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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One week off: What happened?

:: All of Lady Gaga's clothes fell off.

:: Katy Perry burnt her blue wig and buried her California Gurls costume in a series of promos for her new single, Roar. Because what everyone wants is a serious and mature Katy Perry "project".



:: Louis Walsh quit the X Factor. Maybe he's bringing back Bellefire.

:: All of Lady Gaga's clothes fell off.

:: MGMT came back with the least uplifting single you'll hear all summer called, naturally, "Your Life Is A Lie". Bonkers video ahoy.


:: The Sugababes maybe probably split up, they think. Or possibly not. Who knows?

:: The Origibabes made their live comeback. There are videos everywhere (Popjustice has a great write-up) - but this one is the best: The band are singing Stronger and at 2'10", when everyone assumes Mutya will perform Heidi's lines, Siobhan steps up to the mic and the crowd go mental.


:: Noted scholar Tulisa Contostavlos has written her debut novel. Star is a violently cathartic story about the abduction of a cabinet minister's daughter during a state visit to Israel. The stakes are raised when Hamas claim responsibility - but counter-terrorism agent Sam Archer thinks otherwise, and must work against the clock to avert a disastrous conflict in the Middle East.

:: Oh, alright. It's about a girl who struggles with fame.

:: Lady Gaga finally put her "pants" (trousers) on, and then her arm fell off at the elbow.

:: Justin Timberlake and his carefully-cultivated facial hair made a video for Take Back The Night. He spends a lot of time crouching in this clip, as if he's hurt his back lifting a heavy book from a tall shelf. Poor Justin.



:: PJ Harvey released a new, free song named after and dedicated to Shaker Aamer, a British national who's been held in Guantanamo Bay for 11 years, despite being cleared for release by both George Bush and Barack Obama. It's quite powerful.




:: Lady Gaga revealed the entirely boob-free cover for her ArtPop album. Disappointing.

And that's all... Normal blog service will resume tomorrow.

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Tulisa's solo single - the internet speaks

What a strange couple of days it has been in the world of Tulisa Constantinoplebus. I wouldn't wish it on anyone, nor am I going to say anything about it. Instead, let's look instead at the second video she's put out this week, for her new solo single Young.

Taking its cue from the Calvin Harris vs Rihanna school of ravepop, this is pure mindless nonsense, specifically designed to ramp up your BPMs. It's too derivative and SHOUTY for my iPod, but I am a crotchety old man so I'm hardly the target market for a song that repeats the line "we are young" approximately 8,467 times.

So, for some much-needed balance, I turn to the educated citizens YouTube to garner some insight into the song from their carefully-crafted comments.

:: "It's quite a good tune that young people can relate to" [Charleiigh Merrygold]

:: "Sounds quite good, really catchy. But I keep expecting that dappy or fazer will start rapping." [Glambertx]

:: "You should release this song early since most people will not buy it and just youtube rip this" [The Dinosaur Kitteh - clearly a marketing executive at Island]

:: "If I randomly heard this on the radio, I wouldn't care who's song it is because it sounds like any other okay pop song." [Essman]

:: "She just can't scrub off her chavness unfortunately, and it makes her music less sellable (for lack of a better word)." [Gerald Bean - seemingly unaware that there is a better word, and that word is marketable.]

:: "This will go straight to Number 1." [BiebaahhFevahh]

:: "How nice of her to include a nod to THAT OTHER VIDEO at 2:39. The whole thing's cynical, cringe-inducing and obviously a very well strategically planned PR campaign." [we love mayo]

I think that's what you call "a mixed bag".

Tulisa - Young

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