We'll be seeing a lot of the actress, Anne Hathaway over the next couple of weeks. First she will be seen on the big screen in "Mother Mary" from writer/director, David Lowery on April 24th. In this psychological-drama musical, Hathaway plays a pop singer called Mother Mary who reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer (played by Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance. The original songs in the film will be available on a soundtrack album, "Mother Mary: Greatest Hits" set for release on April 17th. Hathaway is performing the songs and a couple of the tracks have been released. "Burial" (written by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX) delivers a "Lady Gaga" vibe while "My Mouth Is Lonely For You" feels like a "FKA Twigs" track and it should since it was co-written by the artist (who makes a screen appearance in "Mother Mary").
Then on May 1st, the long awaited sequel to the 2006 high-fashion comedy, "The Devil Wears Prada" hits theaters worldwide with Hathaway reprising her role as Andrea Sachs along with Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep as fashion editor, Miranda Priestly. An original song for the movie's soundtrack, "Runway" teams up Lady Gaga and Doechii for a euphoric house music song. Andrew Watt, Bruno Mars, Cirkut and D'Mile all co-wrote and produced this track.
The alternative R&B artist, Kelela makes her highly anticipated return after three years with "idea 1" who co-wrote and produced the track with PinkPantheress; Kehlani, who won two Grammy awards this year for her smash r&b single, "Folded", is back with new music delivering "Back and Forth" that features Missy Elliott; Saint Harison, the Brit singer/songwriter, has released a soulful ballad, "Stuck" from his upcoming EP, "Ghost"; another British act trying to gain some traction in the US is Flo, a classic girl hip-hop/soul group, that has dropped the lead single, "Leak It" from their upcoming second album
And I will close by paying tribute to the passing of two artists: Dash Crofts, one half of the the soft rock duo, Seals & Crofts, passed away on March 26th at the age of eighty-seven. Born Darrell George Crofts in Cisco, Texas, he got his nickname "Dash" when he was a baby. Crofts first started playing the piano as child before switching to the drums as a teenager. In high school, he played in a band where he met the saxophone player, Jim Seals. The two decided to try their luck as professional musicians by moving to Southern California in 1958. They briefly joined a rock band, the Champs before Crofts was drafted and spent two years with the Army. By 1969, they started recording under "Seals & Crofts" and by their second album, "Summer Breeze" with the title track becoming a top-ten pop hit in 1972, the duo had a string of popular songs. Seals (who died in 2022) and Crofts would part ways as an act in 1983 but would reunite for a concert tour in 1991 to 1992 and again in 2004 after the duo recorded their first new album since 1980 and also final recording together, "Traces".
And one of the pioneers that would greatly influence hip-hop culture,Afrika Bambaataa has passed away on April 9th. The Bronx native, who was was an originator of breakbeat DJing, died from complications of from prostate cancer and was sixty-eight. Born Lance Taylor, he was exposed to the ideologies of the Black Liberation Movement through his parents as a teen as well as the sounds of their eclectic record collection. After wining an essay contest that earned him a trip to Africa, Taylor was inspired by the sense of community while he was there and determined create one in his own neighborhood. Adopting the name, "Afrika Bambaataa Aasim", he set about creating the "Bronx River Organization" which was a positive alternative to the street gangs that infiltrated the Bronx and that he had once been affiliated. Bambaataa soon turned his attention to music after hosting several block parties and forming the Universal Zulu Nation which brought together socially and politically aware rappers and graffiti artists. Inspired by the emerging electronic music scene, he released "Planet Rock" in 1982 with the Soul Sonic Force that merged electro beats and hip-hop. The single, produced by Arthur Baker, reached the top five on the US R&B and Dance charts.
To cap off a very prosperous and productive year, Doechii has just unexpectedly released a new track, "Girl, Get Up".
While Doechii, born Jaylah Hickmon, is enjoying plenty of well-deserved success and fame, she has also experienced some negative energy that has come her way through online backlash with claims of her achieving popularity only through connections in the business instead by her hard work and talent. But Doechii is not having none of it.
Unlike most current artists who share what's going on with them through social media, Doechii is wisely expressing her views inventively through music. With the song, she goes over her impressive accomplishments while letting these critics know exactly what she thinks of their narrowminded, unwanted opinions while SZA makes an appearance to provide vocals on the track. The music video for "Girl, Get Up", shot at night with the artist largely obscured, was filmed near the Sydney Harbour Bridge where Doechii is in the middle of an Australian tour.
Here is a collection of new sounds that I want to highlight:
Following her venture into hard rock, Demi Lovato has returned to music with an upcoming dance-pop collection, "It's Not That Deep" which is due out on October 24th. The latest single is "Kiss", a fun, throbbing techno-pop track.
The British art-pop stylist and actress,FKA Twigs had released her well-received third album, "Eusexua" earlier this year. On the horizon is a sequel to this collection entitled, "Eusexua Afterglow" which originally was going to be a deluxe edition of the previous album but will now be a follow-up of new music. The first single, "Cheap Motel" which is accompanied by a seven minute music video that is much like a short film.
Born in Ethiopia and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the alt-r&b artist, Alemeda has been creating music since 2020. She began with a hyper-hip-hop sound before moving towards soulful indie rock,. The twenty-five year old performer (born Rahema Alameda) is preparing to release another EP, "But What The Hell Do I Know" with the first single, "Beat A B!tch Up" features an appearance by her label-mate, Doechii.
The popular, Chicago-based DJ, Honey Dijon has moved further in creating her own music and has released a new song. "The Nightlife" is an expected sultry club-banger but features r&b vocalist, Chlöe Bailey performing on the track with her first major venture to the dance floor.
Haim has just released a deluxe edition to their most recent album, "I Quit" that features three new songs. One of those songs, "Tie You Down" is a collaboration with indie rocker, Bon Iver.
After some acting gigs ("Honey Boy", "The Crow") and a mixtape, "Caprisongs" two years ago following her signing with a new label, Atlantic Records, FKA Twigs is back with some fresh music. "Eusexua" is the first single and the title track of the genre-bending, alterative British artist's upcoming third album due out in January. Twigs (born Tahliah Barnett) states that Eusexua is "a state of being and the pinnacle of human experience". This unusually structured song begins with propulsive techno throbs before downshifting in the middle then picking the beat back up slightly to slow down again to the conclusion. The dance-driven music video for "Eusexua" features vivid imagery set in a corporate world where the workers strip away from conformity and liberating themselves of their clothing.
NELLY FURTADO
The Canadian-Portuguese artist, Nelly Furtado has just released "7" which is her seventh studio album and her first in seven years. Over the last four years, Furtado, who had recently been diagnosed with ADHD, wrote over four hundred songs yet managed to whittle them down to the fourteen tracks on the album. "7" continues the now forty-five year old singer's foray into soulful dance music and features contributions from a collection of international artists that includes Swedish performer, Tove Lo; Colombian electro-band, Bomba Estéreo; South African rapper, Blxckie and fellow Canadian musician, Charlotte Day Wilson.
KATY PERRY
Katy Perry announced in February that she was leaving the judging panel of "American Idol" after seven seasons to be able to focus back on her own music career. Now her seventh album, "143" is out and the reception has been lukewarm at best. Much of the critical reactions has been that the record feels outdated and Perry is not moving forward creatively. And while I tend to agree with this assessment of much of the collection, there are still songs that I really like from the album. I actually enjoy the last two singles that were released to date: the dance track, "Lifetimes" and the hip-hop flavored, "I'm His, He's Mine" that features Doechii.
After showing off his acting chops in the widely watched yet much maligned HBO series, "The Idol" where he played the creative director for one of the biggest pop acts in the world, Australian pop star, Troye Sivan has returned to his own music career. "Rush" is a breezy, feel good dance track that brings to mind the sounds of 1980’s Pet Shop Boys. Sivan admits this song was partly inspired by that feeling that comes from inhaling poppers which a popular brand is called Rush. This is the first single off of Sivan's upcoming third album, "Something to Give Each Other", due out in October, which he promises will be a celebration of sexy, good times.
Here are some songs I'm into right now including Fall Out Boy's lyrical update of the 1989 Billy Joel classic, "We Didn't Start The Fire":
The actress and singer, Jane Birkin has passed away on July 16th at the age of seventy-six. While she was British born and raised, Birkin first found fame in France after meeting French musician, Serge Gainsbourg in 1968 while they were shooting a film. They fell in love and the couple recorded an album the following year, "Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg" which featured, "Je t'aime… moi non plus", a controversial song at the time due to it’s sexual content. And while it was banned in some countries, the song (originally written by Gainsbourg for French actress, Brigitte Bardot) reached number one in Birkin's native country, the first foreign-language song to do so in the UK. Birkin would go on to record several solo albums (mostly written by Gainsbourg) before their relationship ended in 1980. She would continue to act, appearing in French and English language films such as "Don Juan, or If Don Juan Were a Woman", "La Belle Noiseuse", "Death on the Nile", "Evil Under the Sun" and "Jane by Charlotte" which was her final screen appearance in this 2021 docu-drama directed by Birkin's daughter, actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. And yes, that handbag by Hermès was created for her in 1984 and the Birkin bag has become a much coveted status symbol.
And finally, I would like to honor the legacy of the legendary crooner, Tony Bennett, who we lost on July 21st at the age of ninety-six. Since his first number-one hit, "Because of You" in 1951 and his popular, signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in 1962, the New York born and raised vocalist kept the sounds of jazz and traditional pop alive and well, even when it fell out of favor. Bennett successfully found relevance again with the MTV Generation in the late 1980s and 1990s without ever having to alter his music. He teamed-up with many contemporary artists, most notably Lady Gaga, and Tony Bennett was cool once again. Here is a highlight of Bennett performing duets with some of his biggest fans: Judy Garland, k.d.Lang (who recorded an album with him, "A Wonderful World" in 2002), Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga (who recorded two albums with Bennett which included his final album, "Love For Sale" in 2021).
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