THE BIRTH OF NORTHERN SOUL

First things first, I would like to apologise for the lack of posts

this October. I've been a very busy girl what with my college work & uni applications

and yadda yadda yah. 

Plus I haven't felt very inspired lately....

But, that changed today whilst I was scouring through the music channels this early
morning and I stumbled across one video, and then another, and then
that special thing called a brainwave took place
in the depths of my cranium and fused the two together and I came up with
this idea and it look very promising: the birth of white soul.

Now I hear you ask, what on earth are you on about,
what videos? Well I shall reveal all to you now.

_____________________________________________________________

The first video was:

JOHN NEWMAN
Cheating
________________________________________

The second was:

JAMES ARTHUR
You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
________________________________________

At first these two new artists may seem completely unrelated to one another,

but in actual fact, they have many things in common

in regards to the kind of artists they are, their voices, their style, influences

and the kind of music they are spearheading into

the charts and the national radio waves.

We've known of John Newman's voice since Rudimental's 2012 chart smasher

'Feel The Love' and its successor 'Not Giving In', and therefore we

had a taste of his gravelly, soulful, rich tone before

he went out on his own, armed with some real gems 

like number one hit 'Love Me Again'.

In all honesty, I genuinely thought he was a black man when I first

heard his voice. It was so derivative of the Motown era,

it had that gorgeous, enticing black soul that is so hard to replicate unless

you're truly blessed with the gift of having it yourself.

So it knocked me out of the water

when I found out he was a white kid from the depths of Yorkshire moors.

Now on to James Arthur,

king of X Factor 2012, we were again aware of a gravelly,

rich, soulful tone to his voice, like that of John Newman, and his take on

Shontelle's, 'Impossible' was utterly gorgeous. 

He added a depth and

soul to it that wasn't there before -if you've heard his cover of

twerkaholic Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball' you'll see

what I mean- and he showed

some real promise of breaking the X Factor mold.

Everyone, whether they care to admit it or not,

wanted to hear just what he would come out with for his first single.

Would it be any good? Would he lose his style?

Would they strip away all he was and replace it with something

completely unoriginal?

Well the relieving result is no.

New single, 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You'

is nothing like the typical cheesy pop you would expect from an X Factor winner.

It's got substance, it's got some mean brass and beats and most

importantly: It's got soul, and not that cheap

manufactured crap.

No, no, no, it's the real stuff, the soul that money can't buy.

You've either got it or you've not.

And like John Newman, James Arthur certainly does.

And with one artist spearheading the idea of white soul, 

a certain John Newman, that's all very exciting and commendable,

and you've got to hold your hands up to the man.

Look what he's managed to achieve off his own back.

He created a new genre

in which he was  the only inhabitant, he took a risk,

he raised a bench mark, and went out there.

The public hadn't heard anything like him before,

yet they lapped him up like a cat pouncing on a dish of rich, silky cream.

A public so accustomed and tuned into rap,

r&b, dubstep, electronica, pop, got the soulful 'Love Me Again' and album

'Tribute' to number one.

John Newman has begun something.

A change in direction for the music industry.

But he can't do it alone, he needed people to start following

his example, holding up the torch for good old

rich soul, and lucky for him,

a certain X Factor winner has jumped on the bandwagon

and is following in his wake.

It's a very exciting time for the music industry.

As little as two years ago, the idea of bringing back soul and those

beautiful Motown vibes seemed impossible or at the least,

unlikely. It wasn't the right time, yet look at where we are now.

And like with r&b, hip hop et al,

could this be the start of a new genre taking the reigns and steering

the course of music?

Will we see more undiscovered soul stars emerging from the shadows,

will artists begin to incorporate elements of soul into

their music?

It seems like we're on the cusp of a new type of soul altogther:

it's white, it's British, it's modern, and it's so very, very cool.

Newman's doing it old school, Arthur's introducing it to the world of pop,

what will the artists of tomorrow be doing?

Stay tuned....

HANKERING FOR HAIM: DAYS ARE GONE

As the title suggests, I've got a hankering for Haim.

I've had a hankering for them way back since I first heard them on Radio One mid 2012.

But let me explain to you why that is.

As  a 17 year old girl who hails from Derby, England's go to place for well... nothing,

except a nice big lake, some rather large hills and perhaps the odd Bakewell tart, Haim are like goddesses to me, what with their long sun kissed manes, irresistible Californian quirk and undeniable cool girl auras. 

They come from California, I come from Derby, they have sun spun tales of love

 and heart break all set against the backdrop of west coast USA, and if I tried capturing the essence

of the Derbyshire Dales, we'd have abstract sheep noises fused with football chants and who wants to hear that?

You look at them, and you want to be them.

You want the hair, the cool girl swag, the talent, everything.

Heck, I've even suggested to my little sis that we do a Haim and make a band and grow our hair out and make some songs and just be quintessentially cool like them.

But alas, she said no.

And anyway, it's not like we would be much competition, would we?

Because these girls are utterly fabulous, they're a force to be reckoned with, and when you stop to think about it, just as I did on my early morning trek to college, it's actually rather incredible what

they've achieved and just how they've gone about it.

Now I'm not trying to go off on a feminist rant, but in the present day music industry, lets face it, if you're a woman, you aren't going to get very far without taking your kit off and doing a 

spot of twerking or gyrating.

It has to be sexualised, it has to compromise on your dignity, your strength, your independence.

Your aesthetic is more important than your talent, it undermines it & overshadows it 

to the point where people are talking about the dress you wore (or didn't) as opposed to your integrity as an artist. 

You can claim all you like to be strong, fearless, feisty, but the reality is,

when you're standing on a stage in just your bra and pants or diamond encrusted swimming cozzie,

no matter how fabulous your body, who's really believing you?

I'm not criticizing female artists who do that, but it seems a shame that

 in this day and age, female artists have to resort to these measures to even be heard, let alone taken seriously as an artist. It isn't right.

And now back to the whole point of this article, that's why I love Haim.

 Because these are three girls who keep their clothes on, and through their sheer talent and feisty natures alone, have successfully managed to carve out a name for themselves and gain respect from the music industry's notorious top dogs.

For example in the predominantly male orientated NME, Haim, who are currently gracing the front

cover, more than hold their own against their male opposition and they are respected and revered by both NME and fellow artists, and that's really saying something.

No-one dares bad mouth them and why should they?

These girls are incredible at what they do. An all female rock band who make quality music without

taking their gear off and all whilst radiating that fearless, no bullshit vibe that challenges

 anyone to mess with them and what they do so fantastically well. 

They care about their music, they care about their craft and they've been harnessing their skills their whole lives, having played in their parents band for years.

It's all about the music, not the aesthetics, and surely that's how it's meant to be?

They're feisty females and loyal sisters who stand their ground in a male orientated world,

they've gone to town with the seemingly unachievable task of a being the first all woman band, not pop group, to be taken seriously by the music industry, and they've done it all with

a confidence and assurance that I wish I had myself, as well as a glorious long mane of hair pretty please.

And now, on the eve of the release, of the long awaited debut 'Days Are Gone', I hope that

we will be listening to and writing about these ladies for many years to come. 

They're brilliant now, but as time goes on they're going to evolve and develop their sound and become even more of a force than they are right now. 

They can only get better, and with that, here's to Haim.

Doing rock the right way, with long hair, snarls, epic guitar, Californian grace

 and your sisters right by your side.

BUY THE ALBUM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Days-Are-Gone-Standard-Haim/dp/B00BPQC1AK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380450798&sr=8-1&keywords=haim

DON'T SAVE ME

THE WIRE

FOREVER

CHOCOLATE AND SEX WITH THE 1975

Now before you go jumping to conclusions, thinking I've ditched college to become a roadie in order to enjoy some rather frisky past times, involving Cadburys Dairy Milk and Manchester's finest new addition to the indie/rock scene, lemme explain.

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to go watch these guys 

The 1975, at Nottingham's Rock City and can I just tell you now it was AMAZING.

With an ever expanding back catalogue of incredible tunes, such as the mighty 'Chocolate' and the saucy little

number 'Sex', to keep the crowd rallied and as high as a certain Mt. Everest, the atmosphere,

 as you can probably imagine, was electric. And when the beginning chords of those numbers in particular began wafting around the room, everyone, including myself, seemed to

 get an insatiable injection of life, courtesy of Matt and co. and just went absolutely crazy in the best possible way.

As always seems to happen, I found myself on the very cusp of a brewing mosh pit and for once I

just let myself go completely and got stuck right in there, being thrown to and fro like a I was stuck in a human pinball machine.

It was the best feeling ever.

You close your eyes. You listen to the music, let it fill your veins, let it take you higher. 

You sing the words and you come alive, and before you know it you're bouncing up and down like a pogo stick, crashing your body into the unfortunate soul next to you and feeling like life could not get any better than it is right there and then in that beautiful moment. 

You aren't alone. You're surrounded by a huge crowd of people who feel what you're feeling too and you're all in it together, in this instance, singing about sex, petticoats and what do you know, chocolate.

And it's the most incredible thing.

They played a variety of songs from their excellent LP and self titled debut and put on a truly phenomenal show, complete with flickering lights, a buzzing atmosphere and a turtle neck clad Matty who looked

effortlessly cool with his half shaved head and youthful, energetic and beautiful voice.

So in their role as musicians and makers of tantalizing tunes and magical moments, it's

safe to say The 1975 have well and truly outdone themselves.

Even if you don't know that many songs, like me, I would get yourself down to one of their remaining

gigs (that's if it hasn't sold out yet) and experience all this for yourself.

This is a band that has been working their arses off for the last eleven years and who

appreciate and deserve every piece of success rightfully coming their way. They make fantastic music,

they're impossibly cool, intriguing, unique and to top it all off, they're genuinely nice people too!

Lead singer Matt Healy has the crowd in his hand, commanding them effortlessly

to do as he pleases "don't start a mosh pit or I'll f***ing kill you", and after the gig 

my friends and I were lucky enough to meet him.

( Bad angle of course, but nevertheless, one cannot complain when one is meeting the lead singer of an incredible band)

Living up to his other alter ego aside 'Mr Cool' - 'Mr Nice Guy'- he made the effort

to greet every last one of us who stood adoringly in his presence and enforced a sense of world peace and ensuing harmony as if he were Nelson Mandela himself, telling us "not to get crazy and start pushing and shoving one another or I'll get scared and I'll get on that bus and go home. I'm not going, I'm staying right here and I'll make sure I meet every single one of you."

This caused one of my best friends to express her overwhelming love for Matty in the only way she knew how, by screaming happily, and who can blame her?

As a fan, to hear that was just the nicest thing and it goes an awful long way.

If I didn't already love this band, I now just want to go around with their name tattooed on my forehead,

free advertisement and all that, because they took the time to meet us and thank us and show that our support is appreciated. 

So as I said, GO, GO RUN LIKE THE WIND AND BAG YOURSELF A TICKET FOR THE 1975 RIGHT NOW and me? I'm off to the tattoo parlor....

LINK: http://the1975.com/tour

SEX

CHOCOLATE

THE CITY

GIRLS

A LITTLE BIT OF MONKEY MAGIC

*BIG DRUM ROLL & TRUMPETS ET AL.*

And why is that I hear you ask?

Well it's only because Turner & co are on the cusp of releasing

the hugely anticipated and phenomenal concoction 'AM'.

We've less than 24 hours to go until physical and digital copies of what could quite

possibly be the defining album of the decade  (big statement there), according to this week's NME,

which as a mega Monkeys fan I dutifully bought, as expected.

With streams of the album already online, it's safe to say a large chunk of

Britain and the rest of the world have 'got the goods' now, as Turner put it in the sublime 

'Do I Wanna Know'. So we can't exactly act surprised when we finally enlighten our lives with

some rather fookin' (they all say it in Sheffield) amazing tunes from a band that can never seem to put a foot wrong.

Even those of us who have resisted giving in to sneak previews of other album tracks,

for example the rather oddly named 'Knee Socks' or on the converse, the rather beautifully named

'Arabella' (a dedication to Arielle Vandenberg perhaps?), have still heard a good quarter of the

songs, with 'R U Mine', 'Do I Wanna Know' & 'Why'd Do You Only Call Me When You're High' (what a mouthful!) all having being released already.

Of course some of us, probably just me, have even restricted ourselves further.

It was only yesterday I gave in to the temptation of listening to 'Why'd You.....' after almost

a month's abstaining from it, which was quite painstaking as I had gone out and bought the single

the day of its release and had to turn down the radio every single time it was on.

That then involved subsequently forgetting to turn the radio back up, surely running up

huge electricity bills for my mother- a nice surprise for the end of the month when the bills come in.

I can only say I did it because I'm getting my copy of 'AM' at the start of this week,

and I will probably know all the words to all the songs by the end of the week.

And by the end of the month I will be completely and utterly satisfied.

By the time I see the Monkeys LIVE IN CONCERT AT SHEFFIELD in November ( I still can't believe

my luck, I really can't), I will be on the biggest high known to humanity.

But by January 2014, I will want more, like the greedy little madam I am.

So I need to drag out and relish 'AM' for as long as humanly possible, because we probably

won't be getting anything else till at least autumn 2015.

But that's okay, because judging by the raving 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, reviews, we should be on track to be still be raving about 'AM' when we're all old pensioners in the nursing home way over in 2063.

So normally, I would  recommend you go buy this album,

but I'm not going to recommend it because I hope you've already got it on pre-order and are sitting at your letterbox waiting like the good little fans I know you are.

You don't need my word to know that 'AM' is truly one of the best things you will EVER HEAR,

and one of the best things you could ever spend 10 quid of your hard earned cash on.

So go, go on into the big wide world and get that Monkey Magic in your life!

STREAM IT HERE:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/id62820413

WATCH THE MONKEYS AT ITUNES AT 7:45PM HERE:

http://po.st/iTunesFestivalAM

DO I WANNA KNOW

WHY'D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE HIGH

BUY IT:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AM-Arctic-Monkeys/dp/B00DKY4LBW

FISHING FOR GOOD MUSIC: DAN CROLL, NO NO NO, 21 PILOTS, TWO DOOR & MORE

I don't know if it's just me, but I am constantly on the look out for new music.

It doesn't matter if it's by someone completely new and totally unheard of, or whether

it's a good old established name with a gazillion grammy winning records under their belt already.

All that matters is number one: I really, really like it, and number two: it's new, because let's not

deny it, we all love discovering someone or something before everyone else does.

And that good reader, is exactly what I've been up to this week.

 As the title suggests, I've been fishing for good music and I've laid it out in a concise,

to the point style, none of the normal waffling.

For brand new artists, I've gone for a lay out which allows you to see who the artist is, 

what they're making, recommendations, whether they're your kind of thing and how to find out more.

Pretty cool huh? 

And for the others, well, I don't think any of that is needed.

We all  know how brilliant they are.

1) DAN CROLL- IN/OUT

NAME: Dan Croll

GUILTY OF: Making glorious, original, unique electro-pop fusions.

LISTEN TO: 'In/Out', 'Compliment Your Soul', 'From Nowhere'

FOR FANS OF: Little Comets, Crystal Fighters, Andy Burrows

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/dancrollmusic

WEBSITE: http://www.dancroll.com/Dan_Croll/HOME.html

YOUTUBE BOX:

IN/ OUT

FROM NOWHERE

COMPLIMENT YOUR SOUL

2) NO NO NO

NAME: NONONO

GUILTY OF: Being Swedish and making unique, uplifting, quirky tunes that scream

'FUTURE APPLE ADVERT' (and that's not a bad thing...)

LISTEN TO: 'Pumpin Blood', 'Down Under', 'Like The Wind'

FOR FANS OF: Cider Sky, Passion Pit

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nononoofficial

WEBSITE: http://www.nononoofficial.com/?frontpage=true

PUMPIN BLOOD

(ACOUSTIC BEAUTIES)

DOWN UNDER

LIKE THE WIND

3) TWENTY ONE PILOTS

NAME: TWENTY ONE PILOTS

GUILTY OF: Being cool, original, having great fashion sense, making quirky, awesome music and

having Zane Lowe's approval, something many of us can only dream of *sigh*.

LISTEN TO: 'House Of Gold', 'Car Radio', 'Holding On To You'

FOR FANS OF: Darwin Deez, Never Shout Never, Eminem

(these are hard to compare to another artist, but if you like Eminem & indie, this is for you)

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/twentyonepilots

WEBSITE: http://www.twentyonepilots.com/

HOLDING ON TO YOU

CAR RADIO

HOUSE OF GOLD

__________________________________________________________________________

OTHER NEWBIES TO GET LISTENING TO:

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

Changing of The Seasons

DRAKE

Hold On We're Going Home

ARCTIC MONKEYS

Knee Socks

JASON DERULO FT 2 CHAINZ

Talk Dirty

THE 1975

Girls

JOHN NEWMAN

Cheating

ENJOY!

Leave us your feedback below or message on twitter at @teepotmusic!

SOUNDBITE: CATCHING COLDPLAY- THE NEW SONG

COLDPLAY- ATLAS

Been suffering from Coldplay withdrawal symptoms? 

The Mylo Xyloto blues? 

Well my dear readers, Chris & co. are back, at least for now anyway,

and they've brought with them an exciting new record to keep us all satisfied

until the highly anticipated follow up to 2011's phenomenal worldwide success 'Mylo Xyloto',

which many expect to be released sometime in 2014.

And this little beauty is called 'Atlas'.

It's the first soundtrack to be released from Novemeber's second installment of the

incredibly succesful Hunger Games series, 'Catching Fire' and co-incidentally

it's also the first song Coldplay have ever written for a film soundtrack.

Pretty cool huh?

The song itself is pure Coldplay but as we all know, that's exactly

 what they do best. It's beautiful, it's haunting yet uplifting, it's stunning and 

absolutely captures the whole feel and essence of the 'Hunger Games'.

'Atlas' could easily stand for a single in it's own right,

and you can't help but speculate if this indicative of what is to come.

It bares no relation to hits such as 'Paradise' or 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall',

in fact it's probably a relative of 2002's 'A Rush of Blood To The Head' or 2005's 'X&Y',

but it's still very original and I don't know about you but I love the entwinement between

haunting and uplifting.

It shouldn't work, but it does. 

It really, really does.

Judge for yourself right here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3TokLzzmw&hd=1

EMINEM GOES BERZERK

Eminem is back, or should I make that Slim Shady?

Because the bleached blonde do is back, judging by the video to brand new release 'Berzerk',

and you only have to listen to the song itself to hear that Shady is well and truly back in town.

After a victorious headline slot at Reading & Leeds last weekend, Eminem went about

sneakily releasing 'Berzerk' from forthcoming album 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2', his eighth release to date. If there's any modern artist you could credit for longevity, Eminem is certainly a strong contender, 

and as his career continues to evolve, the love, admiration and respect from his fans continues to get stronger and stronger.

2009's 'Relapse' saw a new side to Eminem, as he confronted his demons and laid himself bare, admitting to his troubled past whilst inspiringly stating that he had overcome it. 

We saw bold, emotional, honest songs such as 'Love The Way You Lie' and 'Not Afraid', both of which have become firm fan favourites, whilst the Slim Shady persona was put to one side.

He managed to convert his demons into something positive.

Addressing all he had to fear meant that he produced music that was angry and heavy at times, yes, but

it was also incredibly honest, paving the way for others in a similar positing and showing that

no matter what your battle, you can overcome it.

However I have to admit that as much as I admired Eminem for his courage

and strength to overcome his own battles and become a better man, and as much as his songs inspired me and so many others, I did miss the witty humour of Slim Shady.

I found myself on numerous occasions wondering if we'd see the return of this iconic, infamous alter ego.

And I'm so, so glad to say that he is back, back again (bad pun).

'Berzerk' is literally out of this world amazing.

As in, I cannot comprehend to you through text just how good  this song is.

Eminem is back on form, he's just as good as ever, if not better, and when you listen to 'Berzerk',

you can't help but feel like the master is back and he's steering the hip hop/ rap genre into its next era.

Just like he did back in the late 90's, Eminem is exploring new territory again,

going where no man has ever gone before, and it is surely only a matter of time before everyone else follows suit.

This change, ladies and gentleman, is the introduction of rock, or at least some pretty

mean electric guitar riffs and that crazy, free spirit element of rock.

And it truly sounds phenomenal.

This is an artist who knows exactly what he is doing, who knows his chosen genre inside and out,

and is brave enough to push the boundaries time and time again and never seems to

get it wrong.

Sure in this day and age that are thousands of rappers,

perhaps to the point where it's slightly overwhelming, but the return of Slim Shady

quite literally blows them all out of the water. 

And as the title of the song suggests, you will most definitely go bezerk for 'Berzerk'.

'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' is out NOVEMBER 5TH 2013.

http://www.eminem.com/ 

SOUNDBITE: BRAND SPANKING NEW AND WELL WORTH A LISTEN.

Now this little quicky is centered around three artists who are still relatively underground

and who I want to point you towards.

Each included on this 'Brand Spanking New' list is well worth a listen, and trust me

I wouldn't put something on this list that is just mediocre.

Nuh-uh. These guys are brilliant, so go revel in the fact that you're

ten steps ahead of the crowd.

Unfortunately I can't provide you with much information, as there isn't bucket loads available,

so it's predominantly key tracks to listen to, just to give you a flavour of each artist and the music they produce.

1) CHURCHILL 

Although this five piece have apparently split and are now defunct, they're

still definitely worth checking out, what with brilliant tunes like 'Change' and 'The War Within'.

Slightly Civil Wars-esque, gentle, folky yet powerful, their music is really quite beautiful.

CHANGE

THE WAR WITHIN

___________________________________________________________________

2) OAK TREE SUITE

An up and coming young Australian four piece with a truly fantastic debut track,

'Not Far Away' and more reportedly to come. I really advice you to keep an eye out for these guys.

NOT FAR AWAY

___________________________________________________________________

3) SHEPPARD

The second Aussie band to feature on this list, six piece Sheppard hail from Brisbane

and there brand new single 'Let Me Down Easy' has already gone platinum in Austrailia.

So when I say 'underground', with this band, it's more, 'we're yet to here them in the UK', and judging by the success in their native land, it seems inevitable that we'll be seeing Sheppard sweep upon our shores in the not too distant future.

Their music is summery, retro-esque, very gorgeous and refreshing too.

Nothing out there quite like it, so take a listen...

LET ME DOWN EASY

___________________________________________________________________

4) TWENTY ONE PILOTS

An American duo making poetic, unaplogetic, quirky, unique, catchy music that takes

rap and pushes it in a completely new direction that could be name indie-electro rap, if it were to have

a name. Slightly reminiscent of Darwin Deez, they're heading to Reading & Leeds this weekend and I'd definitely recommend checking them out if you have the chance. These guys are good.

HOLDING ON TO YOU

GUNS FOR HANDS

___________________________________________________________________

5) TWIN WAVE

A Brooklyn based synth and pyschadelia loving quintet with a new brand

of electro-synth sound that is strangely relaxing and chilled and very catchy.

Really nice guys, good music, indie-esque image, what's not to like?

RELAPSE

___________________________________________________________________

SPECTOR MEETS JOY DIVISION WITH NEW TRACK 'DECADE OF DECAY'

Spector are back.

But as the title of their new tour states 'Five Tours, Four Survivors', the five piece has downsized to a compact quartet as former member Christopher Burman has left to pursue other projects.

So that leaves us with Jed, Tom, Danny and the don himself, bespectacled lead singer Fred Machpherson.

Humorously addressing themselves as Spector 2.0, it seems that the band has undergone

 a transformation of sorts, what with the line-up and sound, which as the title hints, 

seems to have dived head first into a pot full of Joy Division. And you know what? It works.

I can't lie, it is different to what we saw on 2012's 'Enjoy It While It Lasts', but it still retains the core 

Spector essence, that unique, refreshing sound which defined their debut record.

The difference appears to lie in the fact that 1) their sound has slinked it's way further into the world of 80's pop, what with the synthesizers etc, and 2) it's darker.

It isn't made of the glorious, upbeat, summer fuelled goodness that 'Enjoy It While It Lasts' contained.

Oh no.

The two key differences I mentioned are the very reason why brand new single 'Decade of Decay' seems to be inviting comparisons to 1980's classic Joy Division. 

Now I don't know if this was intentional, or if via experimenting and tampering with their sound they arrived at this result, but it's hard to deny that it is very Joy Division-esque.

But then again, their debut was essentially Joy Division on high; how Joy Division might've

sounded minus the foreboding, ominous, darker influence. 

So you could question whether this direction was inevitable?

But I really can't stress to you enough that what Spector are producing now,

regardless of the eighties and Joy Division references, is genuinely good stuff. It really is.

'Decade of Decay' is a quick little number, reminiscent of Joy Division but it has Spector written

all over it. If you're a fan of Spector like I am, you'll hear that, and realise that both the band and their music  are still very much made up of all those key components.

It's just a bit of a twist is all. The beginnings of a venture down a different road.

And yes at first, it takes a bit of getting used to, you'll need time to adjust, but I can tell you now

that I've been listening to it repeatedly for the last half an hour. 

There's an almost hypnotizing quality to it, and although initially I was unsure about 

'Decade of Decay', I can assure you now that I really do like this song.

Very much so.

And I would definitely recommend a listen.

So all you Spector fans out there, don't flop dramatically on the floor in pre-conceived despair.

There is no need. Spector are back on fine form, albeit a little different yes, but still the Spector

you know and love, with Hawaiian shirts and turtle necks aplenty.

LISTEN HERE:

TOUR DATES AUTUMN 2013

SOUND BITE: BIRDY SPREADS HER WINGS

BIRDY-WINGS

The 17 year old English-Flemish beauty is back with her second album, 'Fire Within', expected

for release on 23rd of September, and the first single she has chosen to release is the

irrefutable gem 'Wings'. 

After seeing much success with her debut self titled album back in Autumn 2011, Birdy rose

to fame with her series of utterly beautiful covers and a number of self written tracks.

You'll remember her most for her stunning cover of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love' or Cherry Ghost's 

'People Help The People', both of which went down a storm on UK radio stations,

particularly Radio One, helping Birdy to, dare I make the pun, fly, even further.

And now with album number two, Birdy is able to really flex her wings (cheesy pun I know),

and she has progressed to writing more of her own material.

With her debut 'Birdy', it was apparent that this girl had talent by the bucket load.

An emotive, rich, beautiful voice that when put to music and to good use, can bring any lyrics

or material to life and help it to resonate even further with the listening audience.

However a decision was made, either by the record company or Birdie herself, to demonstate

her amazing abilities via a cover album. An indeed 'Birdy' is a truly stunning offer yes, but

I think many of us wanted to see Birdy combine her voice with her own material.

Because an artist instantly increases in credibility when they can both sing and produce their

own material that is equally good. 

So the question was with Birdy, could she do it?

Well the answer is a definite yes, as her new single 'Wings' shows.

And judging by this, her new album is going to be a real beauty.

Birdy's own material is strong, well made, passionate, emotive, and of course compliments

her gorgeous voice even better than before. 

She is also an artist who is accessible to people of all ages, and although obviously

a younger audience is probably better suited as she is only seventeen herself, there's no doubt

that a Birdy gig will contain older, maturer fans who relate to the wise-beyond-her-years element

that is present in her music.

I suppose in some respects, you could hail Birdy as the new Taylor Swift.

I personally, as a seventeen year girl, can relate to her music in that sense, especially as the music

resonates more when the artist is similar in age to yourself or singing about topics in a way you can relate to.

However as Taylor ventures  further into the world of country-pop and global super stardom,

Birdy is a breath of fresh air, adopting a similar approach -young adult/teen trying to make sense of love, life etc.- but from a completely different perspective.

And the result is something genuinely commendable, stunning and unique.

So as Birdy soars to the next stage of her blossoming music career, you

may just want to be flying along behind her, because this is a young woman who really is quite something.

And I mean that in the absolute best way possible.

WINGS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTXDCh2YiA

ALL YOU NEVER SAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iB5MLmmgyE

BOTH OFF OF 'FIRE WITHIN' OUT SEPTEMBER 23RD

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/fire-within/id673276899