You want to talk about recent? This single was released LAST WEEK.
It's already in my moderate rotation.
Dua Lipa wrote the lyrics with Caroline Allin, with a team doing the disco/Middle-Eastern composition. Is that an ABBA influence I hear? Maybe. It is a confident, fun song, to be sure.
It's not a big hit song yet, but give it two weeks. Geez!
The song was released last week, but she also performed it PRIOR to its release, at the Grammys.
You would not know it by her first Top 40 hit, an ode to new love. She wrote the bridge, but it was mostly a Dr. Luke special - and despite her badassery, her youth gave her what was called the "Call Me Maybe" of 2014.
It would be eight years before Becky G would have her 2nd hit.
Despite it not really fitting with the rest of her catalog - which is largely Spanish-language and harder edged - she still performs her first hit live. And she's gotten to be a truly complex performer.
Jon Batiste was nominated for six Grammys this year, including one for this song. He has WON Grammys in the past - including one for Album of the Year. He is a two-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner (so far - one of his nominations is this year). He was Emmy nominated when he was bandleader for Stephen Colbert on his late night talk show.
And no, I had never heard of him. I have a blind spot for some music, I suppose, and I am trying to correct that.
This jazzy, souldful, hiphoppy gospel song is an absolute delight, and I love it. Co-written by Batiste, it is a cornerstone of his Grammy-nominated concept album World Music Radio.
Of course I had to seek out live performances of this song. It is really good. One of our favorite was that time he returned to Colbert's show to perform. It is a quieter and yet energetic performance, and it is a work of art.
This is not the artist we posted on Monday, nor are we linking to it. You can look later, though.
This is Anita White, a blues singer who goes by Lady A and has since at least the late 90's. So, when Lady Antebellum changed their name in the wake of the George Floyd death - to get rid of a Civil War reference - it was a serious issue.
Luckily, this little confusion didn't stop Anita White, who still goes by Lady A - and can, legally, thanks to a settlement in 2022. She's still releasing music, too. We applaud her for standing up to a huge name and winning.
This song was clearly written as a response to the band formerly know as Lady Antebellum. It's also a really strong and empowering song that is full of soul.
We have featured Metric on this blog before - including last year, when they were nominated for a Juno Award. They're nominated again this year - and we think they might actually win.
This is a 2008 song of theirs, and not what they are nominated for this year. Although not their best known song today - now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend - it is their biggest hit, reaching #21 on the Canadian charts and even higher elsewhere. It was also their first time gaining any traction on the US charts -
Written by vocalist Emily Haines - and sung by her and not Brie Larson - it's an emotional powerhouse.
Does this song sound just as emotional and strong stripped down to an acoustic version?
This strange little song was released in 2010. Written by Seyfried, it doesn't REALLY have a title. It just kind of adopted this one. The video, made for postthelove, is just her, singing and playing the guitar.
The song itself is absolutely beautiful and you have got to hear it, so I figured today, Valentine's Day, would be a great day to release it. Enjoy.
I have to admit, when I was watching the Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Usher, it took me a minute to identify the female guitarist who was clearly a featured guest - as did a lot of people, I am sure. When I figured it out, which I did pretty quickly, I was ashamed of myself.
You see, Gabriella Wilson, still early in H.E.R. career, is already an accomplished and well-respected artist. A prolific songwriter and multiinstrumentally talented, she has already accomplish a lot - and won a few Grammys for her efforts. She's been redefining R&B, infusing country and rock into her sound as well.
So yeah. I should have known right away. To be fair, it took me a second on Ludacris, too.
This song was Grammy nominated for Song of the Year, and was co-written by H.E.R. It was an R&B and a minor pop hit in the US.
H.E.R.'s guitar skills are on full display in this live version of the song, from Austin City Limits. It is, in my opinion, the best version of the song that exists.
