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).

Try to find some more stars

While I'm engaging in pointless ways to evaluate an album, the tracklist for the Alesha album, The Alesha Show, looks pretty great. Special shout-out to track 12.

1.) Welcome To The Alesha Show
2.) Let's Get Excited
3.) Breathe Slow
4.) Cinderella Shoe
5.) The Boy Does Nothing
6.) Chasing Ghosts
7.) Play Me
8.) Hand It Over
9.) Do You Know The Way It Feels
10.) Can I Begin
11.) Italians Do It Better
12.) Ooh Baby I Like It Like That
13.) Don't Ever Let Me Go
14.) I'm Thru
15.) Mystery (hidden track)

I hope the cover is as awesome as it should be.

In other news, why on Earth did no one tell me Martin Stenmarck had recorded a new English language song? Granted, it's for charity--the Scandic Sustainability Fund, run by this hotel chain--but still, any Martin at all is always more than welcome. It's called "A Million Candles Burning" and you can stream it here or buy it from Swedish iTunes (if you're from Sweden) here (possibly the best thing about this whole project is that whoever came up with the remix name decided to call it the "Sustainable Mix." Brilliant). It's at #2 in the Swedish singles chart, but that means absolutely nothing in terms of how popular the song actually is. Maybe of more meaning is its entry into Sverige Topp 40 (which mixes albums and singles, so I really don't what it actually means either), which combines sales and TV and radio play, at #17.

I know I'll probably never get around to actually writing about it like I should, but the new Sugababes album is great. Really, it is. And I've still not written about the fantastic Ladyhawke album yet, have I? Needs to be done. Albums that I found (to steal a phrase) worthy were pretty scarce in the first half of the year, but that's been changing over the past few months luckily. So far, I think I'd put Ladyhawke, Sugababes, Kate Ryan, probably Will Young on the list, though there are a couple of albums I've only just bought/got that I'll need to properly listen to a few more times before I make a judgment call (and I may be forgetting something).

My favorite album of the year so far, though? It's never been challenged since March. I've never done a proper write-up of it and I don't think I could even come close to doing it justice if I tried, but that may not stop me from trying at some point in the next few months, if I can ever figure out how to put into words my adoration of it, how exciting I find it. It's an album I'll recommend to anyone and everyone (recommendation was in fact how I first listened to it), but, oddly enough, it's not an album I can ever envision myself listening to with someone else unless it was in the most intimate of circumstances.

What is it?



In other news, Darin and David Jassy wrote American boy band (and My Fizzy Pop post subjects) V Factory's new single "Love Struck." Listen to it here. I could be completely wrong on this, but doesn't it even sound like you can hear Darin on the backing vocals sometimes? Speaking of Darin, you can also watch a video (in Swedish) of the making of the video for "Breathing Your Love" here.

According to an interview, he's got a record contract in France now.

This girl won't stop believing

Hi all--sorry about the lack of posts; normal service should be resumed tomorrow (though in all likelihood there will probably be another temporary interruption coming up--more on that later, though). In the meantime, I've been loving the new Kate Ryan album for the past two days (available in a bunch of digital stores that international customers can use--here, here, and here, for example--and in a bunch of stores that sell physical CDs)--if you're looking for something to fill the musical gap, check out that.

I just let it go

Sorry about the lack of post yesterday--if I had had time to write, it would have been about the clips from Kate Ryan's new album (with thanks to Alex for letting me know about them); if you haven't heard them yet, you should know that there are two sets since Kate will be releasing two versions of the album--in most cases, the songs are the same, but in one version a few of the songs are in French and in one version they're in English (both versions contain some French songs and some English songs, though). "Sweet Mistake" and "A La Folie" are the same song, as are "Your Eyes" and "Tes Yeux;" same's true for "Who Do You Love" and "Pour Quel Amour." Listen to clips from the more-French-songs version here and clips from the more-English-songs version here. As Robpop points out, one of the songs, "I Surrender," is a Clea cover. The duet with Soraya I mentioned a while ago is on the album as well, near the end on the German/international version (the one with more French language songs) and near the beginning on the Spanish version (the one with more English language songs).

We've already got four songs from this album (which is thirteen tracks long), and yet I'm still incredibly excited for it to come out. It comes out next week, the day depending on the country

Que d'autres n'ont pas

It's been a little while since I posted a radio rip of a song, I think, but I've done it before when I've been excited enough about the song to do so; today's song is another case of that.

When I mentioned that clip of the extended mix earlier, I said that the song sounded like it was actually going to end up a lot better than I was expecting when I heard the concept (what was going to be covered) and when I heard that first leaked remix, and it is--it could maybe use a little more of an ending, but I can actually see myself loving this and playing it a lot throughout the year.

Since it's been sent out to radios, I'm sure they'll be a high quality version out and about soon, but I thought some people might be as curious as I was to hear the whole thing (the radio edit), so here it is. As I said, though, it's a radio rip; you'll have to turn the volume up a lot because of that, and (if the clip of the extended version is anything to go on) some of the production details are lost due to the lower quality.

The new album will be called Free, by the way; it's not available for preorder yet, but you can preorder this single, listed as being out May 13 (is that right? That's a week before her official site says the album is out), here (physical). The song will be posted just for a short time, of course, since it's a new single.

Little bright lights are we

Random music tidbits:

As part of promotion in Germany, Jesse McCartney is giving away a minute and a half clip of his demo of "Bleeding Love" (well, all we technically know is that it's him singing it, but I would imagine it's a demo) when you sign up for his German newsletter. I've been on record before as having a fascination with demos even when I don't expect them to be better than the original, so of course I had to have it. It's not as amped up and epic sounding, but I'm still so glad we got to hear it for curiosity's sake (and would love to have the full version eventually). If you're interested and don't feel liking signing up, I'm sure it'll be easy to find. Thanks to PubliSpain for the heads-up! I'll be writing more about other songs from him in a little bit, hopefully.

Speaking of minute and a half clips of songs, there's now a clip of the extended mix of Kate Ryan's "Ella Elle L'a" out there (as well as another remix apparently, but I would presume the extended mix gives a better idea of what the actual radio version is going to sound like than any other long remix is going to). Thankfully, it's sounding better than that first remix we heard; the whole thing may end up better than I expected.

Infernal's new single...is different than what I expected. Not a stomper (though not a ballad either). An interesting/odd choice for a lead single. It starts off with some slightly choral but also slightly spooky vocals and makes you think it's going to be huge (that is, if that's really part of the single--the version I'm listening to has an odd gap in it), but it's surprisingly subdued.

Oh Linda Kiraly--I'm still not over "Can't Get Over" not being a smash hit. I'm not sure why, but she's now uploaded a dance remix to her YouTube account. It's not something I'm suggesting you all go listen to, but given how much I love "Can't Get Over," I feel obligated to still report anything having to do with this project. Once again, credit for the news goes to PubliSpain.

Belgian singer Katerine of "Here Come All The Boys" and "Catfight" has a new single coming out. "Shut Your Mouth" follows up the non-smashes "Live Wire" and "Don't Put It On Me," both of which I liked much more than "Shut Your Mouth"...which I have to say I don't really like at all at the moment. It's got a dancier bleepier backing for her; you can listen to it at this MySpace.

Qui nous met dans un drôle d'état

One more video for now, and then I'm done: people are saying this is a remix of Kate Ryan's new single, another cover, this time of France Gall's "Ella, Elle l'a" (her album is due out May 19). I've got no idea if that's true or not (well, I know that a cover of said song was her next single), but it sounds like her--I just have no idea how a remix got out there. Anway, because it's new Kate, here it is (keep in mind that it's said to be a remix, not the original, though, so it's mainly posted for curiosity's and "oh, what do her vocals sound like on the song?" sake):



Speaking of Kate, there's a bit of news about a song in the running ("on the short list") to be on her album over at Pop Trash Addicts' interview with Peter Wilson, which is interesting for way more than that, by the way--if you want a look behind the scenes of the music industry (that's far from dry, let's just make that clear), it's worth your time.

How can I, how can I be sure?

I hadn't been 100% convinced by Belgian singer Kate Ryan's new single, "L.I.L.Y." (which stands for "Like I Love You"), despite jumping on every little bit of news or preview of the song released--I just kept thinking that I tend to prefer her more "pop" moments like "Je T'Adore," "Alive," "All For You," "Spinning Around," and "How Many Times," and that this song felt like it should be a hard-hitting near-anthem but just wasn't working for me on a gut level. However, it was Kate, so I really wanted to give it a fair chance and kept returning to it.

I played it again today right after I'd just listened to the first four tracks from Holly Valance's State Of Mind album (two weeks ago I was all about Dannii Minogue, this past week Holly Valance--what female Australian dance/dance-pop artist deserving of more commercial success will I be obsessing over next week? Actually, it'll probably end up being t.a.T.u. or Alizée or something--maybe even Kate herself...I'll probably spend all week delving into Different Stronger and then completely change my mind about which Kate songs are my favorite)--and suddenly, "L.I.L.Y." just made so much more sense to me--it clicked. Not that I'm saying it belongs on that album (it's more electro-house influenced), but somehow the bite to those songs just made me suddenly appreciate the sound Kate's pursuing with this song, as opposed to the cuter pop melodies, even if wrapped in dance beats, of those other songs I named (and still love). "L.I.L.Y." sounds cooler, edgier, and though that's not something that makes me more likely to like a song, it also isn't making me dislike it. More importantly, though, the song now leaves me wanting dance (or maybe pose dramatically) around the room--and that may be the ultimate test for a song's success for me.

L.I.L.Y.

There's no digital store that I know of selling Kate Ryan's "L.I.L.Y." single to customers outside of Belgium, but should you live in Belgium, you can buy the single from iTunes here. Otherwise, the physical single is available for purchase here. It'll only be posted for a little bit since it's a new single.

Speaking of Kate, apparently she's recorded or is going to record a duet with Spanish singer Soraya.

Next up: danceable Swedish pop.

Don't count me out

I'd almost finished this post when I completely changed my mind about what I wanted to post--I'd finished the actual post and was in the middle of my finishing mini wrap-up of what some female Belgian singers were doing when--well, here's what I had, cut and pasted:

***************************
We really will finish the Fame Factory special at some point, and in the near future, I think, but I think we're looking at a couple day break from it.

[Actual post with artist description, song, and where to buy before moving on to...]

Mini-update on some female Belgian singers:

Kate Ryan has a new single coming out; it's called "L.I.L.Y. (Like I Love You)" and you can hear some of it at the end of this performance edit: video pulled from YouTube, but you can listen to a lower quality clip here. Not enough for me to really make up my mind about it, though.

Via PubliSpain: Katerine (who I know I wrote about over at the HotStuff Files) has another single out, making this the second one for her upcoming second album. It's called "Don't Put It On Me" and you can listen to a partial performance of it here.

Natalia, the Idol runnerup-turned-more-than-that who I keep meaning to investigate since I've heard good things about her, is releasing the second single from her third album. In its single version, "Glamorous" will feature En Vogue, with whom (along with Shaggy) she's going to be doing some concerts. You can listen to it in low quality here (it's probably best to open that link in a new window, and no, it's not the Fergie song). I guess I sort of associate her with pop with disco influences, though that's based only on the slightest of knowledge and this latest single doesn't fit that description--check out first album single "I've Only Begun To Fight" (it really benefits from being in higher quality, especially that intro) for a taste of that disco side.. I really do need to go listen to her albums, given how popular she is...and probably post about her.
******************************

But of course, at that point I'd listened to "I've Only Begun To Fight" enough that I decided to skip over (for the moment) what I'd originally written about for today and post that instead. I still haven't heard very much by her at all, so I can't even begin to evaluate it in comparison to the rest of her work--I have no idea how good any of her albums are, though I'm really thinking now I need to find out. As a little bit of background about Natalia, her full name is Natalia Druyts, she's got a sort of soulful voice, and she took second on the first series of Idol in Belgium, but she's by far the most successful contestant so far; she's even achieved that ever-so-difficult task for the ex-Idol contestant: releasing a second album that outsells your first.

I've Only Begun To Fight--very pop and very disco (strings--yay!), as well as having some horns that remind me of the '60's. At times, it's hard for me to believe that this was the second single from someone off of an Idol show, and I love Idol.

And oh, why not throw in one more too...

Risin'--the lead single for her second album, this song is more gospel influenced, I think, though it's got some electro touches at various points and is very poppy. Shamelessly upbeat and a complete feel-good song and for that, I might prefer it to "I've Only Begun To Fight," though I think that's probably the better song.

To buy Natalia's first album, This Time, go here (physical) or here (digital) and to buy her second album, Back For More, go here (physical) or here (digital). You can also pick up both albums as part of one package here (physical) or here (digital; it's worth mentioning that, if you're going the digital route, you can get the whole double album package for €9.99, so there's really no point just buying one or the other).

Next up: maybe a Danish singer.

C'mon, let's get get get together

Belgian singer Kate Ryan's fate back in the 2006 Eurovision was much bemoaned (and rightly so) by fans. Whatever the reason for her failure to make it out of the semifinal, "Je T'adore" was, in its studio version, pretty much inarguably one of the best songs of the contest (though I wouldn't say it was the best; I think I preferred Mihai Traistariu's "Tornero" and Dima Bilan's "Never Let You Go"). Her followup album also had some great songs, like "Alive," "All For You," "Spinning Around," and "How Many Times." Now she's back with a new single. The main song is a cover of "Voyage Voyage," but the b-side (at least, I think it's the b-side or less emphasized side, but it could be the "main" A-side), an original song and the theme for this year's Eurogames, was the song I was more interested to hear.

We All Belong (Web Rip)--this isn't top quality audio; sorry about that. Even if this song doesn't end up causing the hyperventilating that "Je T'adore" did in some cases, it's still a more than respectable entry into Kate's repertoire. If you've listened to any of her past singles, you'll know what to expect out of this one--it's catchy, poppy, and danceable--but there's nothing wrong with that. It's fun pop, and a good example of it.

(This song will only be posted for a few days, since it's a new single.)

I'm not sure where you can preorder Kate Ryan's upcoming "Voyage Voyage/We All Belong" single (if anyone knows, please let me know!), but her most recent album, Alive, is worth picking up; you can buy it here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: a Spanish singer.