2025 OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Less than a week away, the Oscars will be announcing their selection for Best Original Song in a motion picture. The musical-drama, "Emilia Pérez" has two songs in this category and both were written by French pop artist, Camille and Clément Ducol, a film composer and arranger. "El Mal" (which was co-written with the film's director, Jacques Audiard) is a rap-rock song that translates in Spanish as "The Evil" that looks at the hypocrisy of criminals contributing to a nonprofit organization that was founded by Emilia Pérez who was a former male drug dealer. "Mi Camino", performed in the film by actress/pop star, Selena Gomez and means "My Way", explores the inner desires of her character (who is the wife of the drug lord and unaware of his transition) to accept herself completely despite her flaws and poor judgement. Adrian Quesada, a songwriter best known for his work with the alt-soul band, Black Pumas, teamed up with musician, Abraham Alexander to write and perform the song, "Like A Bird" for the acclaimed prison drama, "Sing Sing", based on the real-life, Through the Arts, a rehabilitation program set-up at the Maximum Security Prison. Elton John earned his fifth Oscar nomination (and a two time winner) for "Never Too Late", a song co-written with Brandi Carlile for the documentary,  "Elton John: Never Too Late" on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert tour. And this year's Diane Warren nomination is for the unremarkable ballad, "The Journey", her contribution to Tyler Perry's war drama, "The Six Triple Eight" about the little known story of the African-American women who served in the army during World War II. 

In my humble opinion, I believe "El Mal" will be taking home the Oscar this year but we shall see on March 2nd. But in a ridiculous move, it has been decided that none of the five nominated songs will be actually performed on the Oscars telecast. So here is your opportunity to hear these nominated songs together:

"El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)



"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)



"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)



"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)



"Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late" (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)

SECOND NATURE

Lucius is an indie-pop band founded in 2007 by Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig whose exquisitely blended harmonies is what makes their sound so seductive. And while the group, which includes guitarist Peter Lalish and drummer Dan Molad (who is now Laessig's former husband), have been releasing albums and touring, Wolfe and Laessig have really made their living by providing background vocals for many acts for recordings and on tours. Some of these notable performers includes Roger Waters, John Legend, Jeff Tweedy, Harry Styles, Jackson Browne, John Prine and Sheryl Crow just to highlight a few. This is how they came into Brandi Carlile's radar and the Grammy-winning Americana artist was determined to help bring more attention to Lucius through their own music.

Carlile with her long-time producing partner, Dave Cobb suggested that the band do a disco-inspired record. Not the most obvious sound for Lucius, whose previous work was more rooted in alt-rock or for Carlile to produce yet everyone was open to the challenge. This lead to "Second Nature", Lucius' fourth studio album with the collection evoking the dance-driven sounds of Bee Gees, Donna Summer and, in particular,  ABBA. Yet it's Wolfe and Laessig's bold, richly emotional vocals that makes this remain distinctively a Lucius album. Written and recorded while during the COVID lockdown, the songs focus on isolation and the pain of separation, particularly with the quarantine sadly triggering the end of Laessig's marriage. I really love this album and hope, just like Carlile, that "Second Nature" will bring an even bigger audience to Lucius.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC 2021

Another year has come and gone and during that time, I have shared the music that I have loved throughout. Here is a small collection of songs that were some of my favorites that I didn't get a chance to highlight:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

One name that was unexpected to hear during the announcement at this year's Grammy Award nominations was Tanya Tucker. Professionally singing since she was thirteen, the now sixty-one year old country music legend has had plenty of ups and downs throughout her career. But she has received plenty of praise and attention with her twenty-fifth album, "While I'm Livin'" with it receiving four nominations including Song of The Year. It has been over fifteen years since Tucker's last studio record of original material with musicians, Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile (who had her own career breakthrough after her Grammy nominations in 2018) stepping in to produce. Carlile, a hard-core Tucker fan, wrote a majority of the album with Tim and Phil Hanseroth while three songs are covers including Miranda Lambert's 2010 hit, "The House That Built Me". My favorite track is the nominated, moving ballad, "Bring My Flowers Now", where the album's title comes from, which focuses on appreciating your loved ones while they are still around to be appreciated.



Here are some videos of new music that I'm enjoying right now:

Alicia Keys, who will be hosting the 2020 Grammys this weekend for the second year in a row, has just dropped a new single. "Underdog" is an inspirational song that brings attention to the people out there struggling while offering encouragement to never giving up on their dreams. This is a powerful message that we really need to hear right now. This is the third single which delivers another preview of music from Keys' upcoming seventh album, "ALICIA" due out in March.