Jennifer Lopez - "First Love"
For those of you that haven't been keeping up with Jennifer Lopez and her recent musical outings: congratulations. It's a giant webbed mess that you thankfully avoided. Following the huge success of her 2011 comeback track "On the Floor" (which featured Pitbull), Jennifer decided to include the Cuban sensation on another track in 2012 ("Dance Again") and yet another one in 2013 ("Live It Up"). The latter two didn't fare as well with audiences or critics, proving that Pitbull was no longer Jenny's secret weapon of success. "Live It Up" underwhelmed to the point where it was dropped from Lopez's album; an unfortunate path for the not-too-shabby track.
Receiving loads of complaints for her attempts at becoming "a dance artist", Jennifer Lopez decided to bring back the rougher sounds of her roots. Unfortunately, she tried too hard to make that faded image come back to her. A series of commercial failures released throughout the first quarter of 2014 ("Girls", "Same Girl" and "I Luh Ya Papi") caused the album's future to yet again be put on hold. All three of these tracks were applauded for their clear steer from the dance genre, but yet again they failed to attract a strong enough audience. "I Luh Ya Papi" charted for 2 weeks and reached #77 in the United States, as the strongest of the three.
On "First Love", JLo has apparently admitted defeat and given up on a rough sound. To be honest, I appreciate this style more. It draws some clear influences from classic dance floor anthems and typically styled pop songs, while still mixing in some thicker vocals. With that being said, it doesn't quite work the right way. The chorus seems a little bit on the flatter side, though it can still be appreciated. Overall the song is good enough to be a single, but not strong enough to be another comeback hit. A nice effort though.
Usher - "Good Kisser"
Though it was just an announcement and a teaser for the new track, Usher's brand new short video clip cut it short and sweet. Just like a good kiss. From a good kisser. The teased track, "Good Kisser", leads the long lasting R&B legend's 8th studio album (currently untitled), which is scheduled for release in the Summer or early Fall of this year. The short preview really got the hype going for the track, and I don't know about you, but I'm very excited based on what I heard. It sounds fresh, strong and could wind up becoming a potential hit on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50 as well as the US Billboard Hot 100.
The new track will be released on May 5th, until then we can only enjoy the preview. It will be his first major release since 2012's "Numb" became a minor hit in several overseas territories.
Yes I know. I usually don't include albums in my CDS Picks series, but given that this surprise album was announced just about an hour ago, I felt it right to include the fact that Mariah Carey's upcoming 14th studio album will be released on May 27th via iTunes (as an exclusive).
While Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (previously titled "The Art of Letting Go") has suffered several snags in the road so far (multiple push backs), Mariah and her team are starting to turn all that around really quickly. Preceded by lead single "#Beautiful (feat. Miguel)" and several other releases, the new album will include a 14 track standard version and a 17 track deluxe bonus version. The album's second single (and former title track), "The Art of Letting Go", is now only available as a deluxe edition track. Another track titled "Supernatural" will feature Carey's twin children on vocals. In addition to Miguel, several other artists contributed tracks to the project. Mary J. Blige, Nas and Wale are among the short list of guests.
You can see both album covers (deluxe below and standard above), the track list and the announcement video below.
1. "Cry."2. "Faded"
3. "Dedicated (feat. Nas)"
4. "#Beautiful (feat. Miguel)
5. "Thirsty"
6. "Make It Look Good"
7. "You're Mine (Eternal)"
8. "You Don't Know What To Do (feat. Wale)"
9. "Supernatural"
10. "Meteorite"
11. "Camouflage"
12. "Money ($*/...) [feat. Fabolous]"
13. "One More Try"
14. "Heavenly (No Ways Tried/Can't Give Up Now)"
15. "It's A Trap (feat. Mary J. Blige)"
16. "Betcha Gon' Know (feat. R. Kelly)"
17. "The Art of Letting Go"
It's bound to be a success! This move was smart and it will garner lots of attention throughout the music world throughout the next few weeks! You can read more about Mariah's new album here!
Vita Chambers - "A+D"
The fast rising Canadian star that brought the #1 CDS Music Chart Hot 50 smash single "Fix You" to life is back! "A+D" arrives following the success of Vita Chambers' most recent release, "What If?". That track (which spends a 27th week on the Hot 50 this week) followed "Fix You" and "Masquerade" as Vita's 3rd straight top 10 debut, and eventually wound up peaking at #3 on the Hot 50. That made it the 3rd consecutive top 3 entry for Chambers, making her the only artist to peak in the top 3 with their first 3 tries.
"A+D" is a sharp, dance-y R&B tune that features a darker approach compared to Vita's other works. It has a storming chorus, and overall has some sounds reminiscent of the singer's largest single to date, "Fix You". That sounds like a recipe for success. Unfortunately, it may miss a top 10 debut because it was released late into the tracking week. Still, I'm expecting that "A+D" will perform on par with the chart performances of of "Masquerade" and "What If?" (based on first impression). More updates on this track and how it will debut will be arriving soon!
While I was still impressed with "Magic", I felt that it was too slow to be the first official single from Coldplay's upcoming 6th studio album, Ghost Stories. I'm not going to lie; that worried me quite a bit. This was mainly because I completely embraced the band's last album (2011's Mylo Xyloto) with open arms. I was literally a super fan of Coldplay. For the Mylo Xyloto era, I raced out to buy the album on opening day, bought the limited deluxe edition Target T-shirt bundle edition the next Saturday (I still wear it all the time), won a giant poster of the album cover from my local record store, bought the "Eveey Teardrop Is A Waterfall" CD single, and purchased a mini poster for my wall. You could say I was obsessed. But the album had some noticeable dissapointments, making me scared of the new era. "Midnight" (a promo single) proved that the new album had some more variety, but it wasn't until the release of "A Sky Full of Stars" (the album's second official single) that Inwas hooked.
"A Sky Full of Stars" is brilliant, vibrant, fresh and a perfect single for the era. It's well rounded and shows off multiple styles. It will likely easily outpeak "Magic" on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50 (#18), and be a favorite of mine when the full album is finally released.
Kiesza - "Hideaway"
By now, most of the CDS Music Chart fanatics likely already know that Kiesza's breakout smash single "Hideaway" could land the chart's 9th ever #1 debut. Though it really isn't the debut single from the Canadian singer, it is her first release through a label; a track titled "Oops" was self released in August 2012.
"Hideaway" mixes electro-pop with the deep house genre, creating a infectious sound that is impossible to ignore. Laced with fragments of trance, old school and classic 1990s dance, it's a perfect ode to the dance floor of the past. Throughout its 4 minute run time, it stays consistent in terms of energy level and verses and hooks swoop together to create a club masterpiece. It's a breakthrough, and the perfect dance track for the Summer of 2014. Hopefully Americans and Canadians will come to appreciate this track as much as I and European people do.
Come back for more features and a review of Lily Allen's "SHEEZUS" coming tomorrow!
