Video: Rita Ora - Poison

Singing at the Oscars, judging The Voice, "acting" in Fifty Shades - Rita Ora's certainly kept herself busy throughout the delays to her second album.

But after a couple of cameos with Iggy Azalea and Charles Hamilton, she's finally got a proper follow-up to last year's smash hit I Will Never Let You Down.

Poison, which debuted in audio form last month, is a dark and juddering track about a destructive relationship. It sounds like Sia, but was actually written by Kate Nash. Yes, that Kate Nash. Mind-boggling.

The video dropped this morning and sees Rita play a young, braided street-rat who is plucked from obscurity to become a supermodel. But fame comes at a price, emotionally and sartorially, as Rita sheds more and more clothes until she's running down the street in a bra.

Probably not one for the office, if I'm being honest.

Rita Ora - Poison

Anyone else tempted to by a can of Frizz-ease after watching that?

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Rita Ora: Premature evaluation

Here, at last, is the new single from Rita Ora, whose second album was thrown into disarray by the end of her relationship with co-writer / producer / superstar DJ Calvin Harris.

As you can see from her shoulder, the song is called Poison and it's produced by Sir Nolan, who recently had a mega hit with Nick Jonas's Jealous.

I've listened to it once, and it's a solid 7/10. It could be a grower, it could become fantastically irritating. But that's what makes pop music exciting isn't it?

Lyric video below.

Rita Ora - Poison

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Songs you may have missed: A double Madonna edition

I took a mini-break from the blog last week to help the kids survive the school holidays. OK, to help my wife survive the school holidays.

But plenty of great music found its way into the world in my absence. Here is a 15-track summary of that music.

1) Madonna - Ghosttown
The best video Madonna's made in over a decade, for her best single since Sorry.

Co-starring Terence Howard (Iron Man, Empire), it depicts the Queen of Pop one of the last survivors of a nuclear apocalypse. Which finally explains why she has the face of a 30-year-old Drew Barrymore.





2) Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck
More mellifluous than the previous releases from Florence's upcoming third album, this still finds the singer wracked with doubt. "Did I drink too much? Am I losing touch? Did I build this ship to wreck?" she hollers over the deceptively upbeat, glockenspielly backing.

The video, directed Vincent Haycock, follows the narratively-driven clips for St. Jude and What Kind of Man, and was filmed at Florence's house.





3) Brandon Flowers - Still Want You
It seems like Brandon's having a lot of fun with his new solo album.

I mean, A LOT of fun.

The second single from The Desired Effect is a wonky rock/gospel hybrid that hammers home its chorus with a bejangled mallet; while the video finds Brandon in a playful, flirty mood - looking eerily similar to Bryan Ferry doing David Bowie on Stars In Their Eyes.






4) Shura - 2 Shy
I championed this Janet Jackson sound-alike a couple of weeks ago, and now it has a moody and windswept (and largely unnecessary) video to accompany it.





5) Michael Calfan - Treasured Soul
This has been bubbling around on specialist dance shows since the start of the year, but it's getting a proper release in time for the summer. A soulful, uplifting dance anthem, it's powered by steel drum hook that owes a huge debt to Duke Dumont's I Got U. Which is no bad thing.





6) Chloe Black - Cruel Intentions
I wasn't a big fan of Chloe Black's last single, 27 Club, in which she revealed an ambition to die young, at the same age as Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin. It was a terrible, attention-seeking lyric with a casual disregard for those tragically curtailed lives.

Her new single seeks to make amends ("I won't try to defend all of my crazy") and suggests the London-based singer-songwriter could be this year's Lana Del Rey. Distinctive and dramatic.






7) Clean Bandit ft Marina and the Diamonds - Disconnect
Premiered live at Coachella, this is apparently from Clean Bandit's "eagerly anticipated" second album, which is coming out later this year.

As Marina later noted on Twitter, her stage outfit made her look like Ali G.





8) Ty Dolla $ign - Drop That Kitty (ft Charli XCX)
Aggressively mediocre.





9) Kiesza - Sound of a Woman
It's ballad time in Kiesza world, which means less dancing, and more emoting. Bah.




10) Mark Ronson ft Mystikal - Feel Right
Live on the Ellen Show, this is a peach of a performance.




11) Snoop Dogg - So Many Pros
Produced by Pharrell, this creamy-smooth jam finds Snoop drawl-singing an ode to the "pretty people". Progressive it isn't, but the funkadelic chorus (featuring vocals from The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson) is delicious.






12) MO - Preach
Like SWV combined with Little Mix, while never reaching the peaks of either. Now on the Radio 1 playlist, where it's a refreshing change from James bloody Bay.





13) Lykke Li, Kanye West and Lil Wayne - Never Gonna Love Again
Eminem's producer has mashed up Lykke Li's Never Gonna Love Again with Lil Wayne and Kanye' Lollipop remix, for no reason other than he could.

It works surprisingly well.







14) Charles Hamilton - New York Raining (ft Rita Ora)
Here's a stunning, Selma-esque video to accompany New York Raining, Charles Hamilton's collaboration with Oscar nominee Rita Ora.

Set in a monochromatic 1960s New York, we see Charles amongst a group of civil rights protestors, joining arms as they square off with police. Rita stays clear of the politics, preferring to gaze wistfully through a rainy window.





15) Madonna - Bitch, I'm Madonna
We finish back where we started - with Madonna back on form, despite the creative disarray of her Rebel Heart album.

This is how you do a chat show performance in the YouTube age - playful and self-deprecating while cramming in tons of "content" and some killer dance moves. It's just a shame the song is so cringeworthy.

So there you go. Seems like I was the only one who had a quiet Easter. So spare a moment to remember the PR people who had to manage the YouTube uploads and email out the links. Let's hope they had tons of chocolate to compensate.

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Big tune: Rita Ora and Charles Hamilton

US rapper Charles Hamilton has signed up fellow brick wall enthusiast Rita Ora for his excellent new single, NY Raining.

A loping, piano-driven track with a strutting bassline, it's that very rare beast: A rapped love song. "You make me smile, stop doing that," says Hamilton, "I guess I rap for you." What a romantic, eh kids?



NY Raining is taken from the hit US TV series Empire, which can loosely be described as a hip-hop version of The Sopranos: A drug dealer turned music mogul finds his past coming back to haunt him, etc, etc.

Hamilton and Ora will perform this song in the "season finale" (last episode) next week.

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Doing it and doing it and doing it well

"I wanted it to be like this badass Barbie Thelma & Louise-esque video," Charli XCX told Buzzfeed of her new Rita Ora-featuring video, Doing It. "So we robbed a store with toy guns, rode a bucking bronco, and nearly crashed a pink pickup truck through the desert."

Sounds amazing, right? But Charli would have been more accurate if she'd said: "I wanted it to be like Lady Gaga's video for Telephone if it had been shot for £10 and half a Twix (the biscuit half)."

That's not entirely a criticism, though. Charli XCX's videos often make her seem brattish, but here she comes across as a teenager goofing off with her best friend on Vine.

It is, frankly, adorable.

Charli XCX - Doing It (ft Rita Ora)

Hopefully, this single, which has just been added to Radio 1's C list, will chart higher than Charli's last single, the snotty-nosed Break The Rules, which stalled at number 35.

Ms XCX is also preparing to tour with Katy Perry, and belatedly releases her new album, Sucker, in the UK next month. So that's nice.

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Charli XCX has teamed up with popular The Voice host Rita Ora

Charli XCX might not be able to sort out a release date for her album (it's just been pushed back in the UK again) but she is keeping herself busy, recording a new version of her album track Doing It with everyone's favourite underwear refusnik, Rita Ora.

As you might expect, it's a blindingly colourful, whip-smart pop song. Rita's girly vocals are a great counterpoint to Charli's poshly drawled vowels, and the song's gossamer-thin lyric ("Friends like a team in a circle / We're together, we're so alive") makes more sense as a duet between two BFFs.

Those of us holding out hope for Charli becoming a "proper" pop star in 2015 will be pleased to hear the single's just been added to Radio 1's playlist. Everyone else can just get used to it.

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Taylor Swift sings on a street and 12 other songs you may have missed

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!

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Two expensive videos for two lacklustre songs

Earlier today, Iggy Azalea and Ariana "Capuccino" Grande unleashed their new videos and set them upon YouTube like hungry puppies. They look amazing - big budget, glossy, effects-laden affairs of the sort we'd forgotten before Lady Gaga turned up and revitalised the oeuvre (before dropping the ball completely and making unwatchable 12-minute mini movies about her vagina, but that's another story).

Each clip is ripped off wholesale a loving tribute to a cult Hollywood film. Ariana's Break Free harks back to sci-fi sex romp Barbarella (see also: Kylie's Put Yourself In My Place and Betty Boo's Where Are You Baby?); while in Black Widow, Iggy and featured artist Rita Ora make an oddly bloodless homage to The House Of Blue Leaves scene from Tarantino's Kill Bill.

Both videos look great. It's just a shame the songs aren't as memorable.

Iggy Azalea ft Rita Ora - Black Widow


Ariana Grande ft Zedd - Break Free

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Songs you may have missed: Easter edition

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.




3) Prince - Computer Blue (full version)
The news that Prince has kissed and made up with Warner Bros means my wallet's going to get much, much lighter.

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!

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Haim go disco and nine other songs you may have missed

The latest in a semi-regular round-up from pop's bargain bins. This week's overlooked classics include:

1) Haim - If I Could Change Your Mind (Cerrone Mix)
A couple of months ago Haim got Giorgio Moroder to remix Forever. Now they've roped in French disco lynchpin Cerrone (the inspiration for Goldfrapp's Supernature) to overhaul If I Could Change Your Mind.

He keeps nothing but the vocals, laying them over a smooth Chic groove, thus transforming Haim into a shaggy-haired Sister Sledge.

Roller skates at the ready...





2) Shakira - Empire
Always at her best when she goes full bananas, Shakira holds nothing back on this furniture-chewing torch ballad. As usual, her metaphors go awry in translation ("And the stars make love to the universe??") but she sings it with such demented conviction you let her get away with it.

If you fancy more Empire, Shakira's performance on last week's The Voice UK was a masterclass in stagecraft.




3) Nick Mulvey - Meet Me There
Until 2011, Nick Mulvey was one of the members of Mercury-nominated jazz outfit Portico Quartet, where he played the Hang, a sort of steel drum invented in Switzerland 13 years ago.

These days, however, he's doing lots of clever, Latin-flecked finger picking on his acoustic guitar. You may have already come across his Jack Johnson-y single Cucurucu, which got to number 26 last year.

Meet Me There is even better - elevated above the usual "wispy boy with a guitar" fare by a beguiling bowed cello counter-melody. You don't get a degree in music from the School of Oriental and African Studies for nothing, you know.






4) Tourist (ft Will Heard) - I Can't Keep Up
Signed to Disclosure's Method Records, Tourist is the alter-ego of DJ William Phillips. Like the Lawrence Brothers, he's been building a profile with a bunch of influential instrumentals, before hiring in a few vocalists to send his career chartwise.

Lifted from his forthcoming Patterns EP (which also features Lianne LaHavas) I Can't Keep Up features the soulful crooning of Ireland's Will Heard, and builds steadily for three minutes before, whoosh, soaring off into the stratosphere.

In the week when Frankie Knuckles sadly passed away, this is just one of a dozen new releases that's utterly indebted to his music.




5) Rita Ora - I Will Never Let You Down (Westfunk mix)
I wasn't sure about Rita Ora's comeback single when it premiered on Monday but, with every listen, it sounds more like a hit. Calvin Harris's production is a little subtle, though, so here's a ridiculous rave remix. Air punch o'clock.






6) Sex On Toast - Hold My Love
Of course there's a band called Sex On Toast, and of course they make retro 80s lurve ballads. This is essentially trying to cover Prince's Scandalous, all slap bass and vocoder solos and sticky-fingered fumbling under your sweater.

At least the band don't take themselves too seriously, as the video demonstrates.




7) Drake - Draft Day
New material from "Drizzy" who's always better when he's rapping. This samples Lauryn Hill's Doo-Wop (That Thing), which should go some way towards paying her legal bills.




8) Chloe Howl - Rumour (acoustic)
Chloe Howl deserves a break. Rumour only got to number 84 when it came out earlier this year - but somehow #Selfie goes Top 10? The world is an unjust place.

Especially when you can make a terrible bit of "online content" work so well in your favour. Would you catch Beyonce delivering a flawless performance on a freezing cold rooftop with her hands shoved in her pockets to avoid chillblains? I think not.



9) Sam Smith - Stay With Me
An acceptable recovery after the godawful Money On My Mind, here is Sam Smith doing what Sam Smith does best - singing a lovelorn ballad with the voice of an angel.

"Hang on," you might say, "Surely warbling over the top of Disclosure songs is what Sam Smith does best?" And you would be right. So here is Sam Smith doing what Sam Smith does second best.




10)How To Dress Well - Repeat Pleasure
With touches of both Janet (breathy falsetto)and Michael Jackson (Human Nature synth line), this is seductive, forward-looking soul from American musician Tom Krell. The comparison isn't completely plucked out of thin air, by the way, he covered Janet's Again last year.

NB: You should stick with this one to the end - it grows and grows like a Wotsit in a glass of water.

The end.

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Ora-cular Spectacular

Exciting times: Rita Ora, aka "The Blonde Rihanna" aka "the most mystifying Pyramid Stage booking of all time", has returned with a new single from her second album. Produced by Calvin Harris (how 2011) it's a confident comeback, if rather slight on the tune front.

Built around a digitally degraded guitar riff, I Will Never Let You Down showcases Calvin's instinct for pop dynamics, with a cute, syncopated verses that burst into life for the hook. While inferior singers would try to match that exuberance measure for measure, Rita is canny enough to reign in her vocals and be carried along by the music.

It's subtler than you're used to on a Calvin song, but it's the sort of track that'll float to the surface of your conciousness after a couple of plays on Radio 1.

The video, which has just "gone live" was directed by Italian photographer Francesco Carrozzini, who previously helmed Beyoncé's Jealous. It is quite 80s, in the same way that Boy George in a Global Hypercolor T-shirt would be quite 80s.

Rita Ora - I Will Never Let You Down

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Rita Ora: Roc The Nation

Apparently Jay-Z is strapped for cash these days. How else do you explain the fact that his label has spent exactly zero pence on this cheap-ass "tour footage" video for Rita Ora's new single? (The song is pretty good, though).

Rita Ora - Roc The Nation

At the time of writing, the top comment under Roc The Nation on YouTube says: "I love this girl, she is unique, she has own style". The comment is written by one Filipo Cabrerizo Cabanos, who presumably lives under a hardline religious dictatorship that has banned the collected works of Rihanna.

Poor Filipo.

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One week late: Rita Ora on Jools Holland

Normally, when the producers on Later... book a pop act, it turns out even worse than one of Jools Holland's interviews. I have tried to erase the memory of Katy Perry bell-ringing the intro to I Kissed A Girl or Yoko Ono being forced to sing next to a giant human sunflower (and Basement Jaxx).

But Rita Ora killed it on last Friday's show, where she was a last-minute replacement for Sinead O'Connor. Her performance is proof that pop artists don't have to be intimidated by the presence of "poper" musicians, so long as they can turn up and kick some ass.

I've been meaning to post these videos all week - but I've got a renewed excuse, as it looks like Rita's debut single RIP will be number one on Sunday. Not a bad result for someone who lost out to Jade Ewen in the selection process for Eurovision 2009.

Rita Ora - RIP


Rita Ora - Roc The Life

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An update on songs by Rita, Nelly and Lana

This isn't one of those music blogs where we tease you with new material then lose interest and leave you hanging. Oh no. Nosiree.

Here are some updates on our most popular* posts of the last few weeks.


:: On 24 February, I mentioned a song by Rita Ora called Party and Bullshit. It now has a video where Rita is seen HAVING FUN A PARTY but does not wade through a swimming pool of bullshit. Disappointing.

It also seems the track, which is her debut single in the US, has been re-christened How We Do (Party). Ho hum.

Rita Ora - How We Do (Party)



:: On 10 April, I posted a clip of Nelly Furtado's comeback single Big Hoops (Bigger The Better). I noted that the song sounded incredible, despite the heavily distorted audio in the video Nelly had put on her website.

The full song is up on YouTube now (and on iTunes if you live in certain "territories"). It's still very good, but I miss the distortion.

Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)



:: On several occasions, I have mentioned popular and totally authentic chanteuse Lana Del Rey. Her demo recordings have been kept as secure as a wig in a hurricane, which means that, with a bit of creative Googling, you can pretty much download an alternate mix of her entire debut album (hint: National Anthem comes out particularly well).

The one I'd been waiting for was album highlight Dark Paradise and, as if on command, it popped up on Soundcloud last night. Thanks, internet.



* read more than once

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RIta Ora - for the days when one Rihanna just isn't enough

There's no denying that Rita Ora (pictured right, shortly after being fed through a paper shredder) is an exciting new voice. Potentially the best pop star Albania has ever produced.

But listening to her "proper" debut single, you do wonder whether Roc Nation are trying to turn her into a stand-by Rihanna - ready to leap into action if the real one suddenly proves unable to produce a new song every seven minutes.

RIP sounds like a cast-off from Talk That Talk. So you won't be surprised to hear its a major overhaul of a Drake demo (I'm Ready For You) with Chase and Status at the helm.

"I heard the demo when Drake sang it and it touched me," Rita told Killer Hip-Hop. "I thought it was a great woman-empowering song, so I was like 'I need to cut this song' and Drake gave it to me."

Which is lovely - but if you start off as the substitute Rihanna, following her (admittedly successful) blueprint to the letter, how do you ever become a major artist in your own right? As a wise ginger woman once said, you should dance to the beat of your own drum*.

Rita Ora ft Tinie Tempah - RIP


* Actually, she said you should dance to the beat of her drum, which isn't as powerful or accurate, but I'm not going to let facts get in the way of a useful conclusion.

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Tinie Tempah joins Rita Ora for new single

"It's better than it would have been if it was shit".

How's that for a quote? The speaker is Rita Ora, Albania's hottest export since pickled cabbage, and she's promoting her forthcoming album - which has been three years in the making. "My record label has been very patient," she notes, accurately.

That label is Roc Nation, which is a coincidence, because Rita's debut single R.I.P. sounds exactly like a Rihanna song. Not that this is a bad thing if you're in the business of Selling Shedloads Of Records. And Rita, as it turns out, is the branch manager of a major Selling Shedloads Of Records depot.

She's just been number one on the incredible DJ Fresh track Hot Right Now, and garnered major attention last week when she brought label boss Jay-Z along to the US radio premiere of her new track Party And Bulls**t.

"Rita is amazing," noted Jay-Z, who had just attended a seminar in stating the obvious.

R.I.P. is out in the UK on 6th May and it pulls off a couple of great pop moves, especially Rita's image-defining lyrics ("I do it big, I shut it down") and the scorching hot electric guitar lines. It doesn't hurt that the track brings together a triumverate of pop brilliance.

1) It's written by Drake, current crown prince of the R&B potboiler.

2) Production work is handled by Chase & Status, who've "accidentally" left in a few bars of their remix of Nneka's Heartbeat.

3) There's a lengthy cameo from Tinie Tempah, who's on top puntastic form: "Sexy senorita, I feel your aura."

Pop rating: Seven pops.



PS: Just stumbled across this radio interview with Rita, which includes an acoustic performance of Hot Right Now. It is very good indeed.

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A couple of MP3s for Friday afternoon

AKA Here are some songs that don't warrant a separate blog post but which might pique your interest.

1) Rita Ora - Party and Bullshit>

This will be the first "proper" single from the Kosovo-born singer who's currently at number one on DJ Fresh's Hot Right Now. Half Ke$ha, half Rihanna, this is nowhere near as bad as the title suggests, so long as you don't concentrate on the lyrics. Which is admittedly difficult when someone has transcribed them all on this YouTube clip. "I get that drunk sex feeling when I'm with you". Really? REALLY? [download link]



2) Beyoncé - End Of Time (Monsieur Adi remix)

Lots of people called Beyoncé's latest album a flop, but it was the tenth best-selling record of 2011, which isn't too bad. Still, End Of Time is probably the worst track on the collection, with little or no tune to speak of. This remix, however, turns the rave siren up to 11 and sets fire to the curtains. [Streaming link]



3) Riz MC ft Aruba and Plan B - All Of You

This lurid, emotionless sex fantasy is not something you should play at your gran's birthday - but it packs a punch as powerful as anything Tricky pulled off in his Maxinquaye heyday. The video stars Jodie Whittaker from Venus, Attack The Block and... er, St Trinian's 2: The Legend Of Fritton's Gold. [Download link]



4) Sam Sparro - Happiness
The first single from Sam Sparro's sophomore album is sad proof that he's never going to top the superlative Black & Gold, but if you like retro 90s handbag house, you could do worse than this. [iTunes link - Australia only for the moment]



5) Quantic and Alice Russell - Look Around The Corner

According to the press release they are two of the UK's "leading lights of the international funk, soul and alternative dance music scene", collaborating for the first time. In reality, this means a pleasing, latin-tinged swoonballad that recalls Zero 7 at their best. This one-camera live take showcases the band's musical chops but sadly drowns out the cowbell. We always want more cowbell. [iTunes link]

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