So, Gabriella Cilmi is the latest in a long line of female artists seemingly exploiting the old jazz/blues/soul genres. Sweet About Me is reminiscent of Norah Jones and Katie Melua at their absolute best, cool and subtly flirtatious (well, Melua in that respect).
PopJustice wittily remarked that Sweet About me could become #1 by Christmas, noting that the single has had a slow burn effect, gradually climbing into the top ten after initially entering the charts at a very low position.
First single from Gnarls Barkley’s second album, Run isn’t a massive departure from the hip-hop/soul fusion of their first album.
But then why mess with success? The Gnarls Barkley sound was a breath of fresh air when they first surfaced and there’s really little to challenge their monopoly on the sound today.
Duffy is one of those acts that we’ve been told we’re going to love this year. Mercy is the second single from her forthcoming debut album, Rockferry.
Mercy isn’t the first song in recent history to play on the iconic bassline from Stand By Me. It starts out that way, but it isn’t long before the hammond organ is tooting away and we’re transported back to Dusty Springfield-era soul.
A London-based Reggae artist with a major label deal and a support slot on tour with Brit music darling Adele? That’s Natty, one of MTV UK’s big tips for 2008, as highlighted in their Spankin’ New For 2008 poll.
His music is a sweet blend of reggae, soul and urban influences all delivered acoustically with his band. The music weaves “between playful love odes and socially conscious compositions”, and Natty was the only new artist to be included on the NME Love Music/Hate Racism compilation.
During the Brit Awards announcements, Adele said that she couldn’t understand all the hype surrounding her. After all, it’s not like she’s done anything yet.
I get the impression that’s all about to change with the release of Chasing Pavements today (21 January 2008). You’d be forgiven for thinking this was Adele’s debut, but Chasing Pavements is actually her second single (after October’s Hometown Glory).
It’s been a while since we did a review round-up. Today’s round-up looks at one of my favourite albums this year, Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black. In the style of other review roundups, we’ll be looking to blogger’s opinions rather than relying on mainstream reviews. Jump over the picture to get started…
I’m lamenting the tabloid coverage of Amy Winehouse at the moment, and Tears Dry On Their Own is a fine example of why.Just listen to this song and watch its accompanying video - Winehouse has, as I said before - a rare vulnerability that she communicates whenever she sings. It’s like, despite that larger-than-life beehive and the sinewy body, there’s a scared and sensitive little girl hiding inside.
One of my paltry claims to fame - I met Duke Special a few years back at an event his sister was working on. He was a bit of a cult hero back then, and seemingly even more so today - his MySpace page has almost 12, 000 friends!
Everything about Duke Special is unique, from the eccentric dress sense to the seemingly absurd range of props he uses to create his sound (cheese graters, wardrobe doors, pianos, harps, brass, strings and an old gramophone).
What you end up with as a result is a genre-busting category-defying artist who seems to be immune from trends in pop music. I’m not drooling, honest. After listening to so many canned acts in the charts, it’s refreshing to hear an artist doing something completely different.
Probably the quote that warms me most to Duke Special is “I wanted to find a way to play the piano and sing that didn’t make me sound like Elton John or Billy Joel.”
Saying that, I think Freewheel is probably the most mainstream of his material (that’s available on MySpace). Duke sings in an unashamed Northern Irish accent, something we’re hearing more of these days. As I said in my Snow Patrol review, the NI accent can sound really vulnerable and emotional when done right. And both acts know how to milk that accent to perfection….
I’m hoping to get my hands on some other Duke Special material in the near future. If everything is to the same standard as Freewheel, then this should be pure gold!
Well, when she’s not busy getting arrested (and resisting said arrest), Kelis can still churn out some fantastic music.
Never in a million years did I think the shouter singer of Caught Out There could do sensitive. But that’s exactly what she manages to achieve with Little Star. It’s a funky soulful collaboration with Cee-Lo. Funny, but the name Cee-Lo meant nothing to me, until I saw the video and recognised him instantly as ‘the big guy from Gnarls Barkley’.
If you like us enough to visit the bottom of the page, then we invite you to support Unreality TV by either sponsoring us, contributing an article or subscribing to our latest articles.
