RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Last month, the Brit pop singer, Charli XCX made a bold proclamation with "I think the dance floor is dead, so now we're making rock music". Many of her fans were taken aback by this statement since she made her name by creating energized music that you could dance to since her breakout single, "Boom Clap" back in 2014. But the singer/songwriter, born Charlotte Aitchison, was actually doing a little promoting for her newest bit of music, "Rock Music". And while this track has an edgy and rough vibe, it's not exactly a hardcore rock song but more guitar-driven with a dance beat driving the tune along. Charli has been busy: contributing music for the soundtrack of Emerald Fennell's adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" and performing as an actor in the films, "The Moment", "Faces of Death" and the upcoming Gregg Araki comedy-thriller, "I Want Your Sex". But she has not abandoned her pop music career with "Rock Music" being the first release from her seventh studio album with no title or street date revealed just yet.



Here's a round up of some intriguing new music: the soul music legend, Chaka Khan is back with "Chakzilla", an oddly titled funky dance track (with production by Greg Kurstin) which also happens to be the title of her first studio album in seven years; the latest single from Harry Styles, "Dance No More" has the former boy band member busting out some serious dance moves in the music video; the Swedish artist, Tove Lo has dropped a raw and edgy new single, "I'm Your Girl, Right?" with an equally spiky video; "Five Past Three" is an electropop single from the Chainsmokers’ newest EP, "Love Is Kind", which is a collaboration with the Swedish performer, Oaks; and Sir Paul McCartney has his twentieth solo album, "The Boys of Dungeon Lane" on the way with the song, "Home to Us", is a duet with his former bandmate, Ringo Starr.

The 2026 Eurovision Song Contest recently concluded on May 16th with thirty-five countries competing for the top prize of the best international original pop song. Held at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna for the contest's 70th edition, Dara from Bulgaria won the Grand Prize for "Bangaranga", a dance-pop song with the title taken from Jamaican Patois and has been translated as "a joyful kind of disorder". This song, the first win for this country, won both the jury vote and televote, the first entry to do so since 2017. The runner-up was from Israel with "Michelle" by Noam Bettan and in third is "Choke Me" by Romania's Alexandra Căpitănescu. Several countries had declined to participate this year in protest at Israel's inclusion in the contest due to the on-going Gaza war.

Clarence Carter, the blind soul singer behind the hits, "Patches" and Strokin'", passed away on May 13th at the age of ninety. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Carter (blind since birth) attended the Alabama School for the Blind in Talladega and later went to Alabama State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in music. After pursuing music professionally with friend, Calvin Scott in 1960, the duo formed the C & C Boys and recorded several singles but none of them gained much traction commercially. Six years later, Scott was seriously injured in an auto accident with Carter deciding to continue as a solo performer.

His first break came the following year with "Tell Daddy", his answer record to Etta James' hit, "Tell Mama", which reached the top forty on the r&b chart. Carter joined Atlantic Records which began a string of hits on the R&B and pop charts, starting with "Slip Away", "Too Weak to Fight", "Snatching It Back" and the naughty, "Back Door Santa". Carter's biggest hit came in 1970 with his version of "Patches", originally recorded by Chairmen of the Board, which reached number two in the UK and number four on the U.S. pop chart. The record would sell over one million copies and win the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.

Carter's career would cool down following this but he did have one more hit record with "Strokin'" in 1986. While the song was considered too raunchy to actually be played on the radio, it was discovered by fans with it being played on jukeboxes and later found even bigger success when it was included on the soundtracks for Eddie Murphy's remake of "The Nutty Professor" and the 2011 crime-drama, "Killer Joe". Carter was briefly married to Candi Staton, who began as one of his background singers, in 1970 and they had a son together, Clarence Carter Jr., before divorcing in 1973.