RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

With her ninth studio album, "Visions", Norah Jones dives deeper into the soulful side of her music. Teaming with Leon Michels, a musician and producer who played with several soul bands that includes being a founding member of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings as well as touring with the alt-rock band, the Black Keys, Jones, now a forty-four year old wife to musician, Pete Remm and mother to their two children, has gotten looser and funkier with her sound. Yet fear not, long time jazz era fans of Jones, there are still elements of her smooth musical style on this record that first brought her fame twenty-two years ago.





Some new music I'm feeling right now is the latest single from Tyla with the South African singer's self titled debut has also just been released; the Irish rocker, Hoizer has dropped an EP with a track enjoying Tik Tok popularity; another single from Colombian performer, Shakira has her teaming up with hip-hop artist, Cardi B.; the new single by the reunited '90's boy-band, New Kids on the Block who are now middle-aged men and Lorde's contribution for a tribute album to Talking Heads which celebrates the re-release of the band's amazing 1984 feature film, "Stop Making Sense" which will be released through the movie studio, A24's music label.

Kim Gordon first found success as one of the founding members of the influential alternative rock band, Sonic Youth. After spending thirty years with this experimental band, Gordon parted ways not only with this musical group but with her husband and fellow band member, Thurston Moore in 2011. She has since spent her time creating art, working on a fashion line, doing a little acting and producing for other musical artists.

Gordon had little interest in recording as a solo artist yet when she met producer, Justin Raisen in 2015, he convinced her to forge ahead. Their first project together was "No Home Record" four years later which was well received. This musical duo set about working together again and their latest collaboration has been released. "The Collective", with the title inspired by Jennifer Egan's novel, "The Candy House", is vigorous blending of thrashing guitars and hip-hop beats. The Tik Tok generation has embraced the seventy year old Gordon and a track from the album, "Bye Bye", which describes a list of items she will pack for a trip enhanced by pulsating, noisy beats.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Kylie Minogue had released the album, "Disco" late in 2020, in part, to serve as inspiration to get people back on the dance floor after spending most of the year in isolation. And this fifteenth studio album has gone on to become one of Minogue's most popular, leading to a sequel of sorts with "Disco: Guest List Edition" which includes remixes of the singles from the album and new dance songs with duets featuring Jessie Ware, Years & Years and the disco legend, Gloria Gaynor. The music video for the latest single, "Can't Stop Writing Songs About You" with Gaynor has just been released, with these two dancing queens helping to bring a disco to life.



Here is a highlight of some interesting songs that I love :

If you may recall, New Kids of the Block (which is probably not a great name for a group whose members are now in their fifties) was a pop boy-band, made up of Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood, who were wildly popular in the late '80's and early '90's with such songs as "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", "Step by Step" and "Hangin' Tough" before disbanding in 1994. They first reunited fourteen years later and have continued to come together over the years to tour. Now NKOTB plans to hit the road this summer with another Mixtape Tour that will include other musical acts that were popular during their time; Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley, and En Vogue. And to help get people in the mood, the band has released a new song and video, "Bring Back the Time" that features their tour mates. This fun clip has the musicians spoofing music videos of different artists from the height of the MTV era. Let's see how many of these you will remember:

And the former member of the British boy-band, One Direction, Harry Styles has just dropped some new music. After the incredible success of his first two solo albums, fans have been anxiously waiting to hear what he will do next and Styles does not disappoint. The twenty-eight year old musician has been greatly inspired by the music from the past and with "As It Was", he delivers an '80's new wave vibe. Written by Styles with Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson (who also co-produced), the song is an introspective look at change and a feeling of loneliness. "As It Was" broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record by a male artist with 16.1 million streams in its first 24 hours. This is the first track off of Styles' upcoming album, "Harry's House" due out in May.