Music Related News

• Sheppard is all set to make their US debut with their catchy hooks, sweet melodies, and lovable lyrics. Look for them to take over iTunes charts soon with their single "Geronimo" that turns a childhood exclamation into an endearing provocation and listen to tracks "Hold My Tongue" and "Let Me Down Easy" to hear why you should already be loving their sound. 
• Calan Mai released his music video for single "We've Got Love" and it gave me a reason to start listening to the track on repeat again (and thank fuck for that because this track is as great as it is adorable). The fun, single-shot, simple concept video has Australia written all over it and, above all, those lyrics are sweet; listen and love. 
• Fragile Creatures' "Sunshine" is understated pop with a light feel despite its heavy beat; articulate lyrics that scream 'alternative' are held against a reggae-esque rhythm that makes the track oh so irresistible. Look for their debut EP to be released mid-August.
• Rob Drabkin released the video for single "Don't Worry About Me" and the track and simple video concept are so pure it aches in its perfection. With the constant music turnaround that this site sees, along with the absolute need to write about at least fifty percent of the music sent this way (i.e. only the good stuff makes it through), leaving little to no time to look for personal tracks, I had nearly forgotten what it felt like when a song made you feel like it was saying everything you've never been able to. Not to dismiss the fact that that string arrangement is more moving than every Top 40 song currently on the charts (put together), nothing has ever been sweeter than that guitar, and Drabkin's vocals ring with such plaintive honesty that the grief is palpable and that omnipresent feeling of hope breathes through the cracks of every new verse.
• Weezer will be releasing their ninth album, Everything Will Be Alright In The End, September 30th. The album is organized thematically around three groups of songs and uses the sound from the band's earlier days to create these new tracks.
• Angus & Julia Stone's video for their single "A Heartbreak" premiered this week and this irresistible sibling duo already has me craving more of their sound. I couldn't be more excited to see what they have to bring to the table now that they're getting US support.
• Timbaland's Rachel Assil released a soccer themed video for her single "Whoever We Are" (featured on the 'Pepsi: Beats of the Beautiful Game' LP). Listen to the track now for rich vocals, addictive beats, and a building melody that works to lift up inspirational lyrics.
• The Griswolds "Down and Out" is as catchy as all of their other tracks. Don't let the fun productions and bouncing beats fool you; this band has an impeccable talent for hiding spectacular lyrics behind danceable melodies. Listen close and fall in love with the sound you'll want to be playing all summer. 
• EVVY released her newest single "Collide" and proved that she is only getting better with each track. Check it for a clean production, fun lyrics, a beat that will make you move and, most importantly, a free download that you can add to all your summer playlists. 
• Rubblebucket released their single "Carousel Ride" and I cannot stop listening to this on repeat. It's rhythmic perfection with a downbeat being played out on the bass and guitar whilst a light melody is held throughout and soft vocals with their gorgeously unique quality speak honest lyrics; all the while that instrumentation slowly lodges itself in your brain -- it's fantastic. 
• The Occupants' "Streets" reads like a trip through the evolution of 'alternative rock' from its earliest stages, through the creation of every sub-genre, including a short visit through grunge and a running feeling of indie-rock, all balanced out with a double beat and a waltz-esque rhythm that hold the track together as it plays out in a modern alternative structure worthy of multiple listens. Also, lyrics like "all we need is right outside the door" which urge you to actually make shit happen, rather than sitting around and waiting for what you want, are pretty awesome. 
• Ariana Grande released her latest single "Break Free" and it sounds like everything else released this summer. Her tracks are too overproduced for her sweet vocals and when she has to fight to be heard over the production it only highlights the fact that she sings through her nose... It's catchy though. Look for My Everything to be released August 25th.
• Colbie Caillat's official music video for "Try" is just as understated and gorgeous as the track itself, with the refrain "you don't have to try so hard" played whilst showing women's make-up preparations, in reverse. The sweet track and video can be summed up easily though: you don't have to make yourself look like someone else to be pretty.
• Charli XCX has announced the dates for her Fall headlining tour in North America. The tour will kick off September 26th at The Social in Orlando and will continue through October. Head here to get tickets and listen to her latest single "Boom Clap" (and the greatly addictive ASTR remix) to hear the optimism and pure life that leaks out of her every track. 
• Karine Hannah's track, "Burning Up", reads like a boring diary from a teenager's first heartbreak with lyrics that lay across the surface, never delving deep, and cheap similes that sound like they came from your first attempt at the SAT Writing section. The vocals are flat and emotionless with a complete lack of proper pitch that really only makes me question how she got this far.
• Fenech-Soler released the lyric video for their track "Last Forever" and, after spending all week listening to Rituals, I can only say that I've never been more impressed with a band whose initial impression had me thinking that they were nothing more than another alternative boy band. Their lyrics have depth, their rhythms are catchy as hell, melodies are spot on, the vocals are actually good, and you'll like having these tracks stuck in your head. Get the new album when it drops in the US August 26.
• If you haven't heard Julian Taylor Band's Tech Noir yet, you're greatly missing out. All of the tracks are purely fantastic, but "Love Connection".. Freaking "Love Connection" went acoustic and took my heart because this track sounds like the good shit you grew up listening to on your parent's vinyl, laying on the worn carpet of your old living room floor with your eyes shut; that's this song. Check it out now and fall in love with the entire album.
• MoXiiE's "Anyway" offers up a pop/techno track that feels fresh and different from everything else available right now. Check it out below for a fun track that feels just right. 

Music Related News - 7/1

• We Are Stations released "Found My Way" (available for free now) and it's so sweetly perfect that it hurts a little. The sound feels like heading home while vocal harmonies are satisfying enough to be played at full volume with your windows down and there is something about the song, especially that guitar progression on the bridge, that just feels so right.
• Becky G released the music video for "Shower" and it is as just as deep as the song's lyrics would imply. I especially love the obvious product placement; the endorsement of Covergirl in this video is more noticeable than Stay Puft's in Ghostbusters. The most disappointing thing about "Shower" though is the fact that it is utterly void of the easy-to-sing-along-with-even-on-the-first-listen lyrics that we so desire in our thoughtless summer hits, even though the melody promises something fun. "Call Me Maybe" this is not (update: after ten listens the dancing and singing has commenced, but I will never forgive her for "Becky From The Block": that was straight up blasphemous).
• Ariana Grande released the track list for her forthcoming album, My Everything, due out August 25 and it reads like a who's who of celebrity mash-ups you've always wanted but were too afraid to dare dream of asking for (names include Childish Gambino, Big Sean, Ryan Tedder with Benny Blanco, and A$AP Ferg, among others). Catch her tomorrow night (July 2) during MTV's Total Ariana Live and watch for her new single, "Break Free" featuring Zedd, dropping tomorrow during the half hour event. 
• Sia continues her streak of sultry sweet summer sadness singles with "Big Girls Cry" and an intro which states "tough girl in the fast lane, no time for love, no time for hate... tough girl, whose soul aches" should have you completely hooked but when that beat drops and the melody frantically tries to keep up with soulful vocals that plaintively plead "I wake up alone" before allowing themselves to be wrapped up with "I don't care if I don't look pretty, big girls cry when their hearts are breaking" it's so gorgeous it aches. If you don't love Sia already, you haven't yet heard her music (or, more accurately, her heart-breakingly honest lyrics).  
• Watsky's first single since Cardboard Castles is catchy as ever; "Whoa Whoa Whoa" continues to prove that Watsky's production could not be better and his tongue in cheek lyrics are just as fun as everything that made you fall for his music in the first place while the choral repetition of "what do you take us for" hints at his omnipresent use of meaningful underlying messages.
• Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj are set to release the powerhouse collaborative single "Bang Bang" July 29 via Republic Records which will serve as the first single off Jessie J's forthcoming album due out this Fall and will also be available on the deluxe edition of Grande's My Everything.
• Owl City released the video for "Beautiful Times" (featuring Lindsey Stirling) from Ultraviolet (available now) and it sounds like a solid mixture of "Hello Seattle" and "Fireflies" and, to top it off, he is wearing the same damn shirt in "Beautiful Times" as he is in the "Fireflies" video (also it's the same fucking room and the same dang theme and this complete disregard of originality infuriates me, no matter its 'deeper' meaning). "Wolf Bite" was kind of awesome (honestly progressively better with each listen) and "Up All Night" is catchy as hell and they both veer far, far from that "Fireflies" sound, so check those out if you're tired of the watered down over-played radio singles.
• I don't want to like 5SOS but they're so greatly weird that it feels like they just happened upon their boy band status by accident and were like "'kay, cool; let's do this" and now they're just rolling with it but still putting out awesomely awkward videos that are totally cool with you being a freak. You do you and listen to 5 Seconds of Summer this summer because, let's face it, you can't stay away from it (and "Don't Stop" is pleasantly adorable).
• James Bay's Let It Go EP is still the most satisfying album you'll hear this summer. Sweet piano riffs are tied up with tangy guitar riffs that sound like home and rich vocals you will never grow tired of trot out lines that could not be more perfect were they taken from your journal (if you could ever remember to keep up a journal). 
• Australia's Sheppard (siblings George, Amy, and Emma Sheppard and friends Jay Bovino, Michael Butler, and Dean Gordon) are set to make their U.S. debut with their undeniably catchy single "Geronimo" and that fun melody that twines perfectly with an upbeat rhythm and wonderfully satisfying vocals is far too great to pass over; listen to it now and add it to your summer playlist, because you will be (shamelessly) addicted. 
• Lane 8's "I Got What You Need (Every Night)" featuring Bipolar Sunshine has to be the most satisfying single of this past week, though. With a sweetly slinking rhythm, a melody that breathes summer vibes, and charmingly full vocals doling out adorable lines you'll be singing along with in no time, the track is undeniably worthy of playing on repeat while dancing around. 
• I'm honestly so addicted to Zella Day's latest single that I don't even think I'm okay anymore. Seriously though, you have to be persistent as fuck to make it through any of Steinbeck's novels (even his novella's feel like a lifetime) and to write a song with lyrics which allude to the most basic ideas presented in East of Eden (that the creativity of a single person is the only real freedom left in this world) while a sturdy, persistent rhythm and pretty lilting melody feel like the constant struggle between good and evil (also a running theme in the novel) -- I'm too impressed with the writing style and production techniques to not be completely sated with this song that will never fall out of my head. 

Music Related News

• I am so addicted to this remix of Say Lou Lou's "Everything We Touch" that I cannot actually get any other work done. Bravo Mickey Valen, you've ruined me for all other remixes.
• The Stationary Set's latest video is so offhandedly weird that I would pay attention to the single without any further convincing but, with a gorgeous beat, a melody that pulls you in and leads you around, and lyrics as amazing as "but baby, I've been learning to smile, this is the year of my sign, and it's just a part of things to come" it is so very easy to fall for "Year Of My Sign". 
• It is so hard to not love a track that just feels right, and Viola Dust's "The Big Hop" feels like everything you've ever loved about pop was given a makeover; it's completely refreshing and more than irresistible. Put on your headphones, turn it up, and lay back or just dance around to it; you really can't go wrong with this. 
• Bleachers continues to adamantly refuse the title of 'one hit wonder' which was tossed about after the release of the sensational "I Wanna Get Better" (watch the video; it's rare that a video can actually make a track even better). "Shadow" is the sweet love song you never knew you had to hear (on repeat and turned all the way up) and "Rollercoaster" is so damn catchy it's a must-have in any summer driving playlist. 
• "Kids Again" is so much greater than expected from a radio ready pop single and it should be a staple of your summer playlists. It's upbeat, the lyrics are adorable and, with a fun melody and persistently solid rhythm, it is impossible to not dance around to this latest single from Example. 
• James Bay's "If You Ever Want To Be In Love" is adorable and lyrics that offer "I'll come around if you ever want to be in love, I'm not waiting, but I'm willing if you call me up, if you ever want to be in love, I'll come around" crooned out over a wonderfully steady piano and a tangy sweet guitar riff are too great to not fall for. 
• Stargroves' music is so perfect it kind of hurts. Every part of the composition and lyrics are thoroughly thought out and put together with such care, not to mention that it's impossible to not fall for their lead track which shamelessly talks about trolls and other legendary creatures; listen to "Westfjords", featuring Abigail Breslin, now. 
• Colbie Caillat's "Try" sought to engender women everywhere by urging girls to love themselves as they are; the song is gorgeous, with lines that are achingly honest and so very sad in their truths but, as great as it is in theory, these efforts always fall flat in practice. Honestly though, you are with yourself so much more than you will ever be with someone else; you better learn to love you an awful lot. It's hard to remember sometimes, but you are pretty awesome.
• Mwansa's "The Kid Has Issues" is honestly so fucking fantastic that I can't stop listening to this. It feels like sinking into a comfy chair after a long day and deserves to be played, sound way up, with your headphones on and your eyes shut.
• Everything coming out of Ireland right now is so perfect it aches to not just head over there and bask in it, and RudyTrixX's "Trippin'" offers a look at some of the best music you have to look forward to right now; alternative/techno pop from Australia is already making it's move, you need to be looking for alternative indie folk pop from Ireland now. 
• Alisha Zalkin's "Fearless" music video is adorably fantastic; watch it because it's cheesily great and a beautiful song that feels like you've heard it all before (in a good, message-from-your-older-sibling way) pulls these short messages from all of these gorgeous people together perfectly.
• Kimberly Anne's music video for "Liar" is just as hypnotic and amazing as the track itself; words cannot adequately express how much I love everything coming from this artist right now. Check out "Hard As Hello" and pre-order the Liar EP now.
• Cathedrals released their third single, "Want My Love", and those sultry vocals mix so eloquently with a bass that throbs in your chest and a rhythm that shows amazing restraint, in the best way.
• Sticky Fingers' "Just For You" shouldn't sound so great amongst all of summer's pop anthems, but the track is so cool and refreshing, with just enough of a hypnotic lull, that it sucks you in immediately and demands to be heard. 
• Buffalo Sunn's music video for their single "By Your Side" is still so time-trippily great that you need to see it if you have not already fallen for the band's sweet indie beach sound (again, I would like to reiterate that you need to start falling for Irish bands now).

Check these out, stop by tomorrow for more great music to fall in love with, and check out Hudson Taylor's recently re-released "Battles" from their newly released Battles EP.

Music Related News

• The Griswolds' "Beware The Dog" needs to be your new go-to summer track because no other song is as fun to sing along to right now and "we used to joke and it felt like home, but now you're fucking crazy" is perfect.
• James Bay released "If You Ever Want To Be In Love" Monday morning and sweetly honest lyrics fall in line perfectly with a guitar that feels like home while the adorable repetition of "if you ever want to be in love, I'll come around" is sure to make you fall for the single. James Bay's "Let It Go" continues to rise in popularity because you can always bet on male singers from the UK to take the US by storm. 
• Royal Tailor released a new video for their previously released single, "Ready Set Go" (featuring Capital Kings). This video's storyline is just as intricate as the last video's (there's no story, only a cautionary tale of the dangers of bringing back the fedora), but the song is as disgustingly catchy as ever and kind of perfect to throw into some of this summer's playlists. 
• Buffalo Sunn released their video for their single "By Your Side" and I became even more addicted to the gorgeously unique sound this group has created (it's like the lovechild of The Beach Boys and San Cisco became obsessed with Oasis and took their drum cues from early '90's RHCP). 
• Hudson Taylor's "Battles" gave us a peek at their Battles EP and I found myself, yet again, awe-struck by the remarkable resemblance between these guys and The Everly Brothers. The duos acoustic guitar melodies which discreetly support their softly powerful vocal harmonies is enough to bring the comparison to mind, but the songwriting structure itself is similar enough that I will never not immediately fall for a Hudson Taylor track. 
• Eminem's "Headlights" is crafted with the care and precision of every Eminem track while the achingly honest lyrics examine a relationship that can never be repaired, but will never be broken.
• Ed Sheeran came out with the official video for his single "Sing" and terrified automatonophobiacs everywhere; even if you don't have issues with that, the video is still creepy as fuck.
• Grouplove released their music video for "Let Me In" and it features scenes from The Fault In Our Stars, making it the most adorable video of the month. All fandom aside, the song itself is as underrated and amazing as all of the other Grouplove tracks which have never made it to the radio (though I'm sure this track will find its way there). The band's knack for creating fun lyrics that still mean so much thrives on this simple track which pleads "give me that love I'll be waiting for you, catch my hand I'll be fighting for ya".
• Kodaline came out with a video documenting their latest tour and paired it with the wonderfully perfect for summer track, "Way Back When".
• Smoove & Turrell's Broken Toys is a breath of fresh air featuring some of the most danceable pop jazz released in a long while. Listen to their single "Lay It On Me" for something to dance around to and fall in love with. 
• Foster The People's music video for "Best Friend" features a bizarre take on the fashion world with a video trippy enough to match the psychedelic feel to the track. The video features Foster constantly sitting on the sidelines while lyrics "when your best friend's all strung out, you'll do everything you can, 'cause you're never gonna let it get 'em down" and "I'm here no matter where you are" are trotted out over the degeneration of the protagonist's modelling career.
• "Brightside" left me, once again, completely addicted to Little Earthquake. These brothers always find a way to throw a perfect piano riff into a techno track that is brought back down to Earth, with sturdy drums and a full guitar sound, seconds before drifting away.
• LP's "Night Like This" is iTunes 'Single of the Week' so make sure to get it while you can. As with every other time I mention her, make sure to see her in concert if you have the chance; LP is the only female singer I have seen who sounds better live than recorded and those vocals are completely frisson inducing.

I know there are plenty of other music news bits which I have missed but, for now, just enjoy the perfection which is Stargroves' "Hats In The Air". The inspiriting beauty of that composition, combined with lyrics so honest they run through your mind as if you've always known them, makes this track impossible to ignore.