David Archuleta had seemed to be happy during his time pursuing a music career and getting a jump start by becoming runner-up during the seventh season of "American Idol" back in 2008. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his faith was very important to Archuleta, even putting his rising career as a pop singer on hold while he spent two years as a missionary. But he had also been keeping a secret that he had been struggling with for many years: he was gay. This created a problem for him with the Mormon Church when he finally came out in 2021, eventually feeling he had to leave it behind. Archuleta has continued with his music career, more recently with a desire to perform freely whatever kind of music that personally motivates him and he can have fun with. His latest single, "Crème Brulée" is exactly that, clearly inspired by Sabrina Carpenter's catchy hit, "Espresso" which he had performed live in concert. The music video for this playful song has Archuleta dancing with smooth choreography interchangeably locked with male and female dancers.
Here is a spotlight on some new music: Kendrick Lamar and SZA team up on the single, "Luther" from his album, "GNX" with the video as a short film; "Tonight", the latest from British pop artist, PinkPantheress that is a part of her upcoming mixtape; Lucy Dacus, member of the indie supergroup, Boygenius, has just released her fourth solo album, "Forever is a Feeling" and this is a single from the collection and Kesha is back with new music from her upcoming album, a country/hip-hop hybrid that features T-Pain.
It's not really a great surprise that the romantic relationship between actress/pop singer, Selena Gomez and producer/songwriter, benny blanco would lead to a musical connection between these two. Beginning their love affair a little over two years ago, although they first met working together on music for her second solo album, "Revival" in 2015, this couple, who are engaged, has just released their recent collaboration, "I Said I Love You First", an album filled with songs that focuses on the ending of one relationship and finally finding true love in a new one. Gomez, who stars in the popular series, "Only Murders in the Building" and recently co-starred in the provocative, Oscar-nominated big-screen musical, "Emilia Pérez" and blanco, the pop music creator who has probably worked at some point with every contemporary artist you may know, has brought on board Gracie Abrams, The Marías and J Balvin to appear on their project. Here are a few of my favorite tracks from the album:
Less than a week away, the Oscarswill be announcing their selection for Best Original Song in a motion picture. The musical-drama, "Emilia Pérez" has two songs in this category and both were written by French pop artist, Camille and Clément Ducol, a film composer and arranger. "El Mal" (which was co-written with the film's director, Jacques Audiard) is a rap-rock song that translates in Spanish as "The Evil" that looks at the hypocrisy of criminals contributing to a nonprofit organization that was founded by Emilia Pérez who was a former male drug dealer. "Mi Camino", performed in the film by actress/pop star, Selena Gomez and means "My Way", explores the inner desires of her character (who is the wife of the drug lord and unaware of his transition) to accept herself completely despite her flaws and poor judgement. Adrian Quesada, a songwriter best known for his work with the alt-soul band, Black Pumas, teamed up with musician, Abraham Alexander to write and perform the song, "Like A Bird" for the acclaimed prison drama, "Sing Sing", based on the real-life, Through the Arts, a rehabilitation program set-up at the Maximum Security Prison. Elton John earned his fifth Oscar nomination (and a two time winner) for "Never Too Late", a song co-written with Brandi Carlile for the documentary, "Elton John: Never Too Late" on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert tour. And this year's Diane Warren nomination is for the unremarkable ballad, "The Journey", her contribution to Tyler Perry's war drama, "The Six Triple Eight" about the little known story of the African-American women who served in the army during World War II.
In my humble opinion, I believe "El Mal" will be taking home the Oscar this year but we shall see on March 2nd. But in a ridiculous move, it has been decided that none of the five nominated songs will be actually performed on the Oscars telecast. So here is your opportunity to hear these nominated songs together:
"El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)
"The Journey" from "The Six Triple Eight" (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
"Like a Bird" from "Sing Sing" (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)
"Mi Camino" from "Emilia Pérez" (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)
"Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late" (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)
"Used To Be Young" is the latest single from Miley Cyrus. This is a bonus track on the reissued digital copy of her album, "Endless Summer Vacation" and first premiered on her recently updated documentary concert special, "Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions)". The introspective ballad (co-written by Cyrus with Gregory Aldae Hein and co-producer, Michael Pollack) addresses her wild behavior in the past, summing it up to her simply being young. The music video for the song is uncluttered and direct with Cyrus going through a flood of emotions while performing the song.
It has been ten years since Ariana Grande's debut studio album, "Yours Truly" that helped turn this teen actress into a pop music icon. Now a re-issue of the album has been released and this 10th anniversary edition features the original twelve tracks and new versions of six songs, recorded live at the Soho House in London. There is also a Spanglish take of Grande's breakout single, "The Way" with the late Mac Miller.
After briefly deciding to step away from music following the disappointing reception of her 2021 third album, "The End of an Era", Iggy Azalea has made a comeback with a new single. "Money Come", produced by Tricky Stewart and features a sample of K7’s "Come Baby Come", has the Aussie rapper's distinctive style and swagger back in action. The video for the song has Azalea acting as a CEO, going through an office building filled with men and transforming them into powerful women. She has also surprisingly teamed up with OnlyFans to help her in promoting the upcoming fourth album.
Now that we are into the new year, it's time to look at some of the upcoming new music that is expected in 2020. In the first few weeks, we had new albums from Halsey, Selena Gomez and a posthumous release from Mac Miller. And Vulture has done a rundown of other artists who are supposed to release some long-awaited new music throughout the year. This includes some big names who have been promising something for awhile yet nothing has materialized to date. This includes Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, The Dixie Chicks, SZA, Adele and Rihanna to name just a few.
After leaving one of the hottest girl-groups out right now, Fifth Harmony last December, Camila Cabello has wasted no time getting her solo career in order. The twenty year-old singer has already hit the top-twenty this year by providing vocals on Shawn Mendes' "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and Machine Gun Kelly's "Bad Things". And now she has dropped her first single as a solo artist. "Crying In The Club", using an island-flavored beat and a sample of Christina Aguilara's "Genie In a Bottle", is about the power of music helping to make it through heartbreak. This mid-tempo ballad is hardly groundbreaking and if it makes you think of a Sia track, that's because the singer co-wrote the song with Cabello along with current hit-makers, Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat and Happy Perez. Let's see what else will come as Cabello's debut album, "The Hurting. The Healing. The Loving." is due out this fall.
KATY PERRY
Katy Perry has just released a third song from her upcoming fifth studio album, "Witness". But what makes this tune, "Swish Swish" most notable is that it may be a swipe at fellow pop princess, Taylor Swift who apparently penned a thinly-veiled attack on Perry with her 2015 song, "Bad Blood". Just like Swift, Perry does not confirm nor deny this claim but will say it's about anti-bullying with a '90's inspired dance beat. She was the musical guest on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live" and here is a live performance of the song:
IGGY AZALEA
The Aussie rapper, Iggy Azalea is back trying reignite her music career with a new track. Her latest single, "Switch", that features Brazilian pop star, Anitta delivering the hook, is certainly catchy but I don't know if it's enough to get her back on the pop chart. Time will tell but have a listen to judge for yourself:
Finally, we have my favorite out of this batch of new songs. Selena Gomez has returned with "Bad Liar", a slinky, beat-driven ballad from the team of Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter who brought us the singer's hits, "Good For You" and "Hands To Myself". Using the bassline from Talking Heads' 1977 song, "Psycho Killer" as inspiration, the song has Gomez singing about unconvincingly denying her feelings for a new love interest.
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