NEW SOUNDS

CORINNE BAILEY RAE

I have just became aware that the British alt-r&b artist, Corinne Bailey Rae had released her fourth studio album, "Black Rainbows" last September. I consider myself a fan since her debut back in 2006 but had lost touch of the performer largely because there has been such significant gaps between new material and Rae's subsequent music didn't receive nearly enough promotion on this side of the Atlantic.  

What brought my attention to this music was Rae's latest single and video for the song, "He Will Follow You With His Eyes" which examines the complicated beauty standards that Black women are expected to endure in order to attract a mate. For this album (which is her first in seven years), Rae was inspired by a visit to a museum exhibition on Black history at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.  The songs came together from there with her thoughtfully offering her examination on the Black experience and the music ranges wildly from experimental jazz, garage rock and futuristic soul. "Black Rainbows" is a fascinating and insightful collection and worth a listen.





TORI KELLY

Tori Kelly has been making music professionally for a while, since her debut album, "Unbreakable Smile" back in 2015. After failing to get far during her time competing on "American Idol" almost fourteen years ago, Kelly took that opportunity to work on her craft, independently releasing music before signing to a major label and recording three studio albums, to impressively become an amazing musician.

Now just signed to a new label, Epic Records, Kelly is embarking on a new era with her image and sound. Gone is the bottle blonde tresses, now appearing with something closer to her natural color and Kelly has shifted her new music to honor the Y2K r&b and pop she listened to while growing up. With her fifth album simply titled, "Tori", the thirty-one year old performer takes us on a nostalgic trip back to the time of bucket hats, biker shorts (without a bike in sight), grunge rock and hip-hop flavored pop sung by boy bands were all the rage. The new single from the album, "Thing U Do" (which features a sample of Suzanne Vega's 1990 hit, "Tom's Diner") is a smooth throwback that still sounds fresh and modern.



And Dua Lipa is inching closer to releasing her next music collection. This latest single, "Illusion" released arrived with the announcement that her third album, "Radical Optimism" will be available on May 3rd. "Illusion" is another classic dance song from the artist that features French house music elements. The video was shot in Barcelona at the Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc, the same venue used for swimming during the 1992 Summer Olympics. And be sure to check out "Saturday Night Live" on May 4th when Lipa will be the host and musical guest on the comedy skit program

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

With her ninth studio album, "Visions", Norah Jones dives deeper into the soulful side of her music. Teaming with Leon Michels, a musician and producer who played with several soul bands that includes being a founding member of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings as well as touring with the alt-rock band, the Black Keys, Jones, now a forty-four year old wife to musician, Pete Remm and mother to their two children, has gotten looser and funkier with her sound. Yet fear not, long time jazz era fans of Jones, there are still elements of her smooth musical style on this record that first brought her fame twenty-two years ago.





Some new music I'm feeling right now is the latest single from Tyla with the South African singer's self titled debut has also just been released; the Irish rocker, Hoizer has dropped an EP with a track enjoying Tik Tok popularity; another single from Colombian performer, Shakira has her teaming up with hip-hop artist, Cardi B.; the new single by the reunited '90's boy-band, New Kids on the Block who are now middle-aged men and Lorde's contribution for a tribute album to Talking Heads which celebrates the re-release of the band's amazing 1984 feature film, "Stop Making Sense" which will be released through the movie studio, A24's music label.

Kim Gordon first found success as one of the founding members of the influential alternative rock band, Sonic Youth. After spending thirty years with this experimental band, Gordon parted ways not only with this musical group but with her husband and fellow band member, Thurston Moore in 2011. She has since spent her time creating art, working on a fashion line, doing a little acting and producing for other musical artists.

Gordon had little interest in recording as a solo artist yet when she met producer, Justin Raisen in 2015, he convinced her to forge ahead. Their first project together was "No Home Record" four years later which was well received. This musical duo set about working together again and their latest collaboration has been released. "The Collective", with the title inspired by Jennifer Egan's novel, "The Candy House", is vigorous blending of thrashing guitars and hip-hop beats. The Tik Tok generation has embraced the seventy year old Gordon and a track from the album, "Bye Bye", which describes a list of items she will pack for a trip enhanced by pulsating, noisy beats.

CHLOE X HALLE: INDIVIDUALLY

The Bailey sisters, Chlöe and Halle, have been working together professionally since they were young children. The girls had impressive depth and range at that time and have since grown (Chlöe is now twenty-five; Halle is twenty-three) into even more considerable talents. After taking a hiatus, with each pursuing solo endeavors over the last few years, there has been some chatter that this duo are coming back together to create new music. However, each sister has recently just released their own new song.

Chlöe first premiered "FYS". an alt-r&b song co-written by the singer with producer, BongoByTheWay. The title stands for "Fuck Your Status" which she explains means the trappings of wealth and success shouldn't matter with the only thing that is important in a relationship is love.



Meanwhile, Halle just delivered "In Your Hands", the second track from her still, on-the-way debut solo album. This lovely ballad expresses the deep love that she feels for her partner, fellow musician, DDG and their new born son, Halo.

NEW SOUNDS

KACEY MUSGRAVES

Kacey Musgraves explored the end of her marriage and the painful healing process with her last album, "Star-Crossed". And with that collection, the country singer had distanced herself somewhat musically from the genre, diving deeper into pop, folk and rock textures. Now with her sixth studio album, "Deeper Well", Musgraves has returned closer to her musical roots. Since we last heard from her, she has done some work on herself, getting rid of bad habits that were a distraction in her life and moving into a new phase emotionally and spiritually. This is revealed musically on this record with Musgraves sharing her new life discoveries yet with her rebellious spirit still firmly intact. Beginning in April, Musgraves will be spending the rest of the year on a world tour to support the album.





LEDISI

With her eleventh studio album out now, "Good Life",  Ledisi has released more of her stylish classic soul that spotlights her gloriously rousing voice. Following the already charting songs, "I Need to Know" and "Sell Me No Dreams", the latest single is "Perfect Stranger", a sensual ballad that features a duet with fellow crooner, Kenny Latimore. Ledisi is currently on the road for the Good Life tour with a twenty-seven US city stop.





ST. VINCENT

Annie Clark, known to the world as St Vincent, is on the verge of delivering a new collection of music. "All Born Screaming" will be the eclectic artist's seventh album and due out in April. Not only will it be released on Clark's own label, Total Pleasure but it is the first time she has self-produced her own music. This album also moves in an unexpected direction with St. Vincent stating she wanted to go even further with darker and edgier sounds. The first single, "Broken Man" is an eerie track filled with throbbing beats and thrashing guitars. Cate Lebron of the alt-band, Drinks and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters make contributions and there is a musical tribute to the late Scottish electronic musician, Sophie with the song, "Sweetest Fruit".

ERIC CARMEN (1949 - 2024)

Eric Carmen, the musician and songwriter who first found fame as part of pop-rock group, the Raspberries then later going solo to achieve even greater success, has passed away on March 11th at the age of seventy-four. No cause of death has been revealed at this time.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, music had played an important part of his life since he was a child, being classically trained to play the piano and the violin. But after discovering rock & roll as a teenager, Carmen taught himself how to play the guitar and joined several rock bands. By the time he attended college, Carmen became certain that his career would involve music. 

In 1970, Carmen joined Wally Bryson on lead guitar, rhythm guitarist, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti on drums to form the Raspberries. After recording some demos, with Carmen performing lead vocals, playing bass and writing many of their originals songs, several record labels became interested and the Raspberries signed with Capital Records. The band's self-titled debut became an instant success with their biggest hit, "Go All the Way" reaching number five on the US pop chart in 1972. The Raspberries would make three more albums but tensions grew within the group, largely over Carmen's creative dominance in the band. With members exiting and new musicians joining, the Raspberries would come to an end in 1975.

Carmen wasted no time and began a solo career. His self-titled debut album was released later that year and contained two big hits; "All By Myself" which made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" which just missed reaching the top ten on the chart. Carmen also made the chart writing pop songs for actor-turned-singer, Shaun Cassidy with "That's Rock and Roll" which peaked at number three in 1977 and "Hey Deanie" which hit the top ten the following year.

Carmen co-wrote with Dean Pitchford, "Almost Paradise" for the 1984 film, "Footloose" performed by Ann Wilson of Heart and Mike Reno of Loverboy, reaching number seven on the pop chart. And Carmen's last major charting hits for himself were "Hungry Eyes" for the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack and "Make Me Lose Control" a single that appeared on his greatest hits collection in 1988. Carmen would release his final album, "I Was Born to Love You" in 2000 and became part of the tour with Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, collectively known as Pet Shop Boys, have been creating music together since 1981. Throughout this time, the British music duo have never strayed too far from their original sound: electronic dance music. Pet Shop Boys have just announced their upcoming fifteenth studio album, "Nevertheless", due out in April. With producer, James Ford, the Boys continue to explore the diverse emotions that makes us human through dance-oriented beats and their sound has expanded to include orchestral string arrangements. The first single, "Loneliness" from the album takes me back to the time of their breakout song, "West End Girls" which will be celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the original dance club version with the song re-recorded two years later and becoming a worldwide pop music smash.



Here is a collection of recent dance songs which includes the latest from Charli XCX (with a wild, crazy music video that I love); the inspired pairing of Sia and Kylie Minogue; another sexual, dance-floor ditty by Kim Petras from her recent EP, "Slut Pop Miami", a sequel to her 2022 release; Olly Alexander of Years & Years just dropped a romantic, beat heavy track and the latest dance anthem from the queer performer, Vincint.

Miley Cyrus has dropped a new song yet it's not actually new. Back in 2013, Cyrus teamed up musician, Pharrell Williams during the recording of her "Bangerz" album where the pop star played with a more musically funky style. An outtake from those sessions, "Doctor (Work It Out)" has just been released. Why is this song seeing the light of day at this particular moment in time? Who knows and who really cares because "Doctor" sounds just as fresh as if it were recorded yesterday. For the music video, Cyrus seems to be channeling  Las Vegas showgirls who stomped on the casino stages like Ann-Margaret and Lola Falana (look 'em up) back in the '70's, right down to the choreography. 

Frankie Goes to Hollywood burst on to the music scene back in 1983 with the song, "Relax" which not only topped the charts in their native Britain but became an international sensation. But what made this band really stand out beyond their popular music was that they were unapologetically queer, which was not at all common by pop artists to reveal at this time. Two following singles, "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love" impressively also reached number one on the UK pop chart . Not long after this incredible success, Frankie Goes to Hollywood imploded and went their separate ways in 1987. In the recent film, "All of Us Strangers", filmmaker, Andrew Haigh effectively uses Frankie's ballad, "The Power of Love" to close out his deeply moving dramatic fantasy about loss and acceptance. Haigh has stated that this song was an important part of his music playlist from his youth in the '80's during a time when he was trying  to come to terms with love and his identity as a gay teenager.

2024 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

The Oscars are just a little over a week away and here is a spotlight on the musical compositions that received nominations in the Best Original Song category. "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)", from Martin Scorsese's drama, "Killers of the Flower Moon", was written by Osage Nation member, Scott George and created to celebrate their rich heritage and traditions. Two songs from the summer blockbuster, "Barbie" received nominations: previous Oscar-winners, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, who won for their work in the 2018 "A Star is Born" remake, are recognized for their contribution to the soundtrack, "I'm Just Ken" while pop-star, Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, who both won Oscars for their James Bond theme song, "No Time To Die", are here again for the ballad, "What Was I Made For?". Musician Jon Batiste was honored along with co-writer, Dan Wilson for the song, "It Never Went Away" from the documentary, "American Symphony" that examines a busy year in Batiste's life which he has to balance while his wife, the writer Suleika Jaouad, struggles with leukemia. And Diane Warren has received her fifteenth career nomination (and seventh consecutive) in this category for her song, "The Fire Inside" for actress, Eva Longoria's directorial debut, "Flamin' Hot" which is about the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

I don't think this is a particularly great year in this category, but the strongest songs are from "Barbie". The best out of the two for me is Eilish's gentle lullaby about the feelings of self-doubt and a search for purpose which the song also recently won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

"The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie" (Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)



"It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony" (Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson)



"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon" (Music and Lyric by Scott George)



"What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" (Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)