RANDOM SIGHT + SOUNDS

Sienna Spiro, a rising pop-soul singer from the UK is gaining attention on this side of the pond with her single, "Die on This Hill", The twenty year old has been performing and writing songs since she was ten, inspired by the records of her parents that included Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone and the hip-hop that was playing during her youth, dropping out of high school at sixteen to pursue music full time. As is common these days for aspiring musicians, Spiro posted clips of herself singing covers and original songs on social media. Two years ago, she released her first single, "Need Me". Spiro released more music and began performing around London, making an impression at the All Points East music festival. Last year, she released an EP, "Sink Now, Swim Later" on Capitol Records and went on tour throughout Britain. In October, the power ballad, "Die On This Hill", co-written by Spiro with Omer Fedi and Michael Pollack, was released and has gone on to become an international top-ten smash. Spiro is currently putting together her debut album and is in the middle of a headlining tour in the US.





Here is a round-up of new sounds that I'm listening to at the moment: "American Girls", the second single from Harry Styles' recently released album, "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally"; Mary J Blige is back in fine form with a soulful ballad, "More Than a Lover"; Another single, "Ride" from Jessie Ware's upcoming sixth studio album, "Superbloom" is a shimmering dance track with the video featuring actor, James Norton; Bebe Rexha teams with Brit electro band, Faithless for a high energy, house track, "New Religion" and the first single by country artist, Kacey Musgraves, "Dry Spell" from her next album, "Middle of Nowhere" due out in May.

The sounds of classic disco, which enjoyed the height of its popularity during the mid-1970's, has climbed back up onto the current music charts. Donna Summer's 1978 version of Jimmy Webb's trippy ode to the Los Angeles site, "MacArthur Park" and Anita Ward's 1979 number one worldwide smash hit, "Ring My Bell" both recently made it back to the top ten of the iTunes music chart. Alysa Liu had skated to Summer’s song during the 2026 Winter Olympics and won the gold medal, helping this disco track receive rejuvenated popularity. A viral TikTok trend with "Ring My Bell" made sales and streaming of this song skyrocket this month. Ward, who went from schoolteacher to overnight disco star, only enjoyed success with this one song while Summer had a far more extensive and influential career before passing away in 2012, still known to the world as "The Queen of Disco". Let's get back on the dance floor and get lost in the beat of these songs with the entire seventeen minute epic version of the "MacArthur Park Suite" (which includes another charting single, "Heaven Knows") and Ward performing her hit on the British program, "Top of the Pops":