Rated - MKS update - Album Complete

Important MKS update - the new album is finished!

Again, preview of the new single 'Flatline' below. Incredible sound from incredible singers. Apparently they've been working with Sia on the new album too, which only makes me pee in my pants even more! I can't afford anymore new pants!

Rated: Rihanna - Right Now

Rihanna's not only a pop star, she's the human pop factory, churning out shit after shit non stop for what seems like forever. Her latest album Unapologetic certainly isn't her best effort, trying a little too hard to be a gangster. It does however have its own share of startlingly good music, such as Sia Furler penned mega hit 'Diamonds', the gorgeous stripped ballad 'Stay' and the 7 minute beauty 'Love Without Tragedy/Mother May'. Aside from the first two songs I just mentioned, there isn't a vast supply of single worthy material there, so the next single release was always going to be like picking crap from a selection box of crap.

'Right Now' feat David Guetta is one of the album's few dance tracks, but the quality misses the mark set by 'Only Girl (In the World)' and 'We Found Love'. It's repetitive, unimaginative and deflating. The dub step/electro dance breakdown after each chorus is generic and cheap, and Rihanna sounds like she can't really be arsed. It's far from her best song, in fact it's one of her worst, but it does come in at the end of a back catalogue of incredible pop music.

1.5/5

Rated: Mutya Keisha Siobhan (MKS) - Flatline

So I only just heard this snippet from the upcoming Mutya Keisha Siobhan track 'Flatline'. 

The vocals.

The blend.

The harmonies.

MKS.

Heaven.

For now I'm saying 4/5. Probably a 5/5, but for now.

Rated: Jessie J Phase 2- Wild

I'm a bit late reviewing this song, but that's mainly down to not being able to turn it off (if that's not a

hint to the direction of this review I don't know what is?). Jessie J has her fair share of haters and pop animosity thrown her way, this is possibly due to her flamboyant stage personality and (flawless) vocal gymnastics. Maybe some of it is jealousy, after all she's 25 and worth £5 million... I'm 26 and worth negative £££; shit.

Disregarding all of the negative feeling she's bombed with, Jessie J is one of our finest pop acts - if not the finest considering the likes of Leona Lewis, although sound fantastic, are pretty uninteresting. Her vocal range is off the scale and she's brought us some brilliant tunes, need I mention behemoth super hit 'Domino'? 

Having loved a number of her 1st phase tracks, I was excited and a little apprehensive about phase 2 JJ. Thankfully, new single 'Wild' doesn't disappoint. With her newly shaved head she bites the sass packed verses before blasting into the ridiculously infectious chorus, 'if this is a dream won't open my eyes/am I asleep no I'm alive/ I just can't believe that this is my life/ in my fantasy we're running wild'. It even has not one, but two guest rappers (Big Sean & Dizzee Rascal). Normally I'm opposed to a guest rap and I always opt to buy the non rap version. However, having two seems to keep things more interesting and the Dizzee segue is one of the track highlights. It's a song about performing in front of a crowd of thousands, about the exhilaration that comes with fame. It's something fresh and non 'dirty', although the bass drum laden beat is pretty filthy by production standards. I'm just glad that I didn't predict the direction she was going in correctly.

5/5

Rated: Disclosure - Settle

I've been to Reigate and let me tell you, it's not a funky locale. You wouldn't expect the likes of synthpop-house phenomenon Disclosure to originate from such a docile town, however life is packed with surprises. Jumping into the charts with their beautiful single 'Latch' featuring collab favourite of the year Sam Smith, the brothers scored themselves a number 11 position and a huge volume of airplay. The song, with its mid tempo beats and hypnotic vocal arrangement, became my number 10 (of 25) song of 2012. Now we're half way through 2013 and debut album Settle is ready for your audio pleasure - is it a joy though & does it 'save dance music'?

I've never been into the whole 'Intro' track thing, especially when it's just 1 minute of some guy bellowing in preacher fashion about spontaneous combustion. That being said, the fade into the first proper track of the album 'When a Fire Starts to Burn' is seamless and well executed. It's unfortunate the intro doesn't fade into a better track, that isn't repetitive and soulless. Way less pop oriented than their radio friendly 'Latch', it's harder than you expect having had the soft tones of Sam Smith wrapping you up for the past 8 months. Featurless 'F For You' is similarly repetitive and doesn't take you anywhere with its production, not even the slightest hint of a crescendo. 

The thing with Disclosure is that they love to layer up the gloss on their tracks, giving them a futuristic sheen. The majority of the tracks in this 14 song collection lack any individual personality. I appreciate that artists must maintain an audible identity, to an extent, so that they are easily recognisable on the over packed airwaves. However, Disclosure have stuck with a formula and lumped lots of too similar songs together in one space. The likes of 'Stimulation' should be called 'Erectile Dysfunction' and 'Second Chances' shouldn't even be given time. Featuring an under-layer apparently lifted from likeable Aluna George effort 'White Noise', even Jessie Ware collab 'Confess to Me' can't get things back on track - and that was hard for a JW mega fan to say!

For a dance band who can boast some impressive contemporary names as collaborators, Disclosure really didn't think Settle through very much at all. It's a soulless album, the majority of which fills me with concern over the future of UK dance music. If this is the future, remind me to avoid dance-floors for the foreseeable future.

1.5/5

Download: Latch / White Noise