Into The Groove

JoJo - Keep Forgetting (To Forget About You)

2009-09-30T19:56:00.006Z

It's been such a long wait for JoJo's new album that someone at her label obviously decided they couldn't be so mean as to keep this incredible new song away from us for a moment longer! It leaked a few days ago, and although I am pleased to hear such an ace new song, I remember JoJo only having one song I particularly loved on each of her previous albums, so I'm hoping this isn't the only good one on her new album, as I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted her best song to leak so early. The album isn't actually expected to be released until next year. Keep Forgetting is a very emotional mid-tempo pop song, and the fact that it's produced by Billy Steinberg and Josh Alexander, the guys responsible for Too Little Too Late, much of The Veronicas' first album and Don't Let It Go To Your Head by Fefe/Lilyjets/Jordin should give you an idea of what to expect. It's very, very good indeed!

Backstreet Boys - All Of Your Life (Need Love)

2009-09-08T23:57:00.003Z

RedOne has done two tracks for the new BSBs album, and it turns out that this one, which leaked recently, is even better than the single! I do love Straight Through My Heart, but All Of Your Life is my favourite song of those I've heard from the new album so far. I think I even like it better than Bigger, on which they reunite with Max Martin! The funny thing about All Of Your Life is that it's RedOne's most Swedish song ever. It sounds a bit like his usual sound, but the most striking similarity for me is to BWO! The backing music sounds just like them. In fact, if BWO did a song with RedOne, it would probably sound quite like this, and now I'm kind of sad that Nadir is so sought after now that he's unlikely to ever work with BWO...

Pixie Lott - Rolling Stone and Here We Go Again

2009-07-10T14:39:00.002Z

The most exciting thing about Pixie Lott's success is that we'll get to hear her album, which she worked on with some of the world's very best songwriters and producers. Among them is RedOne, aka Moroccan-Swedish Nadir Khayat, the hottest producer in the world at the moment. Two songs have leaked which RedOne produced for Pixie, so I thought I'd share them both with you. Here We Go Again is my favourite of the two, but they're both really catchy pop numbers which define Pixie as anything but the Duffy-for-kids image that Mamo Do unfortunately gave her. This is proper all out pop music, and these songs are the reason that I will defend Pixie in the face of all the music critics who, despite the current pop revival, still seem to see her 'stage school-ness' as a bad thing. I have to wonder if they are just jealous that she had success handed to her on a plate, signing such a massive record deal at such a young age, but her live performances show that she has the talent to pull it off. While she may not be the brain of Britain or have the most interesting of personalities, she's identifiable for the teenage girl audience, and most importantly, she's a vehicle for amazing pop music. Is that really something to complain about?

Priscilla Renea - I Fell in Love

2009-07-08T23:40:00.007Z

If, like me, you can never decide if you prefer r&b divas or cutesy acoustic-poppers, then Priscilla Renea is the artist for you, as she's perched right in the middle of those two genres. I Fell in Love is sonically a blend of Shontelle and Yael Naim, plus the character of Hafdis Huld. I wasn't sure about her voice at first, but every time I listen to I Fell in Love, I become more obsessed with. I have indeed fallen in love! It's such a sweet, bouncy song with so many lyrics I don't know how Priscilla doesn't run out of breath. Priscilla is one of the many new artists who earned their record deals due to their huge popularity on YouTube, and I actually like that this has become a trend. It's a much more democratic way of deciding who gets a record deal and of course benefits the label and the artist as there is the security of already knowing the artist has public appeal. You can understand why people love her when you see her singing the dictionary on YouTube!

Lollipop - Don't Leave Me Now

2009-06-24T18:00:00.005Z

One of the first ever reality TV bands, Lollipop were a girl group who won Popstars in Italy back in 2001. Don't Leave Me Now was their second single, but I only heard it very recently for the first time. It's certainly the best song I've heard by them, although I also quite like This is the Reason. Of all the singers I've heard for whom English is not their first language, Lollipop are among the worst at pronunciation. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of the song, but it would be interesting to hear a version sung by English singers. Don't Leave Me Now is very typical of early 00's pop, an obvious attempt to imitate Max Martin's sound, and one of the more successful of those. Lollipop broke up in 2004 and it seems none of them have been successful since, except for one member named Dominique, who entered Star Academy in France, where she came second and released an album.

Daisy Dares You - Daisy Dares You (free mp3)

2009-06-15T12:01:00.003Z

Daisy has posted a few new songs on her MySpace recently, and I've been listening to them lots in order to decide on my favourite. In the end I had to choose this one, a sort of Daisy Dares You theme tune, which is handily available as a free mp3. Since I last wrote about Daisy, her career has progressed quite a bit. She's now signed to Sony and working on new songs for her forthcoming album. I wonder if she'll be able to make anything better than No.1 Enemy or if that will end up being the first single? It should certainly be released at some point. I do have some doubts about the certainty of Daisy's success (people could certainly find her annoying) but I am sure that I will love whatever she comes out with.

Robyn and Yelle's Foreign Exchange

2009-06-02T18:09:00.002Z

Being a huge fan of both Robyn and Yelle, you can imagine my excitement when I heard that they are releasing a special iTunes EP together. It is called Foreign Exchange and features one song by each of the girls, a cover of one of the other girl's hits. Robyn covers A cause des garçons with the translated title Because of Boys, and Yelle covers Who's That Girl and renames it Qui est cette fille. Both of the new versions are as brilliant as you would expect, since Robyn and Yelle are perfectly matched for this kind of project. It's the sort of thing I'd dream up but never expect to really happen - it's almost too good to be true! I've uploaded both the new versions to Imeem, so I'd love to know how you think they compare to each other and to the original versions of the songs. Personally I think Qui est cette fille is my favourite, but I do love them both.

Kate Earl - All I Want and Everlasting

2009-06-01T10:06:00.003Z

She may present herself as a new Feist/Regina Spektor kind of artist, and the comparison is supported by her current single Melody, but All I Want and Everlasting are the most poptastic songs I've heard since Battlefield. Kate's music (and her vocals) could easily be mistaken for Swedish. Her voice is very similar to Adiam Dymott, actually. All the songs on her MySpace are very good, and I'll certainly be buying her album when I get the chance. I can't imagine anyone who reads this blog not liking her music. In fact, I think most of you are going to absolutely adore these songs. There are hints of Lykke Li or Santogold's style, but with the poptasticness multiplied by 100. She's signed to Universal and working with Tommy Mottola, so expect a big promotional campaign for Kate, which will most likely be followed with huge success. Kate Earl is definitely a name which will be much better known this time next year.

Esmée Denters - Victim

2009-05-31T10:47:00.004Z

If you can't get enough of Jordin Sparks' amazing new single, Battlefield, then here's another Ryan Tedder song in the Bleeding Love/Halo/Battlefield style. I love Esmée's first single, Outta Here (and even posted it here a couple of months ago), but the album is quite average, which is disapppointing considering she worked with many big name writers and producers. Victim is definitely the best song on the album, and if she has any sense at all she'll release it as her next single. The only thing I dislike about it is her prenunciation of "victim" as "vic-dumb"! It's very catchy, though, especially the "ah-I" bits. It will be interesting to see whether Esmée is successful in the UK, cos I think her career could easily go either way. She's not particularly well known here from her YouTube fame, but the combination of a song as good as Outta Here and the backing of Justin Timberlake will get her plenty of publicity. Personally I think Kristinia DeBarge might beat Esmée to becoming the next new female R&B star in the UK (along with Alexandra Burke, of course) but there could certainly be room for both of them in our charts, and if so it'll be a very poptastic year for R&B.

Beautiful Small Machines - Robots in Love

2009-05-10T23:46:00.005Z

Adding an electronic slant to rock or r&b music is nothing special these days, but now the trend has spread to another genre and the result is quite fantastic. Now forgive me if I'm forgetting something major, but have you ever heard a song before that could most aptly be described as electro-country? Whether you have or not, you're just about to! Robots in Love is half Taylor Swift, half Margaret Berger (well, who else could I compare a song about robot love to?). It's gloriously cute and happy, danceable and adorable. The band's other songs aren't quite so country-influenced, but they're just as brilliant. Beautiful Small Machines are undoubtedly one of my favourite discoveries of 2009 so far, and that means something because I've discovered some amazing new pop acts this year. Check out all of the songs on their MySpace, because there's not one track on there that I can't say I absolutely love! The band members, Bree and Donnie, seem like great fun people and you must look at the cute robot pictures in their Pics section on MySpace. This duo are definitely going to be giving my other favourite bands a run for their money this year. I can't wait til they get a whole album out!

Backstreet Boys - Bigger

2009-05-03T21:51:00.004Z

As you may know, the Backstreet Boys have got back together with Max Martin, the man who caused their success by giving them some of his best ever songs. I don't know how many songs they've recorded together, but one called Bigger has leaked. A short live recording has been on YouTube for a while already, but now there's a full length studio version doing the rounds. Last time the BSBs worked with Max they were one of the first acts to try out the Max-rock sound, and together they came up with classics like Just Want You to Know and Climbing the Walls. Bigger, however, is a return to the sound of the Black and Blue album or even Milennium. It's nice to know that while Max can capture the tastes of a new generation with acts like Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson, he hasn't lost the knack for making the perfect pop songs he was originally known for. I reviewed several of the new BSB songs recently on TMBP, but since then several new tracks have appeared, most notably this one which is terribly dull but unfortunately features T-Pain so will probably still make the album.

Jessica Folcker - Crash Like a Wrecking Ball

2009-04-12T22:08:00.005Z

As a popstar who regularly worked with Max Martin in the early days of his brilliant career, I have often tried to get into Jessica Folcker's music, but I have never really managed it. Confusingly, none of the songs she did with Max really float my boat, but a recent random listen to some of her singles made me realise that my mistake was in only listening to her Max Martin productions. As crazy as it sounds, Jessica's best songs are not actually the ones she made with Max! Less crazy, however, is the fact that this one sounds remarkably like a Max Martin creation. One in particular springs to mind, and I'm sure you'll think the same as soon as you hear the intro to Crash: it's the BSBs' Larger Than Life! The lyrics are simplistic yet original (well, have you heard a song about a wrecking ball before?) and Jessica sounds like a force to be wreckoned with herself on this track. It's quite a contrast to the nice but unexciting ballads she seems to be best known for. Her recent album Snowflakes is well worth a listen, but much like her early work, I don't feel that it stands up to similar contemporaries like Annie and Margaret Berger.

Jada - American Cowboy

2009-04-04T17:58:00.002Z

Every new artist has a RedOne song on their album these days, from R&B girls like Pixie and Esmee Denters to boybands like V Factory and Menudo. My latest favourite RedOne song is the new single by US R&B girlband Jada, which was released to iTunes last week. The verses are just OK but the chorus is brilliantly catchy. The bit which goes "I know, you know, I'm seXAY!" has been stuck in my head all afternoon. I think it's another of RedOne's masterpieces, and it could potentially make Jada the next big American pop group.

Eva and the Heartmaker - Please!

2009-03-31T22:37:00.006Z

I thought I was feeling inexplicably cheery earlier, until I realised why - it was because I'd just discovered this super-ace and uplifting new song! Eva and the Heartmakers have released some fairly good singles over the past few years, but with Please! they burst into the realms of extreme poptasticness. Eva Weel Skram was a contestant from 2005's Idol series in Norway (she came 6th, with Jorun Stiansen becoming the winner), and after the show she joined forces with her husband, Thomas Stenersen, to form this duo. They're now on their second album, and Please! is their fourth hit single, currently at no.10 in the Norwegian chart. From their other songs, they seem like a cool, quirky pop band, but listening to Please!, the bands that come into mind are cheeky late 90s girl groups like Girl Thing and Fem@il! I could totally imagine them doing a song like this.

BWO - Rise to the Occasion & Thunderbolt

2009-03-30T15:02:00.005Z

Hooray, it's a new BWO album! I've been listening to it all morning and although I think it lacks the variety of my fave BWO album, Halcyon Days, it's a very enjoyable set of songs and certainly equal in quality to Fabricator. I picked these two songs to share with you (apologies for the low quality sound - I'll post better versions when I can) because they were the ones that instantly stood out for me, but of course my favourites are quite likely to change with the many more listens I plan to give this album. I do think, however, that both of these songs would have done better in Melodifestivalen than You're Not Alone did. Rise to the Occasion has a really catchy hook and I like the "woah-ohoh"s in the background. Thunderbolt is one of the danciest songs on the album, but that doesn't stop it having a random ballady bit in the middle! I love the menacing "don't you ignore my warning!" at the end. Is it just me or does Martin say "we don't need a Yorick, this night is historic" in the bridge? I can't think what else it could be! Hear the album in full here.

Esmee Denters - Outta Here

2009-03-29T00:21:00.004Z

Esmee is a Dutch artist who's been in development for over 2 years, and finally she's releasing her debut single, which is co-written by her mentor, Justin Timberlake. Despite being Dutch and never having released anything before, she has millions of fans around the world, but unless you're the sort of person who can be bothered to listen to random people singing cover versions on YouTube, you probably won't have heard of her. It was Justin who decided to take up her cause after seeing her on YouTube (and noticing her millions of fans, of course), and with such high profile backing she was naturally hooked up with some of the world's best writers and producers. Her album includes work with RedOne, Greg Kurstin and Ryan Tedder, among others. If you have a RedOne song on your album and you don't release it, your actual lead single must be quite amazing, and although I think amazing may be a slight exaggeration for this one, I am very impressed. It reminds me a bit of Rihanna's Disturbia, but Esmee's voice is much more like Christina Aguilera. I do find her voice a little shrill sometimes, but the catchiness of the song makes it allowable. With Esmee and Erik Hassle, 2009 could well be the year for Europeans making it big! (ps. I don't think the growly monster voice is supposed to be there, but I can't find a version without it)

The Servant - Liquefy

2009-03-24T14:49:00.007Z

One of the very best things about being completely obsessed with pop music, like I am, is that every so often an act who you liked years ago, without anyone else taking any notice, comes back and gets all the credit they deserve. It happened with Just Jack a few years ago (even Annie Mac, a supposed music expert, had no idea he's on his 3rd album now), and then last year the band formerly known as Dear Eskiimo became a huge success under the name of The Ting Tings. Now it's happening again with Dan Black, whose band The Servant I have loved since I first saw the video for Liquefy on long lost indie-pop music channel The Amp, back in 2005. The Servant were successful in France, Italy and Canada, but almost completely anonymous in the UK. When I heard of a new artist called Dan Black last year, I instantly recognised his super-distinctive voice, and, since the last Servant album was quite dull, I was extremely pleased to see him going back to a more poptastic sound. To be honest, I don't like his new stuff as much as the songs from The Servant's self-titled 2004 album, so it feels weird that he will probably do well with an album that currently seems unlikely to have anything as good as Liquefy on it. Oh well, at least it's an excuse to listen to the old songs again, and share them with a bigger audience, since no-one ever paid any attention when I professed their greatness years ago. If you like Liquefy, my next suggestion would be to listen to Orchestra and Cells, the other two singles, and the catchiest track, I Can Walk in your Mind. They're all amazing though, really, and the album's only £3.99 on CD Wow!!

Måns Zelmerlöw - Home

2009-03-23T11:20:00.008Z

I think Måns Zelmerlöw must be obsessed with hos (or hoes). Strange way to begin a post, I know, but I have reason for my suspicions: All of the best songs on his new album begin with "Ho"! Hope and Glory of course, then the best ballad (Hold On) and the best upbeat song (Home). I thoroughly recommend Hold On, but I decided to post Home, cos I'm sure there are many readers of ITG who have no patience for ballads, but there is certainly no-one who dislikes an upbeat poptastic number like Home. If you do, you're clearly quite lost! Any fans of Black and Gold by Sam Sparro should definitely give it a go, as the backing music is very similar. The new album MZW is out on Wednesday, but you can hear all the songs already on his MySpace.

Daisy Dares You - No.1 Enemy (and 2 other songs)

2009-03-20T16:52:00.003Z

I wanted to post some of Daisy's (old?) songs which aren't up on her MySpace anymore, as no-one else has posted them, but when it comes down to it, No.1 Enemy is by far her best song. On first listen I thought it was pretty good, but it wasn't until the next day, after having the chorus stuck in my head all night, that I realised its true brilliance. Her other songs are all very much worth a listen, and show great promise for Daisy to become a super-ace popstar in the future. I've just uploaded my favourite 2 of the 4 older songs, super-sweet You'll Be Fine and Lily Allen-esque Into My Life. I wasn't totally sure about the rap in No.1 Enemy at first, but it gets better when you're used to it, and I think it's good that she is open-minded about what kind of artist she is going to be. You certainly wouldn't expect, if you heard her other songs first, that she would have one with a rapper on it, but the fact that she does demonstrates versatility and makes her pop career a very exciting prospect. I can't wait to hear what she puts up on MySpace next.

V Factory - Love Struck

2009-03-19T00:34:00.004Z

I heard of V Factory sometime last year thanks to the brilliant US teenpop site Tommy2, and they had a few alright songs, but nothing too special. I forgot all about them until today, when I heard that they had a new single, and when I went to listen to it I knew instantly: this was a RedOne production! Not only was I right on that account, but it also turns out to be written by super-ace Swedish popstar, Darin! It's no surprise, as it sounds just like his style. There's one high note which is so uniquely Darin, I wonder if it is actually him singing. You might say that he is silly to give away a good song to another act, but actually he could potentially make a lot of money from it, since his own work is unfortunately not getting anywhere internationally, and until it does he won't make much from that. Songwriting credits on a US hit single, if this does turn out to be a success, will be absolutely worth giving away the song. As for V Factory, they have a few claims to fame of their own - one of them is in the remake of Fame released later this year, and another is Ashley Tisdale's boyfriend, a dancer in the HSM films. To be honest, I doubt they'll be more than the American answer to Avenue, but any new good quality boyband music is very welcome, as far as I'm concerned.

Holiday Parade - Slam Crunk

2009-03-18T16:08:00.002Z

Is there anything less likely for me to post than a rock band singing a medley of famous rap songs? But add to the equation that it sounds like the best song LFO never made, and it makes a lot more sense. It's an all-American jaunt of bouncy, cheeky silliness, and the familiarity of the songs makes it instantly super-catchy. I can't say I'm particularly impressed with anything else Holiday Parade have done, but they seem to be earning quite a lot of fans at the moment, so expect to hear much more of them in the future. If they get big in the UK, you can guess what they'll be doing in the Radio 1 live lounge!

Alcazar - Burning

2009-03-13T15:00:00.002Z

Finally, after 6 years we have a new album from Alcazar! I can't quite believe it. Is it really true? The best thing is, they haven't changed a bit. These songs would fit just as well on Casino or Alcazarized. I'm going to do a track-by-track review on TMBP, but for now, here is the full version of Burning, which is set to be their next single after Stay The Night. It's super-sparkly and fabulous, an instant Alcazar classic. The album also includes the first two singles released by this line-up, We Keep On Rockin' and Intuitions, and if you've never owned an Alcazar album before, then you'll be pleased to know there's an extra CD with all their greatest hits on it. I'm only half-way through listening to the album at the moment, but so far I absolutely 100% LOVE every song on it. Very, very impressed!

Ballas Hough Band - Do It For You

2009-03-09T22:15:00.002Z

Oh my God, it's the return of A1! OK, not really, but doesn't this sound just like them? I reckon they'd do quite well if they released a cover of this as a comeback single. Ballas Hough Band are quite a confusing entity. Mark Ballas and Derek Hough are both American but grew up together in London, along with Derek's sister, Julianne. They were taught ballroom dancing by Mark's famous parents, and also learnt to play instruments and sing. In 2007, they moved back to the US to take part in Dancing With the Stars as professional dancers. In 2008, Julianne released a country album and it did extremely well, so now Mark and Derek are set to release an album with their band, Ballas Hough Band. This is the lead single, and it's refreshingly poptastic, so I'm looking forward to hearing their album when it's released on the 10th of March. You can hear 3 more songs on their MySpace and they're quite varied. Devastated is more like Ben Adams' solo work than A1, while Fall and Breakthrough are much rockier, but Breakthrough especially has a great early-'00s pop chorus.

Royksopp ft. Robyn - The Girl and the Robot

2009-03-08T12:02:00.003Z

So, here's the much-anticipated collaboration between our darling Swede and Norway's coolest dance act. I have to admit I've only ever particularly liked one Royksopp song before, which was Only This Moment, although I enjoyed the Jacques le Cont remix of What Else Is There. This song is definitely as good as Only This Moment, and it's very nice to have something new from Robyn, since it's been 4 years now since her last album. Success is great of course, but I really miss getting new stuff from her. Please, please can we have a new album in 2009? The Girl and the Robot should go down well with fans of With Every Heartbeat, since it has Robyn doing her best emotional contemplation to an intense dance beat. Music like this demonstrates why people who think that dance music is just party music and has no real meaning or emotion are completely wrong. I, for one, find a song like this ten times more moving than guitar-based singer-songwriter music. Emotions don't jangle or plod, they rush and whir, and that's what a song like this conveys perfectly.

Erik Hassle - Hassle

2009-03-06T14:57:00.004Z

For the past week, since I discovered him (and instantly became obsessed), I have tried to decide which song or songs I could post here so that you could get an idea of how brilliant he is. In the end, I decided it was just not possible to choose. Every one of his songs is incredible. Therefore, I am linking to this e-card where you can listen to the whole album, which is called Hassle. Some of the particular highlights include the single Hurtful and the ballads, Make It In Time and The Thanks I Get. There are some great upbeat numbers too, but I love the ballads most of all, because Erik is such a heartfelt singer. I've listened to Erik so much in the last week, he's already my most listened to act in the last year, according to Last.FM! There is something VERY special here and I have a feeling that Erik could quite easily become one of the biggest selling Swedish artists of all time. It's a shame he's not a bit better looking, though.