Kylie Minogue – “All The Lovers”
Published May 15th 2010
Filed under Reviews
I was reluctant to write about Kylie Minogue’s new single All The Lovers from her forthcoming album Aphrodite when it premiered yesterday as the song didn’t grab me as fast as a lead single should. After a lot of listening, the song has started to grow on me and I’ve made up my mind about it.
All The Lovers is a mid-tempo, electro-pop ballad and very coherent to Kylie’s sound. While the melody and production are both very good, All The Lovers just doesn’t sound like a lead single. Nice is the only way to describe the song. It sounds more like a third or fourth single from an album campaign because it’s not all the things a lead single should be. It’s not instantly grabbing, it’s not pushing any boundaries and it doesn’t get stuck in your head. Having listened to the song multiple times, if I was asked how the song goes, I would have no idea how to sing it.
The song sounds like it could have been released anywhere between 2005 and now. It’s not a fresh sound but it’s more powerful than most mid-tempo ballads. I wouldn’t describe All The Lovers as anthemic, but it does sound very strong and melancholic. The production, by Kish Mauve, is very polished but it’s almost more crucial to the song than the melody or the vocal.
Lyrically, All The Lovers is nothing new. The most interesting piece of writing is probably in the chorus where Kylie metaphorically talks about her ex-lovers as if they’ve passed away. Elsewhere in the song, she generically talks about dancing and being with the person she loves.
For the middle-eight, the track gets completely stripped back to just Kylie’s vocal and a piano before launching back into quite a hypnotic instrumental, the only experimental and refreshing part of the song, before reaching the final chorus.
All The Lovers is a nice song but that’s about all there is to it. It would make a very strong album track but as a lead single, it doesn’t make much sense. It should have been left to become one of those songs like Speakerphone, a standout album track which the fans can appreciate but nothing more.
Kylie releases All The Lovers on June 28th followed by her eleventh studio album Aphrodite on July 2nd.
Ke$ha – “Your Love Is My Drug” Video Premiere
Published May 13th 2010
Filed under Videos
Ke$ha’s video for Your Love Is My Drug, the third single from her debut album Animal, premiered today. As a single, Your Love Is My Drug was a smart choice since it’s very similar to her debut TiK ToK, and it’s a sure fire hit for the summer. The video isn’t a typical Ke$ha video since she’s not drunk and she actually looks clean for once.
Your Love Is My Drug is set in the desert in which Ke$ha’s walks around singing, becomes a tiger, rides an elephant and tries to sail a boat on the sand before the video turns into a cartoon, presumably symbolising that her love for her boyfriend in the video is like a drug hallucination.
For the middle-eight of the song, the video shows Ke$ha in the dark with UV paint all over her body similar to her performance of Your Love Is My Drug on Saturday Night Live. The use of UV paint seems to be done quite a lot lately and can be seen in recent videos such as Alphabeat’s DJ, Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling and more.
The talking part at the end of the song, which could have been a disaster in the video, was carried out surprisingly well. While the video is decent overall, it could have been better had the cartoon scenes been omitted.
Your Love Is My Drug is released June 6th through RCA Records.
All That Junk – 10/5
Published May 10th 2010
Filed under News
Maroon 5 have announced the release of their third studio album Hands All Over and a tour in support of the album. (Twitter Link)
Diana Vickers celebrated debuting at number one on the UK album charts with a cake. (Twitter Link)
Avril Lavigne finally got herself a Twitter account, even if it is hard to believe that it’s really her or that she’s 25 years old from her Tweets. (Twitter Link)
Jade Ewen thought she was driving on a motorway today but it was in fact a dual-carriageway. (Twitter Link)
Alexandra Burke’s third single from her debut album has reached number one on the Irish iTunes. (Twitter Link)
Katy Perry – “California Gurls”
Published May 09th 2010
Filed under Reviews
Katy Perry’s lead single California Gurls from her upcoming second album premiered this week via her official website with the statement “Summer starts now!”. California Gurls, produced by Dr. Luke, features rapper Snoop Dogg and sounds like a summer anthem which could rival the success of Katy’s 2008 huge hit I Kissed A Girl.
The problem with California Gurls as a lead single and also a comeback single is that the chorus has no stand out lyric to catch onto. Having listened to the song quite a number of times, it’s hard to remember any of the lyrics from the chorus. The only thing that keeps me returning for another listen is the addictive melody present throughout the track.
The production on the track sounds a bit raw and unfinished. On first listen, it sounded like it was an unfinished demo. The vocals are swallowed by the music for most of the song and it’s hard to understand why it was intentionally produced that way. California Gurls also sounds very similar to Dr. Luke’s recent hit with Ke$ha, TiK ToK, to the extent where the chorus of each song could be interchanged between their respective tracks and fit perfectly with the only alteration being the pitch.
Regardless, California Gurls is a strong enough lead single to become a hit despite its similarities to TiK ToK and it’s a solid effort from Katy showing some progression from the sound of her debut album One of The Boys. Even Snoop Dogg’s rap doesn’t sound out of place or forced although the misspelling of “girls” in the title could have been avoided but it’s hardly surprising as it seems to be a Dr. Luke reoccurring trend.
You can listen to California Gurls on Katy Perry’s official website now.