Kelly Clarkson // Heartbeat Song

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It’s been a few years since we’ve heard from Kelly Clarkson, but to be fair, in between, she’s got married and had a child so you can forgive. However, she’s back with a new track taken from her forthcoming album, Piece By Piece.

We think that maybe the song should be in the emergency room. With symptoms such as feeling numb, pins & needles on her tongue and a rising temperature, the verses of Heartbeat Song sound as if they’re a beat in atrial fibrillation (that, is racing) while the chorus is in sinus rhythm (that is, normal pace). It’s a nice change to hear from her, in comparison to some previous released singles.

Surely a top 10 for Miss Clarkson as radio listeners & streamers sing along with the infectious chorus…Will be interesting to see what else she’s going to offer on her forthcoming release.

Rating: 4/5

Meghan Trainor // Lips Are Movin

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Meghan Trainor made chart history last October when her song All About That Bass made it into the UK charts purely on airplay alone. Her follow up comes in the form of  Lips Are Movin.

Just as with the last, the latest offering has a theme and this time it the boyfriend cheating. Sadly for us, we’re hot hearing anything here that we didn’t hear with All About That Bass and feels a bit like a re-hash of it. And then you think back to Christmas when that lovely track I’ll Be Home popped up.

It’s a shame that such a similar song has been chosen next when we’re pretty sure that there’s more to Meghan than we’ve heard at present.

Rating: 2/5

Various Artists // The Lion King Legacy Collection

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Celebrating the 20th anniversary (has it really been 20 years already?) and the first in the new Legacy Collection, is the 1994 film The Lion King. Split across 2 discs this is probably as close to a complete soundtrack as we are going to get (when you compare it to the original & the special edition).

Disc 1 is essentially the film with familiar vocal tracks of Circle of Life, Just Can’t Wait To Be King etc. all here but interspaced with Hans Zimmer’s score which beautifully accompanied the film but that we didn’t, in parts, really get to appreciate at the time. Disc 2 contains demo tracks of score segments, two songs omitted from the original film (The Morning Report, which later made an appearance in the re-release and of course, in the stage version of the show and Warthog Rhapsody, the song that Hakuna Matata replaced), an instrumental version of Circle Of Life and of course, Elton John’s versions of Circle of Life, Just Can’t Wait To Be King & Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

As we said, this is probably as close to a complete soundtrack as we’re going to get. It’s a big improvement on the original release as well as the re-release special edition. But who will it apply to? That is the question. For us we could see those who grew up with the film originally or those that have an interest in the lesser heard score. We love the idea of having the score and vocal tracks mixed meaning, in essence and assuming you know the film well enough, you could just stick this on, close your eyes and you’d be there in the film. Now…why can’t all soundtracks be like this?

Rating: 4/5

Alex Cornish // Beyond The Serenade

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It’s been 3 years since we’ve had an album from Alex Cornish (we had a little release in the Play Your Part EP back in 2013) but now he’s back with album no. 4, Beyond The Serenade

Opening track, Footnotes on the Page opens softly but as if progresses it builds to a crescendo before heading back down to close just as softly as it opened. Easy going verses and attention demanding choruses & bridges make up the DNA of First & Last. Everywhere I Go again seems to use building blocks, introducing each instrument on a new layer before reaching a crashing chorus and then going uphill from there (for some reason we're imaging a crazy car tour for a video...)

Work the Fields uses the first minute & a half as an instrumental, layering the instruments which, for us, conjures images of busy city life before Cornish's smooth vocals come in with piano, with a reminder of that busy feeling kept by the quick intermittent beat, before giving way to rising strings and a calmer, gentler feel of getting away from it all.

Something a bit calmer and sedate in the form of Downstream with a similar theme continuing in How I'm Meant To Be. A bit of sombreness creeps into the album in the form of I'll Never Learn. The Pine & The Birch brings a little rock to the proceedings and took us by a bit of a surprised when we first heard it on a well known streaming service but after that initial entrance, it's not too far from what we know of Alex's work. After that wake up call, things are taken down for a bit with Drives Me On.

We're not entirely sure if Cornish is channelling his inner Billy Joel with a piano driven track Again & Again that reminds us a little of Always A Woman & The Piano Man but this gives way to Give Me Time, a track similar in style to Everywhere I Go in terms of how it's built, from gentle to a demanding roar. Closing the album is Nothing In Return which a song of two half, the first with vocals while the second is an instrumental with some interesting sounds at the end of it.

For fans, there is a little bit of everything from Alex's past releases as well but at the same time, it feels as if he's experimenting without deviating from what he knows works. This would be the album that we'd recommend for anyone not familiar with Alex's previous releases...and it makes for a good show live too!

Rating: 4/5

Symphobia // What’s Done Is Done

 
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You may not have heard of Symphobia but they came to our attention in the closing months of 2014. It is the latest project from producer Geo with singer Adeesha taking on vocals. The first 2 singles (Brand New Day & I Do, I Do, I Do) never really caught our attention, but the latest one, What's Done is Done perked our interest.

Compared to the past two singles, which were based on classical themes, this is a completely original track. Joining Adeesha on vocals are Jade Valerie (who has worked with Geo previously) and Marinoux. All three vocals work well with two distinct styles, Adeesha's hip-hop/rnb while Jade & Marinoux bring more of a pop feel to it. Add to that Marinoux also sings in French, which does come across as a little odd, but yet doesn't seem to distract from the track at all.

One worry we did have, reading the comments, was with Jade featuring, were people jumping on because of her? Time will tell as the album (titled Noc-Turn, slated for a release in February) with the next track (We Are) apparently next up single wise.

Rating: 4/5