Samantha Jade - Firestarter

"You can be my fire starter"

The very deserving winner of last year's X-Factor Australia, Samantha Jade, has just unleashed her next single on us. For those unfamiliar with her, imagine if Kylie Minogue opened up a school for aspiring pop stars. Samantha would be valedictorian. She's like an honorary Minogue. I'm not sure I'm as into this song as her last release, but I have a lot of goodwill towards this girl and I really want to see her become a success. As far as I'm concerned, XF AU is three for three when it comes to their winners. It'll be interesting to see what happens this Fall with a (half) different judging panel, coincidentally featuring a Minogue among them!



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Midnight Boy and Nicole Saboune in concert!

I've got something a little different for today, because two of Sweden's (and the world's) most exciting new stars recently gave awesome, intimate mini-concerts in their home country and both are available to stream online! I was especially impressed with the unheard tracks from Midnight Boy. Sounds REALLY good, especially Security and Butterflies. I need to hear the studio versions ASAP. Hopefully, we'll get some news on when both of these acts' debut albums/EPs/etc come out. Sweden is on the rise once more!

Midnight Boy


Nicole Saboune

The Limousines - Scream Please

"I see you here and then away you go"

There are a few albums I've had on high rotation recently, yet haven't had much of an opportunity to write about on here. The Limousines' recent project is definitely in that category. I did feature their single, Love Is A Dog From Hell, a few weeks ago. It's still the best track on the album, but there are a few more standouts worth highlighting. Scream Please is one of the most instant, most melodic, and poppiest songs the band has recorded. It has a real warm vibe to it, with bright synths and a playful melody that sticks after one listen -- kind of like the work of Sweden's Tough Alliance. It wouldn't make a bad second single, actually.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Girls' Generation - Love & Girls

It doesn't matter if you like Korean/Japanese music or not. As long as you have a healthy appreciation for bubblegum pop, you will go nuts for this song. Girls' Generation impressed with their single I Got A Boy earlier this year, and now they're back with a Japanese track that is seriously gunning for novelty dance chart topper status. I mean, that whistling breakdown was made just to infect everyone in sight (ditto to the crowd dance in the video). The melody is equally sticky--something between weird children's song, Call Me Maybe sibling and long-lost Girls Aloud single. It is ridiculously cheerful and utterly impossible to dislike. Come on, I dare you.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Nicole Sabouné - I Surrender

"Every happy story ends"

I'm a bit behind and meant to post this last week, but I think it's worth the wait because Nicole Saboune is one of my favorite new artists of the year. She's already dazzled us with two singles, and for the third it's time to move on to something more pensive. I Surrender, like Conquer Or Suffer, was co-written by Nicklas Stenemo (formerly of the Mo and currently with Melody Club and Kite). This instantly gets my attention, as he is one of the absolute favorites on this blog. I'm so happy to see him working with so many other artists -- particularly ones as interesting as Saboune. I Surrender might not hit you as instantly as her faster tracks, but it's definitely a grower. The production is fantastic.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy her songs here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Joywave - Tongues (ft. Kopps) (RAC Mix)

"Sometimes I think that they don't understand me"

I was all prepared to post about a million other things today, but then this song appeared on my soundcloud stream and hit me over the head with its awesomeness. Readers of this blog will already be familiar with RAC, who have remixed Penguin Prison (among other artists). Now they've taken on a song from the band Joywave, who I'm not familiar with (yet). You will be completely won over from the get go. Those wonderful blippy vocals that kick off the track and continue throughout are too catchy to resist. This has "slow burning hit song" written all over it. And best of all, download it for free from the soundcloud link below!



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the original song here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Studio Killers - Funky At Heart

"You fit into my puzzle"

After years of anticipation, Studio Killers' album is finally out! As expected, it's the first album in a long time that's consistently awesome all the way through. This is what Summer 2013 needs! Apparently, a lot of people agree, as it's done pretty well on worldwide itunes charts (at one point it was in the top 20 on the U.S. charts, which shocked me -- in a good way). I could literally post any track and it would be completely worthy. I almost highlighted to the slower Who Is In Your Heart Now, which would make for a fantastic fifth single, but I decided instead for the more uptempo, instant Funky At Heart. Like most modern dance tracks, its centerpiece is a mammoth, thumping electronic instrumental, but what I really appreciate is the soaring melodic verses that surround it. This is top-down, driving in the sunshine music.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Against Me! - White Crosses & I Was A Teenage Anarchist

"White crosses on the church lawn, I wanna smash them all"

Sometimes you're just three years late. I was travelling to Kentucky last week and listening to the newly launched EW radio on Sirius XM. They played this song I Was A Teenage Anarchist by punk band Against Me and I was instantly smitten. Of course, I knew about Against Me prior to this. I remember reading great reviews of their 2007 album New Wave, but I always thought they were too "punk" for me. And a lot of their songs are not exactly to my tastes. But I think it's awesome that their lead singer came out as transgendered and that they write political lyrics in an age of cut and paste rock music. Lead singer Laura Jane Grace's voice reminds me of a growlier John Cameron Mitchell of Hedwig & The Angry Inch fame. The first four tracks off their 2010 album White Crosses, are nothing short of epic. I wanted to share the first two today in the hope that you guys will be as pumped about them as I am. I love this kind of highly charged, soaring anthemic punk rock (kinda reminds me of Foxy Shazam, who also released their best work in 2010). It's never too late to discover an awesome band.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy their music here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Austin Mahone - What About Love

"What about our promises?"

Ugh. I shouldn't like this. I didn't want to like this. Austin Mahone's management is clearly trying to set him up as the "new Justin Bieber" now that Beiber's gone rogue, and until this song I didn't think he had a chance. But they brought in the big guns, enlisting RedOne to produce this track. And my god, it worked. This is totally bringing me back to the teen pop heyday of 1998-2000. It could've been on any of the 'Nsync or Backstreet Boys albums. It's refreshingly melodic in a sugary way, with a video that wouldn't have been out of place thirteen years ago. I don't know if they intentionally meant to create such a flashback, but in doing so they're really going to please us older pop fans. This feels more like something that would've come out in Sweden--not America. It'll be interesting to see if he can gain Bieber-like popularity. The song already seems to be doing pretty well for him.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Bullock Hearts - The Moment

"I can feel it grabbing hold like a dreamer in the night"

Call me immature and juvenile, but I can’t get over this band’s name. The first time I saw it in writing, I mistook "bullock" for "buttock," and honestly some things you just can’t unsee. Band name aside, this is a totally refreshing song. It’s their debut in their native Sweden and seems to be doing well for them. Unlike the club tracks thrown out by most of their peers, Bullock Hearts is going for earnest, hyper-melodic balladry. This is a big, beat-your-chest-while-singing anthem. It’s got a slight country feeling, but not in a bad way. I’d actually compare it more to the power ballads from the 80’s. It’s the kind of song that would appeal to everybody--so pleasant and straightforward and well done that it can’t be faulted. Again, this is a definite compliment, especially in a radio landscape where this kind of music is deemed “old fashioned” and pretty much wiped from the airwaves.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Diviney - Sex Games

"I stole a kiss from you, but I need more"

Diviney is back with a new single! I couldn't be more excited. The band is, of course, Shaun Diviney (formerly of Short Stack) and his cohorts. He/they released the brilliant You're So Cool last year, which had a funky INXS-vibe to it that I latched onto immediately. Sex Games follows suit, adding plenty of keyboards to the mix. It wouldn't sound out of place on Short Stack's last album, but he does seem to be going for a lighter, poppier sound. No complaints here. I still think he's one of the most charismatic frontmen out there right now and I can't wait to hear the rest of the EP, which is due to be released in a couple weeks. I hope Australia (and maybe the world) will embrace this as much as they did his former band. It's the kind of cool, catchy pop/rock that the radio could use more of nowadays.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

CL - The Baddest Female

There’s something about these K-Pop/Hip-hop records that always reels me in. When I first heard The Baddest Female, I dismissed it as little more than a bunch of incongruent noise. To a lesser extent, I thought the same about G-Dragon’s One Of A Kind and Crayon, which turned out to be two of my favorite songs of 2012. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s (mostly) in another language, or that all those seemingly incongruent elements seem to blend into one sickeningly catchy refrain -- but I think what it really comes down to is the utter charisma these stars bring to the table. As leader of girl group 2NE1, CL is the most recognizable of her bandmates. The same thing could be said of G-Dragon and Bigbang. I’m kind of obsessed with the weird, snarly accent with which CL spits out the Korean/English lyrics. She spent many of her formative years in France studying--among other things--English, so I feel like her entire persona is a cool hybrid of east and west. One thing’s for sure: she’s a force to be reckoned with. Rap isn’t really my genre, but I can’t stop playing this.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy 2NE1's albums here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Magnus Carlsson - Glorious

"We're feeling high on life"

We pretty much know what to expect from Magnus Carlsson, don't we? This isn't gonna be some serious, laidback singer-songwriter affair. This is a balls-to-the-wall, campy as hell schlager anthem. And really, that's all we want from Magnus. Few artists can get away with releasing this kind of music anymore, and even fewer outside of Scandinavia. Thank god for Sweden! Honestly, it might be a little too much for even me, but I feel like the music industry needs to stop taking itself so seriously, so I'm happy to feature a song as ridiculously over the top as this. (It's still not a patch on his epic Live Forever, which I doubt whether he'll ever surpass)



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the EP here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

A Preview of my Leading Candidate for Album of the Year

In pop music, it seems like albums are a dying format. It's sad, but I'm noticing more and more that when the end of the year rolls around, I have no problem compiling a list of my favorite singles. But when it comes to featuring entire albums that are as strong, I struggle. That's why it's such a nice treat when something comes along like The Sound Of Arrows' debut a couple years back -- something where a lot of effort went into the entire package, rather than only the singles. By all accounts, Studio Killers' upcoming album sounds like it will be that rare, cohesive batch of songs. It helps that they've been working on this for years and have teased us with four singles that only seem to get better. But listening to the album preview (below), I think it's safe to say that this is going to be well worth the wait. I'm counting down the days.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Preorder the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.