Pharrell's new song is a Zane Lowe EXCLUSIVE (but Annie Mac has it too)

Maybe you've heard that Apple is launching a new music service, and that Zane Lowe is on it? You're forgiven if you haven't. They kept pretty quiet about it. But it really happened.

Zane presented (shouted) his first show today and the BIG EXCLUSIVE was Pharrell's new song, Freedom. It features the wide open gospel chords and gratuitous handclaps of Happy, but adopts a much more sombre tone. It's really, really good.

But Pharrell didn't get to be Pharrell by putting all his eggs in one basket (he keeps at least three eggs under his hat). He knew that, even though the world's media would tune in to Zane's show, nobody in the real world was paying the blindest bit of attention. So he let a real radio station have the single, too. And, with no small irony, he chose Zane's old stomping ground - Radio 1.

Even more ironic is that Apple - a company at the forefront of technology - hasn't worked out how to let users share it's content, so you can't hear Zane's first play. Nor can you see the video, or even listen to the song, outside Apple's walled-off app.

Whereas Radio 1 - a lumbering, ancient, publicly-funded broadcaster (also my employer) - bunged Pharrell's song up on the internet as soon as Annie Mac came off air.

So here it is in all its glory.


It's worth listening to the Pharrell interview that follows - just to hear him shut down Annie Mac's question about working with Adele.

Oh, and the song got a live outing at Glastonbury on Saturday, where it sounded like this.

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New music: Kyiki - Black Light

Kyiki is the new nom de chanson of Crystal Fighters singer Ellie Fletcher. She emerged last September with the excellent solo single One - a cooing, chiming electro pop lullaby.

The reception to One was positive enough to persuade Kyiki to go off and write a full album. And, after racking up oodles of studio time with Alex Da Kid (Dr Dre, Rihanna, Imagine Dragons, Eminem) she's back with a new single, Black Light.

The song's not as immediate as One - whose chorus was more killer than Hannibal Lecter eating Adamski - but the crunching, brooding beats will be of particular interest to fans of Lorde, Banks and SOHN.

It finds Kyiki in the midst of an unexpected romance. "I know you're scared - we were not quite prepared," she reassures her beau, while asking him to follow her deeper into the relationship. "I won't put up a fight - I'll be your black light."

At least, I assume that's what she means. A Black Light (one that emits UV rays) can be used to illuminate fluorescent paint that's invisible to the human eye, creating spectacular theatrical effects. But Black Light is also used by forensic detectives to scan for fingerprints. And, for that matter, semen. 

I'm going to assume Kyiki is going for the former, using it as a metaphor for "guiding light". But if I'm wrong, CSI Pop Music could be a new genre with fascinating possibilities*.



* With apologies to Fraser McAlpine

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This Selena Gomez will make anyone over the age of 20 feel uncomfortable

Selena Gomez's epic pervo romp Good For You is one of the more questionable singles of 2015.

On the one hand it's intimate and alluring - I got a touch, so good, so good," Selena coaxes in a barely-there vocal. On the other hand, the song's hook - "I just wanna look good for you" - is creepily subservient.

On balance, it works. The track teases and seduces without ever giving the upper hand to Selena's suitor. The video, however, tips the scales the other way. There's something about seeing the singer (a human incarnation of a Bratz doll) writhing around in her underpants that makes me feel grubby.

It's probably my problem - at almost twice her age, I'm hardly the target market - but there's something about the clip that screams exploitation rather than empowerment.

What do you think?

Selena Gomez - Good For You

PS: What on earth does it mean to "syncopate my skin to how you're breathing"?

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Songs you may have missed megapost

Oh man, it's been ages since I did one a "songs you may have missed" post, and the backlog is ridiculous...

For the uninitiated, this is a dumping ground treasure trove of songs I've liked, but failed to write about on the blog. That failure is a personal one, not a comment on their quality.

So saddle up. There are 12 songs to get through here and I've kept the write-ups short because, frankly, who reads this crap anyway?

1) Foals - What Went Down
Heavy like cadmium. Best thing they've done since Inhaler.




2) Miguel - Coffee (ft WALE)
Coffee is a metaphor for sex, you know.



3) Selena Gomez - Good For You (ft A$AP Rocky)
Recorded in 45 minutes. Will remain in your in your head for 45 days.




4) Nero - Two Minds
In which Nero finally realise that dubstep is a musical dead end.




5) Carly Rae Jepsen - E·MO·TION
Carly Rae Jepsen's new album is shaping up to be a masterpiece. Who;d have thought?




6) Mark Ronson - I Can't Lose (ft Keyone Starr)
All the melody of Snoop Dogg's Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can' Have None) with none of the misogyny. Result.





7) Years & Years - Foundation
In 2020, we're all going to look back on Years & Years' time in the spotlight and wonder "what was going on there?"




8) Fassine - Sunshine
Doomsday disco, darker than a House of Cards box set.




9) Shura - White Light
The video edit isn't as good as the full 7-minute masterpiece.




10) Rudimental - Rumour Mill (ft Anne-Marie & Will Heard)
Slinky and subtle. Sorely needed proof that Rudimental can make good songs without shoehorning in a drum-and-bass drop.




11) Gabrielle Aplin - Light Up The Dark
Recently added to the Radio 1 playlist, and a world away from her mawkish John Lewis advert. Like KT Tunstall and Sheryl Crow got together and cancelled out each other's most boring tendencies.




12) Meghan Trainor - Like I'm Going To Lose You (ft John Legend)
Gimmick-free balladry that suggests a longevity most of us never suspected Meghan Trainor had in her.

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Tove Lo's set off her Timebomb

Timebomb is one of the best songs on Tove Lo's debut album, Queen Of The Clouds, so it's good to see it get a single release.

The track's all about one of those relationships where infatuation and irritation are inseparable - Tove tripping over her tongue as she rants: "I couldn't decide if you were the most annoying human being I'd ever met or just the best thing that ever happened."

The video plays that scenario out for real, with actual couples filmed fighting out their differences while Tove rends her clothes asunder on a beach. Here she is to explain.

#TIMEBOMB the video tells the story of loves that can't last because people around won't let them. And still they fight to stay together. That is also beautiful. And painful. In my heart I believe everyone should be able to love whoever they want. I wanted to shine some light on that in this video. Never take it for granted.

I wanna thank Emil Nava and his whole amazing team, all my peeps and mostly the incredible couples who all dared to be so vulnerable on camera. When you watch this, I hope you feel it as much as I do. Xx Tove

Watch below. The end is a bit saucy but you'll not get sacked for watching it in the office or anything.

Tove Lo - Timebomb

You can also see the video on www.weareatimebomb.com/ - a Chat Roulette sort of site, where you're paired up with a stranger to witness the video unfolding.

"It could be the most annoying human being you ever met, or just the best thing that ever happened," says the blurb.
"After the video ends only a photo will remain of your time together. You can both share the photo wherever you want!"

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Foxes dancing in a forecourt

Foxes, everyone's favorite pop star with Bambi eyes, has put out the video to her brand new single, Body Talk - of which we mightily approve.

The clip sees the star dancing (not very successfully) in a petrol station and looking pensive in a car wash. It's all very moody but goodness knows what it has to do with the song.

Foxes - Body Talk

Here are some sentences that appeared in a press release about Foxes' forthcoming "sophomore" (second) album.

"Southampton-born Foxes, who eschews the lure of the full-on glitzy pop star life in favour of taking the bus around east London and working on her mum's vintage clothing market stall, is ready for the world to hear what she's been working on, 'I knew immediately what I wanted with this album, and I was at the reins of it this time,' she says."

The album will also feature a children's choir, as the singer revealed on Facebook a fortnight ago.

kids choir in the studio today #makingthealbum

Posted by Foxes on Friday, 12 June 2015

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