RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Sophie was an emerging talent who was a visionary pushing the boundaries of what electronic music could achieve by experimenting with sound design and expanding the concept of pop music. But unexpectedly the English musician tragically died from an accidental fall during a vacation in Greece almost four years ago. At the time of her passing, Sophie was working on the follow-up to her acclaimed 2018 debut, "Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides" with the album near completion. Her brother, Benny Long, who had been Sophie's longtime studio engineer, and their two sisters supervised to help finish the project. Simply entitled, "Sophie", the record features friends of the artist who wanted to participate and musicians that Sophie had wanted to collaborate with. This includes German pop star, Kim Petras; US singer/songwriter, Jozzy; performance artist, Signe Pierce who creates music under Big Sister and British visual artist and singer, Hannah Diamond.





Here are a few new songs that I like: the new version of Charli XCX's "Sympathy is a Knife" with Ariana Grande which is featured on the just released remix album, "Brat & It's Completely Different But Also Still Brat"; Jennie, the former member of the K-Pop group, Blackpink who has gone solo, has released a new single, "Mantra"; "You Look Like You Love Me", the country ballad from Ella Langley and Riley Green and an ode to young love and soda, "Diet Pepsi" from Addison Rae.

Kylie Minogue is currently enjoying a second wind after over forty years of making glorious dance-pop music, thanks in part to the song, "Padam Padam", from her "Tension" album last year, becoming her biggest international hit in many years. Now the Australian pop goddess is set to release an album sequel, "Tension II" due out on October 18th. This collection will continue her journey into electronic music with the high energy, first single, "Lights Camera Action" taking us eagerly back to the dance floor. The music video for the song (directed by Minogue's longtime collaborator Sophie Muller) has the singer on a sound stage film set, appearing in various job roles preparing for a production shoot. And Minogue has announced that she going back on the road early next year with the Tension World Tour which will take her across the globe for the first time since 2011.

And I will pay tribute to two musicians we have recently lost: J.D. Souther, one of the singer/songwriters who helped define the LA country-rock sound in the 1970's, died on September 17th at the age of seventy-eight. Born John David Souther on November 2, 1945, he grew up in Texas playing multiple instruments before heading to Los Angeles in the late 1960's. He met Glen Frey in 1969 and they formed a musical duo, Longbranch Pennywhistle and recorded an album. They soon parted ways with Frey joining Linda Ronstadt's backing band and Souther recording a solo album.

After this backing band became The Eagles, Souther would work with the group, co-writng some of their biggest hits which includes "New Kid in Town", "Best of My Love" and "Heartache Tonight". Souther went on to create music for Ronstadt (whom he briefly dated), Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Don Henley. He had teamed with Chris Hillman of The Byrds and Richie Furay of Buffalo Sprinfield in 1973 and formed The Souther–Hillman–Furay Band, recording two albums. Souther still continued to do some solo work, recording nine albums, with his biggest hit was in 1979 with "You're Only Lonely", reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Cissy Houston, the mother of the great Whitney Houston, aunt of the pop music legend, Dionne Warwick, cousin to opera vocalist, Leontyne Price and an incredible singer in her own right, passed away on October 7th. The two-time Grammy Award winner was ninety-one and under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease. Houston, born Emily Drinkard, was the last of eight children of a musical family living in Newark, NJ. She began her singing career at the age of eight performing with four of her siblings in a gospel singing group. They became the Drinkard Singers when other family members joined and recorded a live album, "A Joyful Noise" in 1958.

Not long after marrying John Houston, Jr., she moved into secular music and formed a r&b girl group, The Sweet Inspirations with her niece, Dee Dee Warwick. They became popular and well-respected backup vocalists throughout the 1960's, assisting Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Van Morrison, Dusty Springfield, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley with their recordings and tours. The Sweet Inspirations also recorded their own music beginning in 1967, scoring their only top-forty pop hit with "Sweet Inspiration" (which Houston co-wrote), reaching number eighteen on the chart.

Houston left the group in 1969 in order to pursue a solo career and focus more on her family. She recorded ten albums over her career with the 1979 disco song, "Think It Over" crossing over to the Billboard r&b chart and becoming her most significant hit. Houston went back to session work, singing background vocals for many of the top artists of the 1970's and '80's. And she also returned to her musical roots, recording her first solo gospel album, "Face To Face" in 1996. Houston received a Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for this recording and won the award again two years later for her follow-up album, "He Leadeth Me".