Pure and clean

When a clip of Kate Ryan's new single "LoveLife" was posted to her SoundCloud page, I began to worry the album era responsible for uniting the two great pop forces of Kate and Le Kid's Felix and Marta was going to underwhelm...

KateRyan LoveLife Radio Edit by Kate Ryan

...I'm sorry, Kate. How could I ever have doubted you?

"LoveLife" is pop Kate, not full-on trance Kate. Neither of those is necessarily better than the other, but I do love that such a light-hearted topline and sample is backed by more bass than I expected.

Kate Ryan's new single "LoveLife" is released on April 11 in Belgium. You should be able to buy a digital copy here as of that date. The album it precedes, Electroshock, will have a long way to go to equal her last real studio album, 2008's Free. With her usual producers 2N broken up, perhaps going back to them wasn't an option. If that's the case, it's difficult to imagine a more theoretically exciting choice than Felix Persson and Marta Grauers. It's still a nerve-wracking transition, though. Hopefully the end result is as good as you'd imagine and not a replay of what happened when Petra Nielsen worked with the former other half of September, VDB Productions, for no more than three songs on the latest September album (though to be fair, her previous, all Von der Burg-produced album Dancing Shoes showed some signs that the partnership was no longer as consistently great as it used to be).

Baby, tell me why you wanna leave it all behind

Are you on pins and needles to hear new September material? So on pins and needles that you'd brave the world of shady low quality live performance clips on YouTube? If so, press play below to listen to "Leave It All Behind."



Edit: a higher quality clip of the performance (thanks, Damian!)



This is probably as good a time as any (well, slightly less good than when it was actually released and therefore relevant) to say that I love the UK mix of "Can't Get Over" more than the original version, despite it ditching the main instrumental hook--it's much slicker, catchier, bouncier, harder-hitting, and generally better in my eyes.

(With, once again, credit to Aces.)

You think our time apart is the problem, and I like you when you're not around

(Please do not post this song link elsewhere.)

A BIG thank you to every one who stuck around through my year end countdown. As a gift of gratitude, I'd like to offer up a brand new song straight out of the von der Burg studios. "Get It Out" is the debut single of the former Swedish Idol contestant Gathania who caught our ears with "Blackout" late last year (which isn't yet released). I quibbled with Alex last year when he asked why September-like songs were being given to artists other than September, who hasn't released brand new material since 2007 (which isn't that long ago, it's September, so I'm always wanting new material from her), mainly because Elin Lanto's "Discotheque" isn't from the people who always do September's music and she doesn't have the same management team as Petra, but "Get It Out" is from those same writers...and boy, is it September-like (second album September, I'd say). It doesn't have Petra's lovely voice on it, but given its music, it's easy to imagine her singing it.

Still, I guess if Petra is understandably distracted with promoting the reworked version of "Can't Get Over" in the UK (she's just filmed a music video for it), we wouldn't be getting new music from her for a little while, so another artist under the von der Burg wing--especially since Danny has moved on (you can imagine his voice on this, too, come to think of it)--is something I'll welcome; I've yet to feel like their output is suffering by spreading it around to some different artists. It's certainly not suffering on "Get It Out," which is, to be honest, fantastic and, at least a few listens in, addictive. Effortlessly catchy dance-pop but with that sophisticated Von der Burg edge--there's something almost haunting about the riff of the chorus and the song even flirts with the piano house style--it makes for what's got to be one of the year's best debut singles. When I heard that "Blackout" wasn't actually her first single, I was a little bit confused, but hearing "Get It Out," I think it makes perfect sense.

(Brief lyrical aside: in a song about finally arguing and both partners finally saying what's on their minds, "just let me fill your heart up with sorrow/'cause it's better than a rotten lie" is stuck in my mind.)

To buy "Get It Out," go here (physical); you should be able to buy it digitally within a few days here.

In other news, did anyone else not realize until now that apparently the West End Girls have a new single titled "A Little Black Dress" (which I think is a Pet Shop Boys track technically not released but available "out there" and done for that musical thing? Feel free to correct me or provide more information) coming out February 11?

Next up: more Swedish pop, either from another young woman or from a male songwriter.

You're gonna see me again

There's a good chance some of you out there remember the amazing pop blog Catchy Tunes of Sweden. Sadly, it closed up a few years ago, but...

Alexander (one-half of the CTOS team) has opened a new blog! S.O.S. Revival is dedicated to the best of Swedish pop from the '80's, '90's, and '00's. This is pretty much the best blog news I can imagine at the moment, so add it to your bookmarks and leave lots of comments so he'll keep going. My addiction to Swedish pop would never have reached the full-blown level it's at now without CTOS and I'm almost positive that most readers of this blog will end up loving S.O.S. Revival.

(As a P.S., that quotation giving the post its title? It comes from the altered version of "Cry For You" playing on Jonas von der Burg's MySpace. And while you're there, listen to the clip of [former Idol contestant] Gathania's "Blackout," which starts out kind of ballad-y and with piano but ultimately reveals itself as the quality Swedish dance-pop we expect from him.)

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).

I'm swimming in the dark beside you

At risk of turning into an all-YouTube, all the time blog, I have to mention--with absolutely all credit to Oswalds Popcorn for my knowledge of it--German-based producer(s) Schiller. It's a month or so old at this point (and the news of it happening is even older, apparently), I think, but better late than never. Like the post below, this song involves a singer I'm kind of obligated to write about whenever she does something new, but in this case, it's not Kate Ryan--it's September. She provides the vocals for this trance-ish track, an electronica song that's not really meant for dancing (though I think it may be one of the more uptempo songs on the album, which really says more about the album's style than it does about this track); it's one of those songs that's all about creating an atmosphere.

Oh, you know what--since it was another blog that introduced me to it, I was just going to embed a video and not include the song, but really, "Breathe" is just too entrancing for everyone not listen to it in good quality. This is the sort of music where the clarity of the audio is absolutely important. The fact that this is a "featuring" appearance for September shouldn't turn you off of listening to it, though--collaborations can sometimes yield stunning results (and though I don't have the liner notes myself to check, Discogs says the music and lyrics are actually by the people usually behind September's work, the von der Burgs and Anoo Bhagavan, as well as the man behind Schiller, Christopher von Deylen). "Breathe" may be based more in electronica than September's usual work, but it's a lush, lovely, grown-up song that deserves to be heard. I'm not sure if it's a "pop radio" type of track, but it's easily singleworthy in respect to whatever radio stations play electronica music.

On a sidenote, is it just me or are there lines that reference September and her past work?

Breathe

To buy Schiller's two disc album Sehnsucht, go here (physical).

Next up: maybe something Lithuanian.

You should know that I am head over heels for you

Sad that you weren't able to spend your last Saturday night watching Melodifestivalen? Why not try to ease the pain with your own Swedish TV mix-and-match (i.e., feel free to skip anything that doesn't interest you) special, taken from the past few months!

I'm sure other performers have used the spinny camera at the big climatic moment in the song trick, but now that Charlotte has so totally claimed it, I can't help thinking of "Hero" right in the middle of this performance of EMD's new single, "Jennie Let Me Love You," which they performed on Let's Dance. Still, I'm totally buying this when it comes out. (Plus, bonus points for the "twisted sheets"/"sore heart beats" rhyme--that should go right up there with "fire"/"desire.")



Anna Sahlene was BRILLIANT in musical gameshow Så ska det låta this past weekend. She was teamed up with Peter Johansson against Carola and Andreas Johnson, and not only did she prove herself (as if it needed further proving) to be a fantastic singer with a great knowledge of music (she and Peter ran away with the contest), she's also made me wish even more for another album from her. Heck, I'd take an album of disco covers at this point, something which we got a taste of from several of her performances. Unfortunately, though seemingly everything her partner performed has been uploaded on YouTube, most of Anna's performances haven't been yet. Still, you can watch the whole thing here if you want to, and you can watch her perform a slowed down version of "Runaway" below.




Time for a commercial break. I'm not sure if this ad is being run in the U.S. or UK (my guess is no, at least on the US front), but it's getting airing in Scandinavian countries, even causing Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" to creep up the iTunes charts there.



Taking us back into our regularly scheduled programming is Alcazar, performing their fantastic latest single "We Keep On Rockin'" (I was going to rave about it but never did, did I?) on Let's Dance. I'm beyond thrilled to have them back and can't wait to hear some more material from them. I think they're facing off against EMD on some upcoming TV show, too...



There's some great staging going on in September's performance of "Because I Love You" on Bingolotto. She really imbues those opening lines with emotion, and I love the use of lights for the transition into the more "dance" part of the song.



Not from TV--taken from her official website, in fact--but if you want to hear a few clips of Charlotte Perrelli working on songs for her new album in studio, go to near the end of this clip.

And what better way to end our Melodifestivalen substitute than with the track rejected from the 2006 Melodifestival that ended up being the biggest selling single in 2007? Courtesy of Så ska det låta again (though a different week), here's Amy Diamond and Fredrik Swahn singing it after winning.

Kick back, the radio's playin' our song

I'm starting this post and I still don't know which song to feature. I mean, how do you even begin to pick a standout on an album like this? I know there's some mixed response to it, but all I can say is that I love it. I guess if I really think about it, make a conscious effort to compare and analyze, there's something...hmmm...I'm not sure what the word would be, but I guess there's something different, at least, between the songs on this album and, say, "Midnight Heartache" or "Cry For You" (my favorites from In Orbit, I think, though "Looking For Love" and "It Doesn't Matter" are close contenders as well and the album is so consistent that it's difficult to really choose). Maybe Dancing Shoes feels more like a "good times" album (I wish I could think of the right adjective)? So I think I understand where people are coming from and it'll be interesting to see where I stand in a year. The thing is, though, when I'm listening to Dancing Shoes, I'm enjoying it too much to begin to have thoughts like that.

Start It Up--so I suppose there might be some songs on the album that would be better choices to post, but I just need to rave about something, though I mentioned it yesterday: the "I want it, I need it" part which comes in two-thirds way through the song. I don't like it as much when all the music drops out and that's all we've got, but wow, do I love it as backing vocals. Why have I keyed in on that? No idea, but it's just so lovely, so catchy (and with the main vocal melody being a nice complementary floating thing there), that I sometimes think I listen to the song over and over again just to hear them, and it's probably the reason it's getting posted instead of "Sad Song" or "Taboo," which probably should be here instead (though I have a pretty deep love for "Follow Me" as well at the moment--seriously, pipes! There need to be more pipes in music! [And "Just An Illusion" gets played an awful lot...as does--oh, well, everything]). Of course, the song also has numerous other draws--the catchy repeated nonsense syllables and the little electronic riff that accompanies them maybe being the most notable.

Preorder September's third album, Dancing Shoes, here (physical). Really, it's very much worth it.

Next up: a Portuguese group or Australian singer.

So here I am, let me be just what you're looking for

Gah! Could so much good music stop coming out, please? With the BWO and September albums hitting the Internet in the space of a few days, how on Earth am I supposed to get any work done?

(Yes, I know, alternatively I could have just showed some restraint and waited until my physical copies got here, but I couldn't help it.)


All right, so the real reason for this post: have you ever heard an album and on the first listen through, you love it so much that you just absolutely have to let the world know, even if you've really got nothing to say besides repeating the words "love" and "fantastic" about 50 million times? Yeah, that's how I am at the moment. I'm trying to remember when the last time I was this "oh my gosh, I need to talk to someone who'll get what I'm going on about when I rave about this because no one around here is going to get it" was--could it have been the third semifinal of Melodifestivalen?

"Taboo"--I'm addicted. Perfect, catchy, playful.

Plus, "Follow Me"--pipes! Why aren't there more pipes in music? Love love love it.

And "Start It Up"'s opening--complete "OMG" moment for me. Some of the catchiest "duh-duh-duh-duh"s you'll hear in music this year in this song. And oh, those "I want it, I need it"s--I'm in love with this song. Who am I kidding, I'm in love with the whole album.

"Because I Love You"--it's got some guitar strums. And it's so catchy. Very summery and light but not really floaty--it feels anchored, which is a good thing.

"Just An Illusion"--disco! Old school! "So here I am, let me be just what you're looking for" and "what you see is nothing like the real me"...love this.

"Sad Song"--"it ain't a crime to sing a sad song, one about love, now that it's gone"--handclaps! Handclaps!

Basically, I could do this for every song on the album. I think it actually gets better as it goes along, and I'm not sure how that's possible, given how amazing the songs that open it are. Buy it! Really! Have you bought it yet? You really should.

If I don't end up writing about it tomorrow, the best song of the last five years must've come out, because I'm not sure what else could possibly distract me.

(You haven't preordered the album yet, have you? Go do it!)

(September = Swedish dance-pop artist, if you've never heard of her--and if you've never heard of her, you better go buy her second album, In Orbit, too.)

(Edit: I'm probably the world's worst person for recognizing samples, mainly because I tend to have never heard the song being sampled before, so if anyone wants to step in and point any out, I'd love that.)

You know I can't get over, no matter how I try

Sorry, I can't get the Scott Mills show to play at the moment, but I'll get up a better version of the McFly song (I hope) whenever that happens, though I expect it should be all over the Internet by then.

Anyway, quick Ola Svensson update: his new single "S.O.S." will debut on Rix FM this Friday morning (well, Friday morning in Sweden) at 7:30 AM. Oh, and the album, Good Enough, is officially out October 3. I really want to hear "S.O.S." to get an idea of what the rest of the album is going to sound like and to try to get a better idea of its quality.

While we're talking of Swedish albums, though, September's sure-to-be-fantastic third album Dancing Shoes comes out September 26, BWO's third album (excluding Halcyon Nights, which was all remixes) Fabricator comes out September 19, Da Buzz's greatest hits album comes out October 24 (if you've not heard much from them--and their albums are available on iTunes stores throughout the world, I think--it would be worth picking up, or at least thinking about), and Martin Stenmarck's fourth album Det är så pojkar gör när kärleken dör comes out November 7. Did I forget anyone?

(Still wish I knew something about what Tony Nilson was doing, though--his own album would be great, but failing that, I hope he's writing for people...)

'Cause when you're out of reach and out of sight, I want you on my mind

Speaking of album updates I've been remiss in mentioning: September's new album now has a more specific release date (September 26), a title (Dancing Shoes), and a tracklist (all this information courtesy of Popjustice, but you can also see it on CDOn). Apparently it shows a "more experimental side" (though that could mean anything, really), though its dance side is still obvious.

1.) Candy Love
2.) Until I Die
3.) My Neighbourhood
4.) Can't Get Over
5.) Because I Love You
6.) Taboo
7.) Follow Me
8.) R.I.P.
9.) Start It Up
10.) Just An Illusion
11.) Sad Song
12.) Freaking Out

Nu är det vi och inga andra

There's been sort of an overdose of Swedish music going on here recently, I know; I'll try to move away from that somewhat soon, but for now, at least one more song. It also fits in with the other theme that keeps cropping up: summer. It features three different Fame Factory contestants, Ida Hederg, Hannah Westin (who I've featured once before), and Markus Landgren.

100% Sommar--if you're looking for something deep and sophsticated, you won't find it here. On the other hand, this bouncey song--the rhythm reminds me a little bit of what you'd call "reggae-influenced," I guess, for lack of a better phrase--couldn't sound more like summer if it tried. It's cute, it's simple, and it's catchy in a laid-back sort of way. Throw in some "ay-oh-ay-oh"s, and you've got a harmless but pleasant summer song.

To buy Fame Factory Summertour 2003, go here (physical) or here (digital).

While we're on the subject of Swedish music, I've been meaning to mention for a while that both Sebastian and September seem to have new singles out; Sebastian's is "I Can Feel You" from his second album The Vintage Virgin and September's is "Can't Get Over," which I presume is from an upcoming album. More important, though, is the fact that Ola's "Natalie" continues to be excellent and may soon be rivalling Enrique Iglesias's "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" for the title of my favorite summer song released this year.

Next up: maybe an American singer. Probably a Swedish one, though, though hopefully with a song in English.