Little Mix // Black Magic

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It’s been over a year since the last release from the UK girl group Little Mix. So they’re hoping to bewitch the charts with the lead single from their upcoming 3rd album.

Black Magic isn’t the usual sound you’d expect from the girls. It has Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun with a bit of a B*Witched thrown in for good measure. Our only annoyance with the track is the open lines that are repeated at various points through the song (All the girls on the block knocking on my door/ Wanna know what it is make the boys want more) which don’t seem to fit…well at least as an opening!

It’s likely to be a hit over the summer and will be interesting to hear what the remixes sound like too.

Rating: 4/5

Leona Lewis // Fire Under My Feet

 
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Has it really been nearly two years since we heard anything from Miss Lewis? Apparently so (her last release being the collection of Christmas tracks). We won’t lie and say that we never know what to expect from Leona, but given that she’s jumped record labels in the time that she’s been away,she’s now ready to show what she’s got on offer from her forthcoming album, I Am.

Fire Under My Feet is the first single to be lifted from the album. It’s does have a very familiar sound to Adele’s Rolling in The Deep but for Leona, it does feel very minimal compared to some of the other releases. This feels a bit more of what we’ve been wanting to hear from Leona instead of the route that she had headed down (although the Christmas album did feel quite suitable for her).

It’s an interesting sound for a comeback for her and will be interesting to see how people react chart wise. It also raises questions on what the rest of the album will sound like too.

Rating: 4/5

Ed Sheeran // Bloodstream feat. Rudimental

 
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The 4th single to be lifted from the highly successful X album from Ed Sheeran isn’t exactly the version that folks will be familiar with. No, for the single release Ed’s team up with Rudimental to give it more of a dance track.

Thanks not to say that it’s completely different. In fact, in our opinion, we think this mix by Rudimental brings something to this track that makes it more suitable as a radio follow up to Thinking Out Loud but also adds something to what was already an interesting track in the first place on the album. Even after a couple of weeks, we’re still loving this and the album version. Both have their time and place.

Rating: 4/5

Callaghan // A History Of Now

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Download @ iTunes | Buy @ Official Site (CD + Download)

It’s been three years since we last had an album release from Callaghan and now we get presented with her latest offering in the form of A History Of Now.

Opening with a bright & breezy number that is Crazy Beautiful Life it only take one track to get us back to more tenderness in the form of Who Would I Be. Noah’s Song is another bright track & it should be given that it was written for her nephew! I’ll Take You Away could in some instances be seen as a slower continuation of a track that we’ve just heard.

The 2015 updated version of her track Best Year is up next (see our review here) before we slow things down with the beautiful Lost (which we’re not going to lie, we first thought it might have been a cover of Birds Of A Feather opening theme….sorry Callaghan!) Green Eyes comes up next followed by another little bouncy number in Free To Be that we’re sure you’ll be tapping your feet along to (if not swaying too!)

Guitar driven When You Loved Me brings the mood down for a slow and tender number with Parachute continuing this feeling. Last Song which ultimately is actually second last is another tap along track with We Don’t Have To Change The World another bright track (that has us thinking of an Errol Brown’s cover of TLC’s Unpretty)

A History of Now just feels like catching up with an old friend in that it seems to start off where her debut album, Life In Full Colour left off. There a mix of tracks that show off Callaghan’s song writing and vocal skills. And  talking about the tracks, there are a number of them that we could see fitting in on TV shows with ease! Callaghan might not yet be a household name, but with a sound that will appeal to folks of all ages, she should be!

Rating: 5/5

Lawson // Roads

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It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly been 2 years since these guys last released anything. But now Lawson are ready to return to the music scene, bringing Roads as the first single from their follow up album to the great debut that was Chapman Square.

Roads reminds us a little bit of Train but at the same time, as if they’ve taken the best bits of their previous singles and blended them together. It doesn’t always work however and the verses seem to lack something that suddenly appears in the chorus. Don’t get us wrong, we can still see this being a great little summer tune and likely to get fans singing along at gigs.

They are coming up with the ‘difficult’ second album…is this a hint at what’s to come or just trying something different? Only time will tell but we’ll be keeping an eye out for the album

Rating: 3.5/5

Film Review: Heavenly Sword

Back in 2007, the PS3 launched with a number of titles ready to go, one of them being Heavenly Sword. Spring forward 7 years and now it has been turned into a movie…of sorts.

In honesty, this is not the Heavenly Sword that was on the PS3. The story this time focuses of Nariko delivering the sword to their brother Loki, the fabled chosen one. It does appear as if some of the cut scenes from the original game (episodes available explaining the history are included in the story, with some additions to make them viable to this new story). For fans of the game, the familiar characters are here: Nariko, Kai, Bohan, Whiplash, Roach & the Flying Fox, but the story in it’s new form makes it even alien for those who know the game.Anna Torv is the only returning voice actor from original game to reprise her role as Nariko. Andy Serkis has been replaced as the voice of King Bohan by Alfred Molina.

This was apparently originally pitched as a live action series to Syfy and in some instances, it is had gone through, this might have been a better idea. It feels rushed, disjointed with no obviously flow between certain parts almost in desperation to get to the final fight sequence (which was already stunning in the original game). The ending to this hints more at a ‘could there be a sequel’ more so that the game. IF they were to go for it, then there is a chance that is would turn out better than this given they would be constructing a whole new story.

If you had the choice of watching this and playing the game, we’d have to opt with playing the game.

Rating: 2/5

Symphobia // Noc-Turn

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The album opens with the last single, We Are (Feat. Daniel Dice) with a slight addition to the orchestra tune up at the start of the track and additional vocals over this. This is quickly followed by second single, I Do and Rachmaninov. Lightening the mood is the debut single Brand New Day before things are slowed down with the lovely Hungry.

Dark & loud are on the agenda with the track Total Eclipse, again featuring Daniel Dice before we’re back to light & airy with the track I Need Air. Just as quick it’s back to the loud & brash with Play, who’s classical piece (Chopin’s Nocturne) we can’t help feeling has been twisted & distorted into something sinister. 3rd single, What’s Done Is Done is next (see that review here)

We’re not entirely sure what to make of Trigger while SupahFreakinMarvelous & Prove Me brings us back to a more accessible sound. Victory once again features Jade sharing vocals (last heard on What’s Done Is Done) and if we’re honest, we would have swapped this and the final track, Still Standing, featuring Marinoux, again, who featured on What’s Done Is Done, around as Victory has more of a final feeling.

Overall, we’d really like to like this album but we’re struggling to get behind it and we think it comes down to few points: the first is that the majority of the tracks rely heavily on classical pieces and feel that there is just an overload here. The second is that the tracks have too much of a familiarity to each other. Hungry seems a little out of place on the album and we’d love to have seen a few more original tracks like What’s Done is Done just to break the album up a bit more. The third point is simply this: we can’t view this as an album. For us, when listening to tracks mixed with others from other genres altogether, individually, the tracks aren’t that bad. But viewing them together, is when we have issues.

But it’s not all bad. We love Adeesha vocals and think that the duets works well, particularly with Jade & Marinoux as we’ve said previously.While we get a small look at what Adeesha is capable of, it would be interesting to see her step outside of what seems to be a comfort zone as we suspect that there is more to come. There is however a danger of just becoming another voice in the crowd so to speak in doing so. For that reason, we’re going to sit on the fence just now.

Rating: 3/5

Film Review: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Welcome back to the Marigold Hotel! Well actually, we don’t start there. We start in California as Sonny (Dev Patel) and Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) heading to look for investment in Sonny plans to buy a new property & expand his hotel empire. Meanwhile back in Jaipur, our familiar residents appear to be settling in just fine: Evenlyn (Judi Dench) is a fabric sourcer for a company, Douglas (Bill Nighy) is a ‘tour’ guide, Norman & Madge (Ronald Pickup & Celia Imrie) are managing the The Viceroy Club & Carol (Diana Hardcastle) is in the travel agency

And here in lies the problem: Once you’ve been re-introduced, the film seems slow and, in some points, a little dragged out, not the haphazardness of the first one that kept the pace. There are still the laughs though it feels not in as much quantity of the first. The return of Jean (Penelope Wilton) halfway through the film, looking for a divorce from Nighy’s character Night, feels awkward and almost disjointed leaving you feel that there is either a)something missing or b)just an excuse to bring back this particular character. In some instances, if it had only been Douglas’ daughter Laura (played by Claire Price) & not Jean, it may have worked better.

Joining the cast this time around is Guy (Richard Gere) and Lavina Beech (Tamsin Greig) as the newest residents at the Marigold Hotel…but what are they really here for? Thankfully the film divides it time equally between the different characters and their lives rather than sorely being focused on just a few.

 

 

Was a sequel needed? Probably not as the first did finish on a nice little note and left you wondering what did happen next but felt complete. This one however we feel does leave a few unanswered questions and loose ends. As much as we love our friends at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, we are hoping that the plan is to leave things are they are here. There is a danger of ruining a good thing here is a three-qual was to be made. Maybe it’s time we checked out and allowed them to get on with their lives.

Markus Feehily // Love Is A Drug

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The name might not be familiar to you, but if we were to say drop the u and s from Markus and you’d have a former Westlifer. However, forget what you thought about him and see where he is now, with his debut solo single, Love Is A Drug

We’ll be honest and say that this was not the track that we were expecting, given the route other former members have gone down. This is at the other end of the scale yet feels honest and with a sound that we’re pleasantly surprised to say suits him. The song itself is something that we see fitting in with the musical landscape as it is at the moment.

Well worth taking a punt on and will be interesting to see where he goes from here

Rating: 4/5

Carly Rae Jepsen // I Really Like You

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It’s been 3 years since we last heard from the Canadian export, but now she’s back with her latest single I Really Like You.

The track itself feels as if it belongs to the 80s with it sound but at the same time there, there is a feeling of familiarity as hints of her debut single Call Me Maybe. Maybe that’s a good thing here given the time that passed since we’ve last heard from her. The only draw back we can see is listeners being annoyed by the constant repetition of really in the chorus (there’s a lot in there).

Rating: 3/5

Cascada // Reason

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It’s been a far wee while since we’ve heard anything from Cascada, but now they’re back with their latest single, Reason.

From what we can gather, this song was originally released under the alias of Diamond in 2004 but has been given a reworking for the 2015 release under the Cascada name. Knowing this explains why it does sound very much like the early Cascada releases. It is interesting to see them returning to a old sound, but maybe they’re needing to go back to the start to discover where they might have been going wrong

Rating: 3/5

Ellie Goulding // Love Me Like You Do

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It’s already been named as the fastest selling single of 2015 in the UK (for the moment, anyway) but Ellie Goulding makes a return to the chart with a little number lifted from the forthcoming Fifty Shades of Grey.

There’s almost a beautiful contrast to the song with Goulding’s almost innocent sounding vocals paired with the lyrics having more of an inkling to the film and of course book that it’s taken from. Our one grips with the track though is how similar it’s sounding in comparison to past single releases so in that way, we don’t hear anything that we haven’t heard before, yet we find ourselves enjoying the track.

Anyways…Mr Grey will see you now

Rating: 4/5