- 5 Songs You Need To Hear This Weekend - 2 August, 2013
- 5 Songs You Need To Hear This Weekend - 26 July, 2013
- 5 Songs You Need To Hear This Weekend - 19 July, 2013
FIVE SONGS YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT
1- Jason DeRulo ft. 2 Chainz – Talk Dirty
The hottest track to come out this week for me by far, is from one man hit machine, Jason DeRulo. With 8 top 20 hits under his belt, this time Jason steps away from the electro-pop sound of hits like ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’ and ‘The Other Side’ and heads more into Usher R&B territory with ‘Talk Dirty’. Following in the footsteps of recent hits for Justin Timberlake and Macklemore, there’s heavy use of the horn in this track (easy now!) and for the first time ever for Jason, a guest appearance as rapper 2 Chainz delivers a sadly forgettable and entirely unnecessary rap cameo.
2- Chris Malinchak – If U Got It
Fresh from the success of his debut single ‘So Good To Me’ earlier this year, US DJ, Chris Malinchak has started to see a few of his other tracks gain some interest and rightly so. ‘If U Got It’ is another perfectly chilled out dance track with haunting vocals and a gentle tinkering of a piano. There’s a heavy sample here from 60s hit collaboration ‘I’m Gonna Make You Love Me’ by The Supremes and The Temptations. On this track the attention to detail is flawless with such precision on every single sound that soothes its way out of the record.
3- Lauren Aquilina – Sinners
With Adele, Florence and The Machine and Lana Del Rey all securing some of the biggest album sales figures of the decade so far, a door has been opened for female singer/songwriters with simple acoustic ballads. We’ve had Ellie Goulding, Gabrielle Aplin, Birdy and now it’s the turn of 18 year old, Lauren Aqulina, who despite still being as yet unsigned has crashed into the UK top 75 this week with this stunning track.
4- Anna Kendrick – Cups (When I’m Gone)
Recently I indulged the teenage girl inside of me by giving the film Pitch Perfect a go. While I was unimpressed by the clichéd script (one I’ve already seen on Raise Your Voice, Fighting Temptations, Mean Girls, House Bunny etc.) and the shameless way the movie follows Glee in taking your favourite songs and sucking all the emotion out of them, a rare highlight in the film was a simple track called ‘Cups’ which has only just recently peaked in the US top 10 and is heading the same way now in the UK too. It’s a folksy track that hasn’t lost too much of its charm now that it’s been given a much larger production in its single version. It could turn out to be one of the sleeper hits of the late Summer.
5- Duke Dumont ft. MNEK – Hold On
While his debut chart topper, ‘Need U (100%)’ had all the flare of a girls’ night out anthem, the follow up single, ‘Hold On’ is a much more subtle affair, stripped right back with a simple production and powerful vocal from producer and singer, MNEK who not only wrote Dumont’s debut, but also Little Mix’s chart topper, ‘Wings’. This one will take you a few listens, but given the chance, I believe it has far more substance than its predecessor.
Shane’s Retro Pick
Basement Jaxx – Red Alert
This week’s retro pick from Basement Jaxx has been inspired by the announcement of a tour and new single around the corner. When ‘Red Alert’ became their first major hit, smashing into the UK top 5 back in 1999, nobody could have predicted 6 hit albums and 17 top 40 hits and that they’d end up as one of the biggest dance acts of all time. ‘Red Alert’ still remains a solid favourite of mine with its real carnival feel and loud vocal as well as the chantings of “Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo”. The eccentric craziness of the production has been a constant through their entire discography, from the barking mad ‘Where’s Your Head At’ to the cheeky silliness of ‘Oh My Gosh’. They are an act to be reckoned with and I await their comeback eagerly!
