This is Liz Morphew, better known as the pop songstress Queen of Hearts. Notice the black and white press shot above. Notice the platinum blonde hair and stunning bone structure. But that's not all. Queen of Hearts is one of the best kept secrets of pop music since her debut back in 2011. Working with the masterminds behind Robyn and The Sound of Arrows best hits, Queen of Hearts has worked her way to becoming one of the greatest popstars on the planet, releasing one amazing track after another with literally no duds in sight. And taking a note from another great popstar in recent years, the Queen decided to release her entire album this past month with no warning. That's right. Queen of Hearts had the balls to Beyoncé an album. And that album, Cocoon to be precise, is already in the running for 2014's best album.
Alongside this collection of electropop gems, the Queen has decided to grace us with the release of her new single "Like A Drug." Though Madame Hearts has a reputation for sublime crystalline tunes, this one is an uptempo affair that pairs her icy vocals with just the right amount of pulse to get you moving to this banger. It's all very "tears on the dance floor" without the tears and could easily have been an excellent Kylie Minogue single, though the Queen clearly has an addictive sound to her voice. So good job Queen of Hearts and thank you for making the past 3 years of music that much better!
In these troubling times, we as a society need to understand that there is one solution to all our problems: DANCE. If we were all to just get off our asses, stop fighting, and just dance it out, the world would finally be at peace. And if you need some help getting started, just put this track on high volume, get out those glittery hot pants and just start moving. That's probably what was intended when the mastermind behind Slam Dunk'd, Arthur Baker, wrote and recorded most of this song back in 1979, the end of the Golden Age of disco!
After three and a half decades, Baker decided to finally release this amazing gem of music by having it mixed by Al-P out of MSTRKRFT and new vocals by Dave 1 from Chromeo. This hurricane of disco fever came onto radio in March, though no one knew who it had been as it was released under the moniker of Disco Mystery. Thus, wild theories flew about whether this was a new project by Duck Sauce or Stuart Price's not too subtle title track. Personally, I was hoping Lorde had decided to become a dance producer and this was her first release. Wouldn't that have been amazing?! Oh well, this song is out in September and should be a hit on dance floors across the world.
With all the Adele's and Sam Smith's out there, I always seem to find myself liking Paloma Faith's brand of soulful music the most. It's probably because Paloma (isn't that a lovely name?) manages to mix the heartbreaking soul that brought Amy Winehouse and Adele to fame with the drama and extravagant high fashion and art that set Lady Gaga and Kylie Minogue apart from the crowd. Essentially, if you like a fun out-there popstar with music of emotional substance, Paloma Faith is right up your alley.
Paloma is one of the hardest working singers in the business and has the integrity to match her enigmatic personality. With two amazing albums already out, Paloma decided to go all in and release her 3rd album A Perfect Contradiction along with the Pharell-produced lead single "Can't Rely On You." Paloma is readying to release the hit album (with the best cover of 2014 fyi) in America soon and in preparation has released her most successful song to date on US iTunes. "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" is the second single from the album and was penned by legendary songwriter Diane Warren. But really, Paloma's voice is the true star of this song, with the second chorus basically slaying the vocal game after going up two octaves. The heartbreak in Faith's voice pair nicely with the 50's doo-wop symphony to create one of 2014's best ballads and, hopefully Paloma's first hit in the States!
For those of you who don't know, Sweden is the birthplace of literally some of the greatest pop music every created. The country is responsible for the creation of ABBA, Icona Pop, and the goddess that is Robyn. Throughout the consistent string of singles that exit the country and infect our minds with amazingness, there is usually one or two popstars a year that simply take over your life with just a couple of songs. This happened with Icona Pop in 2011 before the behemoth called "I Love It" was written by Charli XCX. So now you might be asking who that popstar was for 2013? Well, meet Tove Lo.
As with any girl singing about lost love with mascara dripping down her face in agony, Tove Lo was destined for stardom. After attending a famed music school in her native country of Sweden, Tove basically made her career writing hits for other artists after pop legend Max Martin (just go through your Britney and Kelly Clarkson singles) realized what a brilliant singer-songwriter Ms. Lo was. After releasing her debut single "Love Ballad" in 2012, Tove made a name for herself after playing a part in creating songs for Icona Pop and Victoria Justice, but nothing can top the fact that Tove wrote the comeback single for Girls Aloud. Once again: TOVE WROTE THE COMEBACK SINGLE FOR GIRLS ALOUD!
After the Aloud decided it was time to disband (#NEVERFORGET), Tove Lo decided to save pop and give me a birthday present by dropping her second single "Habits" in March 2013. With a typically tribal synth beat and ominous background vocals, Tove describes her journey after a break up with drugs, alcohol, sex, and tears. "I eat my dinner in my bath tub, then I go to sex clubs, watching freaky people getting it on" is probably the best opening lyric of the decade and its video perfectly captures the way anyone would feel after a bad break up (though the original video is 20x better). With comparisons to Kesha, Charli XCX, and Lorde, Tove Lo laid waste to the pop arena before anyone knew it.
Not satisfied with just that, Tove has also collaborated with dance producers to create some of the most euphoric trance music you will ever hear. Lucas Nord's "Run On Love" is a prime example and should have been a hit around the world for sure. Tove also has a soundtrack to her name after collaborating with Seven Lions and Myon & Shane 54 on "Strangers" for the Mortal Instruments movie, one of the best songs of last year to be specific.
Unfortunately, Tove did not manage to break the mainstream market with these songs. That is, until indie electronic outfit Hippie Sabotage decided to remix Habits into the eerie and hypnotizing "Stay High" which has managed to crack the American iTunes top 100 and #6 on the UK charts. Riding the success off the single, Tove Lo released one of this year's best EPs with Truth Serum back in March (happy birthday to me!), with 6 spectacular songs, back to back. "Paradise" perfectly captures the feeling of love you have for your soulmate while "Over" and "Out of Mind" tell off a lover that clearly didn't know that Tove was perfect. Each song is massive, earthshaking, and poignant with the epic synth background topped with a heartbreaking scream of a vocal that has become Tove's signature sound.
Tove is poised to take over the world at large now and is slowly doing so. After writing hits for Cher Lloyd and Lea Michele, Tove managed to snag a TV spot on Late Night recently, introducing her to US fans for the first time. And if that's not enough, today Tove Lo casually dropped her lyric video for one of 2014's best songs "Not On Drugs." That chorus will never leave you, which I suppose is counterintuitive to the whole drug thing but anyway. Take it all in now, because Tove Lo is ready to set the world on fire.
Cheryl "Tweedy." Cheryl "Cole." "Cheryl." We've gone through a lot with this girl group alumna and she's back for more. Cheryl's ready to step back into the spotlight. The last time we saw this goddess in action was with 2012's rather forgettable third album A Million Lights (though "Call My Name" is still spectacular) and 2013's legendary Girls Aloud reunion (#NEVERFORGET). After taking a forced hiatus from the X Factor and watching Nicole Scherzinger take over her place, Cheryl's back with a new season of the Factor coming in August, a fourth album in September, a surprise wedding announcement, and currently a new single that is number 1 on UK iTunes.
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Miss Cole if ya nasty, has dropped "Crazy Stupid Love" this past weekend after premiering it earlier in June. Now Cheryl has had a ridiculously good track record with first singles as this, and this, and this clearly demonstrate. But let's make one thing clear, ladies and gents.
This single is pretty shit.
That's the hard truth. First off the single cover makes Cheryl look like her organs are falling out and she needs to keep them up in her gold bustier. Then the music starts and the "LA LA LA LA LA LA LOVE" phrase over a stomping beat gives you such hope for what's coming. But those verses. That chorus. The on trend horn breakdown. It's all very bad demo that anybody with Garageband could produce and any 5th grader with a sax could play. And no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to bring myself to enjoy this song. There are good parts, one of which is that Tinie Tempah swoops in to save the day during his verse and brings together all the positives of the song with ingenious lyrics, #DICKMATISED. Another is that the music video is frankly a classic. Since this is a pretty long post about a not so great song, I'll sum up the video with this gif and leave you to it. Hopefully, we get that Nicola Roberts collab she promised and we can all forget this ever happened.
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