In Case You Haven't Heard Part II

Promises promises. I know I promised a more POP-focused post following my rock-themed update back on September 9th, but life happened. Apologies.  Now the tunes I wanted to mention here are even more outdated but that's OK.  There are still some quality tunes here worth talkin' about. In this post we cover new stuff from X-Factor winners, Little Mix, UK dreamboat Ben Montague, pop cutie-patootie MIKA, Canadian popstar Esthero, plus a couple more. Enjoy!

How this little JAM slipped by me I'll never understand, especially considering how invested I was in season 8 of the ORIGINAL X-Factor.  Little Mix (formerly known as Rhythmix) are a four-piece girl group comprising members Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirwall and have the distinction of being the FIRST group to ever win it all on The X-Factor.  While they took their sweet-ass time to release any new tunes, first single "Wings" proves that these girls are well worth the wait.

Following the release of the girls' first #1 single, a decent enough POP cover of Damien Rice's tear jerker of a singer/songwriter ballad "Cannonball," they unleashed a proper up-tempo dance/pop tune on Great Britain in the form, of the TMS-produced hit "Wings," which went on to become the girls' second consecutive #1 hit single. You go girls!  The single was released on August 26th, backed by a tight remix package, featuring dance floor makeovers by The Alias and Sunship.  As nice as the remixes were, the song really shines brightest in it's original form.  It's a forceful little stomper of a pop tune, chock-full of plenty of soul and punchy attitude.  

Upon first listen, you could swear Little Mix has been singing together for years, rather than being the prime example of "manufactured" pop, a group made up of four solo singers plucked from the X-Factor reject pile by mentor/judge Tulisa Contostavlos.  The girls prove themselves and THEN some in their first official single, taken from their forthcoming debut album, DNA, which is scheduled to drop November 19th via Syco/will.i.am.   Here's hoping they do well enough in their native land to warrant a trip over here to the States.  If Cher Lloyd could do it successfully, I see no reason why these girls can't!

Download "Wings" on UK iTunes and check out the colorful and fun video ABOVE.

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[Hot Video Alert] John Mayer - Shadow Days

John Mayer, you can do no wrong in my eyes.  I have so many fond college memories involving Room For Squares, listening to it in my dorm room and on short road trips.  It blows my mind that it's been over ten years since it's release! It's a new classic in my opinion, one that I'll never get sick of playing.  I gotta hand it to John Mayer for keeping it consistent across the majority of his 10+ years in the business.   Aside from subtle differences in the instrumentation and perhaps the production, each and every one of his albums sounds definitively like a John Mayer album.  With four multi-platinum albums under his belt, he's found what works and he's sticking with it.  

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Massive Album Art Update - Part 2

Here's part two of my "Massive Album Artwork" update. The artwork comes from a variety of sources including Popjustice, Coverlandia and official major label resources.

The Best of Enya is the Irish singer's 4th best of set, the last one being 2002's Only Time - The Collection boxed set. Due out on November 16th, the album will be available in both a standard version as well as a deluxe CD/DVD version. While the album doesn't contain any new tracks, however "Aníron," from The Lord Of The Rings will appear for the first time on an Enya album. While I don't identify as an Enya fan per se, I do appreciate the beautiful and ethereal quality to her voice. While her stage presence leaves something to be desired (she's very shy and awkward, from what I've seen) she has a beautiful voice. I also love this artwork. I love the way her red dress pops against the black background.

I'm surprised that All Or Nothing is going to be British singer Jay Sean's debut U.S. album. Maybe this is because I've been more intently focused on the UK music scene and I've seen quite a few singles released over the past couple of years. Due out on November 23rd, All Or Nothing features Sean's hit single "Down," featuring U.S. rapper Lil' Wayne, hitting the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. The album will be released on Universal Music Group's Super Monday, with all of the label's higher profile albums being released on the Monday before the holiday to take advantage of the start of the busy shopping season. Jay Sean has seen success in both the UK and in the Asian markets, but has yet to tackle the U.S. music scene. With a successful first single in the bag, this seems like the perfect time for Sean to launch his career in the States. "Do You Remember," the second U.S. single was released to radio on October 10th and features guest appearances from Lil Jon and Sean Paul.

John Mayer's 4th studio album, Battle Studies and will be released on November 17th, a follow up to 2006's 2X Platinum Continuum. First single "Who Says" was released on October 13th and so far has peaked at #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. I really like "Who Says" and am excited for Battle Studies. It's apparently a sonic departure from his last album, being described as a "fresh style of song writing." This should be interesting.I love Mayer's look on the album cover...B&W...well styled...sexy.

29 year old British singer Katherine Jenkins isn't your average pop star. In fact, she's not really a pop star at all. Jenkins is a chart-topping, award-winning mezzo-soprano, hitting the top of the UK album charts and winning two consecutive Classical BRIT Awards. Impressive! "Believe" is believed to be the lead single off of Jenkins' forthcoming best of compilation, due out October 26th. It also happens to be the title of the CD, which can be pre-ordered on Jenkins' own website. The album also features "Bring Me To Life," which has been remixed by Almighty. Beautiful girl, beautiful voice - it's hard to believe that at just 29, she already has 7 albums under her belt. Impressive indeed.

As I mentioned before, Katy Perry is getting ready to release her first live album, an MTV Unplugged album no less. I love the cover artwork, a photo still from her live performance. Perry looks stunning in pink. With a smile on her face and a guitar in her hands, Katy Perry looks like she's in her element. The album is due out on November 17th.

This is the artwork from American Idol Season 8 winner, Kris Allen's debut album. The set is due out on November 17th and features collaborations with Claude Kelly, David Hodges, Salaam Remi, Joe King of The Fray, Toby Gad, Alex Band of The Calling, Dan Wilson of Semisonic, Lindy Robbins, Chris Daughtry and Mat Kearney. PHEW! Now that's quite a list! Allen released his debut single on September 21st (digitally on September 25th), "Live Like We're Dying," which was originally done by Irish band, The Script. If the single is indicative of the sound Allen is going for, I think it's going to be a strong album. What's more...how cute does Kris Allen look on the covers? *DROOL*

To capitalize on the MASSIVE success of Lady Gaga's debut album, The Fame, she's releasing The Fame Monster, due out on November 24th. In addition to material originally included on the previous release of The Fame, The Fame Monster includes 8 new tracks. According to an interview in Rolling Stone Magazine, Gaga said that "originally [my label] wanted me to put out three songs and now it's much more than that, it's a new album's worth of material." 4 of the new tracks are produced by RedOne ("Bad Romance," "Alejandro," "Monster," "So Happy I Could Die"), while Fernando Garibay ("Dancing In The Dark"), Rodney "Dark Child" Jerkins ("Telephone"), Teddy Riley ("Teeth") and Ron Fair ("Speechless") produced one track each. Lady Gaga wrote all of the songs, including lead single "Bad Romance," due to be released on October 19th. This is one release that I'll have NO problem purchasing. I am also loving the artwork for the album. So different than anything I've seen Gaga wearing before. Very interesting. I think of the two, I prefer the blond Gaga. The dark haired photo reminds me too much of an early Shakira.

I'm not really too sure what I think about Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester's debut solo single, "Somebody To Love." While it's got the electro-pop production and features silky smooth vocals by one of my favorites, Robin Thicke, the song just lack energy from it's leading lady. Meester seems to fade into the background here. Produced by Mike Caren and Oligee (Flo-Rida, Cobra Starship), the single was released on October 14th and serves as the lead single from Meester's as yet untitled debut album. A video for the single is due out sometime this month, followed by a UK release sometime in December. I expected more out of this single, especially considering how much I enjoyed her featured vocal in the Cobra Starship track, "Good Girls Go Bad." I'm still choosing to remain optimistic about her debut album, due out sometime this Fall.

"Trouble Is A Friend" is the second single off of Australian singer Lenka's debut self-titled album, released in September of 2008. Lenka's first single was "The Show," in June, followed in August by "Trouble Is A Friend." The newest single will be "We Will Not Grow Old." The talented Aussie singer/songwriter and actress first gained U.S. attention when her song "The Show" appeared in an Old Navy commercial. Two of her songs, including "Trouble Is A Friend" were featured in the U.S. TV show Grey's Anatomy as well as the American reboot of 90210. I love what I've heard so far out of Lenka and look forward to hearing a great deal more.

"Who'd Have Known" will be the 5th (4th in the UK) single off of Lily Allen's hit album, It's Not Me, It's You and I couldn't be happier. "Who'd Have Known" has always been one of my favorite album tracks. It was written by Allen and Greg Kurstin, and samples Take That's single "Shine." The single is due for a release on November 23rd, preceded by the video which portrays Allen as an obsessed Elton John groupie. Brilliant! I love this video. Lily is hilarious. She and Elton John are apparently friends in real life, despite media reports saying the opposite. I also quite enjoy this single artwork, although it does stray away from Allen's posing around some gigantic numbers and letters, as she had in the artwork for her previous singles. Allen looks beautiful and sounds beautiful.

Lola (AKA Jennifer Lopez) has a hot new single "Fresh Out Of The Oven." Yep - that's the title. "Fresh Out Of The Oven" featuring Pitbull, produced by The Neptunes will NOT be on Lopez's forthcoming album, Love? due out January 25, 2010 in the UK and January 26th in the U.S. This single is a "buzz single," being released strictly for promotional purposes. Lopez's label confirms that Lopez is NOT adopting a new persona, saying "Lola is just for this song....She hasn't become Sasha Fierce. There won't be anything to do with Lola on her Love? album." While I'm confused as to why this song won't be featured on the upcoming album, which has been described as a return to Lopez's dance/pop roots - it's certainly doing it's job creating a buzz. I'm pumped for some new Lopez. Anything beats 2007's Brave bomb.

Malice In Wonderland is Snoop Dogg's 10th studio album. Wow. That's quite a career! Due to be released on December 8th, 2009, the album was produced by Dr. Dre, Nottz, DJ Quik, The Neptunes, The-Dream, and more. Expect guest appearances by The Game, The-Dream, R. Kelly, Kid Cudi, Soulja Boy - just to name a few. First single, "Gangsta Luv" was produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart. I'm loving this album artwork. It's a dark and sexy cartoon. To be honest, I'd rather not see Snoop Dogg's mug on another album cover.

This is the "new" posthumous single from Michael Jackson, off of his This Is It compilation album due out on October 26th. The album promotes the motion picture release, Michael Jackson's This Is It - a film chronicling what was going to be his big comeback tour. While originally tauted as a new single, information recently came to light, revealing that Paul Anka co-wrote the song with Jackson in 1983. Sa-Fire later included the song on her 1991 album, back when it was called "I Never Heard." While the single was released to radio only on October 12th, it impressively debuted at #43 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song itself isn't really anything impressive, but it's "new" to most of us so naturally people are going to love it, especially with it being so soon after Jackson's death.

"I Wish" is the second single from English electro-pop group Mini Viva, due out November 30th. Produced by Xenomania, managed by Simon Fuller and signed to Geffen Records UK - Mini Viva consists of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love. Debut single "Left My Heart In Tokyo," was released on September 6th and in my opinion is a total club stomper. While I haven't yet heard any snippets of their second single, I'm really excited. I've been following producer/remixer Cahill's tweets and he's been talking about working on the new single. I can only imagine with Cahill on the remix, that it's going to be a smash. No release date has been set yet for Mini Viva's debut album, but I imagine that it will be early next year.

As I previously mentioned in another post, Norah Jones released her new single, "Chasing Pirates" on October 13th. The single is definitely different than anything Jones has done before and that's totally a good thing. I'm really excited for her forthcoming album, The Fall, due out November 17th. The artwork is nothing new...in fact it's practically identical to her album artwork. The single artwork includes a different pose and a few more dogs. Go download this single now on iTunes!

Massive Album Art Update - Part 1

After my West Coast vacation, I've been M.I.A. (save for one album art update from Chicago). I apologize. I've been busy with work and personal stuff. The plan is to start regularly updating again so bear with me. I find album art updates to be the easiest way to break back into a blogging routine, so here goes nothing! - All artwork found on Coverlandia.

Colour Me Free is the long anticipated 4th studio album from British soul chanteuse, Joss Stone. This album has been pushed back a couple of times by Stone's label, a move which Stone has been vocal about in the press. Now with an official release date scheduled for October 20, the promotional materials are starting to come together, starting with some album artwork. The album features collaborations from Jeff Beck, Sheila E, Raphael Saadiq, Dave Sanborn, Nas and Jamie Hartman.

"Say Goodbye" is the second single released off of the new Katharine McPhee album, Unbroken - due for release on January 5th. A beautiful ballad, "Say Goodbye" is more like what I expected her first album to sound like. Following less than a month after first single "Had It All," "Say Goodbye" appears to simply be a promotional single although I can't confirm that this single won't be officially released to radio.

"Thinkin'About You" is the second single off of the new Mario album, D.N.A. (following "Break Up" featuring Sean Garrett and Gucci Mane). The album is due to be released on November 3rd in the U.S. (November 2nd in the UK). No word yet on a release date for the second single, but I'm guessing it will be closer to the album's release date this fall.

I know that I already included the single artwork for the new Natalie Imbruglia single, "Want" in my last update, but it was pretty low quality. I just wanted to take the time to upload a new higher res version of the artwork. Natalie truly looks fantastic on this cover and the song is definitely growing on me (as are the remixes). Check out the stunning video here.

No Angels are a popular girl group out of Germany. Released September 11th, Welcome To The Dance is the fifth studio album from the girls and the second post-reunion album after the girls broke up in 2004. After reforming in 2006 (minus one member) they recorded 4th album, Destiny which featured productionj from Jiant & Twin, Max Martin, Steve Mac among others. The first single is "One Life", the video for which can be seen HERE.

This is the album artwork for the new Norah Jones album, The Fall, set to be released November 17th (November 16th in the UK) via Blue Note Records/EMI. I'm really excited to hear this album. I have Jones' last 3 albums and while there's no denying her talent both as a singer and as a songwriter, her last 2 jazz albums have bored me to tears. After hearing Jones collaborate on The Lonely Island c0medy album, Incredibad (listen to "Dreamgirl") I got excited about her new sound. This new album marks a new direction for the singer collaborating with producer Jacquire King who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits and Modest Mouse. This new sound sounds very promising, especially since Jones has assembled a talented new group of musicians for the new album. Can't wait!

I'm certainly interested to hear what Ryan Tedder and the rest of OneRepublic has to offer here with their second studio album, Waking Up. Admittedly I only really got into OneRepublic after hearing the remix of "Apologize" that appeared on Timbaland's Shock Value album. Since then I've heard a lot from Ryan Tedder on various pop songs (Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" co-written with Jesse McCartney and the controversial "Halo"/"Already Gone" by Beyoncé & Kelly Clarkson respectively). I also enjoyed "Stop and Stare" off of the Dreaming Out Loud album. Perhaps this new album (and new single "All The Right Moves") will get me excited about the band once again. It doesn't appear that they are going in an urban direction with this album but here's hoping we get some interesting remixes.

Wow. I can't believe I Am...Sasha Fierce has already had 7 singles released. Insane! "Video Phone" is set to be the 8th single released from Beyoncé 's album, and one of the least exciting singles if you ask me. Out digitally on September 22nd "Video Phone" will also be released in a physical format on November 1oth. I'm hoping for some hot remixes like we saw for previous Sasha Fierce singles, "Sweet Dreams," "Halo," "Ego," "Diva" and others.

"Tardy For The Party" is the new single from Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Kim Zolciak. If you've been watching the Bravo show it's evident that Kim is passionate about her music career...at least semi-passionate. The divorced mother of two attempted to get into the country music business during Season 1 where she met with a vocal coach (who told her she didn't know what she was doing) and producer Dallas Austin. Season two shows Kim working with new ATL cast member Kandi Burruss (formerly of Xscape), moving in a distinctly pop/dance direction. The single was released on September 1st on iTunes and subsequently reached the Top 10 on the iTunes Top Dance Tracks chart. Kim is currently rumored to be working on her debut album and while I don't really think Kim has much in the way of vocal talent, this song is very catchy. I'd definitely be interested to hear what the album will sound like. The single artwork on the other hand...very amateurish.

Yet another piece of artwork has been released for the new Madonna single "Celebration," this time from the vinyl single release. "Celebration" marks Madonna's 40th number 1 single on the Billboard Dance Hot Dance Club Play Chart. The video has been released for the song, using the Benny Benassi remix and featuring a guest appearence from Madonna's own daughter, Lourdes. Madonna looks amazing as usual. The compilation album of the same name is out in the UK on September 21st and in the US on September 29th. The album was released on September 18th in several European and South American countries.

Finally, the single artwork has been unveiled for the new single, "Forever Is Over" by The Saturdays. I absolutely LOVE this single. I've said in the past that it reminds me of a classic Girls Aloud track and this cover is very reminsicent of an old Girls Aloud single sleeve. As if the song couldn't get any better, look out for terrific remixes from Buzz Junkies and Manhattan Clique. The single is the first off of their upcoming as-yet-untitled second studio album (apparently Colonial Masses was just an internet rumor). The single will officially be released on October 5th, followed by the album's release on October 12th.

The CD/DVD version of The Veronica's live tour was released in Australia on September 1st. The tour began in South Wales Australia back in February 2009, having the girls play all throughout Australia and New Zealand before heading to the U.S. in June, playing Buffalo, NY on June 3rd. The tour took the girls all over the U.S. and Canada, before moving onto Japan in early August. The girls are also playing some dates in the UK starting on September 23rd in Glasgow - promoting their new UK single "4Ever" and album Hook Me Up which is due to be released on October 5th. Having seen these girls open for Natasha Bedingfield in an intimate setting like the Paradise Rock Club, I have no doubt that they could fill an auditorium. I'm glad they are continuing to see international success. Go girls!

I love that DJs are releasing mainstream albums nowadays. I guess this has always been the case, but dance music is certainly attracting a higher calibre of artists. I remember back in 2002, purchasing DJ Sammy's Heaven album. I loved that album! While there were no big name collaborations, the vocal element that these singers added to these straight up dance tracks helped get me into dance and house music. More recently I've really been getting into French DJ David Guetta's new album and now Dutch DJ Tiësto's forthcoming album Kaleidoscope is set to become one of my favorite dance albums of the year. Featuring collaborations from Sneaky Sound System, Priscilla Ahn, Calvin Harris, Tegan & Sara, Emily Haines of Metric, Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, Cary Brothers and Nelly Furtado - Kaleidoscope is everything that I want out of a dance album.

"Yesterday" is the first single off of the new Toni Braxton album, due for release in February of next year. Now signed to Atlantic Records, Braxton recorded "Yesterday" with producer DJ Frank E. The song premiered on September 11th and is expected to be released digitally very soon.

Midwinter Graces is the new seasonal album by Tori Amos, expected out on November 10th. Following the May 12th release of Amos' 10th studio album Abnormally Attracted to Sin, I was surprised to hear that she'd be releasing another album so soon. Midwinter Graces is Amos' first seasonal album. You can see the tracklisting HERE.

Wow. Don't get me wrong, I've always found John Mayer to be quite attractive, but there's nothing sexier than a classic black & white photo if you ask me. "Who Says" is the first single off of Mayer's fourth studio album entitled Battle Studies, due out on November 17th. According to Mayer, this new record is going to be a slight departure from his previous efforts, going in a more experimental direction. I'm all for artists trying new sounds and look forward to hearing what's next for Mayer. No word yet on a release date for the single.

"Walkin' On The Moon" is the new single from Atlanta-based Terius Youngdell Nash (AKA The-Dream) and features a guest appearence from Kanye West. "Walkin' On The Moon" is the third single off Love vs. Money and features remixes from Craig C., Low Sunday, Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel.