Talkin' fantasy right to my face

Newsbreak:

Xenomania News pointed out that several songs from Jessie Malakouti's time at Xenomania leaked recently. The best news about this fact? We finally get to hear the full studio recording of "Who's That Man." Though I'd rather have the opportunity to pay for the full quality version, with Jessie moved on to her Jessie and the Toy Boys project, it seemed unlikely we'd ever hear it, making this is something of a relief.



Magnus Carlsson has a new single coming out. It's called "The Best In Me" and is probably produced by Pitchline (based on how much he's worked with them and the fact that it's got a Pitchline remix). The cover can be viewed here, while the tracklist seems to be "The Best In Me," a solo version of "Crying At The Discotheque" (eek), "Feel You (Ruff & Jam Radio Edit)," and an extended remix by Pitchline of "The Best In Me."

On the "I'm way behind in reporting this" front, Nadine Coyle's debut single is "Insatiable," written by her and Guy Chambers. It's apparently not a ballad and bears a resemblance to the Bangles, though the latter is a comparison from the Sun so take it with a grain of salt. Fingers crossed--I really want this solo project to live up to Nadine's potential. Fellow Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole's lead single for her second album is called "Promise This;" there's a low quality clip here, but I'll need to hear at least the chorus to know for sure what to make of it. Speaking of Girls Aloud, I don't think I've mentioned here yet that Luciana Caporaso reported she was writing songs with Sarah Harding. As I've said elsewhere, that seems like it could be a good match; Luciana's punky pop-dance work might be a good way to channel Sarah's apparent love of rock and sometimes shouty vocals (and Sarah's solo Xenomania songs aren't a million miles away from Portobella songs like "Meet Me At The Y Bar" or Kylie's Luciana-penned "Cupid Boy").

The music video for Kylie Minogue's joy-inducing "Get Outta My Way," one of the songs of the year, is out. Floor choreography! Chair choreography! Actually, the choreography is nowhere near the star of the show--that's got to go to these moments. I usually try to hold the belief that everyone has a perfect right to like and dislike what they want, but if you don't enjoy "Get Outta My Way," it's hard to believe you like music.

Margaret Berger has posted some pictures from a recent photoshoot on her Facebook page, as well as stated her new single will be out this fall (maybe as early as September, but I may have misunderstood what she was referring to). We were told earlier to expect it as a spring/summer single so there could understandably be some skepticism, but hopefully we'll have new Margaret music soon. Now, if only Bertine Zetlitz would give us a release date...

a1's new album, Waiting For Daylight, is out October 11 in Norway. That's not news. What is news--or news-ish, anyway--is that you can see a tiny picture of the cover here.

On the subject of albums going to be released in Norway, Melodi Grand Prix 2010 contestant Bjørn Johan Muri's album, Airwaves, comes out September 13. The tracklist and cover are here.

Swedish Stereo broke the new about the tracklist and cover for Ola's third album, out September 15; you can view them here. At ten tracks, four of which are already available for purchase, it's a short album, but hopefully it's got the gems he's capable of being a vehicle for.

The summery new single from British boyband JLS, "Ay Mama" (which features Shontelle), sounds kind of nice, based on a live performance of it.

Alcazar are featured on an Anders Hansson/Sharon Vaughn song on the new Same Difference album. Details at Scandipop.

Hold on just for a while

A few notes on artist and songwriter-related subjects:

Martin Stenmarck's upcoming album, I Septemberland, features five songs from the team at Swedish music publishing and production company TEN (A*Teens, Amy Diamond, Erik Hassle). In this case, though, the songs don't seem to be by the Tysper/Grizzly/Mack team (who in addition to the aforementioned successes have also been the creators of Industry's "My Baby's Waiting" and VV Brown's "Shark In The Water") but rather by Elof Loelv and Kim Wennerström, who also worked with Erik Hassle and produced Malena Ernman's "La Voix." Kim is also a member of the band DYNO and Elof has worked with them (if you're not already a fan, now's the time to fall in love with them; they're overdue a post here, but in the meantime, check out coverage on #1 Hits From Another Planet and Don't Stop The Pop), who are now under TEN's wings. Anyway, I wouldn't expect a change in Martin's style, but hopefully this is a good sign in terms of quality meeting accessibility. The song titles TEN is involved with are:

I Septemberland
Gråa Hjärtans Sång
Happy Ending
Jag Vill, Jag Vill, Jag Vill
J, Jeff och Jesus

Kris Allen apparently wrote some songs with Eg White (Will Young's "Leave Right Now," "Who Am I," "Let It Go," "I Won't Give Up," "Tell Me The Worst," James Morrison's "You Give Me Something," Adele) for his upcoming debut major label album. The tracklisting isn't finalized yet, so it's uncertain which if any will make the cut.

(Side note: the first tastes of Adam Lambert's new music is out, but it's a non-album power ballad, "Time For Miracles," for the 2012 soundtrack and is apparently not indicative of the sound of the album. Oh, and Dr. Luke recently mentioned he was adding retro synths to a song for Adam--I'm hoping he means Van Halen's "Jump"-style synths.)

Bosson released a greatest hits collection this past summer. Did anyone else not know that? A quick glance at the tracklisting doesn't show any new songs beyond a version of "One In A Million" featuring Elizma Theron. I hope he releases new material soon...and that it's more like his older songs, not like "Wake Up." He's friends with Twentyfive Productions (Lisette Vares, Danny's "I Need To Know") on MySpace, which could mean they just produced the new version of "One In A Million" or he's working on them with new stuff.

As Paul of Fizzy Pop and PopMuse have written, the video for Will Young's new single, "Hopes & Fears," is out. It's a great song, one of those gentle mid/up-tempo hybrids that just makes you feel better about the day.

Seven of the songs on Magnus Carlsson's upcoming album Pop Galaxy are by Pitchline (Velvet's "Take My Body Close" and "Come Into The Night" and a song with Elin Lanto that I still hope to hear some day--speaking of which, Scandipop has great Elin news about a new single and possible participation in a certain music festival).

Kleerup, Natasha Bedingfield, and newcomer Jonas Myrin (you might know him best as the male mannequin in Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Get Over You" video) all worked on a song together--presumably for Natasha. It was such a surprising combination that I had to mention it.

James Morrison has a new single, "Get To You," coming out to promote the rerelease of his second album, Songs For You, Truths For Me. It's produced by Mark Taylor, the same man who produced "Broken Strings," his excellent duet with Nelly Furtado, as well as many, many other songs. It's not quite as great as that earlier single, but it's good.

Nanne's great recent single "Otacksamhet" was co-written and co-produced by '80s Swedish popstar Paul Rein. Given how much I ADORE the Epicentre-penned "Kom Hit," on which Nanne duets with Paul, I'm thinking they should collaborate more often.

I'm sure all the hardcore Agnes fans already knew this, but half of Agnes's demo version of "Say Love," the song which eventually ended up being released by Sandra, is streaming in the music section of the website of the song's cowriters, Epicentre's Anders Wikström and Fredrik Thomander.

Feel what I feel

Addendum to the Swedish music update: Magnus Carlsson news.

The Christmas album the former Alcazar and Barbados singer is releasing has turned out to be a repackaging of his two previous Christmas albums to tie in with his Christmas tour, but he promises it will have new bonus material. That includes a new single, "Änglarnas tid," which will have five songs on it. He's finished most of the work on Pop Galaxy, his upcoming pop album. He says he's got a new single coming out in a few months which is '80s-styled; I'm guessing that's from Pop Galaxy and not the Christmas album, though I suppose the aforementioned Christmas single could be '80s-sounding.

Addendum 2: Melodifestivalen.

With the addition of an entry chosen via Internet vote, the chance to hear one of this year's Melodifestival entries begins next Wednesday, when 175 newly submitted entries by writers who are not established in the Swedish music industry will be made public for voting on the official Melodifestival website. (h/t ESC Today)

Discover me

Songwriter update:

I reported earlier that British (but with an American deal with Lava Records) singer Jessie J, who may now be going by Jessie, was working with Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly. We've since had the opportunity to hear what must be at least one result from that collaboration: Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA," co-written by Luke, Claude, and Jessie. Hopefully, though, we'll hear better things sung by Jessie herself on her debut album, supposedly due out this year. I'm skeptical about that actually happening--the buzz behind the singer, more formally known as Jessica Cornish, needs more time to build.

Lucas Secon, the co-writer of songs like the Pussycat Dolls' "I Hate This Part," Martin's "Show The World," and Sarah Connor's "Under My Skin," is working on a new song with Britney Spears, according to his latest MySpace blog. He says he's also the producer of the lead single for Toni Braxton's new album, Pulse, which was written by him and Makeba Riddick. "Get Loose," a Toni track which leaked late last year, is still a great listen. "Resuscitate Me," which he reports is the "Say It"-following second single from Booty Luv's second album, is co-written by him as well.

Sharon Vaughn, co-writer of Agnes's "Release Me," has a song on her MySpace called "Penny on the Sidewalk" which sounds like it's being sung by Fredrik Kempe, the Swedish opera and pop singer who, despite two solo albums, is best known recently for his songwriting work. It could be an old song , but if you've missed Fredrik's voice or are completionist about the work of Kempe, Vaughn, Per Magnusson, or David Kreuger, its writers, head over there. If you're only a fan of Kempe's up-tempo, poppy productions, though, it's not for you. The (female) voice on "Dreamers Don't Get Much Sleep" also sounds familiar, though I can't quite place who it is.

Fibes, Oh Fibes!'s album 1987, released this week, features songs by Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp and Pontus and Petter Winnberg (the former being one-half of Bloodshy & Avant), among other talents more known to Swedes.

Swedish singer and former Alcazar and Barbados member Magnus Carlsson continues to work on his upcoming pop album (to be preceded by a holiday album this year, last I heard), Pop Galaxy, due in February of next year (you have to raise an eyebrow at that choice). He's continued to record with Pitchline (Velvet's "Come Into The Night" and "Take My Body Close") and Hitvision (and as mentioned before, Emil Hellman of SoundFactory contributed to some of them); some of the possible inclusions are called "Addicted To You" and "Last One To Stand."

Allison Iraheta, the fourth place finisher on the last season of American Idol, has worked with Toby Gad for her debut album, planned for a fall release...but really, who hasn't worked with him at this point, especially out of the Idol contestants?

Fred Ball (of Pleasure and work with Bertine Zetlitz) has contributed as a writer and producer to Girls Can't Catch's upcoming album.

Pascal Gabriel is working with Ladyhawke (on her second album), Example, Goldfrapp, and Marina & the Diamonds (we may have heard some of the resulting creations already).

The tracklist for the Saturdays' second album is out; Ina Wroldsen, co-writer of the majority of their first album, has done "No One," "One Shot," "Baby Baby," "Denial," "Wordshaker," "Open Up," and "Deeper." She's also contributed "Discover Me" to Girls Can't Catch's album, "My Hands" and "Heartbeat" to Leona Lewis's (earlier her two Leona contributions were called "Thank You, Thank You" and "My Heart," so I'm guessing they've just been renamed), "My Man," "Get Up (Stronger Man)," "Punching Out," and "I Had Him First" to Jade Ewen's, and "Before The Rain"'s to Alexandra Burke's. She's also got a song called "Not For You" which is listed as a Kylie Minogue release, but I don't have the Kylie knowledge to know whether that's a song that's come out already or not (it could also be the same song as Natalie Bassingthwaighte's "Not For You," also by Ina).

I took the boy she thought she knew and made him disappear

Magnus Carlsson has begun work on his next album, recording songs written by Pitchline (the makers of Velvet's '80's-tastic dance-pop songs "Come Into The Night" and "Take My Body Close"), with the technical assistance of Emil Hellman of SoundFactory (a name you may recognize from some Melodifestival artist-friendly remixes). He did three songs, including two named "I'm Doing OK I'm Doing Alright" and "When Our Love Is Gone."

In other Swedish artist news, turnaround (thanks!) clued me in to the fact that clips from Jonathan Fagerlund's new boy pop album Welcome To My World (out May 20) can be listened to here. I'm surprised (though not necessarily complaining) at how electronic much of it sounds, but there are still also some more "typical Jonathan" tracks, as well as hints of that more "organic commercial pop" past sprinkled throughout. Also of note is that Idol runner-up Alice Svensson duets with him on "Save Our Yesterdays."

The right way straight to my heart

There aren't many artists more generous with their material than Magnus Carlsson. While, say, Frankmusik's generosity tends to take the form of constantly sharing new songs he's created, Magnus shares older demos of often unreleased songs, but I'm just as eager to hear those, even if they lack the production touches we would have heard if they'd been worked up for a proper release.

The most recent selection of songs Magnus shared on his official site are from his work with the Da Buzz team. Apparently, after participating in Melodifestivalen in 2006, Magnus felt an urge to begin working on English language material and, being a fan of Da Buzz's work, he recorded some demos with the group (well, with the two men in the group) in the summer and fall of 2006. Only one of the songs made it onto the main edition of the album in the end, but the song that made the cut was one of my absolute favorites, though I didn't realize it was by Da Buzz until now: "Don't You Worry," the song I've always imagined in my alternative handling of Live Forever - The Album to have been the late fall/early winter 2006 single (with "Crazy Summer Nights" as the summer 2006 single instead of "Waves Of Love"). It's an incredibly sweet but poppy song which I strongly recommend you seek out the album version of.

Anyway, Magnus recently uploaded to his official site the demos from his work with Da Buzz, though some of the songs--all the ones never previously released except for one, and that one's a ballad--are only long clips, not the full thing. If you bought the deluxe digital version of Live Forever - The Album, you already had the demos for "I Belong To You," "I Found Love" and "Don't You Worry," but the amazing transformation of the latter from its demo to final version hints at what a treat we might have been in for had these demos--which are already pretty good--ever been reworked for actual release. The previously unheard (as far as I'm aware) songs are "Can't Believe," "Even If I Want To," and "Rescue Me." I'd love to hear full versions of those last two if they exist, given how great their up-tempo pop sounds to my ears, but I'm mainly glad we got this little glimpse into Magnus's and Da Buzz's recording vaults.

#44 Magnus Carlsson, "Walking In My Shoes"

You'll come around to the sound of my heart
The sound of my heartbeat

Thank goodness for Magnus Carlsson--there aren't nearly enough male popstars making really poppy pop that comes straight from the discotheque (nor enough male pop artists who actually listen to amazing music in their free time). Having delivered to us a-ha's "Take On Me" crossed with Bosson for his 2007 Melodifestival entry "Live Forever" and then pursuing a baffling release order for the follow-up singles, he returned to promote his greatest hits with this song that made you feel as if Alcazar never left...actually, a song better than many a great Alcazar single. With a "Can You Feel It" sample, "Walking In My Shoes" is the sort of good-times uplifting over-the-top pop that'll have you jumping up and down and singing along as if it's some sort of disco anthem before your first listen is over. Magnus has a great pop voice and can be a great popstar--I couldn't be happier that songwriters Anton Malmberg and Felix Persson gave him a song this great, this fun, and this needing of an artist like him as a vehicle in order to be released.

(This song should be way higher up in this list, incidentally.)

Find it on: Re:Collection 1993-2008

#96 Magnus Carlsson, "Crazy Summer Nights"

(I accidentally forget to publish this post originally. Oops!)



(No one on YouTube has uploaded this song, so all I can do is post this live performance, but it's a very different arrangement of the song, which has far fewer horns and is far bouncier and more electronic and disco--basically, the proper version is much better.)

Ex-pec-tations
We're just havin' fun

I've long maintained that this song, taken from the ex-Barbados and Alcazar singer's 2007 album released in the aftermath of "Live Forever," should have been been the second single from that era; in both timing and quality, it's a much better fit than "Waves Of Love" was (though "Waves Of Love" did have a much better single cover). Pure disco-pop joy meant for summer, "Crazy Summer Nights" is Swede-pop at its best; to be honest, the song would have probably ranked much higher in my 2007 countdown that it does here, and that's with 2008 probably having been a better year for singles. A little bit of the exciting shine of novelty might have been rubbed from the song in that time, but it's still just as fun to listen to, just as smile-inducing and dance-inducing as you'd hope a song from an artist with Magnus's pop potential would be.

Incidentally, in addition to "Live Forever," which is "Take On Me" crossed with Bosson, I still strongly recommend "What About Love" and "Don't You Worry" from the same album.

Find it on: Live Forever - The Album

You've got my dedication, baby, take it on

Back in late 2006 when Magnus Carlsson was promoting his second Christmas album, he took some promotional photos with armwarmers.


I think most people hated them but I thought they were absolutely brilliant. Unsurprisingly, though, they've not seen the light of day since that campaign.

You can imagine my delight, then, when I saw who's now taking up the task of bringing back armwarmers...



...more popstars should wear them.

In news that you all may actually care about, Danny's new album, still due out this December 24, is called Set Your Body Free. Very dance-pop sounding, which is a good thing.

Another hit single from the famous man, the magic, the myth

A warning: I realized last night that I'm gone into full-on Magnus Carlsson appreciation mode. I have no idea if that's going to have implications on the blog here or not, but you've been advised.

Don't want your pity or praise, don't wanna hear it's a phase

Not that I've been obsessively checking iTunes for this single or anything, but...

Here it is!

(For a short time, as usual.)

Do you know, I've been thinking for a while (and may have actually said on here at some point) that it's probably actually criminal that I've never posted any Alcazar song. I mean, I posted a song featuring them, but they weren't technically the main artists.

Unfortunately, until they bless us with another track (please let it be better than "Inhibitions"!), that probably won't change; I expect most readers with any interest in Swedish pop already have quite an extensive Alcazar collection.

Until then and even once that happens, we can enjoy today's artist. Even beyond his work with Alcazar, he has a back catalogue filled with gems. His solo Melodifestivalen entries, "Lev Livet!" and the Bosson-does-"Take On Me" "Live Forever" were both excellent top-shelf pop (with the latter being significantly better than Bosson's own version of the track) and tracks like "Crazy Summer Nights" (should have been the second single and released in summer 2007), "Don't You Worry" (should have been the third single and released in fall/winter 2007...that "Christmas single" type of thing), and "What About Love" (what the heck, only a bonus track?) are real treats that everyone should own.

News about "Walking In My Shoes" posted on his official site was illustrated with this picture...


...and that really sums up this song (though that's not the single cover--this is). It's modern pop-disco and totally proud of that fact, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And since I now know what that sample is from (thank you, commenter!), I can listen to it without any distractions. That chorus, in all its parts, is pure perfect Swedish pop. You all have no idea how happy it makes me that somewhere in the world, people make music like this. Everything, from the disco clangs and swooshes and "oh oh oh"s and "woah-oh-oh"s to that chorus melody to Magnus's voice, brings a smile to my face.

Incidentally, the writers of this song are Anton Malmberg and Felix Persson. If you visit Anton's MySpace, you'll find that his discography includes a 2008 song called "Jump Straight Into The Fire" by Alcazar! I know absolutely nothing about that track beyond that, though.

I imagine by tomorrow or Wednesday, you'll be able to buy this single from here (digital). Maybe most important, though, is buying the greatest hits album it's meant to promote; you can preorder here (physical) or presumably from the same digital link as above. It comes out November 12. I'm not kidding about everyone needing to own "Live Forever," "Crazy Summer Nights," "Don't You Worry," and "What About Love," either--pick up Live Forever - The Album for those (though you'll need to buy the digital version for that last track).

Next up: maybe I'll finally get to that boy band song.

I feel love

As other blogs have covered, Magnus Carlsson has a greatest hits album coming out. Much as I'd love a new album from him, begrudging him a hits collection is hard given the length of his career so far--I mean, Barbados to solo career to Alcazar to solo career has given him more than enough time to rack up a good number of singles. It's a two CD set (I feel like I'm on an informercial); if you want to see the tracklist, go here.

The most important thing for our purposes, though, is that he's now got another single coming out. It's called "Walking In My Shoes" and he's put a clip of it on his official website (for a direct link, click here). It's very disco and probably more than a bit Alcazar, down to going into a sample at the end of that clip (it's something very famous and it's going to be driving me crazy until someone tells me what it is); at the same time, I've been worried he's going to start moving into casually tossed off disco covers (in addition to the previously released "I Was Born This Way," the album features "Y.M.C.A.", though from the looks of it it's not new), so, uh, though I've got no problem with some disco amazingness, let's keep up with making modern day disco-type classics if we're going to go the full-on disco route (though samples are OK), please?

"Walking In My Shoes" comes out November 3, but it gets its first play on Rix FM this coming week, I think.

Every time you leave me wanting more

Things I'm enjoying at the moment:

Annie's "Bad Times." I've been waiting with anticipation for this album just for this song alone. Well, that's not quite right--I've been hoping there would be other great songs too, but it's never a sure thing with me and Annie: sometimes that voice of hers--yes, I know it's beyond cliché to mention this now, but it's still true--is just too slight for me. Luckily, "Bad Times" is a song where that either doesn't matter or her voice works; right now I'd lean towards the latter. "Divine" is the word I used for the preview, and it's the word I'd use now--my favorite song ever from her, I think. Luscious.

Seal's "The Right Life." Not exactly a new development, since the non-US/UK radioplay of this song had alerted me to how much I enjoyed it months ago, but "The Right Life" has been receiving significant play from me recently. I've been waking up early recently, and there's something about wandering down to the basement kitchen, with almost all the lights in the halls and rooms off, that suits this song perfectly, if you're in that kind of pretend-pensive mood. Now, if only I had a lake to look out over.

P!nk's "So What." P!nk's just on a roll with these past few singles, isn't she? And actually, when I tried to describe "So What" to someone, I ended up using both "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" as reference points--some of the attitude and music of "U + Ur Hand" but with a chorus that, in sound and structure and soul, reminded me more of "Who Knew"--because, despite all her best attempts at schoolyard taunting, it's a song that's obviously not purely triumphant, not really fine after this breakup. True fact: "Who Knew" is the song in the world that probably draws the strongest emotional reaction from me, so I'm glad to see P!nk using her voice and her musical style for something with both more musical and emotional substance than "Stupid Girls." Perfect combo.

Eric Prydz, "Pjanoo." Catchy instrumental dance.

The chorus of Lady GaGa's "Poker Face." Love "Just Dance" (with the exception of one section), album's not thrilling. Actually, the song works pretty well overall, but it's the chorus that really sells it.

Sonny Jim's "Can't Stop Movin'." Yes, I've had this for ages, but lovely summer weather has brought about another round of intense playing of it.

Actually hearing September's "Cry For You" on real, non-dance U.S. radio! Love. I think I've screamed louder each time I've heard it.

Actually hearing Van She in the United States--multiple times! Admittedly while out shopping and not on the radio, but hey, I'll take it. Need to buy that album...

David Archuleta's "Crush." So totally getting its own post at some point, but will it surprise anyone that I love it?

CC Martini, "Double Dutch." Not new. Still adore it, thanks to Mike.

Cyndi Lauper, "Into The Nightlife." Also not new (nor is my love for it), but I'm still loving this.

Keri Hilson, "Energy." Another not new song that I've long loved but have never, I think, mentioned on here. It keeps getting compared to "No Air"--for my money, it's better.

The Saturdays, "Up!" Girl group pop. Not yet in the brilliant category or anything, but I like it. When can we finally get Red Blooded Women's "Colour Me Dirty"?

Bananarama, "Your Love Is Like A Drug." Also not new, but that doesn't make it any less fantastic. May also inspire its own post.

Things that aren't necessarily in the full-on "love" zone yet but are maybe worth a mention:

John Legend's "Green Light." I don't know that this is a song that'll ever get much play from me itself, but boy, does it feel like it would suit its purpose--and I like in that context.

Andermay's "Uh Oh Oh Oh" (in English or Spanish). Cute! Not as good as "Entre tú y yo," but then, not much in the world is.

Agnes's "On And On." I'm kind of surprised I don't feel compelled to put this in that first category, but I'm not entirely sold on the title line in the song itself musically. Could possibly be a big favorite in time, and it's a great direction for a singer I'm glad to have back. Speaking of Idol contestants and their new direction, Anna Abreu of my much-loved "Ivory Tower" and "End Of Love" is back with the pop-dance song "Vinegar." I admire the ambition and enjoy the song (I think), but it's not quite "international-quality" for me yet.

Things I'm not enjoying:

The latest McFly album. It's not that it's awful--it's just that I've not listened to it in full yet. What a change from the days of yore, eh? They've just failed to capture my attention with the music so far.

Things I know of but am not commenting on/can't common on:

South Africa's most recent Idol winner Jody Williams just released her debut album. I'm most interested in the seeming "Don't Stop The Music"-inspired "Wind It" from the clips.

Magnus Carlsson released a cover of "I Was Born This Way."

David Tavaré finally released his debut album. More on this later (though that doesn't mean you all need to listen to it).

Will there be a morning after, should I stay, or should I go?

Remember that Fame Factory special I started a while back? No, probably not--I really will finish it one of these days, but consider this a random installment in it. Annis was on the final season of Fame Factory, the one Sandra Oxenryd won and Linda Bengtzing was part of. She released the song I'm posting as a single in 2005, shortly after the show, but if her MySpace is to be believed she's finally got an album coming out this year, and she's worked with people like Aleena Gibson (as a songwriter) and Titiyo (as a singer).

One Suitcase--oddly enough (for me), I think this song might benefit from having a slower and slightly less "produced" arrangement, one that provides time for the emotion of the lyrics to sink in, one that takes time for pauses which match the hesitation experienced by the narrator and plays up the melancholy just a bit more--or gives us time to recognize it, at least. It's already had the opposite treatment applied to it: Mexican singer Fey gave it a dance treatment and released it as "Aquí Estoy," the lead single from her 2006 album Faltan Lunas (which was just a SILLY decision made even more frustrating by the next and even more unsuccessful followup single choice; when you have the adorable "Me Has Vuelto Loca," one of the three happiest songs of 2006,* in your pocket, why on Earth you wouldn't be selling that to the largest audience possible I have no idea [though apparently that's a cover too, but from what I've heard it's a huge improvement on the original]). It's still a good song even in this version, though, though given that the song's speed (which is still no more than mid-tempo) means the lyrics are slightly less likely to hit home at first, a lot of the "heavy lifting" in conveying the angst and emotion of those lyrics falls to Annis and her slightly country-tinged voice, which luckily is more than up to the job.

You can get Annis's "One Suitcase" on Fame Factory Vol. 10, which can be purchased here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: I may have fallen madly in love with a Swedish synth-pop song, but I probably won't write about that until a few days from now--maybe a British boy band?

*Incidentally, the other two were Alphabeat's "Fascination" and Magnus Carlsson's "Lev Livet!".

#13 Magnus Carlsson, "Live Forever"

I'm gonna live forever
Don't you ever forget
That all the stars in heaven
Will shine for me

Throw Bosson and a-ha's "Take On Me" in a blender, and what do you get? Nothing less than one of the best songs of the year. Swedish singer and former Alcazar and Barbados member Magnus Carlsson debuted this '80's sounding pure pop song that's all swooshes and sparkles and soaring across galaxies at 2007's Melodifestivalen, where it was robbed, failing to make it out of the semifinal. Luckily, even if they wouldn't vote for it at Melodifestivalen, the Swedish public must have realized how great a song it was; when he presented votes at the final, Magnus was met with a huge cheer and "Live Forever" went on to be a commercial and radio hit. Its associated video is bizarrely ridiculous sense and I love it, especially the reference to a certain song that "Live Forever" always draws comparisons to.

I have to admit, though, that I would've loved to see some different follow up singles. The second single, released in August, was "Waves Of Love," but in my eyes, "Crazy Summer Nights" was screaming out to be a summer hit--it's a perfect and perfectly fun pop song that deserved to be playing on radios across Sweden in the summer months. The third single from the album was the late November-released "Another Rainbow," which to me feels kind of predictable as a song--it just doesn't have that certain "spark." I'm not sure how it would've faired on radio, but to me, "Don't You Worry"--one of my overall favorite songs of the year--would've been a lovely near-Christmas release. It's also one of the year's sweetest, happiest, and most reassuring songs--once again, literally perfect pop. And yes, it definitely has that spark (as does album bonus track "What About Love," which I really can't believe was relegated to bonus track status--another of the year's absolute best songs, and it also features the line that might as well be my slogan for this blog: "This is not a cliché, just my feelings today")--it sounds exactly like that swoony kind of storybook love, but doesn't have to be a ballad at all to get that across.

Oh, and re: the single cover--yeah, not good. The album cover was much better, though. And Bosson did include a version of "Live Forever" on his album, but his version really wasn't very good at all, much as I love him.

Don't You Worry

Find it on: Live Forever - The Album (I wouldn't call the album a must-own because some of the songs, to me, lack that certain "spark," as I said with "Another Rainbow"--very template-ish--but the highs are very high)

You and me will fall in love again

There are other songs on the new Magnus Carlsson album that people are going to like more and think are better, more original or more fully developed songs, but given that I've been running around singing this one for the past few hours, I have to post it. As brief background, in case he needs one, Magnus is a Swedish singer that first became famous as the lead singer of the group Barbados; after years of being together, he left to go solo, releasing a holiday album before becoming the fourth member of Alcazar before they released their second album. He's now solo again, having released a pop album in Swedish, another holiday album, and now, for the first time as a solo artist, an album all in English. Live Forever - The Album, includes his entry in this year's Melodifestivalen (Sweden's national contest to choose its Eurovision entry), which, in the biggest MF crime this year, failed to make it out of its semifinal.

What About Love--this is one of those ohmygosh-i-love-this-song sort of songs that, as I said, just makes me want to run around singing it. I love the verses, I love the bridge, I love love love the middle 8, but more than anything, I love the chorus--especially near the end of the song, where he starts ad-libbing a little with the "love." Pushes me over the edge every time. It's just perfect fun! Upbeat and fast. And, shockingly, it's only a bonus track.

(My ears are deaf to any accusations that this is "Live Forever"-lite, but, if you're worried the album exhausts the template of his MF hit, it doesn't; much of it is very pop-disco.)

To buy Magnus Carlsson's new album Live Forever - The Album, go here (physical) or here (digital) (you can even get it from the UK iTunes), but, as far as I know, this track is only available digitally. "Give A Little Love" very nearly got posted today; it's all sorts of brilliance. Also on the tracks-we-hadn't-already-heard front, I love "Don't You Worry" as well, though I may end up being in the minority in that; it's still uptempo, but a little more ballad-influenced.

Next up: maybe the Swedish group I was going to write about today.

Edit: in retropsect, I should have titled this post "This is not a cliché, just my feelings today." Maybe another time.

All we want is to dance

Do you know what today is?

Well, in the U.S., it's Independence Day, but who cares about that? It's the day the new Magnus Carlsson album is released!

And, because I'm being sort of completist about the whole thing, I bought the nineteen track deluxe edition. I know, I probably didn't really need to have the demo version of "Don't You Worry," random remixes, and outtakes from the recording sessions--who am I kidding, yes, I did.

Plus, in celebration, his official site has been redesigned, so anyone who'd been avoiding it because of the Christmas photoshoot pictures--it's now safe to go back.

(By the way, is there an actual physical version of the deluxe edition? I don't think there is, but if one exists, I'd like to buy it. Digitally, it's available for purchase even in the UK iTunes store [though not the U.S. one] and, regardless of where you live, from Medion Music.)

It's almost frightenin'

Hi all! I'm literally just about to rush out the door, but I thought I'd really quickly post this radio rip of the new Magnus single, mainly because I know I was really curious to hear it and I thought some other people might be, even if it's not in top-quality audio (not only is the audio quality low, it's a bit messed up in the beginning, which is my fault; I'll try to come back and update this with a fixed version later, if I can).

Waves Of Love (Sort-Of-Messed-Up Radio Rip)

Up for a few days only, as is usual.

No tengo nada para ti

Spanish singer Merche, like so many of the artists I write about, does have a Eurovision connection: she's competed in Spain's national final, though she's never made it to Eurovision. She's released three albums so far, all of which (if Wikipedia can be trusted) have gone at least platinum, with her third album, Necesito libertad, even going double platinum. Though it was probably mainly "Eras tu," the album's lead single and a ballad, that helped push the album to such success, it's the third single off the album that I prefer.

Bombón--I know it's a huge generalization to just refer to "Latin" music and to write it off as a whole, and I'm sure there are exceptions, but generally just straight-up Latin music doesn't jump out at me. However, given me upbeat Latin pop that doesn't overdose on the Latin elements and there's a good chance I'll enjoy it. That sort of oft-mocked Ricky Martin-style music? I like it. And David Bisbal's "Ave Maria" is in contention to be one of my favorite songs ever. "Bombón" really isn't that far away from those sorts of songs, though it might have slightly more of that Latin influence. Still, it's got one of those catchy choruses designed for dancing, even if it's of the ridiculous Sarbel type, which is almost always enough to hook me in. Throw in some attitude from Merche, and you're set.

To buy Merche's third album, Necesito libertad, go here (physical) or go to iTunes; for example, if you live in the U.S., go here.

Edit: the tracklisting for Magnus Carlsson's upcoming album was released today--given that Bosson's upcoming album has a version of "Live Forever," I wonder if there's a chance that Magnus's "You" is a version of Bosson's song? Oh, and speaking of Bosson, I heard "Believe In Love" on the radio the other day and I really like it (it's got some great "oh-oh"s), so I presume it's the new single--that leaves me with a dilemma, though: I've liked or loved all four of this upcoming album's singles, but when I listen to the preview clips for the album, I have my doubts about its quality. Silly, right? I mean, if I like the first four singles, I should definitely buy it, right? I'm probably just underestimating it.

Next up: maybe a Swedish duo.

Hold the fire burning

I think Troy requested this song and, since it's not available on American, Canadian, or UK iTunes and I don't know if it will be on the album, I thought I'd post it. On a somewhat related note, I may have found a replacement digital music store for the one I lost a little while ago, which makes me beyond happy. It's Danish, as was the last one, and it's more expensive, but I'm willing to pay those prices for single songs, and there are so many songs that I just can't buy anywhere else. I want to wait a couple days and make sure that everything's fine, but it will probably go up in the music buying links soon. Anyway, on to the song, one by Magnus Carlsson, who recently announced his new album, called Live Forever - The Album, will come out June 27 (I think this is the cover for it--hey, at least it's an improvement over the single cover and the cover for his most recent holiday album; even if he does look like he's channeling Westlife on The Love Album, he does it better and the cover, based on this size, is prettier). The next single, "Waves Of Love," has been released to radio but won't actually come out until the album does. I'm not going to judge it until I hear the real studio version, but, if you really want to, you can listen to part of a live performance of it here (maybe you shouldn't, though, just for the sake of your later appreciation of the song).

Live Forever (Acoustic Live Version)--to be honest, given my own preferences, I like the original a lot more. However, if you like ballads, this isn't a bad one.

I'll update this with a link to where you can buy this version in a couple of days, but for now, you can buy Magnus Carlsson's album Magnus Carlsson (which does not contain "Live Forever") here.

I blame Paul for getting me newly hooked on Any Dream Will Do, the TV show where singers compete to win the role of Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat. I've always loved that musical, but I hadn't felt compelled to watch the performances until recently. Now, with Idol having just ended, I think I may take up following it full time.



How adorable is that performance? I love that song, especially when performed with lots of energy and, most importantly, dancing! It's one of those infectious feel-good songs.

(Do you know who I would have liked to have seen sing that song on a TV singing contest? Throw in some of his cheesy dancing a la "Carwash," "Ignition," or "Gimme Some Lovin'," put his voice with this song, and you're set!)

Next up: maybe a Swedish song.