Troye Sivan has just dropped the title track from his upcoming fourth studio album, "She's The Best". The Aussie pop star explains that this record was the first time where he didn't focus on himself or about men when writing his music instead deciding to explore the positive aspect in his life which are women and feminine energy. The song is also a departure for Sivan musically as it's more trip-hop influenced and features the singer delivering spoken-word vocals. And the music video for "She's The Best" is filled with various visions of divine womanhood with the highlights being appearances by drag superstar, Sasha Colby and the one and only Nicole Kidman, looking spectacular serving her usual, effortless sultry glam.
After her massive global breakthrough, "Call Me Maybe" back in 2012, Carly Rae Jepsen has not hit with another major chart topper to date. But that certainly doesn't mean she hasn't released some impressive music since then with seven critically acclaimed studio albums from Jepsen that her hardcore fans have thoroughly embraced. Now the forty-year-old Canadian artist is about to drop her latest, "Day and Night", a twenty-four-track concept album. Separated by two discs, "Day" features live instrumentation and elements of retro psychedelic pop while "Night" will be driven by an intense, dance-pop synth sound. The latest song released, "Don't Leave Me on the Dance Floor" is a 70's disco styled tune inspired by ABBA. The music video is directed by the lauded playwright, Jeremy O. Harris and features actor Alden Ehrenreich.
Ravyn Lenae, who made a splash with her international hit, "Love Me Not" two years ago, has returned with a new album, "Blue Island". This collection pushes back against genre tropes and boundaries to create a bold musical statement that merges R&B and pop in her own distinctive style.
FLO seem to be single-handedly bringing back the vibe of hip-hop/soul girl groups from the '90's and it's very welcome. This British trio, made up of Renée Downer, Stella Quaresma and Jorja Douglas, found great success with their debut album, "Access All Areas" in their native country two years ago but made less of a dent here. FLO have recently released their sophomore album, "Therapy at the Club". They have returned with a more mature sound that feels ready to make a big impression in this country with the help of their latest single, "Cry Ugly".
Rebecca Black received plenty of attention with the release of her song, "Friday" back in 2011 yet not all of it was good. At the time, the ambitious thirteen-year-old Black had her family pay to produce the song and music video. And while it did end up making the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold decently, "Friday" would end up receiving many negative comments and being derided as "one of the worst songs ever". Undeterred, Black continued on with her pop music career, releasing two studio albums and a couple of EPs since then. Now, the twenty-nine-year-old singer has her third album, "Age of the Exhibitionist" due out in September. Black has certainly developed as an artist and the singles, "Michael" and "Speakerphone" are quite intriguing dance-pop tracks.
And we have the release of the long-rumored duet that teams up the phenomenal pop music goddesses, Madonna and Kylie Minogue. It is a remix of "Love Sensation" from Madonna's latest album, "Confessions II" and while this version is not drastically different from the original track, it's still quite exciting the idea of these two legends together on one song.
Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning Irish musician best recognized for his role in the musical-drama, "Once", has sadly passed away at the age of fifty-six. He was involved in a motorcycle crash at the Strawberry Beds on the outskirts of Dublin on July 29th.
Born and raised in Ballymun in northern Dublin, Hansard acquired a guitar from an uncle as a teenager and taught himself how to play. After dropping out of school at thirteen, he initially made money busking on the streets. In 1990, Hansard formed a rock band, The Frames who made a name in the Dublin music scene. This led to Hansard being cast in Alan Parker's musical-comedy, "The Commitments" about a group of working-class youths who form a soul band set in Northern Dublin. The film went on to have critical and box-office success internationally.
Hansard decided to expand himself creatively in 2006 by joining a folk band, The Swell Season which included Czech multi-instrumentalist, Markéta Irglová. This would lead to Hansard, along with Irglová (who fell in love following the shooting), to co-star in John Carney's romantic musical, "Once" that told the story of two struggling musicians in Dublin. With original songs provided by the Swell Season, this low-budget film went on to receive great acclaim, appearing on several critics' top ten lists as one of the best films of the year and Hansard and Irglová went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song with "Falling Slowly". The couple would end their romantic relationship two years later but continued to perform together, recording two more albums which included "Forward" that was released last year.
Hansard would also go on record five solo albums during his career with his final release, "All That Was East Is West of Me Now" in 2023. He is survived by his wife, Finnish poet, Maire Saaritsa, who he married in 2022 and gave birth to their first child earlier that year.
