Foxes // Holding Onto Heaven

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Bright melodies, strings and voice similar to Florance (of & the Machine) make the 3rd single from British singer Foxes

It’s got a an old school feel to it without being old school. It makes for easy listening and you’ll probably find yourself joining in with the chorus, even if it is just to sing a long with the ‘Oooohhhh’s.

Our own quibble is that 3 songs in, we’re starting to feel very familiar with and seem to be hearing the same thing with just a few tweaks. Question on our mind is, can she keep this up?

Rating: 4/5

Molly // Children Of The Universe

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Tomorrow’s the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen and this year’s representative for the UK is Molly with her song Children Of The Universe

It’s a change of tact this year as the BBC have gone with a unknown rather than a well known singer (Bonnie Tyler, Englebert Humperdink & Blue from the past few years) with a song specifically written for the contest. The song itself is more in tune with what is present at the moment with Molly providing a strong vocal performance.

Will we see the UK in the top 10 tomorrow? Only time will tell

Rating: 4/5

Shakira // Shakira

Standard
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Deluxe
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Has it really been 4 years since Shakira’s last album, Sale El Sol? Seems a bit longer to be honest but we need not wait any longer as her new album, simply titled Shakira, is now here for our listening pleasure.

Before we start, we should point out that in regards to track listing, the physical & download have the same tracks just in a slightly different order but for the purpose of this review, we’ll be referring to deluxe download.

Opening with a samba beat is Dare (La La La) that feels like it’s a little bit of everything from Shakira’s past. Next it’s the first single from the release in the form of Can’t Remember To Forget You featuring Rihanna whilst Empire brings a mix of soft notes flowing into big powerful ones in the chorus.

You Don’t Care About Me takes a dark turn with a tale of a toxic and unreciprocated love. But from the dark it’s time to get down with a wee bit of reggae in Cut Me Deep featuring MAGIC! before we hit the rock with a Avril Lavigne sounding track in the form of Spotlight

A beautiful guitar driven track comes in the form of Broken Record before we go a little country along side fellow The Voice judge Blake Shelton with Medicine which proves to a great combination. Continuing with the guitar is on the beautiful ballad 23 with a cheeky little appearance from Shakira’s baby at the end.
And to finish this trio of guitar tracks is The One Thing.

On the standard release, the last three tracks are in Spanish; Nunca Me Acuerdo De Olvidarte (Can’t Remember To Forget You), Loca Por Ti & La La La

On the deluxe side of things, there are an additional three tracks starting with Chasing Shadows which reminds us a little of something that the Eurthymics would release while That Way is a beautiful piano driven ballad. Finally we have….wait for it….yes, another version of La La La this time subtitled Brasil 2014 and featuring Carlinhos Brown and of course is her offering for the up coming World Cup. The question for this track is what version came first? The Spanish, the English or the World Cup version….

Shakira herself describes this as an album of going back to her roots but there is still the chance to hear a sound that has run through many of her past works. Hopefully this album may be more accessible than Sale El Sol (as that was predominantly Spanish vocals) and we feel that there is a little something for everyone here. Will be interesting to see where things go from here.

Rating: 4/5

Bentley Jones // Evolve

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So it been nearly 6 months since we last heard anything from Mr Jones on the music front (the last being The Closing Of The Year) but now he’s back and ready to present his latest offering in the form of Evolve.

The song is all about growing up and moving on, something given his history seems to fit. It also feels much more upbeat than some previous releases although with what feels like serious undertones.

We’re quite excited by this and are looking forward to hearing what Bentley is going to be offering come the release of his next album to see what else he’s going offer now he’s evolved.

Rating: 5/5

East40 // Let The Games Begin (Glasgow’s Children’s 2014 Anthem for UNICEF)

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For 11 days at the end of July and beginning of August this, Glasgow will host it’s biggest party in the form of the 20th Commonwealth Games.And for the first time in the Games history, Glasgow 2014 are partnering up with UNICEF to make sure that it’s not just the atheletes who come first, but also the poorest & excluded children do too

Let The Games Begin features children from St. Mungo’s Learning Community in a song penned by Jonathan Carr and Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit) in a song that captures the whole spirit of the games and not only for the children but for everyone who has or has yet to be involved. Our hearts are stolen near the end of the track by probably the youngest members of the choir.

And with 76p from each download going to UNICEF, what better excuse do you need to get in the mood for the Games?

Rating: 5/5

Lindsey Stirling // Shatter Me

 
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Deluxe
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It doesn’t seem that long since the release of Lindsey Stirling’s self titled debut but now she’s back with the follow up album, Shatter Me. So what’s in store with it?

Opening with the first single Beyond The Veil, with it very unassuming intro, we’re soon back to the familiar sounds of Stirling’s work. Mirror Haus. is another which builds into a roaring track whilst V-Pop at first seems to be a bit of sample (of a dance related track we can’t remember) but keeps the pace set by the previous tracks.

A first for Stirling’s solo work is a collaboration with Lzzy Hale (of Halestorm fame) who provides vocals on Shatter Me on what proves to be a stellar match. Heist has the tempo and emotion of one to open with but then there are moments of almost calm before the heist is back on. Roundtable Rival reminds us a little bit like a song from the shows Riverdance or Lord of the Dance whilst Night Vision has a sort of mid-tempo.

Take Flight is this albums Song of the Caged Bird though with a bit more edge as Acendance continues with the edge. We Are Giants feats vocal talents of Dia Frampton, which to us feels a bit like a tame Shatter Me. Swag just has plenty of that with a great little hip hop beat before coming to an end with Master Of Tides which does have a bit of a nautical feel to it.

At least, that is where it would end unless you buy the deluxe version which has three bonus tracks Eclipse (which implies a feeling of watching such an event), Sun Skip (which reminds us of the theme song from the Japanese animated film Paprika) before ending on an orchestrated version of Take Flight.

Overall it’s not a bad little album. It has a bit more edge than her debut and it was hard to see where Stirling would go with this album after the success of her debut. This album is a first in which her solo works involved lyrics. It’s one of few albums in recent years that we’ve managed to listen from start to finish without skipping. The question is: where does Lindsey Stirling go next?

Rating: 5/5