Happy Friday! If you're looking for new tunes than this week's Friday Four for GCN is heavy on dance duos and the new Britney tune. Also, Una Mullally had me do a guest post for her Irish Times blog where we hash out our differences on Lady Gaga as new album ARTPOP arrives on Irish shores.
On the Gaga tip, I'm chatting about her in today's Irish Independent as part of the Day and Night magazine. I've a regular column starting this week which is exciting in the extreme. And if you're at a radio at all tomorrow I'll be discussing the current trajectory of Gaga's career with Dave Fanning on 2FM around 10:30am and reviewing the album for Spin 1038 on Plan B at 1:45pm that same day. Phew.
In just over five years Lady Gaga has achieved the kind of success most popstars would struggle to achieve in ten. And as much as she's a star whose success relied on the always-on 24 hour media whirl we live in now, it's the same system that can make her seem she's no longer "relevant". She's griped recently about feeling misunderstood (like this excellent Guardian interview) and made a video that played with all the internet chatter about her just before Applause dropped.
Yesterday ahead of new song Do What You Want (one of a handful of songs that aren't singles that she'll be unveiling before new album ARTPOP arrives next month) debuting Gaga went on a Twitter rant, linking to videos and images of things people have said about over her career from her weight to what Madonna thinks of her. In one way it can be seen as her throwing her toys out of the pram (and how boring is it when popstars say they don't write for the charts? sigh) but it's an oddly self aware flip of the bird from someone who has more of a mask up in public than her contemporaries.
Banal yet brilliant, cutting yet corporate, Katy Perry occupies a strange place in the pop sphere. 2010's Teenage Dream was only her second album but it turned her into a chart juggernaut. From California Gurls through to Firework and then two huge hits from a reissue, Perry ended up with 6 number ones on the US' Billboard Hot 100, the kind of staggering feat that comes from a heady mix of big tunes, big marketing and a star relentlessly out to up their pop game.
Cher's new album is arriving in Ireland on Friday and in the UK Monday following her appearance on The X-Factor this weekend. It's easy to dismiss her but the new album is half pop-dance gems and half well realised ballads. If you're in Ireland you stream it in full at GCN now and wherever you are you can read my track by track thoughts on the album there too.
It's already something of a ridiculous time in pop with Katy Perry and Lady Gaga being pitted against each other and a "fourth quarter" schedule that sees everyone from Cher to Miley Cyrus unload a high profile pop album before the year is out. But there's always going to be some space for whenever Miss Britney Spears decides to bring us some new stuff ahead of album number eight arriving before the end of 2013. There's been a drip feed of collaborators mentioned all year and while some fans winced at the involvement of Will.i.am as executive producer his touch seems to be bringing interesting people onboard, from Naughty Boy and Emeli Sandé (who could easily adapt the emotive pop-soul they've been huge with over here to Britney and take it to a new audience) and even possibly the likes of Charli XCX. The general message seemed to be "this is going to get personal" and the dance side of Brit Brit might take a break. But then comes along new single Work Bitch which is neither personal or as "urban" as we may have been lead to believe. But is this all part of a Vegas ready strategy behind Britney's next move? Work Bitch is a hyped up dance tune (I can't bring myself to embrace the horrific term "EDM" when it comes to talking about commercial dance music) that riffs on the kind of giant, wall of sound electronica favoured by Swedish House Mafia et al. In fact it was thought that Sebastian Ingrosso, one third of SHM, had worked on the song but it's in fact one of the acts he handles, Otto Knows (whose Million Voices is one of the biggest crossover dance tunes of the last 12 months) who is responsible for the beat on the Will.i.am produced track (Which also features Irish pop songwriter Ruth Anne Cunningham on co-writing duties). Still, it's easy to see the DNA of tunes like Million Voices or Swedish House Mafia's Greyhound in the sense of build and frenzied, thumping bass that form most of Work Bitch's production. There's definitely a sense that melody has been sacrificed for raved-up excitement at times but thankfully there's enough sass and Britney talk-singing to elevate the enterprise. It's got a bit of a weird structure and while it rubs shoulders off of every enormous dance-tinged pop single of the last few years it has a slightly more aggressive and demented swing that makes it feel like a bold move for her. And like the best Britney singles it manages to fit in with where pop is and feel slightly in it's own lane. Basically we're talking Swedish House Mafia's Greyhound, the British-ney bits of Scream and Shout (and sadly of some of Britney's oddest run ins with the paparazzi making it something of a fan reference point), the energy and stomp of a track made for vogueing too (the rumours that it samples RuPaul are sadly false but Britney screaming "WORK BITCH" definitely channels the same kind of idea as Ru's signature hit Supermodel) and the kind of weird vocal delivery that summed up Blackout highlights like Toy Solider and Hot as Ice.
And it's obvious that Las Vegas has been factored into this single too. From the forthcoming confirmation of her long mooted Vegas residency to the cheeky Vegas sign in her single cover, it's obvious that this is a big part of the next phase of Britney (and probably a big money deal). And Britney going to Vegas isn't just going to compete with the Cher, Celines and Bette Midlers of this world, she'll be expected to pull in a younger skewing audience. With Calvin Harris and co. packing out clubs along the Vegas strip, this new investment in dance music for young partiers heading towards Vegas is surely an influence on this new tune. One that will sound as good reswizzed in a Vegas superclub as it will opening her own headline show. Certainly what TMZ reported about the Vegas show and it's aimed audience today would confirm that. It's likely that we'll get a more "straightforward" second single before we get the album (As is now de riguer these days and likely a ballad) and it's still a bit of a jolt to hear Britney half singing / half talking over such an aggressive electronic-driven cut but it's got enough humour and camp thrills to suggest that Britney is going claw her way back to the top of the pop heap by fitting right in and doing her own thing all at once.
Maybe you have a degree. Maybe you are still in school. Maybe you were home schooled or maybe you say things like "WELL I REALLY LEARNED AT THE SCHOOL OF LIFE TO BE HONEST" at house parties. Either way, you probably still love to learn. Who doesn't? And where better to learn about life than from pop videos? You're in luck because The Saturdays and Ke$ha are here to school you! Hurrah. Now, quiet down the back!
Ke$ha - C'mon
What is it: Single no. 2 from K$ not-selling-that-well-so-far 2nd album Warrior which is actually great despite the fact that this and single no. 1 Die Young don't do the album justice. Oh well. What We Learn: - Ke$ha would clearly make a terrible waitress what with her insistence on ignoring customers and ruining their "cup of joe" and then quitting her job and calling her boss a "dick". It's a good thing she has that pop thing to fall back on. - Leaving your job can be amazing however. As soon as she leaves a bunch of guys in animal onesises take her in a van, K$ hops in a jacuzzi (IN THE VAN) and flops around in a one piece. Then they have a dance party in a corner shop. Who knew unemployment could be so.. fruitful. -Revenge is a dish served dance party. Hate your bold boss? Then run into his premises with your friends dressed as giant animals and dance around. Huzzah. - K$ new blonde wig/weave/whatever it is ain't cute and we learn that we shouldn't get our hair done that way.
The Saturdays - What About Us
What Is It: The new single from The Satz whose fourth album The Chase is out later in the year. This is also their first US single as they try to break into the American market (As we mentioned yesterday). It's all synths and dramatic rave-pop/dubstep builds and drops but it's still sort of mid-tempo. This has actually grown on me alot but I'm still not convinced that they'll score an American hit with it. Sadly. What We Learn: - The Saturdays are having a GREAT TIME IN AMERICA OMG!1! There they are, walking down some boulevard, then hopping into some lovely vintage clothes emporium for chic buys. Playing pool with cute boys, lounging around pools and breaking into football fields to ... eh, dance around. - The Saturdays need to work on their dance moves. WHAT are they doing during that dance break? Really. If you're going to break into a football field with some attractive blokes shouldn't you be doing some seriously intricate moves? They seem to find the most basic of routines very streneous. It's all a bit "five girls on the piss, have a twirl" but maybe this is to make them seem more relatable etc etc. - You know you are in America when everything looks a bit sepia-ish. The lighting/colour palette is the music video equivalent of a Instagram filter. The whole thing looks a bit bleached out like they thought things would make things more "Californian". Weird. To Sum Up: Today we learnt that if you hire Ke$ha to work for you she won't be very good at her job and she may wear a bad wig. BUT you might get to see some guys in animal costumes which is quite cool. And that if you want to be in a girlband and "do America" you need to make sure everything is a bit sepia and that you can't do a basic dance routine. Hurrah! Ke$ha's second album Warrior is out now including C'Mon. The Saturdays have released What About Us for American audiences now and release it as a single here on the 15th of March (Ireland) And the 17th (The UK)
Thursday means you nearly have the weekend to look forward to. Or something. But either way it's the end of our first full, not sort of stuck between New Year's Eve week of pop excitement and it's already been quite something. Here are some pop bits I've been enjoying this week.
Mutya Keisha Siobhan Finally Sort of Unveil a Song
The reunion of the three girls that made up the first run of the Sugababes has many pop fans in hysterics. They've been fairly quiet bar some red carpet apperances and promising press rumblings. After they sang some songs on New Year's Eve they unveiled an acapllea version of upcoming tune Boys and Popjustice have more info and a studio clip. This is not just one of the most exciting things of the week but of THE YEAR SO FAR. Which is about two weeks long but whatever.
Beyonce is Going To Be Everywhere This Year
Beyonce's GQ cover has had everyone going in to a tizzy this week but the interview accompanying it is possibly more illuminating. The real revelation is that she's creating an archive of all of the images, interviews, performances she's done. Incredible. There's also some tidbits about the new album with plenty of references to 90s r&b etc. This whole "90s R'n'B" has been bubbling under with indie/dance artists for ages so it looks R'n'B is "back" again. As in BACK all over the charts/radio/to the point of it being annoying not just "Jessie Ware covers Brownstone" back.
Justin Timberlake is Also Back
Later today apparently JT will announce a single or debut a single or give us something musical. THANK GOD. THANK. GOD. Billboard are saying that he's done "around 20 tracks " with Timbaland. How exciting. There are also whispers of Jay-Z and Beyonce being on the song (and Beyonce does mention working with Justin in the GQ interview above). I need to lie down.
The Saturdays "Conquer America"
The Saturdays are, I suppose, quite successful here and in the UK and their attmepts to do the same Stateside will be followed by a new TV show on E! Basically Ryan Seacrest is putting his TV muscle behind them to make them Kardashian-size famous. I'm not convinced this is going to work but given that their first US TV interview is with Chelsea Handler, at least we're getting a solid laugh out of it. Although my fave, Irish Stunner Una, doesn't get my chance to talk. Disappointing.
Robyn's Stylist Sounds Very Interesting
This Spin interview with Robyn's stylist is fascinating. (Thanks to Idolator) I'll be doing a new music post on GCN.ie tomorrow too but for now enjoy that lot and perhaps you too would like to start working on your personal archive? If Beyonce can do it then so can you!
Obviously, it is a very good thing that Girls Aloud are properly back together even if it's only for a greatest hits album and tour and not a proper full length album etc etc. Something New was such a perfect return, it was exhilarating to see how they could take on the current chart sound and still sound like them after a few years break. The new tracks on Ten, that new compilation, are mainly amazing, upbeat, fizzy pop with the kind of quirky twists that are their hallmark.
Sadly, current single Beautiful Cause You Love Me is a rare misstep. By the time Call the Shots rolled around, we saw that a Girls Aloud ballad didn't have to mean an unbearable 4 minutes. But this track is a huge disappointment, a mawkish slowie that feels like a girl band spin on the kind of "My man will love me despite how I look" ridiculousness Ed Sheerhan and One Direction have been peddling through popular song in the last 12 months.
The video has just arrived and it's hard to deny they look gorgeous and they all swan around beautifully. And in terms of music video product placement, wielding a new Nikon camera to take self empowering selfies of yourself is pretty damn hilarious. But, it's so BORING. It's like a timewarp to the early 2000s when every dreary pop act had to pout moodily in an abandoned house amidst some leaves in order to telegraph that it was nearly Christmas (what is it about empty houses and leaves that screams elegance to music video directors?)
In short, Girls Aloud can and should do better. The video is worth a look once just to gawk at how pretty they are, but the rest of us will just wish they'd done a clip for On the Metro instead. Sigh.
This month sees 16 (!) years since the Spice Girls relased their debut album in Europe (with a US release following a few months later in early 1997). Sure, 16 isn't your typical celebratory milestone for an album but in a year that's seen the Spices reunite at the Olympics and gear up to release a musical based on their songs it seems fitting to give their debut the once over. The odd part of the Spice Girls success was how it was so very big very quickly (The Official Chart Company in the UK posted some mind-boggling stats about just how huge their first few singles were this week) but never really lasted that long. The success of Spice fever across the world between 1996-1998 gave the girls a run of huge hit singles and a worldwide obsession very few groups have come close to reaching since. Marketing and merchandise became a key piece of the Spice juggernaut with the girl's faces being used to flog lollipops, cameras, deodorant and basically anything else they could think of. Big name endorsements and the celebrity as a brand is a common link amongst today's stars but there's no doubt that late 90s marketing machine behind the Spice Girls set a benchmark for the next near-20 years of pop stars. Their would-be feminist Girl Power slogan may have been partly a marketing man's dream come true but it was also a neat slogan, the sort of "You Can Do It Sista!" message that was reimagined by the Pussycat Dolls as something altogether more sultry nearly 10 years later and the sort of stuff that would become de-riguer once Firework / Born This Way/ We R Who We R all become chart topping "message" songs. But the thing about the Spice Girls thta many forget is the songs were in fact, brilliant. There was no way that intense a fandom, that much success, could have worked the way it did if it weren't for the group's gaggle of perfectly formed singles. Indeed the batch from that debut were particularly strong, from the pop-rap stomp of Wannabe to the balladry of 2 Become 1.
With a band as big as the Spice Girls were, those bold, shiny hit singles threaten to overshadow the rest of the album. And it's obvious throughout that the strongest songs were picked to go to radio, have videos etc. But what makes the album such a treat is the R'n'B feel underpinning various key points. Say You'll Be There feels like a bubblegum take on TLC's early work and elsewhere Love Thing, Last Time Lover and Something Kinda Funny play with a similar feel. People remember the cartoon personalities of each Spice (those nicknames: Baby, Sporty, Posh, Scary and Ginger were genius) and the cheesy pop underpinning their biggest moments but on songs like this they almost sound, wait for it, cool. There's a sense of something sassier and more knowing about tunes like this that give proceedings plenty of kick. The charm of the Spice Girls as group was the slightly rough-around-the-edges and energetic feel they had, less polished than your average group and all the better for it. Album cuts like this let that personality shine via song, dripping with the kind of good humour that typified their every TV appearance.
The underrated Mama is slight lyrically but is a rare chance for the group to show that they could sing and harmonise well as girl-group if not quite reaching the early 90s heights of En Vogue et al. Naked is an odd, melodramatic mid-tempo moment but a welcome trip into saucier territory with any real attempt at sensuality cut short by the unintentional hilarity of Geri's spoken word verses. The true gem though is If U Can't Dance which borrows it's rumbling hip-hop beat from 1990 rap hit The Humpty Dance, a cool kiss off to rhythm deficient boys that sounds poles apart from everything else on the album. It's another moment that completely jars with the bubblegum "buy a can of Pepsi with our faces on it!" image the girls curated after they became huge stars and a reminder of how well this album has aged 16 years later.
Indeed as a body of work Spice is lean, filler-free and utterly fun. The opening salvo of the three big singles puts their strongest hits up front but also tees up a jolly, carefree ride that is part bubblegum, part streetwise hip-hop pastiche with the still irresistible swing of disco-pop nugget Who Do You Think You Are being a mid-set highlight. It's interesting too that the swiftly released follow up Spiceworld garnered more hits but moved away from the R'n'B references that made their debut so charming (It was still a strong pop album but certainly more cartoon-y than it's predecessor). As the group plug the musical and use the goodwill from this year's Olympics performance to enjoy renewed press attention it's fitting to look back on a short but to the point pop album. One that set in motion a machine that would make five girls very famous, spark the late 90s teen pop craze that gave us Britney and co. and sell lots and lots of merchandise. Spicemania might have been about more than just the music but that music still sounds pretty damn good to this day. Viva Forever, the musical based on the Spice Girls' music opens in London on November 27th
Britney Spears may be appearing on US TV screens as a talent show judge right now but five years ago she was in an altogether different place. 2007 was the year that Britney’s meltdown became tabloid fodder, award show gold (in the wrong way) and made a star out of one overly emotional YouTuber (you’re welcome Chris Crocker).
More importantly it was also the year she released the impressive album Blackout. Britney's fifth effort was a triumph on several levels, for upping the stakes of her sound, for how it stood out from the pop pack and for the fact that it's much-hounded star even finished the album at all.
The Britney Spears saga become something of a nightmare throughout 2007. Spears had given birth to her first child the year before but divorced much-maligned lover Kevin Federline and soon used excessive partying to numb the pain. There was a forced rehab visit or two and that infamous head-shaving / attacking the paparazzi with an umbrella moment that has become a weirdly iconic image in the celebrity meltdown pantheon.
While all this oozed across gossip blogs, Britney was piecing together recordings with producers like Danja, Bloodshy and Avant and Sean Garrett many of whom were deliberately avoiding mentioning Britney's personal struggles (except on two standout tracks) to serve up a forward-thinking pop record.
Blackout arrived at the end of October 2007 with little proper promotion. Her appearance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards was a disaster and the video for Gimme More a barely salvaged rough cut of Britney twirling around a stripper pole (more on that here). There was no press interviews apart from a famously weird Ryan Seacrest radio chat. The songs were effectively left to do the talking.
Gimme More isn't just a terrific lead single for the project, it's also still one of Britney's best singles ever. It's deceptively simple but so slinky, dark and suggestive it's impossible to resist. Danja's layered production takes a plinky video game beat, adds creepy strings and weird whirring noises while Britney coos over each and every syllable. It's one of those immediate, dance-ready Britney tunes given a dark and sexy twist.
I tackled Piece of Me for Idolator's look-back at Blackout and my comments on it apply here. It's a rare moment of self-awareness in the Britney back-catalogue as she gives a defiant middle finger to media attention over an agressive Bloodshy and Avant beat. It's single release in the UK/Ireland arrived not long after the infamous incident of Britney being removed from her home on a gurney in front of hordes of paparazzi. It was a creepy moment as the looming tabloid figure that Britney had become jarred with the popstar whose new direction was winning over fans both old and new.
Radar is another sprightly Bloodshy and Avant production that has the ear-wormiest of hooks while Break The Ice is a swirling, futuristic take on the sort of R'N'B pop that was huge in 2006/7. Heaven on Earth is oddly upbeat, a sweet but slightly moody synth pop ode to a seemingly perfect man. Get Naked amps up the sleaze factor straight after, the dirtier sister track to Gimme More with a thumping, hypnotic suggestiveness apparent.
Freakshow plays with dubstep sounds years before Spear's future hit Hold It Against Me , while Toy Soldier channels Gwen Stefani and M.I.A. in a skittering, kinetic hip-hop infused number laced with attitude. Hot As Ice is somewhat clunky but endearing in it's brash knockabout quality. Ooh Ooh Baby is a callback to early Britney but more grown up. Perfect Lover brings things back into a darker vein, Danja layering up layers and layers of buoyant rhythms over a breathless Britney vocal.
Closing track Why Should I Be Sad is the only mid-tempo note on the whole set, a R'N'B ditty about a no-good man that she has to leave behind. It's standard stuff but delivered by Spears in an emotional way that suggests she's a little too invested in the content amid choice lines about expensive gifts she bought and gossip mags.
Blackout still remains the most consistent set Spears has ever released. While peers like Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake had found a sense of credibility from hip-hop approved hits (Timberlake's work with Timbaland) or mature artistic choices (Aguilera's much vaunted Back to Basics album) it took Blackout for Spears to finally shed her bubblegum beginnings for a believable sonic evolution.
The proceeding albums didn't always mine similar territory. 2008's Circus had high-points but resorted to the mixed-bag of styles that plagued her earlier releases. 2011's Femme Fatale was tightly made and packed with big songs but favoured a more bombastic approach, the sense of subtlety and pop-grit of Blackout left behind.
Blackout is a fan fave and critical darling five years down the line, with hysterical fan reaction to Britney's tweet about Blackout 2.0 a good marker of the esteem in which the album is held. It may not have had the push that a pop album can expect in the current chart world but Blackout still sounds just as good unfolding from your speakers as it did five years ago.
Blackout is out now and you should really just get a copy because it really is quite brilliant.
Brandy has certainly had a long but eventful run as an
R&B superstar with a sideline in teen sitcom stardom and ongoing personal
drama. What she also has is a voice that goes deep, intense and right into you
heart on the right material. Since the failure of her last album, 2008’s Human
and her parting ways with her record label Brandy has spent time licking her
wounds and convincing a stellar line-up of contributors to assist her in a
much-needed comeback on Two Eleven.
Named after her birthday and the date her close friend
Whitney Houston passed, Two Eleven is an attempt by Brandy to update the sort
of music she made at her peak. A lofty ambition it might but she just about
pulls it off. The likes of Bangladesh and Rico Love pepper Two Eleven with
productions that feel slick, modern but also churn with the sort of solid, hook
driven R&B pop that informed Brandy’s strongest mid 90s output.
Opening track (After a perfunctory “Intro”) Wildest Dreams
is a grower, a mid-tempo ode to finally finding the right lover that might not
wow the way you’d expect a big single to but slowly gets under your skin, the
impassioned delivery setting up an album that feels highly personal despite
Brandy not writing much of the lyrics herself .
With so many producers involved it’s a credit to the team involved that
Brandy’s signature vocals and tight, engaging production are joined together so
seamlessly. Let Me Go and Put It Down fulfill the “club banger” quota but
they’re still smart, swirling productions with beats dropping in and out as
Brandy twists her deep voice around saucy one-liners. There’s some solid
balladry too, like the gentle No Such Thing As Too Late that gets emotional and
winds back down at just the right time before things get too soppy. Best are
the mid-tempo come-ons like Slower and Can You Hear Me Now. The sex-jam is a
staple of any R&B album (just ask Janet Jackon) and few get it right but
Brandy’s delivery of lines about letting her inner freak out are played just
right and it’s some of the most sonically interesting material on the album.
Despite the magic she came up with during her Timbaland
phase on Afrodisiac, Brandy resorts to less modish sonic palettes here, instead
going for a lived in vibe to the songs with a sense of space and mood created
effortlessly by the songs. Frank Ocean hands in material (having worked on one
of the few highlights of her last album and before he broke out on his own
merits) and that sensitive, nu-R&B style in his work and in that of contemporaries
like Drake, sits well on a Brandy record, a reminder of how her early work has
made something of a lasting impact.
And that’s sort of the genius of Two Eleven. This is a
consistent, tightly-woven piece that feels up-to-the-minute in an underhand
way. With artists like The XX and Jessie Ware paying tribute to the golden era
of 90s R&B in their work it’s exciting to see one of the stars of that era
do music that tips a hat to their style while still sounding like themselves. A
moody, brilliantly realized grower, Two Eleven might not dip it’s toe into the
club-pop waters favoured by many R&B stars but is still one of the most
satisfying listens of the year.
Being a fan of pop music means that sometimes you probably don't go to lots and lots of live gigs, especially if your biggest faves are the kinds who play to fairly big audiences. Thanks to some good luck, good mates and fortunate timing I managed to see a clutch of shows in the last month and decided to give each of them a mention here. I started with Cheryl's O2 show, then Kelly Clarkson the week after in the same venue, followed by Marina and the Diamonds in the Olympia before finishing with the Jennifer Lopez show in the O2 (I was in the O2 alot basically which is actually the perfect venue for a big pop show). Below is your handy guide to each show, the highlights and lowlights.
CHERYL COLE - O2 Dublin - 4/10/12
From Girls Aloud to solo-popstar/massive celeb status in
many ways it makes total sense that Cheryl Cole is now touring. But for all the
glitzy, enjoyable fun of her arena show it also highlights just how she’s never
quite hit her stride as a solo performer. There are plenty of slick,
dance-driven moments during the A Million Lights tour but there are too many
moments where the whole thing feels a bit rushed and a ballad too many
threatens to derail things altogether. It’s still a fun show overall, Cole is charismatic
and likeable especially when nailing those trademark moves but it's not quite the flawless romp you'd love for her to do. An encore of Fight
For This Love ramps up the spectacle in a way lacking at other parts of the
show and reminds you that with a few bigger hits and a bit more time she could
really compete with Rihanna et al.
Cheryl is back on tour with Girls Aloud later next year, details here
KELLY CLARKSON - O2 Dublin - 10/10/12
Between that near-perfect pop voice and her genuine air, it’s
hard not to fall a little bit in love with Kelly Clarkson by the end of her
Dublin show. A non-stop ride through all of her best tracks and the strongest
album cuts from her recent gem Stronger mean that this is a concert that never
really lets up. It’s not a big, dance-driven spectacle but Clarkson and
a tight backing band whip up so much pop magic that you wouldn’t even notice.
Highlights include a stunning cover of Nothing Compares 2 U that brings awed
silence to the arena, a jaunt into the crowd for the underrated Already Gone
and the debut live airing of new single Catch My Breath. Best is an
exhilarating encore that lines up some of Clarkson’s best songs in quick
succession in a final charm offensives that leaves more than a few hearts
broken when she leaves.
Kelly's album Greatest Hits : Chapter One is out mid-November
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - The Olympia Theatre, Dublin - 17/10/12
Marina and The Diamonds has turned her camp-quirky-art-pop
stylings into a heady mix of chart-fodder and artistic expression on current
album Electra Heart. So the Dublin stop of her Lonely Hearts Club Tour has a
rabid audience swooning to songs from both releases. Despite the slight change in tone between her first
and second album her knack for writing sharp, brassy songs layered with wit
means that nothing falls flat and her wink-wink take on female archetypes
breathes life into your standard pop show. A striking beauty with an un-earthly
voice and a down-to-earth presence at odds with her beaming star-power Marina
held The Olympia in her thrall with just a bat of an eyelid and rightly so.
Whether she’s from the block or fresh off the American Idol
judging panel Jennifer Lopez still commands plenty of attention and although
this is her first ever world tour you can’t help but be impressed by just how
good the J-Lo live experience is. Firstly, her voice is a real surprise. It’s
not big and she’s not hitting those Mariah notes but the voice you know from
all those hits sounds just as good when she’s clearly singing live and even
when she does an acoustic number or two (I know. I know). Better is her dancing which is
completely perfect, recreating her iconic music video moves with ease. She also
has a charismatic, A-list glow that is easy to be dazzled by and has a rabid
audience on their feet throughout (no mean feat at a pop gig with tiered
seating). By the time J-Lo has run through basically every one of her hit songs
(although why Play was omitted I’ll never know) you’re left with no doubt as to
Lopez chops as a performer and to why she didn’t do this world tour sooner.
Stunning stuff.
JLo's Greatest Hits album Dance Again: The Hits is out now
