To cap off a very prosperous and productive year, Doechii has just unexpectedly released a new track, "Girl, Get Up".
While Doechii, born Jaylah Hickmon, is enjoying plenty of well-deserved success and fame, she has also experienced some negative energy that has come her way through online backlash with claims of her achieving popularity only through connections in the business instead by her hard work and talent. But Doechii is not having none of it.
Unlike most current artists who share what's going on with them through social media, Doechii is wisely expressing her views inventively through music. With the song, she goes over her impressive accomplishments while letting these critics know exactly what she thinks of their narrowminded, unwanted opinions while SZA makes an appearance to provide vocals on the track. The music video for "Girl, Get Up", shot at night with the artist largely obscured, was filmed near the Sydney Harbour Bridge where Doechii is in the middle of an Australian tour.
"Lux", the fourth studio album from the Spanish performer, Rosalía, is clearly the true definition of world music. This collection of orchestral pop, which took almost three years to complete, boldly expresses ideas involving feminine transformation and spirituality through a variety of languages and musical styles. In the process, Rosalía has crafted an album that is cutting edge and rhythmically complex.
Before she even really began this project, Rosalía spent an extensive period of time learning how to properly sing in various dialects before using Google to help translate her lyrics into each of the fourteen specific languages while also utilizing professional translators. The eighteen tracks on "Lux" (which means "light" in Latin) are separated by four musical movements with many songs inspired by a female Saint.
Recorded in London, Barcelona, Seville, Saint-Rémy, Miami and Los Angeles while featuring production assistance from some of the current top producers working in pop music today like Caroline Shaw, Dylan Wiggins, Noah Goldstein, Pablo "El Guincho" Díaz-Reixa and Pharrell Williams, "Lux" is truly a transcendent work of art. In this era of largely disposable, facile pop music, what Rosalía accomplished with this progressive album through dedicated innovation and incredible endurance is an impressive feat, proving she is an artist on a completely different playing field.
The first single, "Berghain" (which contains lyrics in German, Spanish and English) is about losing one's self to a lover's toxic behavior and features the Icelandic pop artist, Björk and American musician, Yves Tumor. The song was well received, charting high on the pop charts throughout Europe and even appearing on the US chart.
Rosalía has recently announced the Lux Tour which will begin in March and will have her traveling across the globe through September to promote the album.
Ten years ago, Kylie Minogue released her first Christmas album, "Kylie Christmas", a collection of classic and original holiday tunes. Now Aussie pop superstar has just released an update of the album, "Fully Wrapped" which features selections from the original album plus three new tracks.
With "Office Party", Minogue details wanting to a wild, sexy holiday experience like you might have during a celebration at your place of employment. "Hot in December" is a techno-throbbing Christmas love song that will get you ready to get on the dance floor. And the warm and cozy ballad, "This Time of Year" will perfectly get you into the holiday spirit.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of "Horses", the debut album by punk poetess, Patti Smith. This progressive collection of edgy rock, unexpectedly utilizing pop music standards at its core, wasn't a big seller at its time of release but has since gone on to become a highly influential work and continues to inspire to this day. To celebrate this recording, which has been preserved into the National Recording Registry in 2009 and inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021, "Horses" has been re-released and features remastered tracks, unreleased songs and demos.
Smith, who came from a middle-class background growing up in Chicago and Philadelphia before the family settled in New Jersey, met photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe in New York. The two began a brief romantic relationship and created art together. She later became involved with the playwright, Sam Shepard and together wrote the one-act play, "Cowboy Mouth". Around this time, Smith began to further explore writing poetry. Music entered Smith's life when she began publicly reading her poetry accompanied by Lenny Kaye on electric guitar in 1971. Interested in expanding their sound, Smith and Kaye added musicians, Richard Sohl on piano, Ivan Král on bass and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums which created a band. A single was recorded and the band began playing sets at CBGB in New York City. Clive Davis, the legendary record executive who had just started his own label, Arista Records, caught them on stage. Highly impressed, Davis enthusiastically signed Smith and band to a recording contract.
With John Cale, a founding member of the rock band, the Velvet Underground on board to produce, "Horses" was briskly recorded over a few weeks in September 1975 and released in November of that year. Inspired by the work of the surrealist French poet, Arthur Rimbaud, Smith wanted to merge the introspection of poetry with the raw energy of rock and roll. Opening with the still provocative line, "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" on a merging of her original song, "In Excelsis Deo" and a cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria", the album (which features a riveting photograph of an androgynous Smith by Mapplethorpe on the cover) succeeded by combining the unbridled, improvised quality of a live performance while bringing on more polished production needed for a professional recording. And while "Horses" didn't receive much radio play, critics raved about the album, praising the collection for its intriguing new direction for rock and roll and the welcome introduction of an exciting new artist.
Smith would go on to record three more albums, even scoring a top-twenty pop hit with "Because The Night" co-written by Bruce Springsteen in 1978, before putting her career on hold to raise her family in Michigan throughout most of the 1980's. In 1988, Smith returned to music with the album, "Dream of Life" and has continued her career ever since. She would go on to create other recordings, tours, written two best-selling books and had her photography displayed in a museum exhibition.
Olivia Dean has had a very good year. The twenty-six year old British pop singer made a huge impact over the last twelve months with a collection of worldwide hits; "Nice To each Other", "Man I Need", "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" and recently dazzled with her live performance on "Saturday Night Live". To cap off this impressive run, attention has been brought to her version of the Nat "King" Cole holiday classic, "The Christmas Song". Originally recorded by Dean back in 2021, the young vocalist beautifully captures the spirit of this lovely song. Here she is performing the song live at Westminster Abbey with a full orchestra.
BRYAN ADAMS
The Canadian rocker, Bryan Adams has just released an original holiday single, "California Christmas". Adams (who co-wrote the song with his long-time music partner, Jim Vallance) is surrounded by a group of fellow Canadian artists, Alessia Cara, Barenaked Ladies, Alan Doyle and The Sheepdogs to help him record this rocking X-mas tune live. "California Christmas" clearly expresses a desire to have a sunny and warm holiday season that is unique to the West Coast.
MEGHAN TRAINOR
"Gifts For Me" is a new Christmas song from pop artist, Meghan Trainor. This amusing single was inspired by Trainor not being exactly thrilled with some of the Christmas gifts she had received from her husband, actor Daryl Sabara. So she figured it will better to just buy gifts for herself, especially since she'll know that they'll be perfect (and won't have to be exchanged). The singer, best known for her number one hit single, "All About The Bass", had released a holiday album, "A Very Trainor Christmas" five years ago and wanted to add something special and fun for this upcoming season.
Madonna has continued digging into her vaults to look back on her musical legacy. To celebrate the release of her sixth studio album, “Bedtime Stories” (which had its thirtieth anniversary last year), "Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter" is an EP that features remixes of songs from the album and some tracks that didn’t find their way on the record.
At the time of the recording of this album, Madonna was interested in leaning more into r&b and hip-hop, enlisting the producers, Babyface, Dallas Austin, Nellee Hooper and Dave Hall to help with her vision. Many demos were recorded, leading to "Bedtime Stories" which became another critical and popular album by the superstar in 1994. The EP includes the demos, "Love Won't Wait", "Let Down Your Guard", "Freedom" and "Right on Time" which didn’t make the final cut on "Bedtime Stories". There are also dance remixed versions of the singles, "Secret" and "Human Nature" as well as the tracks, "Survival" and "Don't Stop".
Following the less than warm reception to her last album, "143", Katy Perry has wasted no time to return with some new music. First performed live during the Lyon, France leg of her Lifetimes Tour earlier this month, "Bandaids" is a pop-rock ballad about dealing with the end of a relationship. This seems to reflect Perry's current state of mind as she's currently experiencing this with her recent break-up with actor, Orlando Bloom. A new album also appears to be on the horizon but no additional information has been revealed to date. The clever music video for "Bandaids", co-directed by Perry and Christian Breslauer, seems inspired by the horror franchise, "Final Destination" with Perry appearing in numerous horrific accidents.
Here are a few new music highlights: the Swedish performer, Zara Larsson has dropped a fresh remix of her dance-pop track, "Midnight Sun" (which helped earn Larsson her first Grammy nomination) that features Muni Long; best known as an actress, Hilary Duff has had some success as a pop singer and after almost ten years returns to music with a new single, "Mature" and an album due out soon; country crooner, Orville Peck recently released an EP, "Appaloosa" that includes this ballad, "Drift Away"; Perfume Genius has the latest single, "Me & Angel" from his seventh album, "Glory" and "FMT" (which stands for "F*ck My Type") is a guitar-driven, r&b ballad by Summer Walker about prioritizing a partner who genuinely chooses her and not settling for unhealthy relationships.
It has been twenty years since the release of "Confessions on a Dance Floor", the tenth studio album by Madonna. And to celebrate this milestone, a Twenty Years Edition has been released. This anniversary collection features the entire original album (seamlessly strung together like a DJ set), B-sides and remixes. It has also been announced that Madonna is not only returning to her long-time label Warner Bros. Records but it has been teased that there is a sequel of sorts to "Confessions" on the way. Not a lot of details on that yet but we should have that to look forward to next year. In the meantime, here are a few tracks from this album.
And finally, Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist of the costumed rock band, Kiss, passed away on October 16th at the age of seventy-four. Born Paul Frehley on April 27, 1951 in The Bronx, he received a guitar as a Christmas present when he was twelve, teaching himself how to play the instrument. He had gotten involved in street gangs around this time, which is when he got the nickname "Ace" but began to lose interest when music became more of a priority. Frehley began playing in local bands during high school and later got a job as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. He drifted from several bands and worked many odds jobs to make a living before he saw an ad in The Village Voice looking for a guitarist.
When he went in to audition, he met rhythm guitarist, Paul Stanley, bass guitar player, Gene Simmons and drummer, Peter Criss. He was hired and they became Kiss in 1973. The band decided to paint their faces and create stage personas for live performances with Frehley becoming "Space Ace". They released their self-titled debut the next year and while there was no hit single, the record went gold on the strength of promoting the album and touring. With a frenzied style of guitar playing, Frehley became one of the popular rock players during the 1970's.
In 1978, each member of Kiss released a self-titled solo album with Frehley having a hit single "New York Groove", a cover of a 1975 song by the British glam-rock band, Hello, reaching number thirteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. After Criss was voted out of the band in 1980, Frehley became frustrated by the musical direction of Kiss and was always outvoted as the replacement drummer had no vote. Two years later, Frehley would quit Kiss. Forming his own band, Frehley's Comet in 1984, he returned to his preferred heavy metal rock and enjoyed a brief time of success. In 1996, all four original members of Kiss reunited to tour and record an album, "Psycho Circus" before disbanding again by 2002. Frehley would go on to continue his solo career, with his latest album, "10,000 Volts" released last year, until his health had begun to decline recently.
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