In celebration of the thirty years since the release of her self-titled debut album, Mariah Carey will be releasing "The Rarities", a collection of previously unreleased songs that hold personal relevance and meaning to the singer. One of the first songs recently dropped is "Save The Day", a track recorded fifteen years ago and features a duet with the now elusive vocalist, Miss Lauryn Hill. While the song (which features a sample of "Killing Me Softly", the popular cover by Hill's former band, the Fugees) is a thrilling collaboration and features these divas at the height of their powers, I understand perfectly why it was not release before. This recording is lacking in those magical moments that would have been expected by such a team-up of two big-name artists.
The album will also feature live performances of some of her classic songs recorded during a concert at the Tokyo Dome back in the '90s. "The Rarities" will be released on October 2nd, just a few days after the long-awaited memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey" on September 29th. Have a listen to "Save The Day" and see what you think:
Bread was an American soft-rock band who enjoyed a height of popularity throughout a large part of the 1970's with such songs as "If", "Baby I'm-a-Want You", "Everything I Own" and "It Don't Matter To Me". But the group reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart only once and that was with their breakout single, "Make It With You" which hit number one during this week fifty years ago.
David Gates was a singer/songwriter from Oklahoma and met fellow musician, Leon Russell playing around local clubs in the Tulsa area. They both decided to head out to Los Angeles to try their luck there. While Russell would forge his own musical path, Gates kicked around playing with a few bands before meeting bass guitarist, Robb Royer and guitar/keyboardist, Jimmy Griffin, who were also a songwriting team. The trio came together to form a band called "Bread" and signed with Elektra Records in 1969.
Bread's first single, "Dismal Day" had a dismal outcome, failing to chart. Session drummer, Jim Gordon briefly joined the band during the recording of Bread's 1969 self-titled debut album and touring appearances. But Mike Botts, a drummer Gates had previously worked with, was asked to become a permanent member when Gordon had a scheduling conflict.
With their second album, "On The Waters", Bread would achieve their first hit with the sensual ballad, "Make It With You". The single (written and sung by Gates) would find worldwide success, ranking number thirteen on the songs of 1970 chart and selling well over a million copies.
By 1973, Bread experienced what many rock groups have gone through when they have immediate success; the difficulties and stress of the recording/touring grind and the intense clash of egos would ultimately lead to the break-up of the band. The label would express a desire for another Bread album in 1976. And with enough time having passed so the members could put aside their differences, they were able to make that happen.
"Lost Without Your Love" would be Bread's sixth studio album and the title track would be their final top-ten hit in 1977. However, while on road to support the album, all those previous personal tensions would flair back up and by the end of the tour, the band was once again toast.
I have always had a take or leave attitude towards Miley Cyrus, usually leave in most cases. However with the recently dropped single from the twenty-seven year old performer, "Midnight Sky", I really loved the song after the first listen. This sparkling dance-pop track utilizes classic disco (and samples "Edge of Seventeen" from Stevie Nicks) to tell a story about finding inner strength and self-love through challenging times. This is the first single from "She is Miley Cyrus", the long-delayed seventh studio album from the singer which had been postponed due to some personal struggles including her marriage and separation with actor, Liam Hemsworth and the shutdown of the world due to the Coronavirus. There is no exact release date yet for the album.
While Dua Lipa's latest album, "Future Nostalgia" was already dance-floor ready, the British singer decided to take it up another notch. And that has lead to "Club Future Nostalgia", a remix collection of songs from the record that takes them in some interesting new directions. This mixtape forges 1990's house with 2020 pop music and a splash of 1980's soul. The first single released is "Levitating" which was remixed by the DJ, The Blessed Madonna and features Missy Elliott and the Queen of Pop, Madonna. It's been revealed that Mark Ronson will take on the song, "Physical" with Gwen Stefani but no additional info on other tracks has been made available at this time. But the album will be out on August 28th.
Alicia Keys has released another song from her forthcoming album simply called, "Alicia". "So Gone" is a guitar-driven ballad that teams the singer with the young alt-r&b artist, Khalid which results in a thrilling meeting of classic and contemporary soul. I love the music video which features actress, Sasha Lane. The clip, which takes place at a prom with Keys and Khalid as the live entertainment, humorously looks at our youth's obsession with their phones and creating social media content instead of interacting with the people right next to them.
Finally we have another generational musical pairing but this time in country music. The rising alt-country artist from Canada, Orville Peck comes together with fellow Canadian, the legendary, Shaina Twain on the new song, "Legends Never Die". This is the latest track from Peck's recently released EP, "Show Pony" which pays tribute to the style of country music he grew-up listening to and also features a cover of Bobbie Gentry's 1970 classic, "Fancy". The music video cleverly uses social distancing with Peck and Twain performing the song at a drive-in. I love seeing these two over-the-top performers, who never fitted comfortably in the traditional country music format, come together on this great track.
I am feeling some comfort in the synthpop sounds from the 1980's right now and here are a few of my favorites that take me back to the seemingly simplier, calmer days of my youth:
And here are a couple of recent songs from two artists I enjoy who also happen to bring an openly queer perspective to their music; Orville Peck, the mysterious country artist does a twangy cover of Bronski Beat's 1984 gay anthem, "Smalltown Boy" that retains the original's moving power. The British nu-disco performer who goes by the inventive moniker, Bright Light, Bright Light (real name, Rod Thomas) has the song, "I Used To Be Cool" with the video offering a decidedly different take on summer romance.
This year will mark the twenty-fifth year since the release of Alanis Morissette's ground breaking album, "Jagged Little Pill". And a rock musical inspired by the record called "Jagged Little Pill" which used songs from the album and other material from Morissette was created in 2018 and opened on Broadway last December. The Canadian performer was going to embark on a world tour in celebration of that milestone and promote new music yet those plans came to a crashing halt due to the pandemic which has continued to keep the entire planet shut down.
Morissette has chosen not to let that delay her new music and has released "Such Pretty Forks in the Road", her first album in eight years. The singer has been working on this project since 2018, trying to squeeze time in between marriage (to fellow musician, Mario "Souleye" Treadway since 2010) and raising children (with three to date and the youngest was just born last year). The forty-six year old Morissette (who co-wrote "Such Pretty Forks" with Michael Farrell and features production by Alex Hope and Catherine Marks) has moved on from youthful angst in her music and is now sharing her experiences on more mature subject matters like addiction, mental illness and postpartum depression. Yet these songs are still fueled with a powerful raw energy and thoughtful, urgent lyrics.
A music video for the song, "Ablaze", which is a loving dedication to her children, was just released. It is a true family affair as the clip features Morissette's husband and their little ones at home.
While Taylor Swift had planned to spend the summer on a worldwide tour to promote her last album, "Lover" released last year, a nasty virus got in the way of her concert plans. With plenty of time on her hands (much like the rest of us), the singer spent the last few months creating new music and what came out of that is her eighth studio album, "Folklore". This collection does not feature the inflated, synth-pop production of her previous records. Yet it is also not a clear return to her early country music roots.
The album offers something a little different; low-key and mature songs that look at our complicated, turbulent times that plays best to her strengths which is vivid songwriting. Swift uses classic folklore, which are stories that blur the lines between truth and fiction, to create songs that are far less self-referential than her music in the past. I must admit I've never been a huge fan of Swift's (more of an admirer) but I must say that I really enjoyed "Folklore" and think this is the thirty-year old superstar's strongest album to date.
And clearly many others seem to agree. "Folklore" has broken streaming records with Swift having the biggest opening day for an album by a female artist on Spotify and the album has sold 1.3 million copies globally on its first day on July 24th. Swift has stated that the album "started with imagery" so the videos are just as important to express her ideas as the music for "Folklore". She even got behind the camera to direct the clip for the first single, "Cardigan".
KYLIE MINOGUE
After dipping her toes in to some down-home, country-pop with her last album, "Golden" in 2018, Kylie Minogue seems ready to get back to what she's best known for; dance-flavored, pop music. And the title of her upcoming fifteenth studio album says it all: "Disco". The fifty-two year old, down-under pop diva has just dropped the first single, "Say Something" and it is definitely a shimmering dance floor banger. The song (co-written by Minogue with Ash Howes and producers, Jonathan Green and Richard "Biff" Stannard) is about the never-ending quest for love and is just what we need to hear right now. Minogue worked on the album (due out on November 6th) while in quarantine and even learned how to record and engineer her vocals on her own using music software in order to help get the record completed.
And here are a few videos of new music I'm enjoying right now:
