their acoustibanger FourFiveSeconds.

It has been shot in black and white so that we know what a SERIOUS ARTISTIC ENTERPRISE this is. You can also tell this because no-one smiles or looks at each other because they are LOST in the MUSE.

Rihanna has also forgotten her underwear again. It's a bit of a mess, frankly, but the song is great so all is forgiven.

Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West - FourFiveSeconds

Fans of never-ending music ceremony telethons will be pleased to hear that Paurihanye will be performing this song at the Grammys on Sunday.

Tweet

Eleven songs you may have missed (and one you definitely haven't)

This is the first "songs you may have missed" post since Christmas so in all likelihood these are songs you may not have missed. But there's always time for a good music megapost so let's begin, with...

1) Rihanna - FourFiveSeconds
About bloody time, pop's most elusive pop star is back, collaborating with Kanye West and Sir Fab Macca Wacky Thumbs Aloft on a surprisingly attitude-free, stripped back acoustic pop "number".

It's good. So good, in fact, that it's going to appear on both Kanye and Rihanna's new album. Which is going to cause havoc with my iTunes library. HAVOC.




2) Sia - Salted Wound
The 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack is shaping up to be superb, even if the film looks like a turkey. We've already heard Ellie Goulding's saucy Love Me Like You Do and The Weeknd's even saucier Earned It, now it's the turn of Sia - who takes a different tack altogether.

Her harp-assisted ballad Salted Wound is full of remorse and doubt. "Give your heart, and say come take it," sings Sia, "and she will see you're a good man." It should be a fitting accompaniment to Christian Grey's more introspective scenes.






3) Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song
Is it me, or does this sound like Shania Twain?





4) Shura - Indecision
Feather-light synth pop from London's hotly tipped Aleksandra Denton. This would make a perfect Track 7, Side B on an "I like you" mixtape.






5) Prince & 3rdEyeGirl - Marz
Prince apparently thinks this throwaway rock track is dynamite. He's following up an SNL performance of the song with this YouTube video - which appeared days after he deleted his YouTube account. Strange chap.





6) Alex Winston - We Got Nothing
Alex Winston's wonky pop curio Sister Wife is one of my all-time favourite under-rated tracks. Catchy as all heck, with a killer lyric about polygamy and jealousy, I have played it to death over the last four years.

She's been in limbo for a while, but this sumptuous new single - on the influential Neon Gold label - hints at a slightly more mainstream, but no less hook-laden direction.







7) Jessie Ware - Jealous (Labrinth cover)
Stick around for the bit where she chucks in the chorus to Chaka Khan's Through The Fire. Beautiful.





8) Bearson - Pink Medicine
Bearson is a Norwegian producer who works in the "tropical house" genre (no, me neither). This hypnotic little song is a little too glitchy to be chill-out and a little too chilled out to be danceable. But I like it, for some reason. There's a free download available here if you like it, too.







9) Lana Del Rey - Brooklyn Baby (Yuksek remix)
WARNING: If you or your family are sensitive to the effects of synthesized saxophones, please seek advice before streaming this song.





10) U2 - Every Breaking Wave (single remix)
I wonder if anyone actually listened to Songs of Innocence when it gatecrashed our phones last year? I certainly couldn't be bothered... but it turns out that at least one of the songs is worth four minutes of your time.

Ranking it as the third best song of 2014 (!!) Rolling Stone called Every Breaking Wave the "emotional centrepiece" of U2's 13th album, saying it's "stark, shimmering" melody recalled With Or Without You.

To be honest, Joey Tribiani's not going to be staring out a fake window to this one any time soon... But this stripped-back radio remix of the song is surprisingly affecting.






11) Tobias Jesso Jr - How Could You Babe?
Officially endorsed by Adele, this is about as old-school as pop gets in 2015. Tailor made for Radio 2 and fans of sweaters, it recalls Elton John back in the Yellow Brick Road days.





12) Rae Morris - Love Again
As previously noted on these pages, Rae Morris is rather brilliant - with a husky voice like Ellie Goulding and a percussive thump worthy of Florence and the Machine. I interviewed her last week and, pleasingly, she let slip that her first ever gig was S Club 7.

If that's not enough to recommend her, try out this song: Love Again, one of the standout tracks from her debut album, Unguarded, which came out on Monday.

And that's a wrap. What an oddly diverse bunch of songs, eh?

Tweet

Back in business: What did I miss?

HELLO THERE EVERYONE!

As you can see, I'm back from the Caribbean - where the sun was shiny, the sea was wavy, and the music was Corinne Bailey Rae-y (seriously, there seems to be a law requiring all bands to play Put Your Records On at least twice during their set).

I missed the Grammys and I missed the Super Bowl - but I did manage to catch Prince's appearance on New Girl, where he proved his acting "chops" hadn't improved since Under The Cherry Moon *frowny face emoticon*.


We've only just got back to the UK, so I haven't had time to catch up on all the exciting Conor Maynard and Laura Mvula announcements clogging up my inbox, but here's a quick rundown of the videos I've prioritised to watch on YouTube tonight.

1) Kylie Minogue - Into The Blue
Controversially shot in 4:3, aspect ratio fans.




2) Rudimental ft Becky Hill - Powerless
Becky Hill was on the first series of The Voice, you know.




3) Shakira ft Rihanna - Can't Remember To Forget You
The song doesn't get any better but [insert sexist comment about Shakira's bottom here].




4) Foster The People - Coming Of Age
It's like a three-minute John Hughes movie, only with new music on top. What sophistry is this?




5) Villagers - Occupy Your Mind
Recorded with James Ford (Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys) this song was premiered last week as a gesture of solidarity with Russia's gay population ahead of the Winter Olympics.




6) St Vincent - Digital Witness
Still disorientating, still brilliant.




7) 5 Seconds of Silence - She Looks So Perfect
It's like McBusted split up, fell down a rabbit hole, landed in Australia 10 years younger and started all over again.




8) Klaxons - There Is No Other Time
"A return to form" - every music journalist, everywhere.




9) MØ - Don't Wanna Dance
Who doesn't love a music video set in a scrap yard? Nobody, that's who.



10) The Pierces - Kings
If Tim Burton drew a girl group it would look like Allison and Catherine Pierce. Later this year, they'll be following up 2010's achingly beautiful goth-pop album You & I... and this is the first bite of their newly-plucked forbidden fruit. Yummy.


11) Prince - PretzelBodyLogic (preview)
Apparently he's playing Shepherd's Bush again tonight (Monday)... Anyone care to confirm?

Tweet

Shakira, Shakira. Rihanna, Rihanna

It's been trailed like it was the second coming of Elvis in a sparkly bra, and now the Shakira vs Rihanna duet, Can't Remember To Forget You has finally arrived. 

To be honest, it's no Beautiful Liar. 

It's no The Boy Is Mine, either. But it just about stands on it's own, slightly bizarre, reggae meets hair-metal merits. What's more, I suspect the chorus will worm its way into your brain and set up home there after about a week of radio play.  

But for a proper, thorough musical analysis, let's see what the professors of YouTube had to say in the first 10 minutes after the video was published. 

"So perfect," opined Sandra Saade, noting, in the words of Lester Bangs: "Shakira is fucking back, biiiiitches."

Nnyou was less impressed. "It sucks," he pouted. "A lot."  Nnyou concluded with an incisive critique of the song's place in the popular oeuvre, remarking: "Rihanna is so much better than this."

Meanwhile, Cristian Andres Ospina Castaño left a message in Shakira's native tongue. "Genial!" he wrote. "Gran colaboracion dos divas juntas!" I wasn't sure how to take this one at first but apparently juntas means "together", not "fat". 

In the end, however, we needed a singular intellect to really get to the crux of the matter. For that, we turned to TheMansterMonster - an unfamiliar name, but one we will surely be seeing in conjunction with the Pulitzer Prize in years to come. He (she?) set aside all musical prejudice to look at the wider social implications of the track. And in a single, concise, expertly-judged sentence, he noted: "They totally photoshopped Rihanna's breasts."

Tweet