Tag Archives: Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Valentine’s Day: Ten lovely current love songs

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Mariah Carey You're Mine Eternal cover

It’s that time of the year again! It’s Valentine’s Day! A romantic day for some couples, a nightmare for some single people out there, but either way it is a good excuse to listen to some great songs about love! I collected ten lovely current love songs for you to enjoy during a romantic date or a night alone.

10. Mariah Carey – You’re Mine (Eternal)
If there is one lady who knows all about all kinds of love songs, it’s Mariah Carey. She performed lots of songs about break-ups and heartache, for example ‘Without You’, ‘We Belong Togeter’ and the recent ‘The Art Of Letting Go’, but she also recorded tons of happy love songs like ‘Always Be My Baby’, ‘Dreamlover’ and ‘#Beautiful (feat. Miguel)’. Now she is back with a song, especially released for Valentine’s Day, called ‘You’re Mine (Eternal)’. It is a traditional R&B ballad which suits Mariah perfectly. The great thing about a Mariah ballad is that you know that there is a huge note about to come in the last chorus and when that moment finally happens, I am a happy man!

09. Annalisa – Tutto Sommato
A song in the lovely Italian language could not be excluded from this list. Annalisa’s ‘Tutto Sommato’ was recently used in the Dutch movie De Toscaanse Bruiloft (The Tuscan Wedding) and it is a very catchy and infectious little track. The upbeat and feelgood vibe of the song matches perfectly with the movie and it instantly gives you butterflies. Annalisa sings that love gives her life and that is exactly what we need to hear today!

08. Miguel – Adorn (feat. Jessie Ware)
Of course duets are probably the most romantic form of songs. Especially the smooth and sweet R&B kind. When making this list, I found out Miguel is a master in this craft. He recorded the lovely ballads ‘PrimeTime’ and ‘#Beautiful’ with Janelle Monáe and Mariah Carey, but he also re-recorded one of his own tracks to make it into a duet. He invited Jessie Ware to add her vocals to his biggest single to date, ‘Adorn’. The result is smooth, sweet and sexy.

07. Coldplay – Atlas
Although Coldplay’s ‘Atlas’ is not really a love song in the most traditional sense, it is one gorgeous track that deserves every recognition it could get. It was featured on the soundtrack of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which worked surprisingly well. But let’s be fair, did anybody every tell you something more romantic than: ‘I’ll carry your world and all your hurt’. No exactly, that is what I thought!

06. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Young Blood
Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back with her new album Wanderlust, that performs pretty well in the UK charts as it already stayed in the album top 10 for three weeks. The leadsingle ‘Young Blood’ is an exceptionally romantic song about growing old together but never losing the feeling of youth, because the other keeps you young. Other than the beautiful lyrics, the song itself sounds sweet and lovely and we hear a whole different side of Sophie’s gorgeous vocals.

05. Ellie Goulding – How Long Will I Love You
Ellie Goulding and her wonderful cover of ‘How Long Will I Love You’ absolutely deserves a place in this list. The lyrics could not be anymore romantic and Goulding’s delivery with her soft and cute voice take this to a whole other level. One could say the song sounds kind of cheesy, but I would like to disagree, because she made this song completely her own and managed to keep the honest sound. And even if it is a little cheesy, it is Valentine’s Day!

04. Beyoncé – Drunk In Love (feat. Jay-Z)
Who said Valentine’s Day always needs to be about romantic things? For Beyoncé and Jay-Z it is probably another hot, steamy and passionate day at their office full of surfboarding and waking up in the kitchen wondering what happened before. And why wouldn’t they? After the fancy dinner by candle light, you might take your date home and that is the point where the sensual and sexy ‘Drunk In Love’ could be helpful as a soundtrack…

03. Clean Bandit – Rather Be (feat. Jess Glynne)
‘As long as I am with you, there is no place I’d rather be.’ That is quite a romantic statement. And when this statement is packed in such a swinging and catchy track, it is not a surprise that this song performs so exceptionally well. Clean Bandit already charted three weeks on number 1 in the UK and they are coming to take over the rest of Europe and probably the rest of the world. What a tune!

02. Miley Cyrus – Adore You
Who would have thought that the controversial popstar who shocked the world with her twerking to her own track ‘We Can’t Stop’ and riding a wrecking ball naked, would follow those releases up with a stunning ballad about love, called ‘Adore You’. Of course the accompanying video had to be a little naughty, but the song itself is beautiful and Miley’s voice does it absolute justice. Absolutely one of the most beautiful, honest and heartfelt love songs released in the last couple of months.

01. John Legend – All Of Me
I honestly could not think of a song that is more romantic and full of love than John Legend’s ‘All Of Me’. In The Netherlands this song has been a huge hit for quite some time now and I would expect the rest of the world to follow sooner or later. ‘Cause all of me, loves all of you.’ This song just screams to be played at weddings! Melodically the moment he sings ‘my head’s underwater, but I’m breathing fine’ is gorgeous. If this song does not give you Valentine’s Day vibes, I don’t know what will!

Single Review: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Young Blood

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Sophie Ellis-Bextor Wanderlust album cover

Sophie Ellis-Bextor surprises with change of style on new single

Sophie Ellis-Bextor had her big breakthrough in 2001 when songs like ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ and ‘Get Over You’ became huge international hits. She immediately created a distinctive style of pop-dance with influences from disco that was all the more recognizable thanks to her polished vocals and gorgeous posh accent. Although she never really met the levels of success of her debut record Read My Lips again, she continued to put out great pop-dance tunes like ‘Catch You’, ‘Me And My Imagination’, Freemasons collaborations ‘Bittersweet’ and ‘Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)’ and ‘Not Giving Up On Love’ with Armin van Buuren. For her new album, Sophie Ellis-Bextor used a completely different approach, which immediately becomes clear after hearing first single ‘Young Blood’.

Sophie’s new single is actually miles away from the up tempo pop-dance sound she is known for. Gone are the big productions and swinging choruses. They made place for a more acoustic sound. ‘Young Blood’ is a ballad about growing old with a partner. The lyrics deal with the idea that although you might get older, love could still keep you young. Sophie sings: “There’ll be a day to take the best of us, but until then you give me young blood”. The lyrics are heartfelt and express a beautiful and meaningful story. Melodically, the chorus is beautiful and the song definitely sounds like something that could work well on the radio. The little choir that joins in on the middle-eight sounds lovely and adds something to the song. On first listen, some people might think it is all a bit too cute and sweet, but ‘Young Blood’ is actually a very interesting and captivating ballad.

Of course it might take a while to get used to this new style by Sophie and her strong dance-pop records will be missed, but with this new song she proves her voice is strong enough to carry a more bare and acoustic sound. It is a brave choice to shake things up completely after years of operating in a style that brought her success. In interviews, she told she had always wanted to make something like the new record. Wanderlust, which will be released in January, will follow the style of ‘Young Blood’ and the singer collaborated with singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt on this whole record. I cannot wait to hear more of this interesting direction Sophie Ellis-Bextor is taking.

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Single Recensie: Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Young Blood

Sophie Ellis-Bextor verrast met stijlverandering op nieuwe single

Sophie Ellis-Bextor brak in 2001 groots door toen haar singles ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ en ‘Get Over You’ wereldhits werden. Ze wist zichzelf gelijk een geheel eigen stijl aan te meten die bestond uit pop-dance met een vleugje disco. Haar muziek was vooral ook zeer herkenbaar dankzij haar gepolijste vocalen met een prachtig posh accent. Hoewel ze nooit meer het grote succes van haar debuutalbum Read My Lips haalde, bleef ze sterke tracks uitbrengen als ‘Catch You’, ‘Me And My Imagination’, Freemasons samenwerkingen ‘Bittersweet’ en ‘Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)’ en ‘Not Giving Up On Love’ met Armin van Buuren. Voor haar nieuwe album is Sophie Ellis-Bextor echter een compleet nieuwe weg ingeslagen, wat gelijk duidelijk te horen is op de eerste single ‘Young Blood’.

Deze nieuwe single ligt qua sound namelijk mijlenver weg van de pop-dance die ze eerder maakte. De grote producties en swingende refreinen hebben plaatsgemaakt voor een meer stripped down en akoestisch geluid. ‘Young Blood’ is een ballad die gaat over het ouder worden met een partner. De tekst gaat over het idee dat de liefde je jong kan houden, ook al word je ouder. Sophie zingt dan ook: “There’ll be a day to take the best of us, but until then you give me young blood”. De lyrics vertellen een mooi en betekenisvol verhaal dat zeer oprecht overkomt. Het refrein heeft een mooie, meeslepende melodie en het lied zou zeker niet misstaan op de radio. Het koortje dat Sophie bijvalt tijdens de bridge is een mooie toevoeging aan de plaat. Op het eerste gehoor klinkt het lied misschien wat zoet en braafjes, maar het is zeker een eigenzinnige en boeiende ballade.

Het zal natuurlijk even duren voordat al haar fans gewend zijn aan Sophie’s nieuwe stijl en haar sterke popplaten zullen ook zeker worden gemist, maar met dit nieuwe lied laat ze zien dat haar stem ook mooi overeind blijft op een wat stillere en akoestische song. Het is een dappere keuze van Ellis-Bextor om na al die jaren van pop-dance platen het roer even helemaal om te gooien. In interviews vertelde ze al dat ze altijd al eens iets heeft willen maken als het aankomende album. De nieuwe plaat Wanderlust, die in januari verschijnt, zal de stijl van ‘Young Blood’ volgen en de zangeres heeft hiervoor samengewerkt met singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt. Ik kan alvast niet wachten om meer van deze interessante, nieuwe richting van Sophie Ellis-Bextor te horen.