Cady Groves – “This Little Girl”

Ladies and gentleman: She may look sweet, but do not cross Miss Cady Groves–that is, unless you want a bullet square between the eyes.

The 21-year-old Oklahoma-bred songstress first got her start as a MySpace act, posting her acoustic demos on her page and responding to her ever-growing fan base on a daily basis. The attention led to the release of two EP’s: 2009′s A Month of Sundays and The Life of a Pirate, released in March of 2010.

After signing with RCA Records last year, Groves is now prepping her first major label release: “This Little Girl.”

The song, which first premiered on Idolator two weeks ago, was co-penned by Groves, Sean Douglas and Tom Meredith and produced by Swedish pop whiz Kristian Lundin, the man behind such iconic pop classics as Celine Dion‘s “That’s The Way It Is,” *NSYNC‘s “Bye Bye Bye,” and one of Britney‘s very best, “Born To Make You Happy.”

“I checked your phone ’cause it was beeping / Are you alone? I know you’re creeping,” the vengeful singer reveals on top of the stabbing strings of the song’s opening verse. And then in comes the chorus; a crunchy, genius explosion of pulsating pop as Groves warns the good-for-nothing guy playing games with her heart: “You’re not the only one walking ’round with a loaded gun!”

With enough lyrical vitriol to have Kelly Clarkson shining up her rifle and just the right kind of synth-pop pulsations in between the song’s punchy production to set Ellie Goulding‘s heart a-flutter, this little girl is definitely capable of murder–not to mention a ridiculously promising career. Just don’t stand in her way!

“This Little Girl” is currently available for free from Groves’ official website.

Thanks to Muuser Calen C. for the heads up on this track!

Ellie Goulding is an unlikely pop star.

Her public image is subdued, even self-effacing; her voice is a gorgeous, fragile wisp that would sound more at home at a coffee shop than layered over a bouncing synth track; her lyrics are imbued with an aching vulnerability that most singer-songwriters would kill for. But like some other sonic greats who have paired distinctive vocals with dance beats — like Björk or Siobhan Donaghy — Ellie’s music derives much of its power from its pop sound. Likable, accessible, and danceable, her work with producers like Starsmith, Biff Stannard, and Frankmusik makes her poetry radio-friendly.

Since bursting onto the scene with her debut single, “Under the Sheets” — released via uber-hip singles label Neon Gold — Ellie was the top breakthrough act in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll and won the Critics’ Choice Award at the BRITs, a feat previously managed only by Adele. Her debut album, Lights, was released to commercial and critical acclaim, cementing Ellie’s position in the English cultural consciousness. But the re-release, Bright Lights, was even better, containing her sharpest work to date — collaborations with Fred Falke and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons took her glistening folk-dance to dramatic extremes.

Ellie has toured in the U.S. more than most English artists — we don’t usually get so lucky here in the States — and she’s just kicked off her latest stateside tour. Her evolution as a live artist has been an exhilarating thing to watch, as she’s become the kind of pop performer who genuinely lights up the stage with a rare ferocity. If she’s coming to your town, don’t miss her.

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It’s about time!

Ellie Goulding‘s extraordinary debut effort, Lights, has finally made its way stateside!

The US version includes hit singles “Under The Sheets,” “Starry Eyed” and Goulding’s gorgeous cover of Elton John‘s “Your Song,” as well as a few new tracks from the UK reissue, Bright Lights. Check out the full tracklisting below:

1. Lights
2. Guns And Horses
3. Starry Eyed
4. This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)
5. Under The Sheets
6. The Writer
7. Animal
8. Every Time You Go
9. Your Biggest Mistake
10. Salt Skin
11. Your Song

To celebrate the release, MuuMuse is proud to be giving away FIVE SIGNED COPIES of Lights.

To win, send me an e-mail at muumuse@gmail.com with the subject line “STARRY EYED” telling me why you deserve a signed copy of Lights!

The five winners will be selected and notified on Wednesday, March 23.

Good luck!

PS: If you haven’t already fallen in love with the brilliant electro-pop UK chanteuse, check out the MuuMuse review of Lights from last year now.

Lights was released in the US on March 8. (iTunes)

Tinie Tempah is the silly named, critically acclaimed rap star from the UK who broke out in 2010 with his #1 debut album, Disc-Overy.

Ellie Goulding is the shaky voiced, critically acclaimed pop star from the UK who broke out in 2010 with her #1 debut album, Lights.

On March 7, the two newest British musical superstars will join forces to wage an all-out war against the dark side on the UK Singles Chart (Katy Perry, in case you were confused) with “Wonderman,” Tempah’s fifth single from Disc-Overy.

Featuring squeaky synthesizers and intergalactic blips and bleeps, Tempah and Goulding embark on a bouncy, inspirational voyage through space fittingly themed around the quick skyrocket to fame: “Imagine when it changes, imagine satisfaction when you make it / It’s more than being famous, more than the applause, and more than any form of status,” Tempah raps.

Goulding’s contribution is unsurprisingly gorgeous, as she delivers her signature fragile vocals on the chorus. “See the bright lights shine in your face / I’m counting on you to take it all away,” she coos vulnerably through the song’s heavily glitched-out beat.

As one can surmise from this newly released trailer for the song’s upcoming video (an ode to The Six Million Dollar Man), “Wonderman” probably won’t be quite as emotionally gripping of a rapper/singer affair as Eminem and Rihanna‘s “Love The Way You Lie”–but it sure promises to be just as entertaining.

Tinie and Ellie’s excellent adventure will be released in full this Saturday, January 22.

“Wonderman” will be released on March 7. (iTunes UK)

Wow–this came out of nowhere!

Behold: The video for Ellie Goulding‘s brand new Biff Stannard-produced single “Lights,” the title track (and one of my favorite songs) off of Bright Lights, the re-release of the singer’s brilliant 2010 debut.

As you can see, the confidence just keeps coming for the quirky UK songstress, who’s truly becoming more and more of a Proper Pop Star with each passing day.

Watch as Goulding tosses her hair, twirls her tambourine and bangs the drums while basking in…well, lights! Lights, lights and more lights everywhere, along with some very cool 360-degree camera work. Work them hips, girl!

Apart from the heartwarming clip for Goulding’s smash hit Christmas cover of Elton John‘s “Your Song,” this is probably the most gorgeous Goulding’s ever looked. Plus, there’s totally some shades of Kylie Minogue‘s “I Believe In You” happening here. Amazing!

A worthy video for a most deserving song. Here’s to hoping the track takes off worldwide!

“Lights” is the next single from Bright Lights. Goulding’s debut abum will be released stateside in early 2011. (iTunes) (iTunes UK)

Still hot from the Internet-killing, bandwidth-shattering success of yesterday’s Top 40 Albums of 2010 list (including a most major of giveaways, in which I’m giving away ALL TEN ALBUMS that made the Top 10 of the list–you still have time to enter up until January 2!), I now present MuuMuse’s Top 50 singles of 2010.

There were a lot of good songs released during the year. A lot of them didn’t end up making the list. It’s entirely unjust and profoundly disturbing to think about, but what can you do?

I don’t feel like explaining my choices…SO I WON’T. Why? Because I am such a fucking rebel. GO TIME!

LET’S GO!!!1!!

Here we go again: The end of another year in music!

2010 may well be remembered as the Year of the Future (if not the Year of All Hearts–hint hint!): A year of fembots, androids, bionic women and time-traveling adventures deep into the 22nd century.

Space-age love stories and robo-dramatics colored a large portion of the year’s biggest releases in pop, no doubt a response to the reign of the machine on the pop charts as synth-pop productions continued to dominate the digital airwaves in 2010.

Below is the list of MuuMuse’s Top Albums of 2010, which was based on a variety of factors–from individual song and single goodness, to the complete album experience, to overall artistic integrity, to an album’s ability to ‘stick’ as the year progressed. Basically I’m trying to say that it’s a bit of a hot mess, but I tried my very best.

There’s also a rather controversial dishonorable mention prior to the Top 40 list that will likely blow my chances for that much coveted position as editor of Rolling Stone. DAMN IT.

Now…LET’S DO THIS.

Without further ado…the list!

THIS IS IT, as one of the X Factor judges famously sang 17 years ago (oh my God, 17 years?!): The STAR-STUDDED X Factor final show is finally upon us!

And thank God, because I’m totally over it.

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