Tag Archive for debut album

One to Watch: Birdy – 1901

February 17, 2012 Music Reviews No comments

2011 has been a very interesting year in terms of music, especially since there was a lot of dance music going on. No wonder, that the hopes were high when an artist came along who’s style of music was rather gentle, sincere and sweet. Jasmine van den Bogaerde, better known as Birdy, was one of those artists who was welcomed with open arms.

Her debut single ‘Skinny Love’, a cover of Bon Iver, introduced a girl with huge potential and climbed up to number 17 in the charts. Her two other singles unfortunately didn’t do better, but 2012 should bring the big break through. The latest cut, from her debut album ‘Birdy’ has now been released and is called ’1901′

And what can we say, she is so sincere and genuine , this girl! It takes guts to take a song, which you haven’t written yourself but being able to give it your own twist, that’s an achievement. That’s what so special about Birdy, she gives songs such as  ’1901′ a different meaning. Her latest cut is accompanied by a beautiful piano melody, lovely vocals and a meaningful lyrics. Simply breathtaking.

”1901” will be released as a single on February 27 and can be downloaded via i-Tunes or through the album ”Birdy” which is out now.

One to Watch: Nero – Must Be The Feeling

February 11, 2012 Uncategorized No comments

Saturday evening is party time right? Well we have found the latest single from dubstep act Nero to get you ready and kick start your Saturday night.

‘Must Be The Feeling/Innocence’ is the 7th single released from ‘Welcome Reality’, debut album of the UK dubstep act. The song will be available on 5th March.

One to Watch: Labrinth – Last time

February 11, 2012 Music Reviews One comment

Timothy McKenzie, better known under his stage name Labrinth, is putting out all the stops to warm us up for his debut album ‘’Electronic Earth’’ which is to be released March 19.

The singer songwriter and record producer has been involved in several projects since 2010. He became known to the public through his collaboration with Tinie Tempah on ‘’Pass Out’’ and since he popped up regularly in the charts, scoring top ten hits. His previous and second attempt ‘Earthquake’, a Dub Step inspired R&B song, saw him reach the number 2 in the charts, and once again team up with guest Tinie Tempah making it one of our 2011 favourites.

And now Mr. Labrinth is back, with ‘Last Time’ which couldn’t be more different from ‘Earthquake’. During a first listen it sounds a lot more poppy than his previous work and reminds us a bit of Skepta’s ‘Hold On’, minus the rapping. It’s very electro-pop, undergoing influences by Taio Cruz, and even Goldfrapp. It’s not as instant as ‘Earthquake’ was but as a warm-up towards an album, which is considered to be one of the best for 2012, we can understand the choice as single.

‘Last Time’ is expected to have its release on 11th March. The album Electronic Earth follows one week later on 19th March. Click here to pre-order now! iTunes – http://bit.ly/yaE0vt

The Album Review Battle

February 9, 2012 Album Review No comments

We thought we’d spice things up a bit for you this week in terms of the album reviews and decided to let two new talents in the music industry battle it out for best album this week. In the right corner, American Lana Del Rey, who’s debut album ‘Born to Die’ was released January 30 2012 is taking on Maverick Sabre, who’s debut album ‘Lonely are the brave’ hit the shelves this week.

Who’s going to be the one we recommend to you…

Lots have been said about Lana Del Rey over the past few months since she’s released ‘Video games’ worldwide. We were quite intrigued and especially since topping the album charts with ‘Born to Die’ despite mixed reviews we believe she’s the ideal candidate to take up the gloves for this week’s duel.

Miss Del Rey offers us 15 tracks on ‘Born to Die’ and quite frankly, we were left unimpressed after a first listen. Her new single, ‘Born to die’ released a day before the album, has the honour to open the album. It’s a very heavy, overly dramatic song, and that’s more or less what the whole album is like in general; very heavy, very bombastic with very minor style changes which makes you wonder if Lana Del Rey is a very versatile artist or if she’s just playing it safe. We came to the conclusion, that it made the album also very forgettable as you won’t hear Miss Del Rey belt out, or use any emotions in her voice. This is a shame. ‘’Videogames’’, the song where it all began with, is without a doubt the best composition on the album, and while some other songs get really close, they don’t quite reach to the same expectations. There are flashes, songs as ‘Diet Mountain Dew’ where Lana tries to break with the bombastic feeling, unfortunately for her they are missing that final pinch of salt/pepper to make it really stand out. Songs like ‘Dark Paradise’, ‘Summertime Sadness’ and ‘Without You’ have all the potential to sound absolutely amazing, would they have been sung by the vocals of Florence + the Machine, but with Lana Del Rey they fall short.

Not all is lost for Lana’s monotone album, the more you listen to it, the more you start appreciating the songs you might have forgotten about.  The best advice we can give you is to have at least a listen or 3 before a final, objective judgement of the album can be made.

In the right corner of our duel is quite an extraordinary young man who saw 2011 to be the start of what he hopes to be a long and exciting career in the music industry; Maverick Sabre. Born in Hackney, London but raised in Ireland, this young fella saw his album ‘Lonely are the Brave’ released this week, 6 February 2012 proceeded by two top ten 2011 singles ‘I need’, ‘Let Me Go’ and the currently to be released ‘No one’.

 Maverick, who you could describe best as the love child of a secret romance triangle between Plan B, Daniel Merriweather and the sadly passed away Amy Winehouse, delivers a very strong musical debut filled with authentic, personal, soulful songs. Previously released ‘I need’ and ‘Let Me Go’ set course for a 58 minute trip of versatile old school soul. ‘Cold Game’ is a favourite as the overall feeling is very orchestral but sees Maverick mc’ing, something which he pulls of very well and remarkably suits the song. The MC style is repeated on a few tracks, another one being ‘Sometimes’, it shows how the Plan B inspiration isn’t far off. The new single ‘No One’ is full swing earworm destined to go high in the charts. There’s a varied mix of songs on the album, which doesn’t sound outdated or boring throughout. It’s very versatile as well in terms of mood. I can easily see myself listen to this while being at work, or just while I am sitting indoors in the evening with some candle light reading a book. A must buy.

Sooo the verdict…

While both are in their own league and both have a unique style we’re declaring Maverick Sabre and ‘Lonely are the brave’ the winner of this duel, as we find his album a lot more varied and interesting than the bombastic, monotone album of Lana Del Rey. Both are fantastic, but ‘Born to Die’ takes a little longer to fully appreciate than Maverick’s.

In order to celebrate Maverick’s victory, here’s the official video for his latest single ‘No One’. Both Maverick’s ‘Lonely are the brave’ and Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born to Die’ are available for download via iTunes.

Have you heard both albums? What do you think? Get involved and post your comments.

One To Watch: Ed Sheeran’s – Drunk

February 8, 2012 Music Reviews No comments

2011 was without a doubt the year of West Yorkshire based, Ed Sheeran. After the hit singles, ‘A-Team’, ‘You Need Me, Don’t Need You’ and ‘LEGO House’, Ed is releasing the 4th cut of his debut album ‘+’ called ‘Drunk’.

The song’s production reminds in many ways to the ‘You need me’ track. Similar kind of beat, difference being in the chorus. Sheeran never disappoints in his songs. He can be very upbeat one moment, and then switch over to raw real emotions.  Ed sticks to what he knows best and the main appeal of his songs is the fact that they are self-penned and come from own experiences. The story is simple, Ed’s telling us about how he feels lonely after having split up from his girlfriend, and grabs for a bottle of beer to forget his misery.

With his latest cut, he has also prepared an official video, which is funny actually starring a very naughty pussycat, badly influencing Ed Sheeran to drink beer, or is it just his mind? Anyway we always like cats who dress up for nights out, it’s so adorable.

‘Drunk’ is now available on Itunes to download. So is his album ‘+’.

 
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