NEW SOUNDS

Since the very beginning of her career, Janelle Monae has been proudly queer, long before she even came out publicly as pansexual and non-binary. And with her fourth studio album, "The Age of Pleasure", the singer now feels liberated to express her music even more openly. This collection delivers feel-good vibes with songs threaded with reggae and Afro-beats that focus on the sensual pleasures of the mind and flesh. Even Monae's image has loosened up. Gone are the little, black & white suits and in their place is the singer in skimpy clothing, revealing much more of her beautiful satin skin than we had ever seen before from the artist. This includes the music video for the single, "Lipstick Lover" which shows a lot of female skin and has even been age-restricted on Youtube.

The lawsuit involving pop star, Kesha against her former producer, Dr. Luke, which had begun in 2014, has been quietly settled just a few days ago. Her fifth studio album, "Gag Order" had been released last month with the title making a not-so veiled reference to her on-going legal battle which left her unable to comment publicly. Much like her previous album, "High Road", this record touches on the depression and emotional trauma she has been going through these past few years due to this case. And the songs reflect her overcoming these difficulties with the return of a lighter musical mood, with experimental art-pop and bouncy, electronic beats she was known for in her early days. Kesha plans to hit the road in October to promote the album which I'm sure she will be able to approach from a clearer state-of-mind.





Here are some recent new sounds from Doja Cat, Gwen Stefani, Lana Del Rey, Carly Rae Jepsen and Jaz Elise:

After years of releasing singles, EPs, making numerous featured artist appearances and a studio album that was scrapped then leaked, Kim Petras has finally released her official debut album. With "Feed The Beast", the Grammy Award winner has dropped a mixed-bag of a collection that exhibits the varied styles of dance-pop music she has been creating since 2017. The album features some previously heard tracks like the disco-pop ditty, "Coconuts"; "Unholy", the worldwide smash hit with Sam Smith that won them a Grammy this year; "Brrr" and "Alone" that samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay and has Nicki Minaj providing her trademark sassy rap. But the rest of "Feed The Beast" feels surprisingly safe and generic, even with her long-time producer, the problematic Dr. Luke having a heavy hand on the project, lacking the powerful magic that made so many of her previous songs so fascinating and fun.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

After the global critical and commercial success of her dazzling, post-disco collection, "What's Your Pleasure?" from 2020 (which certainly helped us get through the pandemic), Jessie Ware is back with some new music. The British artist has just dropped "Free Yourself", another uplifting dance track with Ware teaming up with renowned electro-pop producer and DJ, Stuart Price (Madonna; Kylie Minogue; The Killers; Dua Lipa) for the first time. The music video for "Free Yourself" is set with Ware being a spiritual leader telling her queer congregation to open up and let their freak flag fly wild and proud. This appears to be the first single from Ware's upcoming fifth studio album although no details have been released. She will be in North America this fall on tour, opening up for Harry Styles on some dates and headlining her own concerts. Be sure to check this amazing artist out if you can.



Here are a few new songs with music videos that deliver the perfect summer vibe:

Built around Rick James' 1981 classic, "Super Freak", Nicki Minaj has released another single with "Super Freaky Girl", a slick, playful track that feels reminiscent of her sound from the early days of her career. This is the fourth song that Minaj has dropped this year (following "Do We Have a Problem?", "Bussin" and "We Go Up") yet there is still no word on when her fifth studio album will be released or if any of these songs will actually appear on this record. Two things we do know is that Minaj will be this year's recipient of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28th which she will appear with a live performance. Minaj will also be a part of a six-part HBO Max docu-series about her life very soon although no exact date has been confirmed.

And finally to honor the memory of Lamont Dozier, one third of the songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, who passed away on August 8th at the age of eighty-one. Dozier, along with brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, was responsible for helping to shape the Motown sound by writing many of the songs for the soul music label that crossed over to become worldwide pop hits. The Detroit born and raised artist had begun his career as a performer yet didn't find much success. By 1962, he teamed up with The Hollands who also hadn't had much luck as singers to write for the local-based recording company. Their first top-ten pop hits were for Martha & The Vandellas with "Come and Get These Memories", "Heatwave", and "Quicksand". But it wasn't until 1964 when the team got their first number one song with "Where Did Our Love Go?" for a struggling girl group on Motown, The Supremes. Holland–Dozier–Holland would go on to write and produce nine more number one songs for the trio as well as for other artists on the label like Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, the Miracles and The Isley Brothers, eventually amassing twenty-five number one songs during their career.

After the songwriting team left Motown in 1968 over a dispute about profit-sharing and royalties, they founded Invictus and Hot Wax Records which produced hits for acts like Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairmen of the Board, and 100 Proof Aged in Soul. Dozier left the Holland brothers in 1973 to work on his own projects, releasing several solo albums as a performer with his most popular charting song being "Trying to Hold on to My Woman" in 1974. He continued to work as a songwriter, returning to the pop charts in 1984 by writing "Invisible", the hit song for British singer, Alison Moyet. He also co-wrote several songs with the British soul group, Simply Red. Dozier teamed up with Phil Collins to write "Two Hearts" for the soundtrack for the 1988 movie, "Buster" (which starred Collins) that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. And Holland–Dozier–Holland were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Here is a very small sample of the music co-created by Lamont Dozier:

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM . . .

DOLLY PARTON 

It's been over thirty years since country music legend, Dolly Parton has released a Christmas album and her latest collection features the cute title,  "A Very Dolly Christmas". The singer had actually began working on the project back in 2009 when she released the single, "Comin' Home for Christmas" but I guess it took some time before the busy Parton was able to complete the album. "A Very Dolly Christmas" features mostly original songs by Parton and there are several guests on board which includes Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Bublé, Willie Nelson and "Tonight Show" host, Jimmy Fallon on a cover of Mariah Carey's now-holiday classic, "All I Want For Christmas". Enjoy a couple of fun songs from the album:





LIL NAS X 

Lil Nas X  seems to be in the holiday spirit and has dropped a new song in celebration. The twenty-one year old hip-hop performer born Montero Hill has released "Holiday" but it's really more about his incredible, rapid success with his country-rap hybrid, "Old Town Road" and his fame  than about Santa Claus. I find it unlikely that the song itself will become a holiday classic but it's really the music video for the track which implies a Christmas theme. This clip is a visual wonder (directed by Gibson Hazard and Nas X) and features Lil Nas X in a futuristic setting taking over as ole Saint Nick.

CARLY RAE JEPSEN 

The Canadian pop singer, Carly Rae Jepsen has taken a different approach to the holidays with her recently released single, "It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries". Jepsen, who co-wrote the song with Benjamin Romans, CJ Baran and James Flannigan, examines the rarely discussed difficulties with family dysfunction during Christmas that can almost ruin the festivities. Despite the dark subject matter, this ditty is cute and playful, humorously showing another side of the celebration that most people try to forget about.

DEDICATED

It's been over five years since Carly Rae Jepsen exploded on the scene with the song, "Call Me Maybe". This cute pop ditty reached number one in eighteen countries and became the best-selling U.S. single of that year. The Canadian singer's follow-up work hasn't reached the same heights but that certainly doesn't mean that her music hasn't been interesting. Jepsen's 2015 album, "E.MO.TION" received plenty of critical acclaim for it's blend of dance-pop and 1980's new wave and ended up on the top of several year-end Best Album lists.

With her fourth studio release, "Dedicated", Jepsen is still in a dancing mood but she's going further back to disco and using the sounds of Bee Gees, ABBA and Donna Summer as inspiration. She said she wound up writing over one hundred songs for the album before narrowing it down to the album's thirteen tracks. There is the usual army of producers and songwriting collaborators on "Dedicated" but this record clearly has Jepsen's stamp all over it. Have a listen to a few of my favorite tracks including the latest single, "Too Much":

MY TUNE OF THE DAY

Today's tune took me by surprise as this great new song comes from an artist I never would have expected. When Carly Rae Jepsen was taking the world by storm with her irresistibly catchy, "Call Me Maybe" back in 2012, I thought it was a fun little tune but she would simply end up being added to the long list of one-hit wonders.

This third-place runner-up on Canadian Idol just dropped some new music last month with "I Really Like You". While it's another solid pop song, most of the attention it's received is due to the music video that features not only fellow Canadian Justin Bieber but movie star, Tom Hanks.

Jepsen made a recent appearance on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest where she debuted an impressive new song, "All That", a sexy slo-jam that features a 1980's era Prince vibe. Written by Jepsen and Dev Hynes (or as he's better known Blood Orange), this is an unexpected sound from the singer with a sweet, girl-next-door image but she convinces with breathy, sensual vocals. Now, I don't know if she's actually escaped the dreaded one-hit tag but this song may be a very good indication that her upcoming record (due sometime this summer) should be interesting.

"All That" - Carly Rae Jepsen (2015) mp3

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN MUSIC OF 2012

Another year has come and gone but what we have left is the music; songs that inspired and some that were just plain. dumb fun.

I have already shared some of my personal favorites throughout the year, so here are the rest of the best:

Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe" from "Kiss"

Goyte featuring Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used To Know" from "Making Mirrors"

Chris Brown - "Turn Up The Music" from "Fortune"

Chris Brown - "Don't Wake Me Up" from "Fortune"

Marina & The Diamonds - "How To Be A Heartbreaker" from "Electra Heart"



Lana Del Rey - "Ride" from "Paradise" EP

Icona Pop - "I Love It" from "Iconic" EP

Alex Clare - "Too Close" from "The Lateness Of The Hour"

Scissor Sisters - "Let's Have A Kiki" from "Magic Hour"



Sky Ferreira - "Everything Is Embarrassing" from "Ghost" EP

Angie Stone - "Backup Plan" from "Rich Girl"

Diplo Featuring Nicky Da B - "Express Yourself" from "ExpressYourself" EP



Jessie Ware - "Sweet Talk" from "Devotion"

Miguel - "Adorn" from "Kaleidoscope Dream"

David Guetta featuring Sia - "Titanium" from "Nothing But The Beat"

Finally, I know this is old but I'm always late to the game. Enjoy Duck Sauce's "aNYway" that perfectly spoofs "The Midnight Special' and the soul groups of the 70's. I just love this song and video:

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Summer is offically here which means the airwaves are filled with the steamy sounds that go perfectly with this hot and sticky weather.

This is a collection of music and music videos (classic jams or brand-spanking new) that I'm digging right now that I would like to share with you now. I hope you enjoy and have a great day:

"Stoned Soul Picnic" - The Fifth Dimension (1968)

"Baby-Baby-Baby" - TLC (1992)

"Summertime" - Kreayshawn (2012)

Not much needs to be said about this video for hip-hop artist, Cazwell's latest ditty except sexy. . . and hilarious.



"Celebrate" - Mika (2012)

"Good Time" - Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen (2012)

Celebrating twenty-five years of making music, pop princess, Kylie Minogue is releasing, "The Best of Kylie Minogue" which features twenty-one of her hit songs selected by her hardcore fans. Although, for some crazy reason, she never acheived major chart success here in the United States but I guarantee you will love all of these perfect pop songs.

Enjoy this video for Kylie's twenty-fifth anniversary single, "Timebomb" but strangely, it's not included in this new release:



Nineteen year-old, L.A.based artist, Sky Ferreira first burst on to the scene in 2009 with the electro-pop singles, "One" and "Obsession". Now, she has decided to move away from that sound and in the direction of rocking pop. The new single, "Red Lips" is a cool example of what we should expect from Ferreira's forthcoming CD which should be out before the end of the year. This erotically charged video is directed by the notorious photographer, Terry Richardson: