By John Hill
It’s October, which means that all the big box stores are
gearing up for Christmas, right? And that means popular music artists are
releasing new material to capitalize on the holiday shopping season. The
blockbuster releases are rolling out fast and furious, so here are a few of the
options being offered up for your gift-giving consideration.
Carly Rae Jepsen – This
Kiss
The challenge with following up a debut single as massively
popular as “Call Me Maybe” is coming up with a whole album that lives up to the
hype of that first song. Carly Rae Jepsen gets about 50% of the way there with
her debut US release This Kiss. While
there are at least three more potential hits on This Kiss, what is notable is
that the sound of those hits is not as original as “Call Me Maybe.” There is “More
than a Memory” which sounds almost exactly like Katy Perry’s “The One That Got
Away,” the Kylie Minogue-vibed “Curiosity,” and “Beautiful,” a duet with Justin
Bieber that sounds similar to the Plain White T’s “1, 2, 3, 4.” Having said all
this, all of these songs will bury themselves into your brain and the first
three-quarters of the album hold up well to multiple listens. This Kiss ends up being a solid if
inconsistent first stab at world domination.
Pink – The Trouble
With Love
Full disclosure: I am getting tired of pop artists feeling
the need to put curse words into songs they know will get played on Top 40
radio simply for shock value. No artist frustrates me
more with this than Pink, who appropriately used the F word to great effect on "Fuckin'
Perfect" a few years back.
“Blow Me (One Last Kiss),” her first single from The Truth About Love, is the opposite end of the scale, using curse
words more for attention than substantial impact. In fact, “Blow Me” and
several other up-tempo tracks stand as a parody of Pink’s past music that used
to work because of Pink’s ability to maintain a balance between substance and
shock value. Because of this, about half of The
Truth About Love tries way too hard to be irreverent and shocking without
much to back it up in substance.
I know that there will be long-time fans of Pink who will
love the rougher upbeat tracks, but it creates a schizophrenic album that
doesn’t flow well and is jarring at times. When Pink slows things down and goes
into a more vulnerable mode (see “Try,” “Beam Me Up,” “The Great Escape”), her
voice soars and so does the material. One track that falls in between the two
extremes is “Just Give Me a Reason,” which pairs Pink with fun. lead singer
Nate Ruess on a track that would fit in perfectly with fun.’s current album Some Nights. The way Pink and Ruess’s
voices mesh on the chorus is magical and genuine, making for a great mid-tempo
track that easily could be a single.
Cher Lloyd – Sticks
+ Stones
If you have been wondering what all the fuss is over The X Factor coming to the US last year,
all you have to do is listen to your radio and hear exports from the UK version
in rotation. One Direction appear to be the New Kids on the Block for the 21st
Century, Olly Murs is slowly picking up steam at radio with his “Heart Skips a
Beat,” and a feisty sprite named Cher Lloyd just celebrated her first Top 20 US
hit with the upbeat “Want U Back.” Now that she is established, her debut album
Sticks + Stones that was released in
England last year has been repackaged for American consumption.
The biggest differences between the UK and the US versions
of Sticks + Stones are the absence of
US singer Mike Posner and X Factor US
finalist Astro, as well as two new tracks recorded for the United States
audience. I have no problem with the cameos being dropped because not only is
Cher Lloyd a strong vocalist, but she also raps well enough to not embarrass
herself on record. Lloyd stands out because while she is unabashedly pop on
these tracks, she brings in other influences that give her songs more heft than
they would show in a weaker artist’s hands. Even a song that looks like a train
wreck on paper like “Swagger Jagger” has just enough substance to it to keep it
from going over-the-top cheesy.
While the UK-original tracks mostly work, the two songs
added for the US (next single “Oath” and “Behind the Music”) go for Avril
Lavigne-like vocals and lyrics that seem to be pretty popular right now (see
Taylor Swift) while still employing her rap style to punch up the
attitude. Hopefully her management
and producers recognize that a talent like Lloyd does not need to chase trends
when she has more than enough style to set her own trends given the right
producer and writers. Still, this is a strong debut for a unique artist in a
crowded pop marketplace.
While his full-time job is in education, John Hill also writes a successful music blog titled Pop Music Notes. He is also active on Twitter @popmusicnotes and lives in Denver with his partners in crime James and Bruiser.
