HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"Used To Be Young" is the latest single from Miley Cyrus. This is a bonus track on the reissued digital copy of her album, "Endless Summer Vacation" and first premiered on her recently updated documentary concert special, "Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions)". The introspective ballad (co-written by Cyrus with Gregory Aldae Hein and co-producer, Michael Pollack) addresses her wild behavior in the past, summing it up to her simply being young. The music video for the song is uncluttered and direct with Cyrus going through a flood of emotions while performing the song.

It has been ten years since Ariana Grande's debut studio album, "Yours Truly" that helped turn this teen actress into a pop music icon. Now a re-issue of the album has been released and this 10th anniversary edition features the original twelve tracks and new versions of six songs, recorded live at the Soho House in London. There is also a Spanglish take of Grande's breakout single, "The Way" with the late Mac Miller.

After briefly deciding to step away from music following the disappointing reception of her 2021 third album, "The End of an Era", Iggy Azalea has made a comeback with a new single. "Money Come", produced by Tricky Stewart and features a sample of K7’s "Come Baby Come", has the Aussie rapper's distinctive style and swagger back in action. The video for the song has Azalea acting as a CEO, going through an office building filled with men and transforming them into powerful women. She has also surprisingly teamed up with OnlyFans to help her in promoting the upcoming fourth album.

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

Fresh off her dazzling performance in the Disney live-action musical, "The Little Mermaid", Halle Bailey is here to remind us she has not abandoned her music career. After spending much of her professional life with her sister, Chlöe (who had released her debut studio album, "In Pieces" in March), the twenty-three-year-old singer has released a single, "Angel" which is the first song off her own upcoming solo album. This uplifting ballad (written by Bailey, Sebastian Kole, and the song's producer, Ron "Neff-U" Feemster) explores her experiences of growing up as a Black woman in this world. And Bailey will be back on the big screen soon as she will make an appearance in the musical adaptation of "The Color Purple" due in theaters on Christmas Day.





"Freak Me Now", the latest single from Jessie Ware's euphoric, disco-inspired, "That! Feels Good!", is a now remixed and features fellow Brit dance floor veteran, Róisín Murphy. This pairing does not disappoint, with these fierce vocalists tearing up on this retro track and team up together in a fun, campy music video.

And the latest song from Doja Cat's upcoming fourth studio album has dropped. Coasting along on a sample of the Dionne Warwick's classic, "Walk On By", "Paint The Town Red" is about the singer not caring what her haters think, ignoring them all and enjoying her life. The accompanying music video certainly give you the impression that Doja Cat is "the Lady Gaga of Hip-hop" with the clip featuring outrageous imagery that includes scenes of her dancing intimately with "Death", throwing bloody chunks of meat and riding on a giant dragon through the sky. And there is still no release date or title of Doja's next album.

SINEAD O'CONNOR (1966 - 2023)

Sinéad O'Connor, the gifted yet troubled Irish musician, has sadly passed away on July 26th at the age of fifty-six. No details have emerged to date on the cause of death. She was an amazing artist who was a true force of nature with a voice that could go from a soothing, gentle whisper to a raucous roar that could shake you to your core.

Born in Dublin, O'Connor suffered from emotional trauma and physical abuse since she was a child, largely from her mother, who suffered from mental illness, and from church clergy. As a teen, she was heading towards a destructive path with her involved in petty criminal acts and truancy. In an attempt to redirect her, O'Connor was sent to a Magdalene asylum where she developed her writing skills yet also suffered more abuse.

Her life turned more positive when she met musician, Colm Farrelly who formed a band with her called Ton Ton Macoute with O'Connor becoming the lead vocalist. This lead to her attracting the attention of music labels, eventually being signed as a solo performer by Ensign Records. O'Connor had always had a rebellious streak, which had gotten her into trouble in her youth, and when record executives wanted her looking like your standard female pop star with flowing hair and wearing mini-skirts, she pushed back by shaving her head while performing in t-shirts and torn denim.

With the release of her 1987 debut, "The Lion and the Cobra" (which she wrote or co-wrote all songs), it was clear that O'Connor had no interest in being an average pop musician but an independent-minded artist. The album was a collection of angsty songs with themes involving religion, race, sexuality and social oppression. "The Lion and the Cobra" brought O'Connor critical acclaim and an expanding fan following but it would be her 1990 follow-up album, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" that would turn her into a pop music sensation. Her cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U" would become an international smash hit, being named the year's top world single according to Billboard.

O'Connor had difficulty handing this sudden fame, pushing back against the public scrutiny with erratic behavior which included the infamous moment in 1992 while promoting her new album, "Am I Not Your Girl?" on "Saturday Night Live" when after performing a version of Bob Marley's "War", she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II to protest against the Church's silence on the child sexual abuse occurring there. Mocked and severely ridiculed at the time, it would not be until twenty years later before the Church would finally publicly acknowledge what was happening and what O'Connor did would be viewed as a courageous act.

Following this televised incident, O'Connor's career would never fully recover but she continued to make music on her own terms, releasing a total of ten studio albums with her final release, "I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss" in 2014. She was sadly never fully appreciated in her lifetime for her artistry, largely because she refused to play the pop music game. As a survivor of abuse, O'Connor became a vocal activist, demanding that the world pay attention to the suffering of the marginalized, using her voice and music in an attempt to make a positive change.