Alert > Demi Lovato > Cool for the Summer

Can we all just stop what we're doing and look at this?

Here are five things we can gather from this artwork for Demi Lovato's new single 'Cool for the Summer' which, by the way, debuts next week (!):

1. Demi's going down a sex to sell records route. It was bound to happen sooner or later. 

2. The song will, more than likely, be very good, fun and summery (hazardous guessing).

3. It will get a remix with Nicki Minaj.

4. It will precede an album of other very good pop songs.

5. The video will feature Demi covering herself in factor 50, the advocate for skincare that she is. 

Watch this space. I'll be reporting back with a review of 'Cool for the Summer' next week on July 1.

New Song > Lianne La Havas > What You Don't Do

Another song has dropped from Lianne La Havas' upcoming second album Blood, which is out July 31. It's called 'What You Don't Do' and it's just as likeable and infectious as its predecessor 'Unstoppable', except this time it has a little bounce in its step. You can get this song automatically when pre-ordering Blood. Pre-order here.

New Song > Janet Jackson > No Sleeep

Seven years it's bloody been, yes seven since Janet Jackson sister-of-Michael released an album. Her last opus Discipline wasn't her best and really, none of her material has been particularly ground breaking since The Velvet Rope and some of All For You. With the announcement of her 11th album Unbreakable, due this Autumn and a supporting world tour I'm surprised I am still alive to post this. 

The first single to drop from Unbreakable is 'No Sleeep', a lovely R&B slow jam with smooth production and a solid middle-eight courtesy of longtime producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis who have produced 9 of Janet's #1 singles. It's a little reserved for a first single but it echoes the likes of 'That's the Way Love Goes' on Janet and some of the softer tracks on The Velvet Rope with its seductive delivery. This new album is really important to maintain her status as a relevant pop act, and with Madonna floundering around in desperation to fit in with a younger generation of stars there's a spot in the market for a legend to rise again. 

Flashback > Mutya Keisha Siobhan > Flatline

It's been almost two year since this came out. Can we all just take a moment to remember how excited we were to hear the preview on Soundcloud? I'm taking my moment now... 

Album Track > Mutya Keisha Siobhan > Back In The Day

This little blighter dropped onto Youtube back in February and I did not know anything about it until recently. Mutya, we exchanged glances and a wave at your gig in 2013, I expect to be kept informed of these major events. Anyway, it's time to forgive and forget. Rumors have been flying all over the place since MKS / The Original Sugababes made a comeback in 2013 with the ridiculously high quality 'Flatline', a song that criminally staggered to number 50 in the charts but should have spend a year at number one. That's life. Since then it's all been quiet but some people say they're holding off the release of their complete 'debut' album until Amelle, Jade and Heidi give up and head down to the job centre so that MKS can ditch the shit name and take back what's rightfully theirs.

The album track that's come to light is 'Back In The Day', a stunning ballad not far from the style of their original debut album One Touch, with a simple arrangement and those staple harmonies that other groups wish they could master. Siobhan's voice stands out and it really gets you excited to hear the bound-to-be-fantastic album that's just crying out for a release. 

New Single > Sinead Harnett > She Ain't Me

I'm a little ashamed of myself for not spotting the talents of London singer/songwriter Sinead Harnett sooner. She's been knocking around since 2013, releasing her own cuts like the gorgeous 'Got Me' and 'No Other Way', as well as making an appearance on Disclosure's Settle on the understated 'Boiling' and Rudimental's Home on the escalating 'Hide'.  She's been penned as the 'experimental Adele', but honestly I don't hear much vocal similarity and let's leave Adele as Adele. I hear echoes of Jessie Ware, the stripped and throbbing R&B inspired beats merged with a James Blake esque electronic experimentalism. 

Her voice hums with raw emotion and this is conveyed perfectly on new single 'She Ain't Me'. You'd  be forgiven for presuming this would be a run of the mill R&B assault on the upper echelons of the charts, but actually its reserved production and haunting vocal echo make this one of the most exciting tracks I've heard in 2015. I can only imagine when an album does surface that it will be glorious.

New Single > Joss Stone > The Answer

I've always had a soft spot Joss Stone, even when people turned their back on her for 'that' American accent I kept on listening to her sultry smoky tones and soul vibes. It seems people are easily pissed off because she's more talented than the majority of drivel that finds its way onto the airwaves today. Her new single 'The Answer', lifted from her upcoming album Water For Your Soul combines her trademark soul with Brazilian baião, a welcome accompaniment to her expertly executed vocal flutters, cracks and roars.

The organic authenticity of Stone's last original album LP1 continues here, vocal tinkering nowhere to be heard and I don't think I detected one synth amongst the live sounding arrangement. The song takes a couple of plays to get into, but once you've soaked it up it's an infectious summer number with a gorgeous crescendo of fiddles and a gospel choir.

'The Answer' is out now and you can hear it here.

Water For Your Soul is out on 17 July.

New(ish) Single > Florrie > Too Young To Remember

Florrie (known on her Passport as Florence Arnold) is a brilliant pop star in the making, but already a great pop star in her own right. With an armory of brilliant pop songs and an obvious knack for writing, producing and singing words it's criminal she hasn't cracked the top ten yet. Then again, as long as the music's great what does a chart placing matter eh? 

Her latest single Too Young To Remember dropped from the musical womb a couple of months back and I missed it in my blogging hiatus. It has something to do with H&M and an ad campaign I'm sure. What a catchy number to miss, what a fool I was/am. It's a step back to her pure pop ways, away from the loosely structured electro-synth-artsy brilliant EP Sirens in 2014. It's playful, has a killer hook and it's one of those pop songs that slaps a smile right on your miserable f*cking face. It's also got a doo doo doo bit in it. What's not to love?

New Single > Lianne La Havas > Unstoppable

The new single from London born singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/all round amazing music person Lianne La Havas is called Unstoppable and it is gorgeous. It's a step away from the folk-soul chants of her debut album Is Your Love Big Enough? but retains the same vocal smoothness that glittered throughout the opus. It's an instant charmer, gorgeous emotive vocal meandering atop a slow throbbing bass line and a seductive vintage soul arrangement. Unstoppable is the first single to be lifted from her upcoming sophomore album Blood which, if this is anything to go by, will be amazing. 

Unstoppable is available to savour here.

Blood will be released in the UK on 31 July.

5 / 5

New Single > Leona Lewis > Fire Under My Feet

Leona's last foray into the charts was her brilliant, underrated festive album Christmas, With Love which spawned number three future Christmas staple One More Sleep. Her third album Glassheart was a bit of a flop in the UK, not that it was bad, it just wasn't very Leona and the step toward a more electronic heavy sound smothered her already faint personality. So what do you do when Simon Cowell is extinguishing your creativity, a flare no one knew you had? You sack him. Leona moved from Syco to Island, a much better record label and the results are very impressive.

Her new single, the first to be lifted from her upcoming fifth studio effort I Am is called Fire Under My Feet and it is the Leona song we've been waiting for. She wrote it herself with the help of Toby Gad (mastermind behind Beyoncé's If I Were a Boy) and it's so Ella Henderson that Ryan Tedder must be twiddling knobs somewhere in the mix! From the acapella opening to the anthemic chorus and thumping folksy pop beat that carries you to the vocally explosive climax, this song should put Leona back on top.

5 / 5

Charles Hamilton & Rita Ora - New York Raining

Collaborator extraordinaire Rita Ora is back with her new mate Charles Hamilton and their romantic ode to retro R&B New York Raining, a song that she sings acapella on the new Samsung phone advert on the telly. It's a lovely number, Rita's vocals soulful and flawless throughout her stint on the chorus. Maybe she can hurry up and release her next solo album now because time (pop fans) wait for no one. 

4 / 5

Conchita - Album Review

Loreen's Euphoria is the best Eurovision song of all time and there are few who would challenge that bold, but right, claim. The usual collection of camp pop fare was obliterated by this immense pop song and it seemed like no other winner could trump it. So far they haven't, but in 2014 something more important than a 'pop moment' happened, a gay man dressed as a woman with a beard took home the coveted glass trophy and sent social and political waves hurtling across Europe, sending the likes of Russia into a panic over the future of the European continent. One Russian politician spat, "There's no limit to our outrage. It's the end of Europe" and on the other hand the liberal countries proclaimed their support, loud and proud. Thomas Neuwirth's Conchita Wurst was not only now the most talked about future popstar but also one of the most socially and politically relevant; a startling reflection of the tempestuous relationship that still exists between society's acceptance of gender and sexuality 'differences'.

Sia - Big Girls Cry

Sia's 1000 Forms of Fear album campaign has been her most successful to date. It's the most commercially present she's ever been and the majority of the songs on the album are exquisite. I've gotten used to the covered face now and I've forgiven the pretentious nature of that particular gimmick given that the quality of music is so high. However, Sia, you have a lovely face so please take that bloody wig off, turn around, and address your loyal subjects. 

Digital music has really buggered the single release structure of old. Chandelier was the first single (what a behemoth it is too) and now fourth single Big Girls Cry was actually the third single and its predecessor Elastic Heart the fourth. Christ Almighty. Anyway, new(ish) single Big Girls Cry is one of the highlights from 1000 Forms of Fear. Sia's vocals soar throughout, overwrought with emotion, every undoctored crack in her voice heightening the authenticity of the experience. "I may cry ruining my makeup/ Wash away all the things you've taken/ I don't care if I don't look pretty/ Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking..." she sings over harmonic layers and a thumping beat. It's got just as much charm as the singles that came before it and is destined to be mauled by talent show contestants in the near future; thank you Simon Cowell.

5 / 5

Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea - Pretty Girls

The Britney Spears of yore is gone, we need to accept that. We'll never have a charismatic, intricate dance sequence ever again, just a repetitive array of hair flips and arm movements. It's a sad time. However, as a recording artist, she's still popping out some decent radio friendly tracks and her latest outing, a duet with untalented Australian deliverer of lyrics Iggy Azalea, is about as radio friendly as pop gets.

It's a bit of a poor man's Fancy, the brilliant Charli XCX collaboration that put Iggy on the map last year, however it's the most engaged Britney has sounded in a long time, particularly when she harks back to her vocal glory days (well...) with some harmonising over Iggy's actually quite enjoyable middle-eight. It all feels a little too contrived though and as I suggested, a rehash of what's come before as the duo 'sing' "All around the world pretty girls/ Jump the line to the front/ Do what we like get what we want/ We're just so pretty..."I'm sure it's all tongue in cheek, like the ridiculous music video, but in this world you never know.

2.5 / 5

Janet Jackson - 2015 Comeback

Janet Jackson made an announcement via the antiquated medium of social interaction that is Twitter on 16 May and here it is:

My conversation... #ConversationsInACafe https://t.co/buOK6ZhfHY

— Janet Jackson (@JanetJackson) May 16, 2015

This announcement is exciting and to a Janet Jackson fan such as myself (mildly obsessed) this whole thing could give me an aneurism. Let's hope it doesn't because if I die before I see her live I'll be really annoyed. Here are five of JJ's best songs (and videos) to get you into the movement, get you moving and get you excited for her return:

Rhythm Nation

If

Ella Eyre - Together

Ella Eyre is quite a remarkable popstar in the making. From her solo debut Deeper two years ago hitting a peak of 72 to the success of her last (epic) single Comeback which climbed to number 12. In fact her singles have charted higher with each release and with the stunning 'Waiting All Night' collaboration with dance giants Rudimental under her belt, she's not going anywhere. 

The quality of her material has never wavered from good-upwards and her fourth solo effort Together is as memorable and exhilarating a listen as its predecessor. Eyre's vocals are soulful and more emotive than you'd expect from a 21 year old at the beginning of her career and it raises the question, just how bloody good are you going to be in ten years time? Probably very bloody good. In a market saturated with female voices, it's very telling when you know instantly the sound of a particular singer's voice / production. Here, her vocals are as gorgeously raspy as ever as she erupts on the bridge "we are more together". 

4 / 5

Watch the video here

Ciara - Jackie

Ciara showed up her critics with her self titled opus back in 2013. Ciara was an R&B masterpiece from start to finish, an array of sensual slow jams, gritty underground beats and an introduction to Ciara the rapper. It was a flashback of sorts, taking you to a time when R&B was the governing commercial genre, but she injected enough modern woman sass to make it relevant in the electronic synth dominated market. 

What was truly refreshing about Ciara, aside from not having one skippable track, was that it stepped away from the hyperactive psychobabble of her past efforts. That's not to say her earlier music is without charm, it's just highly inaccesible on any level other than a superficial one. This change worked for her, an artist who was never able to maintain a steady grip on the charts once again became commercially viable as the album reached number two in the United States. 

Ciara's sixth album Jackie doesn't continue the tone of its predecessor, nor does it match or improve on the quality. Opening track Jackie (B.M.F) opens like a West End ballad, before Ciara demands "Harmony drop that beat" and instantly the vibe is transformed into a mildly annoying rap segue with Ciara stating she's a "bad mother f*cker" for delivering a 9lb 10oz baby. The track drops another beat at around the two minute mark and becomes a bit more Ciara and one of the album's most memorable moments. You'd think that the album would continue in this vein, with the theme of motherhood and Ciara just being badass (if not coming across a tad self indulgent). Therein lies another issue. The album doesn't have a clear theme or message, the sounds changing too much between shallow pop and serious odes to an ex. If you're naming your album after your mother, I expect a moral to the story. 

Madonna - Rebel Heart

From the disco reviving behemoth Confessions On A Dancefloor to the hyperactivity of MDNA, Madonna hasn't managed to match her own musical quality over the past ten years. Confessions was an incredible album, from start to finish, yet the two albums that followed didn't sate even the die hard fans. With questions over her relevance in the contemporary pop market, even though she sells out world tours faster than Rihanna releases albums, it felt like now would be a good time for Madonna to release an album that was both relevant but also very much 'classic Madonna'. 

Her 13th studio album, Rebel Heart, is a huge improvement on her past two collections. Lead single 'Living For Love' is a camp dance thumper with an exhilarating chorus and powerful vocal performance and it serves as an exciting introduction. Don't be fooled though, this doesn't set the tone for the album, in fact the production is far darker than this single delves. There are even forays into past musical explorations which didn't work well then but seem to be executed perfectly this time round. The hip hop infused bleeps of the ridiculous 'Illuminati' and the rumbling 'Iconic' are actually welcome additions to Rebel Heart, giving the album an injection of adrenaline when it could have been too 'ballad' heavy.

Ciara - I Bet

Ciara's self titled last album was, to put it simply, brilliant. An album without one dud is hard to find in the pop scene and Ciara's movement away from the hyperactive psychobabble of her earlier songs to a smoother, sultry R&B sound proved to be a winner. Since that album graced our lives she's been on a hiatus, had a baby and apparently almost finished recording her new album Jackie. 

The first single to be lifted from her new collection is 'I Bet',which was released back in January. The annals of Ciara's career show that marketing isn't her team's forte which explains why I knew nothing about this track until a week ago. 'I Bet' is produced and written by Ciara and R&B knob twiddler Harmony "H-Money" Samuels who has worked with the likes of Mary J Blige and XFactor USA false starters Fifth Harmony. It's a strong comeback, maintaining the soft R&B jam vibes of Ciara and its one of the most revealing musical ventures she's recorded to date. Singing about a failed relationship, I imagine her breakup from her baby daddy Future, Ciara's vocals are controlled expertly and a growth in range is obvious. It's a great comeback. Whether it will give her the hit single she needs isn't certain, but it seems like she might have to be content with being a successful 'underground' R&B artist going forward, releasing amazing music that not very many people will be exposed to. As long as she continues to release music of this calibre though, who gives a shit?

4 / 5

Mumford & Sons - Believe

Mumford & Sons never 'split up', let's just get that straight now. I'm going to call it a creative hiatus, because that's what an incredible band does, they take time out of the spotlight to write and record beautiful music. They're one of the most likeable folk bands of the past decade, their music skillfully balancing classic folk arrangements with a contemporary edge. Following on from their last, behemoth success of an album Babel, they're back with a new single called 'Believe', from their upcoming opus, Wilder Mind. 

It's a step forward sonically, ditching the acoustic folk sounds we're used to hearing in favour of an electronic arrangement and Marcus Mumford sounds as authentically impassioned as ever as he sings "I don't even know if I believe / everything you're trying to say to me" on the chorus. The beauty of 'Believe' is how slowly it builds up. The song doesn't explode until the 2 minute mark and by this point you're so captivated by Mumford's vocal performance layered atop the modest production that the change in pace is an exhilarating experience. I hope that the folk elements of Mumford & Sons aren't lost in the past, but for now, this is a refreshing revival of a band that continue to impress with every step they take.

5 / 5