I wanna hear you say that you'll be fine and you're doin' OK

Despite loving the pirate-esque "Sun Goes Down" (in which what might otherwise be thought of as a soul voice was matched to welcomingly strange but commercialized pop), I never bought British singer David Jordan's debut album. The clip of his new single, "(Don't Wanna) Hear You Say" Popjustice posted, though, has had me keeping an eye out for his new material.

It was worth the wait. "(Don't Wanna) Hear You Say" is far less distinctive in sound than David's aforementioned second single, but both the Bakerboys Original Mix and the Wideboys Stadium Radio Edit are fantastic. The original mix is slinkier, a side to side shuffle based on a simple percussion beat and prettily kept from sparseness with quickly ascending and descending synths and string-mimicking sounds, while the Wideboys mix dances up the song--which never felt like a full ballad--while still keeping it in radio-friendly territory, but in either version, the strong main melody is accompanied by equally strong production. David's got a voice I enjoy listening to, which means that "(Don't Wanna) Hear You Say" sounds even better than it might in the hands of artists with arguably similar sounds.

According to Popjustice, the single comes out October 26, though I wouldn't be surprised if that date changed again.

#57 David Jordan, "Sun Goes Down"

If you lost your senses, here, have mine

With "Sun Goes Down," David Jordan invented a new music genre: pirate pop. I know, I know, Latvia did pirates at Eurovision this year, but that was in a preexisting music genre. David's falsetto-filled debut single left me with no interest in him, but as soon as PopJustice posted a clip of "Sun Goes Down" near the beginning of the year, I was suddenly sold--this was music when creativity combines with pop brilliance, brilliance that is very much commercial-friendly. It's still such an exciting fun (and yes, catchy) record even today that I can't help hoping that, despite the odds, David gets a chance at a second album--we can use more people shaking up the music charts when the shaking takes on forms like this. Really, "Sun Goes Down" is just this: a great pop song.

Find it on: Set The Mood

What's the worst that could happen baby if they knew?

I was going to try to hold back from posts beyond my countdown until I'd finished it, but I can't help it; instead, here's a compacted version of the things I've been itching to write about in recent days, in the form of songs I'm loving:

The-Dream feat. Rihanna, "Livin' A Lie" and Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown, "No Air"





A great pair of pop-R&B duets. I've written about "No Air" before, and it remains just as heavenly as it was back then, both in quality and in its feel of floating up among the clouds. The-Dream, best known this year for Rihanna's "Umbrella" and J. Holiday's "Bed" (though he's done other and earlier work), released his debut solo album a few weeks ago and, though I'd be fine never hearing the lead single again, this (so far) album track from it has captured me, got me transfixed, at least for the moment. It's simple, full of repetitive synth pulses, but it just works so well for me. It isn't necessarily a huge-sounding song, but I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing it on the radio (famous last words?). It's best heard with good headphones if you've got them and, of course, in good quality.

David Jordan, "Sun Goes Down"



I've been meaning to write about this for a while, since Popjustice featured it. Fantastic fantastic fantastic. I refused to watch the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie because the ending sounded just stupid, but this song could very well have been the soundtrack to all the pirate mania that came out after the first (and excellent) movie came out. That said, as much as it sounds very pirate-y, it's not pure novelty; it's really a well-done catchy song that just doesn't sound like anything else out there. The first chorus that opens the song is sparser than the rest of the song, by the way.

Natasha Bedingfield, "Pocketful Of Sunshine"



The title track to her upcoming American album, and, though it may seem unassuming, it's one of the most transporting songs I've heard this year, at least in that chorus and pre-chorus/bridge. After thinking "I Wanna Have Your Babies" was great, I've gone completely off of it and haven't bothered to check out the album N.B., but I still think she did some fantastic songs for her first album and am thrilled she's done something I like once again.

Cassie, "Is It You?"



I know this is months old, but I'm just getting into it now. It's from the Step Up 2 soundtrack and isn't at all like "Me & U" (a song which I've recently been thinking I really underrated)--it's probably a little more "basic/disposable pop song" sounding, but I like it--crunchy but simple electro-rock underneath the verses and a cute simple chorus.

I also quite like Leona Lewis's "The Best You Never Had," though the production on it sounds odd.