This week Universal Music presents great new albums and tracks to check out. The new releases are exciting and range from rap to country and everything in-between! The artists are creative and impressive, delivering tracks that are sure to be favourites!
Lost Luggage is the ethereal new musical project from acclaimed duo, singer/songwriter Danielle Spencer and songwriter/producer Vince Pizzinga. The album ‘Lost Luggage’ released this week via ABC Music/UMA, kicked off with their first single; a stunning version of Bronski Beat’s heartfelt cry for liberation, the 1984 hit ‘Smalltown Boy’.Their musical relationship extends across two decades. Beginning with Danielle’s critically acclaimed 2002 debut album “White Monkey’, which Danielle wrote and Vince produced, through to 2018’s intoxicating cover of ‘Be My Baby’, a track that was so successful it set in motion a series of events that would eventually lead to ‘Lost Luggage’. “We started by creating a list of tracks that meant something to each of us,” says vocalist Danielle Spencer. “Although not a conscious decision, the eventual track listing does lean heavily on early to mid-eighties classics…songs that were just great songs, regardless of production. We wanted to pay tribute to these songs and reimagine them.” To that end, Lost Luggage is an album of seven hauntingly emotive musical interpretations. Each track slowly reveals itself to the audience, masterfully blending the familiar with the mysterious. Delicate, detailed production combines with Danielle’s soaring harmonies, cascading around her effortless soprano. Her voice is extraordinary; intense and icy, then warm, rich and throaty, full of power and grace. These elements combine to fully envelope the listener in the experience of Lost Luggage.
James Bay “Chew On My Heart”. Returning with his first original music of 2020, three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Award-winning multiplatinum singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist James Bay is back with a brand new single entitled “Chew On My Heart.” For as much as James Bay upholds traditions of timeless songcraft, the UK singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer also confidently challenges himself and popular music. He spikes a tried-and-true style with clever lyricism, honest confessions, and instrumental proficiency. On the heels of his platinum- certified 2015 debut Chaos And The Calm, he garnered GRAMMY® nods in the categories of “Best New Artist,” “Best Rock Album,” and “Best Rock Song” for the gold-selling single “Hold Back The River.” Meanwhile, “Let It Go” went triple-platinum. Nominated for dozens of awards, he took home two BRIT Awards, two Q Awards, and top honors at the Ivor Novello Awards and ECHO Awards. Tallying 6 billion streams by 2020, he has performed on Saturday Night Live, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, and Late Night with Seth Meyers. He also notably dueted with icons such as Alicia Keys on The Voice and Mick Jagger while supporting The Rolling Stones at Twickenham Stadium in London. In addition to selling out shows on four continents, Epiphone honored him with his own Limited-Edition James Bay Signature “1966” guitar. Following the success of 2018’s Electric Light, he deconstructed his sound to its bare essentials on the Oh My Messy Mind EP a year later. It yielded the hit “Peer Pressure” [feat. Julia Michaels], generating 131 million Spotify streams and receiving acclaim from Time, Rolling Stone, and Billboard. He spent the majority of 2019 opening for Ed Sheeran on his record-breaking stadium run. Now, embarks on the next leg of this journey led by “Chew On My Heart.”
Mike Skinner has released his new mixtape as The Streets featuring Tame Impala, IDLES, Hak Baker, Ms Banks and many more. The original plan had been to release a TONGA album (the balloon filled rap, grime and dubstep party by Mike and Murkage Dave, which had been a series of shoobs to remember). Copenhagen to Manchester to Berlin. Brum to Brixton. Usually arriving with a coterie of legendary UK figureheads and gobby upcomers in tow, like Kano, Giggs, Jammer or Jaykae, the pulsating essence of the nights needed to be immortalised. Taking in UK Funky and twilight zone UK rap, and with guest spots ranging from Grammy nominated psychedelia sovereign Tame Impala to cult south London rapper Jesse James Solomon, as well as 2019’s key-fiend-friendly drum’n’bass collab with Chris Lorenzo, None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive is the most eclectic and highly collaborative collection of songs from The Streets yet. Or as Mike puts it with characteristic distinction: “it’s really just a rap duets album.” The inclusion of, say, Mercury Prize nominated punk group IDLES (who perform what Mike describes as a sea-shanty tinged track inspired by an overnight ferry to Dover) and teenage wünderkind Jimothy Lacoste help ground things firmly in the here and now. But there are familiar faces of the past too. Birmingham legend, Dapz On The Map, pops up on merky rap track ‘Phone Is Always In My Hand’. While Rob Harvey, previously of The Music and Skinner collaboration The D.O.T, tunes into pensive penultimate track ‘Conspiracy Theory Freestyle’.
Multi-award winning Australian-born, Nashville-based husband and wife duo O’Shea release their new single ‘Bridezilla (It Only Get’s Better)’ via Sony Music Entertainment Australia. The up-up beat country bop is accompanied by the official music video which was filmed in a bridal shop in Tennessee. ‘Bridezilla (It Only Gets Better)’ was co-written with Clare Bowen (known best from the television show Nashville) and her husband Brandon R. Young. The track follows on from O’Shea’s 2019 single ‘Say Nothin’’ and is the second single from their upcoming album. With 11 #1 Australian Country singles under their belt, ‘Bridezilla (It Only Gets Better)’ is set to be another chart topper for the duo. Speaking on the single Mark and Jay O’Shea explain “I wish I could have sent this song to my younger, bridezilla self. It’s too easy to get stressed about little details that don’t matter. The really good stuff happens once you’re married!”, says Jay. “Jay? A Bridezilla? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” adds Mark. The official music video for ‘Bridezilla (It Only Gets Better)’ will premiere on Nashville’s CMT Music on Saturday July 11th AEST. Check out a sneak peak of the video here. Filmed in a bridal shop in Tennessee, Jay tried on over 30 dresses for this video! A perfect compliment in highlighting all of those crazy times that come with planning a wedding and getting married as well as the fun nature of the song. O’Shea are 7 time Golden Guitar winners who have individually toured with the likes of INXS, Keith Urban, John Farnham, Hall & Oates, Jimmy Barnes & more!
Multi-Platinum superstar, Kane Brown has released “Be Like That” together with Grammy-nominated artists Swae Lee and Khalid. The Pop-forward anthem, which all three artists had a hand in writing, follows Brown’s unifying ballad “Worldwide Beautiful,” which he released last month and debuted on nationwide television with a performance at the 2020 BET Awards on June 28. 2019 saw Kane Brown dubbed ‘The Future Sound of Country’ by Forbes magazine and a global hit collaboration with Marshmello on ‘One Thing Right’ which went went 4X Platinum in Australia, garnered 466M WW streams and peaked at #4 on the ARIA singles chart.
