If you’re looking for Sasha Fierce, don’t bother: She’s gone.
Well, not entirely–she’s certainly still there twerking her hips above the militant beat of “Run The World (Girls)” and the frenzied horn-filled club bounce of “Countdown,” but for the most part, the divalicious alter ego of one of the world’s greatest entertainers has (temporarily?) stepped a stiletto to the side for the majority of her fourth studio album, 4–allowing the record to remain a decidedly Beyoncé experience.
After the release of her critically acclaimed Introduction EP back in 2010, UK singer-songwriter-drummer Florrie is back for another round.
The former Xenomania in-house band member–who first rose to prominence as a solo artist after giving away a handful of electro-pop gems produced by Fred Falke on her official website–returns on June 14 with the Experiments EP, a six-track collection of crunchy electro-pop tunes.
The Experiments EP finds Florrie flirting with an airy ’60′s French pop nostalgia mixed with cutting-edge pop penning and production by the likes of Fred Falke, MNEK and Mike Chapman. From the festive mariachi-electro horn flairs of “She Always Gets What She Wants” to the dreamy strings of the SomethingALaMode-produced “What You Doing This For?”, the entire mini-album meshes well with the carefully cribbed pop perfection of other acts imbued with the Xenomania essence, including Girls Aloud, Annie and Rachel Stevens, while still managing to carve out its own delightful identity.
“I Took A Little Something,” one of the collection’s brightest moments, is a neatly unearthed ’80′s synth-pop summertime smash, as Florrie’s light, dreamy vocals–marked by a Brian Higgins-esque (Xenomania) touch of smooth-spoken, hook-heavy lyrics–float above endless array of sparkling synthesizers.
While Florrie’s music may never enter into the realm of Top 40 pop–the production still feels too left-of-center for radio’s current pop taste buds (which even Florrie herself has said)–the Experiments EP should only further Florrie’s ever-expanding underground following with some of the most lush, listenable synth-pop you’ll encounter this year.
In keeping with Florrie’s incredibly thoughtful, transparent process regarding the release of her music, the UK singer-songwriter has put the entire Experimenting EP on YouTube–as well as on iTunes.
If you like what you hear, please support her!
The Experiments EP was released on June 14. (iTunes)
For those of us who have been following Simon Curtis from the very early days of his career, RA is a pretty big deal.
On Saturday night, Lady Gaga sat spread eagle atop a delivery table on the stage of Saturday Night Live, belting out “Born This Way” while grasping her very pregnant prosthetic belly before flooding the delivery table with goo and glitter.
“My water just broke,” the 25-year-old superstar tweeted late on Sunday night. And today, on May 23, Born This Way, Gaga’s second studio album, was born to the world.
Kitsuné, seminal purveyors of fashionable dance music, are out with their latest collection of well-curated indie pop cuts this week. Here are some reasons why this is a good thing:
1. Although most Kitsuné compilations skew heavily toward the indie dance spectrum, this one is actually “indie dance” themed. This means that it’s indier and dancier than ever.
2. Alexander Dexter-Jones has a song called “Phantastic Phone Call.” Alexander Dexter-Jones is the half-brother of Mark Ronson, which means that great music is in his genes; he is also a sibling of designer Charlotte Ronson, which means that fashion* is also in his genes.
3. Two of the artists featured are Swedish — first, the ever-lovely Icona Pop, who team up with Logo X on the punchy “Luvsick,” and The Touch, whose track “Sermon” is a masterpiece of weird tribal minimalism, evoking The xx at their very best. Kitsuné founder Gildas explains: “The track’s about an oxygen-less civilisation that’s about to collapse.” (I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but this is the second-best song about not having any air that I’ve ever heard, bested only by “No Air” by Jordin Sparks.)
If you put this on at a party, it is very likely that all of your mean hipster friends will begin to dance — not because they want to, but because they just can’t help themselves.
And that’s about all you need to know.
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A VERY FASHIONABLE COLLECTION.
Want to win your own copy of the collection?
MuuMuse is proud to be giving away
5 copies of Kitsuné Maison Compilation 11.
To enter to win, send an email to muumuse@gmail.com with the subject line “KITSUNE.”
Five winners will be randomly selected and notified on Thursday, May 26. Good luck!
Kitsuné Maison Compilation 11 was released on May 16. (iTunes)
Loading ...
