Katy Perry is back with her new single “Bon Appetit” which features rap trio Migos. The track is the second single off Perry’s upcoming follow-up to her 2013 album “Prism”, and the follow up single to “Chained To The Rhythm”. On this track there’s an absence of her pop charged anthems were used to, that were normally backed by a track done by pop legends Max Martin and Dr. Luke, instead we’re dished a more EDM-pop style tune by Martin, Shellback and Oscar Holter. Personally I miss her old style, and after hearing Max Martin’s name still lingering over this new style of Perry’s, I can’t help wonder why there isn’t a musical hook here as strong as the ones they’re all famous for.
Seeing Perry veer away from her normal pop sound has also seen her steer away from the top of the charts, with “Chained To The Rhythm” only hitting the number 4 spot on the Billboard 100. Migos’ Quavo, Takeoff and Offset each show up with short, food-inspired verses at the end of this single, which gives the song a bit more depth, and something to look forward to. With a new album due out this year with hopefully she can recover from the first two singles, but unfortunately “Bon Appetit” isn’t a great start.
After a successful tour and smash hit album “Oh My My”, band One Republic have returned with a new pop driven anthem entitled “No Vacancy”. Ryan Tedder took to Facebook to give fans a little explanation as to why the band has basically been MIA in the six months since releasing there previous album. Instead of revealing that the hiatus was related to their upcoming works, Tedder admitted something much more personal: The band came close to breaking up because he nearly suffered a mental breakdown. Tedder explained that is was exhaustion that caused him to put a freeze on everything that was happening around the album and the band. Once he got the chance to go home, focus on his health, and really figure out what it was he wanted, Tedder decided to do the opposite of quit. Rather, he got in the studio with other artists and created what he creates best…music.
One team he met up with was Norwegian pop hit makers Stargate with whom he wrote the new lead single “No Vacancy”. “I’m friends with the Stargate guys, and I told them, “I don’t even know what to do anymore. I feel like I’m out of my mind.” And Tor [Erik Hermansen] was like, “Stop. Go in the studio, write songs for other people. Remind yourself why you like doing pop music, work with other artists and don’t think about OneRepublic. And then if you write a song that feels like something you want to say, keep it and call it OneRepublic.” Tedder said during an interview with Billboard Magazine. “The last three or four months, I’ve done more songs and have more singles coming from more artists than I have in my entire career, which has been amazing and invigorating. And I’ve had more fun being home, writing with artists from Selena to Camila to Pink to X Ambassadors. I have a couple of Kygo records and records with Seeb, I have a couple of rappers that I’ve been talking with. You name it, it’s been all over the map. I’ve had more fun doing that than I have had in years — and in that, it gave me the time what I wanted to do with OneRepublic. I’ve always been scared to do actual “pop” music with OneRepublic. It scares the shit out of me, I don’t know why. With OneRepublic, songs that we’ve had that have been the most successful – songs like “Secrets,” “Counting Stars,” “Good Life” – they’re about something a little bit deeper. I’ve always tried to push myself to write about things that have a little more emotional currency — they’re not just chasing a trend. But with that, I’ve imposed a million different rules on what defines a OneRepublic record or what I allow to come out as a OneRepublic record. And I think that is part of what led to me having a nervous breakdown.” Ryan Tedder went on to explain. “It’s the poppiest thing we’ve ever done — I struggled with it at first. I was like, “Man, this is so pop, maybe I should give it to somebody else.” And then the Stargate guys were like, “You’re insane. You’re singing it, you sound great on it, it’s a OneRepublic record. Stop overthinking it.”
With all this pressure soon forgotten about, “No Vacancy” was finally born, be sure to listen to it below and let us know what you think.
From pop to something a bit more heavier, one of my favourite bands X Ambassadors return with a new single called “Torches”. The single will lead on to a new studio album due out sometime this year via KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records. It was written by Sam Harris, Adam Levin and Casey Harris and produced by Grammy award winning producer Alex Da Kidd. The band has been busy over the last few months as they released a song called “Hoping” last month to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union. X Ambassadors are currently working on the follow-up to their 2015 album, VHS, which I am highly anticipating.
This fall, X Ambassadors will headline their own Cayuga Sound Festival, held September 22-23 in their hometown of Ithaca, New York. The band is also scheduled to play this year’s Bumbershoot, Forecastle and KAABOO Del Mar festivals. Check out the new song below…
DJ Khaled is back the only way he knows how by calling in an all star cast for his new single “I’m The One” featuring Quavo, Chance The Rapper, Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber. It’s the latest track to be taken from Khaled’s next album, which is titled “Grateful”. The video is filmed in a luxurious mansion and begins with a clip of Khaled and his son Asahd, who is executive producer of “Grateful”and features on the “I’m The One” artwork. The single first appeared on the Trending 140 chart around 7 a.m. ET Friday morning and reached the top of the chart soon after. Khaled also released a music video for the song on YouTube Friday morning, which has since surged to 1 million global views.
Check the new single out below…
*Image Source: playbuzz.com
