[Review] Adele - Skyfall

James Bond theme songs have always held a special place in my heart, which shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone, given my passion for both music and film.  With the recent release of Adele's own Bond stunner, "Skyfall," the 24-year old English chanteuse finds herself sitting pretty among some of my favorite Bond singers, including Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger," "Diamonds Are Forever," & "Moonraker"), Paul McCartney & Wings ("Live & Let Die"), Carly Simon ("Nobody Does It Better"), Sheena Easton ("For Your Eyes Only"), Tina Turner ("Goldeneye") and Garbage ("The World Is Not Enough").  Written by Adele and Paul Epworth (Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey, Adele), "Skyfall" is easily the best James Bond theme song since 1999's EPIC rock-tinged "The World Is Not Enough," and a worthy addition to the lineage. 

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Paloma Faith Announces New Nellee Hooper-Produced Single and Album

This is it folks...the moment I have been waiting for...English singer/songwriter Paloma Faith has announced a title and release date for her highly anticipated sophomore record, the follow up to her successful 2009 debut, Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?  Just as she did with my with the release of her very first single, "Stone Cold Sober," Faith promises to re-capture my heart and my ear drums with her poignant lyrics, coupled with those rich, honey-coated raspy vocal stylings that grabbed me back in 2009 and haven't let go since.  The new record, entitled Fall To Grace, is scheduled for release on May 28th via RCA and is preceded by the release first single, "Picking Up The Pieces," due out May 20th. AMAZING news.  

The album was produced by the fantastically talented Nellee Hooper, the man behind some of my favorite albums and artists of all time, including No Doubt, Garbage, Madonna, U2, Holly Valance (YES - I'm lumping Holly Valance in with this group, don't hate) and more.  In addition to winning a 'Best Producer' BRIT Award in 1995 for his work on Massive Attack's Protection, Björk's Post and Madonna's Bedtime Stories, Hooper won a prestigious BAFTA Award in 1998 for his work on the Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet soundtrack.  He's also the man responsible for, quite possibly my favorite James Bond theme, 1995's "Golden Eye," performed by Tina Turner.  The fact that Hooper is adding Paloma Faith's new album to his extensive and impressive list of producer credits, is very exciting to me.  Hooper explains a little bit about how the collaboration came to be:

“I’d never really heard of Paloma Faith. I was living in LA when her record came out, so I kind of missed it. Sony/RCA called me and suggested I meet her when I was next in London. At lunch she sat and talked in such detail, as if every song was a short film, referencing everything from Chinese romantic cinema to Hip Hop. When I played the CD she gave me the songs flew out of my speakers! We got together and decided right away to embark on this journey.

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