Someone to believe in me

Mini-Linda Sundblad update: it looks like "2 All My Girls"/"To All My Girls" is released September 21 by Roxy Recordings, with this picture as the cover (which does make it seem like she might be going by just Linda this time around). I've still got no idea what it sounds like or even if it's worth getting excited about, but it's too late--I already am.

Roxy also has a series of what I'm presuming are some of the new press photos on its website here.

Tuesday edit: Linda just announced the video for the single will be available on MSN.se on Thursday.

I just wanna make you mine

I've been on a little bit of a songwriter/producer playlist kick recently--making iTunes playlists of what I perceive as the best work of some of my favorite behind-the-scenes music creators. They're all still very much works in progress, even beyond the fact that they always have to open to change as long as the songwriter is still creating new songs, but as I was working on the one for Dr. Luke, I was reminded of just how much I love Ciara's "Tell Me What Your Name Is," an album track from Ciara's most recent release, Fantasy Ride.



If you think of Dr. Luke, your mind probably goes straight to his guitar-filled pop c.2005 work (Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone," Pink's "U + Ur Hand," the Veronicas' "4Ever") or his c.2008 electronic bounce (Katy Perry's "Hot 'n Cold," Flo Rida feat. Kesha's "Right Round"). Obviously there are exceptions to those gross generalizations, but I don't know that I'd group "Tell My What Your Name Is" with any of his other work. If anything, it's more like a version of Ciara's own "The Promise" which takes away some of the emphasis on drums and replaces it with synth sparkles (and has fewer cooed "ooo"s but keeps and even enhances the super-feminity of Ciara's voice on that song and makes it sound even more gorgeous). It's a smoochy, lovey-dovey ballad which has been produced to keep it from sounding too slow--which is just how I like my smoochy ballads.

For the course of the song, we hear none of the crunchy guitars, hyper-kinetic jolts, or filth-flirting lyrics which we sometimes get from Dr. Luke, but three minutes and forty seconds of the most gorgeous, lush R&B-pop sound you can imagine.

Find it on Fantasy Ride, which you can buy here (physical).

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.

Overload all my senses

Some of the great things about how music-filled the Internet has become are the insight we get into songs while they're still being prepared for recording or release and the proliferation of new songs from across the globe that we might never otherwise have heard of.

Of course, this comes with frustrations, too. One of the ones that drives me the most crazy is hearing a fantastic song and not knowing who sings it, a danger that comes up frequently when you follow songwriters but that also comes up often when supposed demos for big artists are leaked; think Eva Simons's "Silly Boy," for example.

The song currently driving me crazy in this way is below.



Internet land has alternately referred to this song as being called "Exit (Give Me A Heart Attack" by an unknown singer and "Exit" sung by David Jassy and produced by Twin. I could believe that David and the duo from Twin created the song (which I think appeared on the Internet in 2008), but from the few times I've been exposed to David's voice--mainly on raps, to be fair (see: Darin's "Karma," an inappropriate song title given the event David Jassy has received press for)--I really don't think it's him singing. What I do know is this: I LOVE it. It's a fantastic catchy example of the R&B meets Europop sound popular at the moment, with the added advantage of having strings. The singer's voice--male and R&B-pop-sounding--suits the song to a T...I just don't know who he is.



While we're on the subject of David Jassy, I have to mention a piece of news Damian clued me into: a previously unheard Darin song has leaked. Club-friendly "Pop That" is the most R&B (maybe most American? Not quite what I mean, but I can't figure out how to put what I mean into words) we've heard Darin sound, though it's still synthesizer-filled, and comes from the studios of David and Ilya, who have worked with him before. That fact means I don't know where this song fits in chronologically--it's being billed as new, and it could be, but I just don't know if that's the case (and I don't know how much new song creation David Jassy has been doing...but this is somewhat of a new sound for Darin, so that fits with the "new song" idea).

I just wanted to hold you in my arms

On the one hand, I'm thrilled that Adam Lambert is getting to work with a plethora of big-name songwriters; I hope that adds up to top-quality material, a to-die-for mix of pop, electro, dance, and rock that still feels like Adam and no one else. On the other hand...



I hope his debut album has time for a song like his cover of Muse's "Starlight." At the risk of sounding too pretentious, there's a clarity and beauty to it--a magic to it, as there is a magic to the original track--that his debut album (due out November 24) would do well to remember.

I waited for you at the record shop

The title track from Blake Lewis's upcoming album: l-o-v-e it. My fears that this would be an indie-dance album that ditched all pop sensibilities apparently couldn't have been more wrong. The soundscape created is definitely electronica influenced, but the melody and the way the synths are harnessed couldn't be more pop--in other words, it's a perfect combination. We've only heard it in low quality so far, but even at lower bitrates, you can hear how it's going to sparkle. Beautiful and uptempo, it's the sort of song that fills you with energy--yes, it passes the "has me wanting to jump around my room" test--but tugs just a bit, only gently, at those heartstrings, too.

(This is usually where I would embed a YouTube video of the song, but it's not there yet. Listen by subscribing to his mailing list.)

My expectations for this album just skyrocketed. Could I actually end up loving it more than his debut? It's hard to imagine, given that I spun that record more than any other of the past few years (well, except maybe Erik Hassle's), but suddenly, hearing "Heartbreak On Vinyl," which just might be the most grown-up sound from Blake yet--and I didn't even realize I wanted any other sound from him until hearing this song and now suddenly know that, if this is the alternative, I do--I'm starting to think Blake might actually do it.

To preorder Blake Lewis's new album, Heartbreak On Vinyl, go here. It comes out October 6.

Things were so different, now you're gone, I thought it'd be easy, I was wrong

More songwriter notes and random artist tidbits (I really am going to do more in depth posts, less "news bullet"-y, soon):

Johan "Kermit" Bobäck is working with Darin on new music (he previously collaborated with him on "Seasons Fly").

Apparently British boy band a1 are reuniting for some concerts in Norway in early December and will be performing both old and (gasp!) new songs. I am not ashamed to admit I got more than a bit excited listening to the group rehearse modern classic "Caught In The Middle." Speaking of new songs, Ben Adams, who appeared on this blog many a time in its early days, has a new-ish song on his MySpace (listen to it in higher quality on Facebook), "The Dust Won't Settle," which is really pretty pleasant (albeit sad) pop-rock--more like third album a1 than most of what we've heard of his solo album, but it shows he's just as great with a melody and with his voice. Love it. Ben has also (as I think I've mentioned before) written for Alexandra Burke's upcoming album.

Blake Lewis apparently worked with Darkchild for his upcoming album Heartbreak on Vinyl (out October 6). Listen to some beats but no vocals in this video.

If you're a sucker for über-bubblegummy Swedish pop that sounds like it could have come straight out of the '90s--I mean the really sugary sweet, cheesy kind--you might want to listen to Three's "Lucky Number." Who are Three? Three blonde sixteen year old triplets. You can probably already imagine what the music sounds like. Of course, me being me, bubblegum pop is always welcome, especially if it's got a Swedish connection.

Georgie Dennis, sister of Cathy and songwriter in her own right, has a song called "Dirty Drum" on her MySpace that sounds like it's sung by Elin Lanto. There are better, non-Elin songs there, though.

Carl Falk uploaded some new songs to his MySpace a few months ago. I presume they're demos, though I've got no actual proof of that. My favorite is "Shameless," co-written by him, Lindy Robbins, Kristian Lundin, and Rami Yacoub; it's very pop.

Speaking of demos uploaded on MySpace months ago, Tony Nilsson put the demo of Elin Lanto's "Discotheque" on his MySpace. I'm a total demo addict, as I've convinced before, so for me, hearing the substantial differences--though in this case, it's not a matter of voice, since even the demo contains Elin's voice--is really fascinating. The final version is definitely better, but there are some lost elements which, though they probably had to be lost for the sake of the song, I love.

Still here waiting

This post comes with no real commentary because I'm in the process of of my first listen right now.

To what? Fibes, Oh Fibes!'s new album, 1987, which you too can listen to, right here. The link will only work until Wednesday, 9:30 AM Swedish time, though.

I will say that so far it sounds more '70s (especially in instrumentation) than '80s.

Thanks to Damian for the heads-up!

If you haven't listened to the Kim Wilde-featuring "Run To You" (which is very '80s and very good) now's your chance:

Your love is like a weapon

I'm not sure whether Lady GaGa's decision to write a song for Michael Bolton was from her wear-a-suit-of-Kermits, do-anything-to-get-people-talking-about-how-crazy-I-am side or born out of a genuine interest in making a great song that she thought would work really well with his voice and a willingness to ignore usual rules of cool for the sake of achieving something good, but whatever her reasoning, "Murder My Heart," the result, means that whether or not she intended the latter, she's done it.

The melody--which would have been perfect for an '80s film--and piano-meets-synth backing are strong enough that I would most likely have enjoyed the song regardless of who was singing it, but there's a roughness in Michael's voice--not wholely unexpected given that he was never the smoothest of the power ballad crooners, but that earlier trait has been mangified; Michael Bolton meets...age--that makes it stick in your mind just that bit more.

GaGa on backing vocals, as on Britney Spears's "Quicksand," makes me appreciate her voice in these small, pathos-inducing cameos just as she did on that earlier Britney song. I've never been fully sold on any ballad (or half-ballad, as "Murder My Heart" is) she's sung by herself, but boy, can she take one to the next level when used in that capacity.