New Music Friday – 28/4
Published April 28th 2017
Filed under New Music Friday
Katy Perry has released her second single Bon Appétit from her upcoming KP4. Bon Appétit is produced by Max Martin and features Migos. It’s probably the most urban track Katy has ever done but at the same time the production style is consistent with Chained To The Rhythm. It doesn’t sound like a Katy Perry song and doesn’t sound like a massive hit but it’s a good album track. Luckily a no-rap version is coming because the Migos feature is unnecessary.
Listen: (YouTube link)
Kygo has released First Time featuring Ellie Goulding. It’s a basic EDM track but so catchy you can’t help but like it. It’s no It Ain’t Me but could end up being a minor hit.
Listen: (YouTube link)
The Vamps have released the second single from their upcoming third album called Middle Of The Night. The Ed Drewett track is produced by Martin Jensen and continues on from the EDM/dubstep sound of their last single All Night. It seems The Vamps (or their label) are going the Maroon 5/OneRepublic route of releasing EDM tracks to score hits but forgetting that they’re supposed to be a band. As long as the music is as good as this though…
Listen: (YouTube link)
OneRepublic have released a new single called No Vacancy. Ryan Tedder explained the release on OneRepublic’s Facebook. The band plan to release new music at it’s made every few weeks instead of releasing music in the format of an album. No Vacancy is an EDM track originally intended for Selena Gomez but Ryan loved the track so much he kept it for OneRepublic. It’s produced by Stargate and it’s a lot better than most of Oh My My. It could potentially be huge.
Listen: (YouTube link)
Hailee Steinfeld has release Most Girls – another EDM Ryan Tedder track. Its lyrics let it down but it’s still a catchy song. It’s no Starving though.
Listen: (YouTube link)
Little Mix have released an acoustic version of No More Sad Songs – the third single to be taken from Glory Days. The girls sound incredible on it and Jesy’s middle 8 is back.
Listen: (Spotify link)
OneRepublic – “Counting Stars” Video Premiere
Published May 31st 2013
Filed under Videos
OneRepublic’s video for Counting Stars, the first international single from Native, premiered today on VEVO. If I Lose Myself and Feel Again were apparently US-only.
The video shows OneRepublic performing in a basement. Above the basement, there’s a room of people who are being preached to. Their jumping around ultimately leads to the floor falling through to the basement where OneRepublic are performing. There’s also a random crocodile following Ryan Tedder around the building. The crocodile must be to do with the album being called Native.
This video would’ve made a lot more sense if it was for the album track Preacher. It doesn’t really relate to the lyrics of Counting Stars.
Check out the video:
Counting Stars is due to be released sometime in June.
OneRepublic – “Secrets” Worldwide Music Video
Published May 20th 2010
Filed under Videos
OneRepublic are finally releasing second single, Secrets, from their sophomore album, Waking Up, worldwide. Secrets was originally released last year as the lead single from the album in Germany, to coincide with the release of Zweiohrküken, a German movie which features Secrets on its original sound track. The worldwide release of the single has since been delayed a number of times.
The original music video, showed clips from the movie in between scenes of OneRepublic performing the song. The 2010 worldwide treatment of the video, keeps the original performance scenes but adds scenes of lead vocalist Ryan Tedder at a restaurant, sitting behind a girl who was seemingly stood-up. Other new scenes show Ryan encounter the girl in the street without any recognition of her. When the girl revisits the restaurant, she sees the person who stood her up while Ryan sings the lyrics of Secrets in her ear.
Secrets has no tentative release date worldwide but will be added to US radio on June 1st.
OneRepublic – “Waking Up” Album Review
Published November 29th 2009
Filed under Reviews
Here goes my track-by-track review of OneRepublic’s sophomore album Waking Up released November 17th.
01. Made For You – Quite a strange album opener. I would have expected them to open with All The Right Moves although this song features some lyrics from All The Right Moves making this song seem like just an intro. Normally intros aren’t full songs so it’s hard to tell whether this is meant as full song or not. The chorus is quite good but it’s a typical Ryan Tedder track in that he repeats the phrase “made for you” over and over for the whole chorus. It’s a bit tired now. The children’s choir at the end is a bit random and out of place too. It should have just ended before it got to the choir.
02. All The Right Moves – I was really surprised when I heard this for the first time because I don’t think it’s “lead single material” at all. It’s a good album track though. The verses are a bit weak but the chorus is a lot stronger and will stick in your head for hours after listening to it.
03. Secrets – This should have been the lead single, although it was in some territories. It’s a progression from the Apologize sound. It’s also a typical Ryan Tedder ballad echoing not only Apologize but songs like Bleeding Love, Halo, Already Gone and Battlefield.
04. Everybody Loves Me – Really different sound for OneRepublic. It’s quite upbeat. The lyrics are very cocky and quite funny. There’s not much to it and it lacks melody in the verses but I like it.
05. Missing Persons 1 & 2 – One of the best songs of them album until it gets to missing person 2. Had it stopped at or continued missing person 1, it could have been an even better song. The second half just doesn’t do the first half justice. It’s very Coldplay but in a good way.
06. Good Life – Before I listened to the album I was hoping there was a song as good as All We Are on this album and this is it. Good Life is the best thing OneRepublic have ever done in my opinion. Lyrically it’s very different for them because it’s such a positive song. While the chorus is quite repetitive, it has such a strong, addictive melody that’s begging for a single release. I think that if this is released as a single, it could be quite huge. Highlight of the album.
07. All This Time – Another OneRepublic ballad. It’s this album’s Come Home. It’s a nice song but nothing brilliant.
08. Fear – After Good Life, this is probably the second best song on the album. It’s a different sound for OneRepublic again. It’s quite repetitive and while the Ryan Tedder repetition can sound tired, it works well for some songs such as this and Good Life.
09. Waking Up – The title track of the album. It’s quite uptempo and anthemic. It’s one of those songs that you won’t think much of as an album track but when you hear it live, it will make sense.
10. Marchin On – Ryan Tedder seems to like his war songs a la Battlefield, Come Home and now this. Again it’s quite different for OneRepublic but not different from what Ryan has been doing for other artists in the last couple of years. Edit: On hearing the Timbaland remix, I’ve decided it’s a pretty good song (despite Timbaland’s parts seeming random and irrelevant for the first few plays). Hopefully the Timbaland remix sees a single release.
11. Lullaby – Quite a boring album closer. Like the title, it could put you to sleep. It’s very quiet and I usually stop playing the album before this song starts.
Overall it’s quite a good second effort from OneRepublic. I was really surprised that it wasn’t Apologize x11 (the easy route) for the whole album which is why I pointed out when a song was a different sound for OneRepublic. The album sounds less OneRepublic and more similar to the material Ryan Tedder has been making with other artists which isn’t a bad thing as Dreaming Out Loud was quite a boring album at times because there was very little variation in sound. It lacks a few more tracks but overall it’s a pretty good album.