This weeks music REVIEWS

This weeks music REVIEWS

Aloe Blacc - The Man

Aloe Blacc is back with his second solo single, after I Need a Dollar which reached the #2 spot in 2010. Blacc also provided uncredited vocals for Avicii's summer smash Wake Me Up last year. 

The Man boldly opens with the sample of an excerpt from Your Song by Elton John. I'm not quite sure myself if this sample works for me - as a huge fan of the original. To be honest, I find the repetition of 'The Man' and 'Yes I Am' in the chorus to be fairly grating and overall it comes off as quite bland for me personally, but the hip hop beat in the song is a redeeming feature, and Blacc's vocals remain as soulful as ever. The Man should provide Aloe Blacc with his first solo number 1 in the U.K, after selling 40,000+ copies of the single at the midweek stage.

2/5

John Martin - Anywhere For You

John Martin is back with his first solo offering to the charts, after previously featuring on Swedish House Mafia's #1 smash Don't You Worry Child, Sebastian Ingrosso's #3 hit Reload, and most recently - Tinie Tempah's Children of the Sun. The track has already gone top 40 in both Belgium and Sweden.

My initial thoughts to the track is that the opening sounds not all too dissimilar to Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia - which is no bad thing at all. To be honest, I wasn't expecting all that much after being fairly disappointed by Children of The Sun, so I was pleasantly surprised by Anywhere For You - as it is quite the step up with it's rousing chorus that I can already imagine festival-goers chanting.

3/5

Paolo Nutini - Scream (Funk My Life Up)

Paolo Nutini is back with his latest single since 2010. Scream (Funk My Life Up) is on course to be his second highest charting song ever, after Last Request.

Paolo Nutini has always been a bit hit-and-miss with me, with vocals I'm not all that keen on and a handful of gems. Whilst Scream (Funk My Life Up) isn't really my thing, it definitely puts the funk in Funk My Life Up and I can definitely appreciate the vocals that are on point, and the backing of horns which is a great touch.

2/5

Shakira - Empire

Fresh off a performance on The Voice over the weekend, Shakira is back with the 2nd single off her brand new eponymous album - Empire.

It was quite a surprise to the ears to hear this new one from Shakira, as it's very different to lead single Can't Remember to Forget You. Whilst I found some of the lyrics a bit iffy ("Stars make love to the Universe" for example), I am definitely appreciating the song on the whole as it builds up really well to an explosive finale, and her soaring vocals have never sounded better.

3/5

Klaxons - There Is No Other Time

Klaxons are back with their first single since 2010 and is taken from their upcoming 3rd album Love Frequency, out in June. The track is produced by Gorgon City, who recently found success in the form of their #4 track Ready For Your Love, featuring MNEK.

Klaxons' single Golden Skans was one of my anthems of 2007, so I was quite eager to hear this, and I was definitely not disappointed. It is a brilliant return to form for them, but with a more dance feel to it thanks to the help of producers Gorgon City.

4/5