- 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 NOW.
1- The Other Tribe – Skirts
Headlining my top 5 this week is Bristol born band, The Other Tribe with their first major single release, ‘Skirts’. After recently breaking into the UK Top 40, the track promises future success for the band as we head into a new year. Difficult to box the track into a particular genre, think Simian Mobile Disco, Hot Chip and Bloc Party fused together to become a real hybrid of the traditional guitar lead band with the electronic production of a dance act.
2- Kelly Clarkson ft.Vince Gill – Don’t Rush
Either I’m starting to show my age, or the festive season is starting to get it’s Middle-of-the-Road grip on me, but following last week’s inclusion of Christina Aguilera & Blake Shelton’s country duet, this week it’s something quite similar coming from American Idol Kelly Clarkson and country legend, Vince Gill. ‘Don’t Rush’ is the second new single from Kelly’s Greatest Hits, Christmas cash-in. While it doesn’t pack the same punch as some of her classics like ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ or ‘Whatever Kills You’, it’s a nice delicate love story demanding a warm fire, blanket and hot chocolate, as opposed to the dark club, hotpants and vodka my favourites usually invoke.
3- Katy B ft. Jessie Ware – Aaliyah
Another track now from Katy B’s latest free EP, Danger. The song isn’t directly about the late R&B singer of the same name, but instead a fictional girl on the dance floor who appears so untouchable that it causes others (in this case Katy and one of the hottest names of the moment, Jessie Ware) to feel envious and taunted. Something perhaps that most gay guys can relate to whilst at their favourite gay bar (when I’m on the dance floor – or not!). It inevitably raises the question of whether there is some intended connection to singer, Aaliyah, in some sort of metaphor, as she is often cited as a major influence to R&B artists of today. Regardless of the meaning behind the song however, this is catchy, punchy and slick, boding well for her next album.
4- Skylar Grey ft. Eminem – C’Mon, Let Me Ride
‘C’Mon Let Me Ride’ is different to anything else you’re going to hear round about now. For me that gives the latest single from Wisconsin’s Skylar Grey major props. If her name is familiar, you may have heard her on Dr Dre’s ‘I Need A Doctor’ or P Diddy’s ‘Coming Home’, but her own solo career has been frustratingly slow so far, though this could be the track to really get the wheels back in motion. Produced by Alex Da Kid (Eminem ‘Love The Way You Lie’, B.O.B ‘Airplanes’), it has a real crunchy, raw baseline which compliments Skylar’s voice and really gets going when Eminem’s ever-angry rap kicks in. However, it’s the fun sample of Queen’s ‘Bicycle Race’ that comes out of nowhere that gives the perfect cherry on the top.
5- The Neighbourhood – Female Robbery
Finally this week it’s another new band to look out for in 2013: The Neighbourhood. Straight from LA, they have been described as the new Foster The People (before we’ve even worked out who the old ones are). It has an eerie, haunting R&B production with a catchy pop hook, delivering some influence surely of White Town’s 90’s hit ‘Your Woman’. The video is pretty epic too, rivalling those of bands that have been in the business much longer.
