NMF Thoughts from Sep 8 - featuring TOVE LO, NADINE FROM GIRLS ALOUD, AND KELLY FREAKING CLARKSON

As we ramp up to Q4, Tove Lo has pulled out all the stops to make song of the week.

NMF Thoughts from Sept 1 - featuring Mollie King, Paloma Faith, possibly Patrick Wolf and more!

Mollie King made song of the week and cover art of the year!

2016's Best Single May Be Here Already (It's One of Florrie's)

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The Next Big Thing: LIV Is The New R&B Electropop Diva You Should Know Immediately

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An Artist Retrospective: Dancing with Florrie for 4 years

Endless Florries!!!!

It's time to talk about one of biggest talents in the world right now, Ms. Florence Arnold. Now that doesn't exactly have the ring of a mega popstar with legendary status so she'd prefer it if you called Florrie. A pop prodigy in every sense of the word, Florrie is one of those extremely rare singers whose songs never sound like anything else out there, yet work so ridiculously well. Since 2010, Florrie has released a steady stream of content that could have easily made for an excellent debut album. However, her start was actually in 2008 when she successfully auditioned to be the in-house drummer for pop production maestros Xenomania. Good move Flo Flo!

Xenomania's track record speaks for itself and Florrie quickly joined the ranks of its genius songwriters; notable achievements include playing the drums on Girls Aloud's "The Promise" and writing Mini Viva's "One Touch." With a little push from head writer Brian Higgins (who basically made Cher's "Believe"), Florrie started her own music career and a choir of angels approved of that decision. It was around this time that I found the Fred Falke remix of her second single "Call 911" and was immediately hooked. Back in her early days, Florrie's signature appeared to be a fast-paced heavenly vocal atop an electronic production that was both futuristic and retro, which basically meant it was amazing.

After some further digging around on her website, it became clear Florrie was interested more in her fans than a record deal and released many remixes and her Introduction EP for free download. Highlights on remixes include the Fred Falke Club Mix of "Panic Attack" and Billa's No Love Lost Remix of "Fascinate Me" (it's dubstep without being annoying!). You could even get her debut single "You Wanna Start Something" which has to be the best debut Xenomania single since the Aloud started.

With each EP released since Florrie started, she hasn't failed to create each track with its own identity and the uniqueness of her songs make you come back for more more more. The high-speed jungle soundtrack "Call Of The Wild" shows Florrie's perfect understanding of the essential pop hook while the drums on  "Give Me Your Love" has to be one of the best additions in percussion history. With Xenomania focusing all their power into Florrie as an artist, it's no surprise that songs like "Summer Nights" and the Aloud-esque power electroballad "Left Too Late" brought Florrie to the forefront of the underground music scene back in the day.

Her songs eventually brought her fame in more than just music. If you couldn't tell, Florrie is rather gorgeous and subsequently became a model for various brands. This led to her lovely Nina L'Elixer ad where she covered Blondie's "Sunday Girl." But as all good popstars do, Florrie didn't take a break and started to craft her second EP, 2011's magnificent Experiments. The new EP saw Florrie work with Xenomania and Fred Falke once again but also fellow young geniuses like MNEK and old pros like Miranda Cooper. Every track on the EP is flawless but its second single was what we in the pop blogging biz call "a GAMECHANGER!"

"I Took A Little Something" was the brightest, breeziest song released in the past decade and the video collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana shows Florrie acting cute and coy, just reveling in her glory. You need to really listen to the 7 minute Fred Falke Mix to understand its true majesty but nonetheless, Florrie cemented her spot as one of my fave popstars and also took 2011's best song title with this diamond of music.

The fun was nearly over however, as her 3rd EP Late would be her last independent release as she finally cinched a major label record deal. But she still brought the goods with much harder hitting music that still told epic stories of Florrie's escapades. Songs like "Shot You Down" and "To The End" which was written with Annie!!!!, show Florrie's sound evolving into something much more grandiose but we can count on her to make us dance as "Every Inch" clearly does to this day.

Her latest Sirens EP also showed a shift in music. Released earlier this year on Sony Records, the songs still had Florrie's unpredictably throughout their structure but the new pop hooks were like audible cocaine and would not leave your system for weeks at a time. One listen to "Free Falling" will make it very clear what I'm talking about as Florrie sings the verse, sing the verse, sing the verse. She EVEN does it in reverse, in reverse, in reverse! Though the EP only has 3 new songs, they continue Florrie's perfect track record and her mythical and long-awaited debut album is supposedly out before the end of the year! We received the first taste of that when Florrie released her first major label single "Little White Lies" earlier in the summer and finally announced herself as the pop savior that we all needed. Follow her on Youtube to keep updated on this exciting development! In a post-Aloudian world, Florrie is the brightest hope for an amazing pop future and I have full confidence in her as not everyone can be my favorite popstar!

Song Of The Day: "Allure" by A-L-X

Mysterious, isn't he?

Here we have a darkly lit room where a young male singer is sitting with a "come hither" posture and you can just make out the definition in his cheekbones. So clearly you should be interested in that alone. A-L-X appears to be a new popstar on the block, making dark lounge pop that is just as seductive as he is. Here is a better look at him.

Yup, he's attractive all right. But what immediately struck me about him was that THIS GUY ISN'T NEW?!?! A-L-X appears to have pulled a Whinnie Williams (aka Sunday Girl) and gone through a dramatic image overhaul complete with a name change. His earlier moniker was his birth name Alex Gardner, the in-house guitarist and songwriter of legendary production company Xenomania. Back in 2010, the group was poised to launch a bunch of their acts as proper popstars and Alex was among other acts like Florrie, Jessie and the Toy Boys, and Mini Viva. His first two singles "I'm Not Mad" and "Feeling Fine" displayed a much more upbeat and electronic sound that got me interested in the first place, but suddenly he seemed to drop off the face of the earth. 

It wasn't until this year that Alex decided to get back on the music bandwagon and released his comeback track "Beautiful Criminal" as the mysterious A-L-X. But "Allure" is his latest single and it finally made me believe he was onto something. I had never realized how hypnotizing his voice was until his new stripped back arrangements showed that A-L-X's distinct vocals could really set him apart from other Justin Timberlake wannabe acts. His Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzy Grant) cover of "West Coast" is also worth looking at and hopefully he doesn't take another 4 year break to make more music.

Song Of The Day: "What Are You Waiting For?" by The Saturdays

Don't cha wish you were in this selfie?

The Saturdays are back and better than ever. After four and a half adequate studio albums, around 20 singles with varying degrees of success, and one number one single ("What About Us" but let's try and forget that, shall we?), the new experts at this whole girl band game The Saturdays have decided it's time to release a greatest hits album with the single-referencing Finest Selection later this year (brownie points for anyone that can name it). And as with any greatest hits compilation, the girls have decided to record a couple new songs and have released "What Are You Waiting For?" as their newest single.

First off, no it is not a Gwen Stefani cover, although that would be equally as amazing. This insane pop song screams Song of the Summer. Created by the pop gods over at Xenomania, who created their other greatest single "All Fired Up," What Are You Waiting For? is a shouty singalong joyride that could be listened to just as well on a road trip or in da clerb. It has the same reckless quality that made Icona Pop and Neon Jungle songs so addictive but amped up 3x as much at least. I mean, there are three choruses. THREE BLOODY CHORUSES! ONE AFTER THE OTHER! This ridicumazing bonkers anthem is officially my new summer anthem and should be yours too. So as the girls would say, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? (repeated at least 20 times)

Song Of The Day: "Little White Lies" by Florrie

Dear god, this is amazing. Florrie has given us a new song after just releasing her brilliant Sirens EP and it's one that we have all been waiting for. After teasing all her fans with 4 EPs worth of amaze balls music, Florrie appears to finally be readying her debut album and if it comes out this year, it definitely has the potential to be the best album of the decade, let alone year.

"Little White Lies" is one of Florrie's hardest hitting singles. Beginning with a Girls Aloudian guitar-synth intro, Florrie sings of a love that she really isn't that into and hopes to justify her #littlewhitelies throughout the rest of the song. That chorus gives us what Florrie has never really done before, a catchy yet hard-hitting cut that keeps us entranced and coming back for more (once again, thanks Xenomania!). If you don't know Florrie by now, you better stop and take a look because she could be pop's savior in the near future. 

Stay tuned for an Artist Retrospective on her soon as she is one of my favorite popstars.

Girls Aloud: A Retrospective! Yes Yes Yes…

I can't think of a better way to start my new blog than by talking about one of the greatest musical acts the world has ever seen. Girls Aloud represents every thing that went right with pop throughout the 2000's and, despite having no presence in America (such a crime), they had really been a part of my childhood. So let's go over who Girls Aloud are and why their magnificence should be honored throughout the universe.

Girls Aloud was formed through a reality TV show, as any credible celebrity has been. The judges on Popstars: The Rivals, which included Ginger Spice!!!, knew what they were doing when they picked Cheryl Tweedy (now Cole, then "Cheryl", now back to Cole), Nicola Roberts, Nadine "Nuh-deen" Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, & Sarah Harding to form what we now know as Girls Aloud. They released their first single "Sound of the Underground," got the 2002 Christmas number one, and solidified their position as Brit Pop Royalty. After five studio albums, their first greatest hits collection, two charity singles (the first a beautiful snorefest, the second a clear power play to show their dominance over the Sugababes), and this live performance, the group decided that while they were on top they might as well take a break for a year. A great idea, right? RIGHT?!?!

And so began the longest hiatus in musical history for every pop fan. Ultimately, this wasn't the worst thing. We saw the launch of Cheryl and Nicola's solo careers, Nadine's attempt at a solo career, Kimberley's stage acting career, and Sarah… well Sarah was in some movies ok? Then, on a bleak mid-November day in 2012, something new "Something New" descended from the heavens to bless our ears. A clear Girls Aloud classic, we knew we had our girls back. After another greatest hits album and an amazing tour, maybe the girls would be back for good? Maybe we could have another album that checks off every box on the Poptastic list? But no, on March 20 2013 (I was only 18 when I had to endure this trauma) Girls Aloud announced they had split up. And so ended the greatest girl group to impact the pop scene since the Spice Girls. But we will always remember their amazingness for generations.

So what made Girls Aloud so integral to modern pop? Well, it was honestly because their music (and yes, I mean the music) was so revolutionary. Most of that revolutionary quality came from their work with Xenomania, a name every true pop fan should become familiar with. Run by Brian Higgins, the man behind Cher's "Believe" (you're welcome gays), the production company helped write and produce every one of the Aloud's albums and continually reinvented their sound to stay 5 years ahead of the curve in pop music. With every irregular song structure, with every melodic reference, and every "OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW?" moment, Girls Aloud epitomized cool, avant-garde pop music that transcended generations. Combine that with their girl next door from the 2000's that went onto pop stardom look and we get a musical act that rung up 20 consecutive top ten hits and remained on top for almost a decade.

So thank you to Cheryl, Nicola, Kimberley, Sarah, and Nadine. For everything.