Chart Chat Edition 809 – W/C 05.07.15

Chart Chat Edition 809 – Week Commencing 5th July 2015

Introduction

For those reading this for the first time, Chart Chat has been in existence for over 15 years. We completed eight hundred editions reviewing the weeks charts and new releases before deciding it was time for a change of format.  Now we will be looking at new music ahead of its release, and it won’t always feature tracks released as singles. I have learned in recent years that the best music does not always make the charts, and to renew my love of music I have had to look to broader horizons.

So what have we been discussing in the Chart Chat offices this week?

Andy Bell – ‘Weston-Super-Mare’

This is a track which originally appeared on Andy’s ‘Torsten The Bareback Saint’ album last year but now is the lead track on this updated version ‘Variance – The Torsten The Bareback Saint Remxies’.  It is the Radio Super Mix which gets it’s own release but the album contains four other mixes; the Extended Version, the Dancing With Ruby Remix, the Mooger Remix and the Industrial Soundscape Mix. The album came about after Andy decided he wanted to explore the underlying pop sensibility of some of the tracks. The Torsten project has been in Andy’s mind for over twenty years, but the origin of some of the songs pre-date even then. Judging from the samples available on Andy’s own website each of the mixes is very different but each one seems to work well in its own right. This is a decent pop song (with some fantastic lyrics!) which certainly deserves a place on radio play lists.

Andrea Faustini – ‘Kelly’ (Album)

Although he was sometimes provided with questionable song choices Andrea Faustini was undoubtedly one of the stars to be uncovered from last years X Factor competition. He signed to the RCA Label in February of this year and has been recording the album in Los Angeles. The resulting long player features a mixture of new songs and covers including his version of ‘I Didn’t Know My Own Strength’ and ‘What Would Dusty Do’ which was co-written by The Voice finalist Vince Kidd. The release has been preceeded by the single ‘Give A Little Love’ which first appeared on his Vevo account back at the start of June. It will be interesting to see what level of promotion he can achieve as previous contestants have had mixed levels of success with some falling by the wayside. Andrea has real talent and I only hope that this album serves to be a great launching pad for his music career.

Anne-Marie – ‘Karate’ (Single)

Anne-Marie has enjoyed success in both the world of music (where she has provided vocals to dance band Rudimental) and sports (where she has notched up three world championships in shotokan).  She also appeared with Jessie J in the musical Whistle Down The Wind but this week sees the release of her solo EP ‘Karate’.  Alongside the lead track it contains the ‘Gemini’ and two versions of ‘Stole’; the original version and the Chole Martini Refix. The song has a more laid back feel that some of Rudimental’s output and it would sound perfect on the radio on a warm Summers day. The video to the track was uploaded to her YouTube account at the end of May and has received almost 60k views since then. She describes her music as a mix of electro, R&B, hip hop and pop, and based on this EP you would have to say that is a fair summary. The lead track is already available to download while the remainder of the EP is available later this week.

Foxes – ‘Body Talk’ (Single)

Last year was a great year for the British singer / songwriter Foxes as it saw her notch up three top twenty hits and a top five album in the shape of ‘Glorious’. Keen to maintain the momentum she gained following that album she releases her brand new single ‘Body Talk’ on the 24th July. She has been hard at work promoting the track on both radio and TV while she has also uploaded the promotional video to the track and it quickly found its way to 372k views during its first two weeks. At present she only has two UK concert appearances confirmed for this year; Hackney on 29th July and Brighton Pride on 1st August. However fans will be able to look forward to a new album later this year following pictures of Foxes choosing the tracklist for it last week. I think that this will become a big hit for her and could even improve on the no.7 peak achieved by her biggest hit to date ‘Let Go For Tonight’.

Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell – ‘Sing Into My Mouth’ (Album)

Despite the misleading pseudonym Iron & Wine is actually just one person (Samuel Bream). He has grown in stature significantly since his 2002 album ‘The Creek Drank The Candle’ and has seen his last two long players reach the top forty. This time around he has enlisted the help of Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell on his new album ‘Sing Into My Mouth’ which is released on the 17th July. Of the three tracks already available to download ‘No Way Out Of Here’ sticks out as by far the best though the slow yet dramatic ‘Bullet Proof Soul’ comes a close second. Although he has no UK dates currently planned he will make some European appearances in Spain and Portugal at the end of October / beginning of November. Given the success of artists such as Passenger you would expect Iron & Wine to find himself on commercial radio playlists across the country but sadly that does not appear to be the case.

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – ‘Whenever You See Me’ (Single)

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are a trio whose first single ‘Honolulu Rock N Roll’ first surfaced around ten years ago. Most recently they released their album ‘The Third’, and from that comes their new single ‘Whenever You See Me’.  It is releaased as a 7″ with their Mick Jones collaboration ‘Feeling Of Wonder’ on the flip side while the download version also contains the KDL vs Slimkid3 remix of ‘Baby Bye Bye’ and the bonus track ‘I Should Have Known’. It’s great to hear a song played with real instruments and the guitars and brass secton on ‘Whenever You See Me’ really stand out. UK fans wishing to catch them live need to hurry as they are playing live at Strathallan Castle in Chorley later this week before they head off for a series of gigs in Australia.  Although they have a great song the odds on it charting are not in their favour but if it introduces new fans to their diverse brand of music that can only be a good thing.

Little Boots – ‘Working Girl’ (Album)

Little Boots first arrived on the scene back in 2009 when she won the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and was nominated for the Critics Choice Award at the Brits. She enjoyed top twenty success with her single ‘New In Town’ and the follow up ‘Remedy’ graced the top ten.  However since then she has been absent from the top forty with her album ‘Nocturnes’ peaking at no.45. That hasn’t stopped her working hard and she is about to release her new album ‘Working Girl’ and fans have already had the opportunity to hear three tracks from it; ‘Get Things Done’, ‘No Pressure’ and ‘Better In The Morning’.  All three sound good and bode well for the release of the album this Friday. She is playing at Oslo Hackney this week but will then be jetting off for a tour of the States although she will return to appear at Manchester Pride which takes place at the end of August. If you had forgotten all about her then this album is a good point to rejoin her journey.

Lynyrd Skynrd – ‘One More For The Fans’ (Album)

Although the title is based on their 1970’s live album ‘One More From The Road’ this double CD / DVD release was actually recorded at a concert which took place last November. It was a live show which saw them perform their hits alongside a variety of other artists. Highlights here include Cheap Trick’s take on ‘Gimme Back My Bullets’, Peter Frampton’s version of ‘Call Me The Breeze’ and Gregg Allman’s update of ‘Tuesday’s Gone’. As you would expect the band perform their famous track ‘Free Bird’ in all its glory as the penultimate song before being joined on stage by the other artists for a rousing version of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. I was fortunate enough to catch the band a few years back at Wembley Arena when they were support to Deep Purple. They showed that night just what a force they remain even if they have never really achieved the chart success that they deserve.

Petite Meller – ‘Baby Love’ (Single)

Next up under review this week is the charismatic French singer Petite Meller who is aiming for her first taste of UK chart action with ‘Baby Love’. It follows on from last years singles ‘Backpack’ and ‘NYC Time’ and comes released as both a single track download and two EPs of remixes.  There the new mixes available include the Kiwi Remix, the Very Best Remix, the Alex Nagshineh Remix, the Armand Van Helden Remix, the Todd Terry & Ant LaRock Remix and the Super Stylers Remix. The promotional video to the track first surfaced on her Vevo account back in January this year and has been viewed over 1.1m times since then. She looks and sounds very distinctive, and that can only help her to stand out from the crowds in todays mass of bland pop stars. The track has been picking up airplay on both the radio and television so we could well see it making its debut inside the top forty this Friday.

Next Week…

August looks set to be a busy month for new singles with artists releasing tracks including Meghan Trainor, Maroon 5, Sarah Harding and Lion Babe while albums are due to arrive from Ella Eyre, Natalie Imbruglia, Jess Glynne, The Fratellis and Public Image Ltd. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with the best singles being released in the weeks ahead.

Ian Anderson