The grande dame of pop music, Celine Dion, after recently ending her second Las Vegas residency, has quickly decided to get back on the road to see the world instead of the world coming to her. She is preparing to tour in support of her latest album, "Courage" which is her first English language release in seven years and the first without the guidance of her husband and manager, René Angélil who passed away in 2016 after a lengthy battle with cancer. It is not surprising that many of the songs from the album focus on finding strength during difficult challenges and tragic loss. And while she has enlisted the aid of several contemporary musicians, songwriters and producers (which includes Sia, Greg Kurstin, Skylar Grey, StarGate, David Guetta, Eg White and Sam Smith) to help work on the album, Dion has wisely not strayed too far from the sound that has made her career. Be sure to catch Dion on her first world tour (which began in September) in a decade. Here are two of the singles from the album, "Imperfections" and the title track which seems to be the song which deals the most directly with her personal loss:
KESHA
After having her career sidelined due to a long legal battle with her former producer, Dr. Luke over emotional and sexual abuse since 2014, Kesha was finally able to return to music with an album, "Rainbow" in 2017. The record revealed a more serious side to the wild party girl persona and brought her new-found respect and acclaim including her first Grammy nominations. Now the thirty-two year old singer has returned with some more music and it seems like she's ready to get back to having some crazy fun. The first single from Kesha's fourth studio album, "High Road" (due in January) is "Raising Hell" and features the Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia to provide her trademark rap. With a gospel influence thrown in with her familiar pop-EDM sound, Kesha seems to have embraced her past while moving forward musically to create a whole new sound. Here is the music video for "Raising Hell" which plays up the gospel theme with Kesha appearing as a beloved televangelist. But the clip turns dark when her husband is abusive and she decides to bring an end to the abuse permanently. Also listen to the follow-up single, "My Own Dance" where she celebrates her freaky nature:
And we wrap up with a surprising new song from Sam Smith. The performer, who has struggled with gender all of his life, recently has come out as non-binary. Smith has been working on material for their upcoming third album but have been dropping new singles in the meantime. The latest is a cover of the classic Donna Summer anthem, "I Feel Love" and this version pushes their voice to the test. It's certainly not ground breaking or really necessary but it's fun:
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