Paloma Faith Hard at Work on Album 3; Hits the Studio with Pharrell, Raphael Saadiq, Diane Warren and Others

Still from "Just Be" video PHOTO CREDIT: Paloma Faith's Official Instagram

My adoration for soulful British chanteuse, Paloma Faith is well documented, and like many of her fans, we're left eagerly anticipating word on album #3. While we await official word on the new record, I've gone through her vast, colorful Instagram account and extensive Twitter feed and compiled some bits and bobs, including evidence of collaborations that we HOPEFULLY will hear on the new album. Keep in mind, this is all speculative. Nothing has been confirmed yet. I'm just going off of what Paloma has said through her social media channels.

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Kylie Minogue Drops 'Skirt'; Celebrates Her 45th With New Nom De Strip-produced Banger

PHOTO CREDIT: Roc Nation

Earlier today, everybody's favorite Aussie electro-pop queen Kylie Minogue left us, her loyal fans with a very special treat AND ON HER OWN BIRTHDAY no less.  Shortly after sharing a photo of herself with the caption, "Might be my birthday but I'm still working #studio," Queen Kylie Retweeted a Soundcloud link from DJ/Remixer/Producer Chris Lake.  Where did said link take us, you might ask? Oh just to an AMAZING new song called "Skirt." That's all!  The song, which Chris Lake debuted at opening weekend of Pacha Ibiza this past weekend was produced by Nom De Strip (AKA Chris Elliot) and co-written by The-Dream.  Listen to it BELOW THE CUT:

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Adam Lambert Set To Release New Single/Remix EP; Trespassing Due October 16th

It's been a minute since we've heard from Adam Lambert so I was understandably pretty PUMPED up when I heard about the upcoming release of "Trespassing," the third single and TITLE track off his #1 sophomore album, due out October 16th via 19 Recordings/RCA Records.  The song is the PERFECT choice for a third single and one of my clear, early standouts in my initial album review.  The rock-infused pop/dance stomper was co-written by Lambert and N*E*R*D/Neptunes frontman Pharrell Williams.  Nice to see Billboard and I are on the same page, with the magazine calling the song "startling, stomping [and] altogether tremendous, in which Lambert snarls 'Wait 'til you get a load of me' over a beat that Michael Jackson would have loved."

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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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MIKA Set to Drop New Album, 'The Origin of Love' September 16th; Pharrell Williams-Assisted 'Celebrate' Out September 9th

Whether he's singing about big girls being beautiful, lollipops or Grace Kelly, there's just something about singer/songwriter MIKA's music that makes you happy. With all that's going on in the world, I think it's about time for some MIKA-induced happiness which makes the announcement about his forthcoming new album, The Origin Of Love, all the more exciting. The Origin Of Love, MIKA's third album will be released September 16th via Island Records. Preceding the album's release will be the first official single, "Celebrate," featuring American singer/songwriter/producer (and N*E*R*D member) Pharrell Williams, due September 9th.

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Ones to Watch: Conor Maynard

PHOTO CREDIT: Brooke Nipar

19 year old singer/songwriter Conor Maynard might just be Britain's answer to Justin Bieber.  While I don't think Bieber has to worry about this talented young newbie stealing his thunder, or more specifically pilfering his fans - musically speaking, Maynard fits snugly in that same urban pop genre where "The Biebs" currently reigns supreme.  Personally, I think they are different ENOUGH artists that Maynard should have no trouble breaking through. What do you think?

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[Hot Video Alert] Adam Lambert - Never Close Our Eyes

Last week, Adam Lambert unveiled the video for latest single, the Bruno Mars co-penned dancefloor banger "Never Close Our Eyes," and WOW was it worth the wait.  While it was digitally released in America April 17th, the Dr. Luke/Cirkut/The Smeezingtons-produced dance jam is being more heavily promoted over in the UK, where it will serve as Lambert's lead single off of Trespassing, which is scheduled for release July 2nd.  The single will be released on June 24th, backed by an impressive array of dance remixes from some of the UK's biggest mixmasters, including peaktime pop mixers Almighty, the ever-fantastic Digital Dog and garage gods Sunship.

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[Album Review] Adam Lambert - Trespassing

Adam Lambert will release his hotly anticipated sophomore album, Trespassing, this Tuesday, May 15th via RCA Records/19 Recordings.  To get the fans pumped up and ready to buy on Tuesday, the album can be streamed in it's entirety on Lambert's official website.  In addition to a standard and deluxe version of the album, Lambert is selling an exclusive Trespassing - Box Set for $49.99, which includes six 12" X 12" lithographs, Trespassing on vinyl, and the fan edition (CD/DVD). Eat it up Glamberts!

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[Hot Video Alert] Justin Bieber - Boyfriend

I feel a FEVER comin' on...specifically a BIEBER fever.  To the delight of screaming little girls all over the world, Justin Bieber premiered the video for new single "Boyfriend" on MTV and VEVO at 7:50 PM this evening.  I'm embarrassed and a little bit ashamed to admit that "Boyfriend" marks the very first Justin Bieber post here on Music Is My King Size Bed.  So go easy on me!

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[Review] Adam Lambert - Never Close Our Eyes

Released April 17th, "Never Close Our Eyes" is the name of Adam Lambert's new single from his forthcoming sophomore album, Trespassing.  The single was written and produced by Bruno Mars and Dr. Luke and serves as the follow up to "Better Than I Know Myself," which by most accounts was a commercial floppity-flop.  "Never Close Our Eyes," sees the flamboyantly big-voiced Lambert return to his dance-pop glory days in this pulse-pounding new dance-floor-ready new single. Stylistically, "Never Close Our Eyes" is right in Lambert's wheelhouse, echoing the same sound of his past club friendly hit "If I Had You."  Lambert does his thing, belting out the big chorus, his voice soaring over the bangin' electro-rock beats and sleek production.  It's clear that Lambert's looking for another anthem, and "Never Close Our Eyes" very well could be it.  Here's hoping radio latches on to this one more than they did with the lead single.

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Adam Lambert To Release Sophomore Album May 15th, Listen To Four New Tracks

FINALLY. The release of Adam Lambert's highly anticipated sophomore album is in sight. Trespassing was originally due to come out March 20th however in mid February, RCA announced a delay to allow time for Lambert to record new material.  The album is now scheduled for release May 15th in the U.S. and I couldn't be more excited.  Clearly, Adam's people were nervous after lead single, "Better Than I Know Myself" flopped its way onto the Billboard Hot 100, fizzling out at an unfortunate #76.  Not quite what everyone was hoping for.

The song, which I called a "drab" mid-tempo electro-pop ballad seemed to have all the makings of a hit, including a STRONG team of songwriters and producers (Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Ammo, Claude Kelly)...sooo what happened?  Well if you look back at Lambert's relatively short chart history, there haven't been too many smashes.  In fact, Adam Lambert has only one Billboard Hot 100 top 10 to his name and that was 2009's "Whataya Want From Me," which peaked at #10.  The next highest charting single - "If I Had You" which peaked at #30.  

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Hot Video Alert: Adam Lambert - Better Than I Know Myself

In case you missed it, 30 year old singer/songwriter (and American Idol alum) Adam Lambert premiered the video for his brand new single, "Better Than I Know Myself" earlier today.  The beautifully shot Ray Kay directed video features Lambert playing two different versions of himself, good versus evil, if you will. The video plays out in a split screen format, with each "version" of Lambert confined to it's own space. The evil dwells in a dark, blueish green tinted space while the good inhabits a much more zen, warmly lit room.  Very literal but still effective at getting the point of the video across.  In the end, breaking free from the confined space, Lambert's character seems to achieve some sort of balance and all is well again.  Definitely one of more interesting videos to come out in a while.  I'm wondering if it's supposed to be autobiographical in any way, given some of the star's recent press. Hmmmm...

Now...let's discuss the song.  Despite being impeccably performed my Mr. Lambert, "Better Than I Know Myself" is rather drab as far as Adam Lambert singles go.  It's a mid-tempo electro-pop ballad produced and co-written by Dr. Luke (Ke$ha, Katy Perry), Cirkut (Jessie J, Rihanna) and Ammo (Pitbull, Britney Spears) along with Claude Kelly who also served as co-writer on the track.  Lambert has one of the best male vocals in pop right now and he certainly sings the hell out of this song, but it's lacking something for me.  I don't know if it's the hook, or the depressing subject matter or what. Something just isn't connecting with me and I can't quite figure out what it is.

Released on December 20th, the single peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Currently sitting at #83, now that the song has officially been sent to radio (as of January 23rd), I'm hoping that the video helps give the song a little boost up the charts.  This very well could be a grower for me, and if the past is indicative of anything, we'll likely see a swarm of bumpin' dance remixes in the coming months which will likely give the song new life.  "Better Than I Know Myself" serves as the official lead off of Adam Lambert's forthcoming sophomore album, entitled Trespassing, which is due in March on RCA Records.  While Lambert did co-write many of the album's tracks, he also paired up with some of the industry's most talented songwriters and producers, including Pharrell Williams, Benny Blanco, Bonnie McKee, Nile Rogers, Sam Sparro, Bruno Mars, Nikka Costa, BC Jean and more.

UK Adam Lambert fans unfortunately have to wait until March 12th to download the single, but U.S. fans can download it on U.S. iTunes HERE. Check out the video below!

Check out Adam Lambert on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//VEVO

Swedish House Mafia...Rock the House

This song is HOT. Swedish House Mafia is a "superstar DJ collective" (recently signed with EMI) made up of three of the club scene's biggest names: Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello. WOW. Powerhouse! Their first single, the Pharrell-assisted "One (Your Name)" was digitally released on June 28th via Astralwerks and is FAST becoming "the hottest underground house track of the summer." Check out this little teaser about the single's yet-to-be-released music video!

Swedish House Mafia apparently put on an AMAZING show. So far the boys have played the mainstage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, as well as at London's Brixton Academy. Most recently they hit up the Kinetic Field at the Electric Dasiy Carnival in Los Angeles and Wet Republic in Las Vegas. In August Swedish House Mafia will host their own tent at the UK electronica festival Creamfields. Pretty impressive! We can look forward to an album released later this summer, featuring "One (Your Name)" as well as highlights from each member of the group. Listen to the song below and buy it on iTunes!

Swedish House Mafia (feat. Pharrell) - One (Your Name) (Radio Edit) by Fool_4_Music

Checkout Swedish House Mafia on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Hot Video Alert: Uffie feat. Pharrell Williams - ADD SUV

UFFIE - ADD SUV (feat . Pharrell Williams) HD from Uffie on Vimeo.

Unofficially, "ADD SUV" is Uffie's third single from her much anticipated/long-delayed debut album Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans. Officially it's the album's second single, not counting "Pop The Glock" which was released in November of last year. The album was released June 14th internationally via Ed Banger Records and on will be released on June 22nd in the U.S. through Elektra Records, this Mirwais-produced, Pharrell Williams-assisted single is a fun, funky-fresh electro jam and the video mirrors that same vibe. The single first came out in France (where Uffie presently calls home) on May 17th followed by a European release at the end of May and a UK/US release on June 7th and June 8th respectively. The song, poking fun at rappers and their obsession with bigger-than-necessary gas-guzzlers, features remixes by Armand Van Helden and Hudson Mohawke. Sex Dreams and Denim Dreams features production by Feadz, Mr. Oizo, Mirwais, SebastiAn, J-Mat and features special guests including Pharrell and Matt Safer (of The Rapture).

Check out Uffie on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter