Showing posts with label John Newman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Newman. Show all posts

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Album Development: Calvin Harris Announces "Motion" Album, Dami Im's "Heart Beats"


Calvin Harris Drops Motion Cover, Announces November 4th Release

Calvin Harris announced the release of his upcoming 4th studio album, Motion, just last night. Alongside the title reveal, the British DJ revealed that the disc will be pressed just in time for a November 4th release date. The album cover was released a number of hours later. The placement of the album's release on the schedule is likely a solid move, with November 4th being the only date that lacks a lot of competition for the rest of the year (only Nickelback will compete alongside Harris), though holdover competition courtesy of Taylor Swift's 1989 and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V could slightly tarnish sales.

Still, Harris should be able to score a big debut with the album, which has already spawned a slew of number 1 singles in the United Kingdom ("Under Control", "Summer" and "Blame"). In the United States, "Summer" reached the top 10, while "Blame" became his fastest rising track of all time. On the CDS Music Chart Hot 50, "Summer", "Under Control" and "Blame" all reached the top 20, with "Under Control" reaching #10 (the highest of the three thus far).

Alongside the first three singles from the album, "C.U.B.A" (released as the B-side to "Blame") has been confirmed on the final tracklist. There hasn't been any other confirmations on collaborations, but the album is likely to be jam packed with vocals from other artists (like 18 Months was). The album's 4th official single is expected to drop on October 27th, but this hasn't been confirmed by Harris himself.

More news on this is arriving soon, so stay tuned!


Dami Im Announces "Heart Beats", Her First Album Composed of 100% New Material

Dami Im, one of The X Factor Australia's most coveted winners in recent history, has announced that she'll officially release her 3rd studio album (2nd on a major label and first composed of entirely new material) on Friday, October 17th, 2014 in her home Australia. As for the rest of the world, we'll have to wait for an international release date. She'll be up against stiff competition from Jessie J and Nico & Vinz among others, but could end up landing her second consecutive number 1 album on the national Australian charts (ARIA) since her X Factor win in October of last year.

The new album comes preceded by two Australian top 20 hits. The album's lead single, "Super Love", reached #11 on the ARIA single charts after being released to digital retailers on May 16th. The album's second official single, "Gladiator", generated universal acclaim from contemporary critics in Australia. They claimed it to be reminiscent of songs by Katy Perry. Upon release to retailers on August 8th, the track also eventually peaked at #11 on the ARIA single charts (though it debuted lower on the chart).

On September 26th, the album was put up on iTunes Australia for pre-order. A new single called "Heart Beats Again" was released to promote the pre-order, and an additional countdown single could be revealed within the weeks preceding the album's release.

See the full tracklist:

1. "Super Love"
2. "Gladiator"
3. "Living Dangerously"
4. "Without You"
5. "Moment Just Like This"
6. "Speak Up"
7. "Beauty in the World"
8. "Let Go"
9. "One More Time"
10. "Heart Beats Again"
11. "The Hunger"
12. "Heart So Dry"
13. "Solid Ground (Stop the World)"
14. "Beautiful"
15. "Without You (Acoustic)"

Come back for more new posts and keep it here for more Album Development features.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Calvin Harris' "Blame (feat. John Newman)" Leaks: Does It Live Up to the Hype?


Calvin Harris' track record on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50 since 2012 has been absolutely stellar: he's tallied 3 #1 singles ("We Found Love", "Sweet Nothing" and "Thinking About You"), 3 additional top 10's (for a total of 6) and his 7th charting single ("Summer") reaching #16 -- the tracks are undeniably catchy. Despite this, Calvin Harris' just released new single, "Blame (feat. John Newman)" feels a bit underwhelming upon first listen.

John Newman -- the famous voice behind hits such as "Love Me Again" and "Cheating" -- delivers when it comes to vocal presentation, but the production value (provided by Harris) just feels tired, bodiless and just lackluster in general. It feels like a slightly washed out version of Calvin Harris' "I Need You Love (feat. Ellie Goulding)" (which peaked at #4 on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50, and spent over 52 weeks on the chart).

Overall, it's bound to become an eventual chart success, but it just seems like an unfortunate outcome. I mean come on, we've waited over two months for this to come out and this is what we get? I expected something a little bit more powerful. Oh well.

"Blame (feat. John Newman)" will be released on iTunes worldwide on September 7th alongside Harris' vocal-less, experimental "C.U.B.A" (in selected markets). It should have no trouble topping the charts upon release (I'm expecting it to debut at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Calvin's 6th #1 single). The song is the second single to be lifted from Harris' upcoming 4th studio album, due out this November.

Listen to to "Blame (feat. John Newman)" just below. You can also pre-order the song here. Also let me know what you think of the track in the comments.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Year To Date: Top 50 Singles (Through July 10th)


Several weeks ago I published a list with the top 20 best performing songs of 2014 thus far. This time around, I have expanded the list to a top 50 through July 10th. Though points have already been added for the top 15 songs on the July 17th chart. While this might give several songs large advantages, it's worth noting that songs below the top 15 don't get nearly as many points, so their scores aren't effected downward a whole top.

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