NEW SOUNDS

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.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

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.

MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2023

This past year in music, it reminded me of a time when I was a strange, awkward teen listening to AM radio in the 1970's. Back then it was common for stations to play all genres of music, tossed together indiscriminately, where it would create the ultimate pop music playlist. Over time, music became much more segregated but largely thanks to TikTok, we had a jumble of various sounds finding their way into our ears; classic soul, hip-hop, country, dance-pop, world music, Latin-pop, a bit of jazz and older music which were tunes that didn't receive much attention when initially released or songs that were popular years ago but have been rediscovered by a new generation. I really love this trend of as I don't believe that most people only listen to one style of music. The possibilities of discovery are endless, making this new year exciting and full of promise.

Here are a few songs that I loved that I didn't get an opportunity to share throughout the year: