The summer months can be a little quiet when it comes to artists releasing new material. Usually there are not so many new album releases during July and August, but now that the summer is coming to an end in Europe, it seems our favourite little pop stars start promoting again with new single releases. Over the past few days Taylor Swift, Emmelie De Forest, Marit Larsen, Carl Espen and Charli XCX launched a new song. Have a listen below!
05. Carl Espen – Holding On
Carl Espen had his breakthrough earlier this year when he participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for Norway. Even in his own country he was still pretty much unknown and did not have that much experience as a performer either. His heartbreakingly beautiful song ‘Silent Storm’ won the hearts of many Europeans when he finished in 8th position in the contest. Now he launched the follow up single called ‘Holding On’. On this track, his hauntingly emotional vocals still work in full force, but the song is a little bit more uptempo with some drums and a swinging chorus. It shows he got more up his sleeve than quiet ballads!
04. Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
Taylor Swift announced the release of a new album on monday. The singer made clear that this time, she is going for a pop record. She flirted heavily with a more poppy direction on her previous record, but for this one, called 1989, she drops the country completely for a while. With the first single ‘Shake It Off’, you immediately believe her. Where ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ still had some hints from her country background, this song is all about beats, horns, a chearleader part and lyrics that deal with her haters. I am quite sure she will lose a few fans with this direction, but she sure as hell will gain a few too. Although this is a new path for her, it never feels forced or inauthentic. Although the video for the track did get some criticism for it being racist as it features black women twerking, just like Lily Allen did with ‘Hard Out Here’, this will not stop her from having another huge wordwide hit.
03. Marit Larsen – I Don’t Wanna Talk About It
Norwegian singer Marit Larsen started her career as the duo M2M together with Marion Raven. She started a solo career in 2005 and her biggest hit so far ‘If A Song Could Get Me You’, brought her a number 1 in various European countries. This year, she is back with her fourth studio album When The Morning Comes, released in October. The first single ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It’ is a song in the style we know from her. Singer-songwriter pop with great hooks and her sweet vocals. The chorus of ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It’ is one of the best she has ever written and if her label will give this the right push, she could be onto another international hit.
02. Charli XCX – Break The Rules
I have been following Charli XCX for a while now so it was great to see her audience expanded greatly with the release of The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack ‘Boom Clap’. The British singer managed to score a worldwide hit with this track and announced the release of her second album Sucker later this year. She also premiered the new single called ‘Break The Rules’. This might be the closest that her solo material has come to the style of ‘I Love It’, the huge hit she wrote for Icona Pop. The ‘I don’t want to go to school, I just wanna break the rules!’ chorus is incredibly catchy and the instrumental breakdown is not too predictable as it sounds different than your average dance pop track. It is obvious that Charli found her place in pop music at the moment with cheeky and shouty uptempo tracks. Let us hope this will continue to work for her!
01. Emmelie De Forest – Drunk Tonight
Emmelie De Forest, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark in 2013 with the track ‘Only Teardrops’, has started to promote the release of her second album, that will probably take place later this year. The first single of her sophomore record, ‘Rainmaker’, was used as the official theme for this year’s Eurovision. She performed the song live at the grand final. Now she is back with the absolutely beautiful new single ‘Drunk Tonight’. It is a little more downtempo than the title would suggest, but it is about an ex-boyfriend calling Emmelie up drunk, and telling her that he wants her back. She proves to be too strong to fall back into his arms. She shows to have grown up musically with this emotional and mature single. Looking forward to her new record!