Sienna Spiro, a rising pop-soul singer from the UK is gaining attention on this side of the pond with her single, "Die on This Hill", The twenty year old has been performing and writing songs since she was ten, inspired by the records of her parents that included Frank Sinatra and Nina Simone and the hip-hop that was playing during her youth, dropping out of high school at sixteen to pursue music full time. As is common these days for aspiring musicians, Spiro posted clips of herself singing covers and original songs on social media. Two years ago, she released her first single, "Need Me". Spiro released more music and began performing around London, making an impression at the All Points East music festival. Last year, she released an EP, "Sink Now, Swim Later" on Capitol Records and went on tour throughout Britain. In October, the power ballad, "Die On This Hill", co-written by Spiro with Omer Fedi and Michael Pollack, was released and has gone on to become an international top-ten smash. Spiro is currently putting together her debut album and is in the middle of a headlining tour in the US.
Here is a round-up of new sounds that I'm listening to at the moment: "American Girls", the second single from Harry Styles' recently released album, "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally"; Mary J Blige is back in fine form with a soulful ballad, "More Than a Lover"; Another single, "Ride" from Jessie Ware's upcoming sixth studio album, "Superbloom" is a shimmering dance track with the video featuring actor, James Norton; Bebe Rexha teams with Brit electro band, Faithless for a high energy, house track, "New Religion" and the first single by country artist, Kacey Musgraves, "Dry Spell" from her next album, "Middle of Nowhere" due out in May.
The sounds of classic disco, which enjoyed the height of its popularity during the mid-1970's, has climbed back up onto the current music charts. Donna Summer's 1978 version of Jimmy Webb's trippy ode to the Los Angeles site, "MacArthur Park" and Anita Ward's 1979 number one worldwide smash hit, "Ring My Bell" both recently made it back to the top ten of the iTunes music chart. Alysa Liu had skated to Summer’s song during the 2026 Winter Olympics and won the gold medal, helping this disco track receive rejuvenated popularity. A viral TikTok trend with "Ring My Bell" made sales and streaming of this song skyrocket this month. Ward, who went from schoolteacher to overnight disco star, only enjoyed success with this one song while Summer had a far more extensive and influential career before passing away in 2012, still known to the world as "The Queen of Disco". Let's get back on the dance floor and get lost in the beat of these songs with the entire seventeen minute epic version of the "MacArthur Park Suite" (which includes another charting single, "Heaven Knows") and Ward performing her hit on the British program, "Top of the Pops":
Harry Styles has laid low since his last album, "Harry's House", the wildly popular, critically acclaimed record that capped off his year by winning the 2022 Grammy Award for Album of the Year . Now the English pop star, a former member of one of the most successful the boy-bands of all-time, One Direction, has revealed that his next album is on the horizon. "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally" is the peculiar title of his fourth studio album, due out on March 6th. Perhaps this title signals the musical direction of this upcoming record, based on the first single, "Aperture".
The track (co-written by Styles with fellow British musician, Kid Harpoon who also serves as the executive producer of the album) is a slow-burning, techno-dance tune. The singer has revealed that the song was inspired by his grueling, almost two year touring schedule which didn't allow him much time to experience a personal life but made up for the lost time over the past year by traveling and partying. The video for "Aperture" has Styles being followed by a stranger who chases and attacks him before shifting to them performing some wild interpretive dance moves together.
JESSIE WARE
The British nu-disco diva, Jessie Ware has returned with a shimmering new dance-pop song, "I Could Get Used to This". Ware has expressed that this first single represents what the theme of her forthcoming sixth album (no title revealed to date) will be about: a celebration of love and romance set in a lush, fantasy world. She has collaborated on this project with some of the top producers working in Brit-pop right now like Miranda Cooper and Jon Shave of the team, Xenomania, Barney Lister and Sophia Brenan. The music video for "I Could Get Used to This" is a hedonistic affair, set in a celestial garden with Ware surrounded by sensuous dancers.
Fresh off her dazzling performance in the Disney live-action musical, "The Little Mermaid", Halle Bailey is here to remind us she has not abandoned her music career. After spending much of her professional life with her sister, Chlöe (who had released her debut studio album, "In Pieces" in March), the twenty-three-year-old singer has released a single, "Angel" which is the first song off her own upcoming solo album. This uplifting ballad (written by Bailey, Sebastian Kole, and the song's producer, Ron "Neff-U" Feemster) explores her experiences of growing up as a Black woman in this world. And Bailey will be back on the big screen soon as she will make an appearance in the musical adaptation of "The Color Purple" due in theaters on Christmas Day.
"Freak Me Now", the latest single from Jessie Ware's euphoric, disco-inspired, "That! Feels Good!", is a now remixed and features fellow Brit dance floor veteran, Róisín Murphy. This pairing does not disappoint, with these fierce vocalists tearing up on this retro track and team up together in a fun, campy music video.
And the latest song from Doja Cat's upcoming fourth studio album has dropped. Coasting along on a sample of the Dionne Warwick's classic, "Walk On By", "Paint The Town Red" is about the singer not caring what her haters think, ignoring them all and enjoying her life. The accompanying music video certainly give you the impression that Doja Cat is "the Lady Gaga of Hip-hop" with the clip featuring outrageous imagery that includes scenes of her dancing intimately with "Death", throwing bloody chunks of meat and riding on a giant dragon through the sky. And there is still no release date or title of Doja's next album.
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:
There is no doubt that 2020 was a very challenging year. But thankfully we had music to help soothe us throughout these turbulent last twelve months. One of the highlights was the resurgence of dance music which has always brought joy and comfort during difficult times. This music was certainly important during the AIDS crisis and it's not surprising that dance is the direction that people gravitated towards this year, even though you couldn't get anywhere near a dance floor.
There were several great albums released; Lady Gaga's "Chromatica", Jessie Ware's "What's Your Pleasure", Dua Lipa's "Future Nostalgia", Charli XCX's quarantine-created album, "how i’m feeling now" and Kylie Minogue's aptly titled, "Disco" to name just a few that unabashedly made dance a central part of their sound.
Vulture has assembled twenty-one of the best dance songs from 2020 that looked back on classic disco for inspiration and delivered fresh, reflective sounds that briefly assisted in helping us forget about all of the troubles happening in the world.
Moses Sumney is an exciting voice in pop music that many may not have heard of but definitely need to hear. The twenty-eight year old queer artist, who was Los Angeles-raised and currently living in Ashville, N.C., first came on the scene after self-recording an EP, "Mid-City Island" in 2014. Sumney's intimate, experimental sound lead to him releasing his full-length debut, "Aromanticism" three years later. The album went on to be enthusiastically praised and ended up on several Best Albums of 2017 lists including the New York Times. Now Sumney has dropped his follow-up, "Græ", a twenty-song collection that jams together sounds and musical genres to create what he describes as "a concept album about grayness" or taking something bland and injecting it with bold color. The record explores the idea of not being afraid of the complexities that shapes one's identity and embracing that. Here is the video for the single, "Cut Me" which was also directed by the musician:
Take a look at a few inventive music videos for some recent songs I really like:
And finally as a fun way to remember that just because the parades were cancelled doesn't mean we still cannot celebrate LGBTQ pride. Katy Perry has taken her lovely ballad, "Daisies", which she released in the middle of the pandemic, and given it a throbbing dance remix called "Can't Cancel Pride". And the very pregnant singer has made a music video for the song, filled with her trademark whacky sense of humor and the colors of the rainbow flag exploding all over the screen.
Last year, Zedd had a big hit when he teamed-up with rising country star, Maren Morris on "The Middle". This infectious dance track became a worldwide smash and earned three Grammy Award nominations. Now the DJ and producer has dropped a new single and joined forces with pop superstar, Katy Perry with "365". While I don't think this song is nearly as catchy as Zedd's previous hit but it does grow on you after a few listens. The music video for "365" is clever mini movie. This impressive clip, directed by Warren Fu, features Perry as a humanoid robot and Zedd as a test subject to see how compatible they could be living together. While the robot falls in love with the human, he doesn't return those affections which leads to a tragic end.
The British songstress, Jessie Ware has been quiet for a while since the release of third album, "Glasshouse" back in 2017. But she dropped a single, "Overtime" late last year and Ms Ware has made 2019 much better with another new single. Released on Valentine's Day eve, "Adore You" is a sensual, groove-based love song which was co-written by Ware and Joe Mount of the English electro band, Metronomy who also produced the track. I'm loving this record and hoping this is going to finally lead to a new album. Here are both of Ms Ware's recent tracks for your enjoyment:
Bruno Mars invited hot new artist, Cardi B to spice up a remix of his single, "Finesse" and this collaboration produced one of the biggest singles of 2018. Now, this duo has wisely teamed-up again for a new song by Cardi B. "Please Me" is another old-school flavored jam that is drenched with sexual energy. Mars is along to provide the smooth hook where he begs for a taste of what Cardi has to offer. And the music video perfectly adds to the '90's bump-n-grind vibe.
First up, here are some interesting music videos I like:
After taking some time off to get married and have her first child (it's a girl!) last year, Jessie Ware didn't seem to have wasted anytime getting back to music. The British songstress has just released two new songs. "Midnight" is a haunting uptempo ballad delivering what we love about Ms Ware as it features her sensual vocals and sophisticated songwriting. While "Selfish Love" is another ballad but guitar-driven with a slight bossa-nova beat that presents a completely different vibe from the singer. Look for her upcoming third album, "Glasshouse" in October. In the meantime, check out the music videos for these songs:
I recently just heard one of his songs from back in the day and it made me wonder; what happened to Christopher Cross? This singer, born Christopher Geppert and originally from San Antonio, Texas, released his debut album back in 1979 and it was an immediate success. His collection of soft rock tunes included the hits, "Ride Like The Wind", "Never Be The Same" and the number one single, "Sailing" which helped sell five million copies of the album. Cross would go on to win five Grammy Awards including Best New Artist and Album of The Year. His follow-up album in 1983, "Another Page", continued the hits with "Think of Laura", "All Right" and included "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" from the Dudley Moore comedy, "Arthur" which would go on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song. But after all this immediate pop success, the easy-listening rock of Christopher Cross soon wasn't having much of an impact on the charts. He's still around making music and about to embark on a cross-country North American tour. Here are a couple of songs that I love from Christopher Cross:
One of my favorite albums from 2012 was "Devotion" by British singer, Jessie Ware and she is finally back with some new music. "Tough Love" is the latest single and I'm loving this. It delivers a very tasty '80's Prince mellow vibe with Ware making it sound fresh and all her own. No clear word on when a new album will actually be released but in the meantime, soak up this tune:
UPDATE: The U.S. edition of "Devotion" is finally out on April 16th. The album feature two hot new tracks: "Imagine It Was Us" and a remix of "Wildest Moments" featuring A$AP Rocky. Check out the video for "Imagine":
The rest of the world may be familiar with Brit-soul artist, Jessie Ware but here in the U.S., most people wouldn't have a clue. I'm hopping to put a little spotlight on this talented, twenty-eight year old singer/songwriter.
It would be easy to simply lump her with all of the other English female pop vocalists buzzing around these shores but Ms Ware is offering something slightly different than her counterparts. While American soul most certainly plays a heavy influence to this artist, her music also includes subtle electro-beats that manages to bring a surprisingly ethereal quality to her sound. She may not possess the big voice like some of her peers but you can feel her deep passion in every song.
So, take a moment to check out a couple of tunes from Jessie Ware's debut, "Devotion", you'll be glad you did:
"Devotion" - Jessie Ware (2012)
"110%" - Jessie Ware (2012)
What I love most about Ms Ware is how she has taken some classic r&b tunes and twisted them to sound familiar yet feel completely new and otherworldly. Here are two songs originally done by Bobby Caldwell and Stephanie Mills that the singer puts her distinctive stamp on:
"What You Won't Do For Love" - Jessie Ware (2012)
"Never Knew Love Like This Before" - Jessie Ware (2013)
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:
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