Selena Gomez - Hit The Lights [Music Video Premiere]
I'll admit, I don't really like Selena Gomez' latest album When the Sun Goes Down because it is what it is, a bunch of songs bigger pop artists rejected. Who Says was fine till she destroyed it with the awful live performances, Love You Like a Love Song was overrated and too robotic, but I'm afraid I'm quite liking the THIRD single Hit the Lights. It's remarkable because Hollywood Records tends to give up on an album after its second single, and promotion for the second single is usually rubbish so it flops (see: Hilary Duff's Stranger and Miley Cyrus' Who Owns My Heart). But Selena's fanbase has taken very well to Love You.. and sent the song to become another hit.
So Hollywood Records have finally started acting like an actual record label and released a third single. It's a move further into electro/pop territory and the further she ventures into this subgenre, the more I like it. Hit the Lights is very much a carefree number about living your life etc. without coming across cheesy to the point where its cringeworthy. And as with every Gomez video, there's always one look where she looks flawless and the rest I'm not too fond of. But overall, I don't like some of the camera angles and the behind the scenes video of the disco ball in the forest and the flashlights party in the middle of the road showed that they could've looked a lot better than those scenes actually did in the video.
Now if only Demi would hurry up with a second single already. All Night Long please.
Katy Perry - The One That Got Away [Music Video Premiere]
Katy Perry, after a successful 5 singles run of which all got to #1 in the US, and 2 of them, namely E.T. and Last Friday Night had Katy underhandedly bringing on rent-a-rappers to the tracks to help push the songs to #1. Ever since the overplayed disaster that is Firework, I've been terribly sick of anything Katy Perry, but what she has done, is excel at putting out truly stellar music videos to ease the pain our ears went through the many many times we turned on the radio to hear it playing Firework.
And with The One That Got Away, Katy's genuinely wrapping up the Teenage Dream era. The video, however, is very much Thinking of You 2.0, of which Thinking of You is by far better than anything she's done. And the tacky beat in The One That Got Away certainly doesn't help. But her stripped down performance of the track on The X Factor UK has made this song incredible, and just behind E.T. as her best single from this album era.
The video is painfully dramatic, but while Thinking of You was brutally sad, The One That Got Away tries its best and comes across second rate compared to Thinking of You. The only unexpected moment of the video came when "the one" drove off a cliff (anyone notice how the boulders in the road were perfectly placed RIGHT SMACK in the middle of the road?), and I would've started tearing if I didn't predict he'd die somehow or if I was a 13 year old girl. This video, much like Britney's Criminal, tries too hard to be overly dramatic to the point where all emotion is stripped away.
Also, someone needs to get rid of that cheap beat in the song.
If The Wanted weren't a boyband with an army of fangirls and their music was shit, they'd be screwed by now.
The Wanted told press that their previous single Lightning was a "filler" single, and I'm sorry, but which pop act says they put out a "filler" single? Especially since Lightning wasn't released too long ago and the interest for the song would naturally diminish and the song would plummet down the chart. Not to mention they said they had plans to re-issue their upcoming album Battleground with one of the tracks as a duet with an American female recording star. Their album is out now and apparently has started falling down the iTunes chart.
LET ME MANAGE THEM.
Nevertheless, The Wanted have trotted out a new music video when Lightning was released not too long ago, and it's for the new single Warzone, set to be released.... (wait for it).... In January next year. This is a tactic most British pop artists use, except the norm is a month between video release and digital release, but The Wanted have gone for about two months. Fine. Let's hope anticipation for Warzone doesn't die by the time we reach January.
Thankfully, Warzone ticks all the right boxes, and besides being the group's best single lifted off this project, it's also the clear standout song on the album. And let's admit, The Wanted's worse song beats JLS' best song by a clear mile, so you can be reassured Warzone is typical quality The Wanted stuff.
The tune is a moody ballad about being cheated on, with Nathan sounding like sex to your ears on the first verse while Max storms the first chorus. Jay leads the second verse before it becomes a Max/Nathan fest again, which I'd be quite worried for Tom. Being one of the group's more prominent vocalist, and perhaps second vocalist behind Max during their first album era, we don't see or hear much of Tom on Warzone. Even Siva gets more screen time in the clip. And the clip is actually rather simple. From the same director that gave you Glad You Came, Warzone follows their previous two videos in having a scene where the boys are intimate with their girls, which just comes off as a bit sleazy, especially in the Glad You Came video, but in Warzone, it's a quite a good fit and you wouldn't struggle to see why. The video starts off with Nathan seeing the "girl of my dreams cheating on me" with another man and as the video progresses, it leads to the boys catching their lovers red-handed in bed with another lover, and being all dramatic.
Simple, clean, but it works. Now if only they'd let me manage them.
One Direction - Gotta Be You [Music Video Premiere]
English boyband One Direction have had it pretty easy, with the catchy What Makes You Beautiful introducing the boys to the boyband crowd but doing power pop and pop/rock intead of the club/dance genre JLS have embraced or the straight up pop that The Wanted are excellent at doing.
Gotta Be You follows What Makes You Beautiful and is set for release in November along with their debut album Up All Night. The video for Gotta Be You has the boys outdoors again, and while they look good, there's an overdose of dreary fall/winter fashion like the coats which honestly doesn't suit them as much and too much Liam. Clearly Niall and Louis are the Frankie Sandford and Mollie King of this band.
The song itself is alright, isn't half as interesting as What Makes You Beautiful but they could release Rebecca Black's Friday and steal a hit with it.
Over time, Jason DeRulo has proven himself to be quite reliable to give us some good tunes, some occasionally horribly trashy tracks (Don't Wanna Go Home, Whatcha Say, Ridin' Solo), but this is from the man that gave us In My Head, so he is somewhat forgiven. That said, for his second album Future History, he hasn't been able to produce a hit as massive as In My Head yet, and has already released two singles off the album - the clubby Don't Wanna Go Home and the by the numbers Bruno Mars type of song with It Girl, except without the raw gutsy vocal of Bruno.
Both ultimately forgettable numbers. Now he's on his third single, titled Breathing. Yes, Breathing is another one for the clubs, now that that's out of the way, by mainstream club tracks standard, this is actually decent. There's always the fear of the song going to shit thanks to cheap, generic production ala Nicole Scherzinger's new tune Try With Me, but it just never does. It just gets terribly worryingly close to it. The video for the track itself seems like Jason's a little over four days late for Halloween with the Halloween-themed clip.
I wouldn't blame you if you hated Matt Cardle. After all, for a man who does a lot of talking about how he's credible and has put down The X Factor, the show that was his launching pad, numerous times, yet released a totally generic by the numbers pop/rock single Run For Your Life, co-written by Gary Barlow, with the song showing off the wrong sides of Matt's voice.
Of course, there's the pressure to not become another Leon Jackson or any other male winner of The X Factor, to be dropped as soon as a new X Factor winner comes along. However, seeing the way Run For Your Life has plummeted down the chart, his label are rushing out a new single. Smart move. And it appears to be the markedly better Starlight. But that's not anything to go by because Run For Your Life was really terrible, so anything after that would be an improvement. That said, it's still quite a forgettable tune. But at least it's a likeable forgettable tune. The music video doesn't have much going on either, but if you haven't heard it yet, there you go.
RCA Records are really pissing away David Cook's This Loud Morning album campaign aren't they? They first kicked off the campaign with The Last Goodbye which was not radio-friendly and hardly had any crossover appeal which helped him get hits from his platinum-selling debut album such as Light On and Come Back To Me. Furthermore, with the dance trend taking over the charts, artists like David Cook have it even tougher to break onto the charts.
After The Last Goodbye underperformed, RCA have decided to release the completely forgettable and album-filler track Fade Into Me. The video itself is one of those "tour memories" kind of videos with clips of David on tour between clips of just David singing. It's obviously a low budget affair, but the good thing is it doesn't look it. Nevertheless, I would rather RCA release Circadian than this standard, generic, MOR rock midtempo.
After ten years, JoJo has finally released the music video for her new pop/rock/R&B-tinged single Disaster which has only just been released to radio. The song debuted at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, before quickly disappearing, but let's hope with this, the girl will be on her way up again, back into the upper reaches of the Top 10 where she truly deserves. (Whether that can happen in 2011 is another story altogether though)
The video for Disaster is relatively simple, with JoJo in a dysfunctional relationship, playing her guitar to drown on her partner's shouting, and singing her wee little heart out with her band. Typical JoJo video then.
Nothing groundbreaking, but here's hoping somehow or another, this becomes a MASSIVE hit.
Nicole Scherzinger on Alan Carr + Try With Me [Music Video Premiere]
Well apparently miracles do happen. Remember how Nicole Scherzinger was on The Graham Norton sometime back, one of the funniest British talkshows EVER, and she managed to be completely boring to the point where it'd be more interesting to watch paint dry for 40-odd minutes? And then I started disliking her intensely after Cheryl-gate.
But imagine my surprise when I watched her interview with Alan Carr. Nicole actually showed personality by the bucketload, and is one of her interviews I actually laughed along with. Part of it could be due to Alan himself, but even he couldn't make Jessie J's interview half interesting. This interview brought me back to PCD days where I actually liked her, and quite a big deal too. So check out Nicole returning to old Nicole in the interview above, where Nicole does a spot-on Britney imitation and then teaching Alan how to yodel.
But the real reason why she jetted off to the UK amidst being a mentor on the US series of X Factor, is that she's got a new single out called Try With Me. The music video premiered some days back, and was shot in a rainforest in Mexico, where the song opens as a beautiful ballad, with Nicole singing angelically over the lush track.. Right before the trashy and cheap dance beats kick in and everything goes to hell. Eh. It should've stayed a ballad, or should've been better produced. It's not a great track either. But Try With Me is the lead single off the re-release of her debut album Killer Love.
Of course, Nicole had to do some singing while in the UK. She hit the X Factor UK to do some singing, where my issue with the song being a ballad for the entire song still stands. It's not embeddable, so check out Nicole still doing a better job of Cher Lloyd singing live on the stage here.
But just the track wise, With Ur Love >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Try With Me
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years [Music Video Premiere]
Two of the world's biggest singer/songwriters at the minute, Jar of Hearts singer Christina Perri and Grenade crooner Bruno Mars, are each contributing to the soundtrack of the upcoming Twilight film - Breaking Dawn Part I. Bruno was the first to charge ahead with moody ballad It Will Rain but the music video is delayed, which means Christina Perri's similarly moody ballad will go first. Titled A Thousand Years, this fits Christina perfectly, and I remember saying when she first debuted, her music was so appropriate for moody and dramatic shows like The Vampire Diaries and Twilight.
Hey ho, fast forward to October 2011, here we are. A Thousand Years isn't as good as It Will Rain, but Christina has had a few vocal issues lately so she probably doesn't want to strain it on this track. The clip itself is pretty simple with Christina with candles all around whenever scenes from Breaking Dawn aren't playing.
I know I'm late to the party but it's because I forgot to post it. Anyway, UK boyband The Wanted are onto their sophomore album Battleground's second single Lightning which follows the massively successful #1 lead single Glad You Came. (No I don't consider the Comic Relief Single Gold Forever a proper single off Battleground.) If you hated The Wanted's shift into the clubby Ibiza rave-vibe, have no fear as Lightning harks back to classic The Wanted territory with the song marrying electro, pop and a slice of pop/rock as well, before the anthemic chorus erupts and all is good in the world.
The video doesn't exactly do much for me, it's just the boys standing around looking pretty while Nathan blows up a car, but it sounds a lot better than the disastrous radio rip which sounded like an unfinished demo. The song's #2 on the UK Chart midweeks, overtaken by Rihanna's We Found Love (thanks to that incredible video), but it should go on to become a winner for them.
In four and a half minutes, Rihanna has explored every bit of love, from the fights, the sex, the club raves, the drugs, the unhappiness, and the utter bliss, and has delivered basically the best pop video of the year. The clip for We Found Love starts off slow and introspective, with a very Skins UK ring to it, with a narrator saying "It’s like screaming, but no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed that some one could be that important, that without them, you feel like nothing. No one will ever understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless, like nothing can save you. But when it’s over, and it’s gone, you almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back, so that you could have the good."
Before the song starts in a surprising, almost celebratory element to the video, where Rihanna and her lover go through different phases of the relationship. Both sad and fun at the same time.
Oh Britney. As a whole, the Femme Fatale has been a hit and miss for me. The styling of the entire era was a bit generic, the album itself left me cold, but it did bring us the fabulous bonus tracks Up N Down and Scary. Britney's already easily scored three other top 10 hits with Femme Fatale and now onto her fourth single Criminal, Brit Brit dropped by London to film the unnecessarily dramatic music video.
The clip starts off with Socialite Spears getting bullied by her English husband, before getting slapped by him with real life beau Jason Trawick stepping in as Mr. Criminal to save her. Then the unnecessary drama starts, with B shoplifting and a whole lot of sex scenes and running off with Mr. Criminal and the police fail to catch them.
Like I said, unnecessarily dramatic, especially since Britney isn't the finest actress we've seen around doubling as massive popstars, and overall, the clip doesn't do much for me.
Still, I would like to see this become a hit since it's one of the songs I immediately liked from Femme Fatale.
Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight [Music Video Premiere]
British pop singer/songwriter Olly Murs has done pretty well for himself post The X Factor, spinning out a far more successful pop career compared to winner Joe McElderry who's found success in Opera-styled music (the lad has a really good voice, so if you're bored with nothing to do, YouTube him). Last year, Olly picked up a #1 single and his self-titled debut album went double platinum. This year, he scored yet another #1 with his upcoming second album In Case You Didn't Know's lead single Heart Skips a Beat. With a new job on the X Factor as the Xtra Factor host, it's full speed ahead and will release his new single Dance With Me Tonight in November.
As usual with British artists, the music videos are unveiled a month before the single release, so now that we're in the middle of October, here we have Olly in the video for Dance With Me Tonight. The clip starts off with Olly getting sent to jail. "SAY WHAT OLLY HAS BECOME A BAD BOY?" Unfortunately, it's not exactly shaving his head and attacking the paparazzi with an umbrella. In a romantic gesture, Olly took a car for a spin, to show up at a girl's house inviting her to dance with him, what with fireworks and all. Of course, it's in the night, so the poor Granny next door can't take all that noise, calling the police in. Hey ho, Olly's in jail.
"Help! Someone help! We can't breathe!" - Olly Murs' testicles in his tight pants.
The Saturdays - My Heart Takes Over [Music Video Premiere]
Usually when it comes to proper anthemic ballads, filming a music video, especially one for a girl group has a pretty standard fomula, chuck the girls into a pretty country with a pretty backdrop as scenery while they look wistfully into the camera drowning their sorrows in song.
And it's exactly what The Saturdays have done for the music video for their brand new single My Heart Takes Over which will be released a week before their upcoming fourth album On Your Radar will hit stores. The song by itself is strong, but a little bland and forgettable, but the video is absolutely stunning and suits the song very well, with Vanessa emoting really well while the other girls look either stunning (Una, Mollie) or in pain from the harsh weather (Frankie, Rochelle). Nevertheless, Queen Vanessa owns the entire clip and song.
Pixie Lott - What Do You Take Me For [Music Video Premiere]
This week saw Pixie Lott premiere the music video for her new single What Do You Take Me For which features Pusha T and comes after her UK chart-topping but totally generic All About Tonight. What Do You Take Me For takes things into a more soulful direction, dabbling with a bit dubstep without being desperate (Sugababes' Freedom) and is completely snazzy and all sorts of amazing. I'm even liking the album title of Young Foolish Happy now. Girl just needs to use a different picture for the album cover.
Nevertheless, the music video sees Pixie sometimes rather awkwardly trying to pussy pop and everything, but she still looks hot. Well, when she's not looking awkward. The music video as itself is quite stylish, with some part looking like high fashion photoshoots rather than a new music from one of Britain's most talked about female pop artists.
It's a good video, yes. It's an even better song, yes. However, I can't help but think all the personality and soul has been sucked out of her. What happened to the 2009 Pixie Lott?
Kelly Clarkson - Mr. Know It All [Music Video Premiere]
Kelly Clarkson premiered the video for the official music video for her new soulful tune out battling with the likes of Rihanna and Katy Perry on radio called Mr. Know It All. Promotion is already underway and following a few live performances, the video is finally here. The simple video shows Kelly singing in front of a "wall of doubt" which has the usual negative Kelly headlines ("Too fat", "still single" etc.) before we see her tearing them all down to walk towards a brighter future. It's a nice enough video, and she looks uber hot, but damn, couldn't they at least have filmed another scene with something happening instead of Kelly standing there looking pretty in front of a green screen?
Sara Bareilles - Gonna Get Over You [Music Video Premiere]
Things have been on the quiet side for jazzy singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, who even though released a #1 album last year with Kaleidoscope Heart with a big hit of a lead single, the smart and snazzy King of Anything, has been laying low ever since her last single Uncharted flopped due to its terribly lazy music video.
However, hoping to revive the album, Bareilles and her label have decided to breathe some life into the project, releasing a third single from the album called Gonna Get Over You and putting it out on iTunes with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder whom she's collaborated with before on the achingly beautiful Come Home.
But back to Gonna Get Over You, Sara has dropped the video for it hoping to get people interested again, with the lovesick but positive Sara crooning about getting over someone soon, spreading joy and positivity throughout a grocery store with her hair up in a ponytail, heavy eye make up and leather jacket completing her fierce look.
J.Lo may have hit the big ol' 40, but the Latina is still stopping traffic and the object of desire of many men in her new video for Papi and in real life. The video starts off with Jenny taking a bite out of a love cookie, before heading out the next day to be chased by every heterosexual male that sets eyes on her, and Jenny has the impossible task of running away from the group of guys in her white Fiat, before being dragged out of her car and having a dance breakdown with the guys.
However, I could've dealt with another high fashion, full of lens flare, exotic theme to the Papi video, but it was already utilised for the I'm Into You video. So unfortunately, Team Jenny have run out of a few ideas and pulled this one instead, which felt like a long running 5 minute commercial for Fiat than a new music video for Jennifer. Make no mistake, the video had it's entertaining moments, but it's not a great MUSIC video.
We review the latest in 21st century. Mostly we do pop, but it doesn't really matter, along with new music premieres, video premieres, album premieres. If the links don't work, please notify me in the cbox right below and I will post a new link in the cbox. Thanks.
Artist Of The Month. (November 2011)
The Power Rangers of British pop, The Saturdays, are returning this year with a more mature sound and image, with the girlband taking a stab at the pop/dance wave with their fourth album On Your Radar's first single Notorious being a total flip in direction in their sound, and was noticeably more clubby compared to their previous singles and albums. They then took things a level further with the complete rave-tastic All Fired Up, which is without a doubt their best single release, not surprising since the track was produced by production powerhouse Xenomania, the machine behind pretty much all of Girls Aloud's discography. The pop five-piece are charging forward with the Christmassy ballad My Heart Takes Over before their album On Your Radar drops November 21st!
