Blog: It's Pop!

All pictures : credit Tokyobanhbao.com Pour lire ma critique de Happiness en français, c'est ici ! On Tuesday September 21st, the lovely and very talented Tokyo Banhbao and I were invited to follow amazing Manchester pop duo Hurts during their promo tour in Paris. It was a great chance to talk to Theo and Adam [...]

Cheryl Cole 's new single Promise This is probably one of the worst song I've heard this year . And that includes Missing You . Nothing works for me here. The beat is cheap, the verses are a rip-off of Cheryl's own Rain On Me , the Alouette thing is awful (and was already used way better by Mark Ronson 2 months ago and French popstar Zazie in 2007 on her track [...]

I would LOVE to love pop's most incredibly ill-advised quintet The Saturdays but recently, it's been hard. The campaign for their recently released EP Headlines makes me wonder who makes all those bad choices for them, and leads me to officially apply to be their manager. My contact's on the site. Exhibit #1 : Missing You I've already told you about how much I dislike this song, but here's the fact. It's still as bad as [...]

My dear friends from great French website Hall-Musique and I have been able to ask one of my (our) favourite new popstars Brigh Light Bright Light some questions. BLBL is Rod Thomas, a supertalented guy who's first single A New Word To Say was of huge quality. Now he's getting ready to launch his first proper release Love Part II through Popjustice newly-created label Popjustice Hi-Fi. As you would expect from that serious imprint, Rod's pop is of [...]

(Photo credit : Kevin Beaty) Kirsten Price is a UK singer who's got a new album out called Brixton To Brooklyn . She came a bit out of nowhere for me, more precisely through an e-mail submission. I must say I'm happy I listened to the whole record because it is really enjoyable. Sonically it's a mix of various sounds and influences ranging from pop, rock and R&B. We got to ask Kirsten a few questions, read her answers after the jump and [...]

SO. HERE. IT. IS. AT. LAST. Nadine-Nuhdeen-Coyle 's debut solo single premiered today. The Girls Aloud star (and unarguably best vocalist) has been recording tracks for her upcoming album for over a year now, fueling rumors of the band never getting back together, which I refuse to believe. In the meantime fellow GA member Cheryl Cole has had a +800k-selling and mostly underwhelming record, a huge european hit ( Fight For This Love ) and has firmly established herself as one of Britain's hottest [...]

Remember. The last time we spoke about the Madge , was when she released her greatest hits compilation Celebration . The two new tracks on there were not good ( Celebration ) and awfully desperate ( Revolver ). These past few days and pretty much out of nowhere, some new tracks from various eras were leaked. I'll pass on the semi-decent ones that understandably didn't make it on the albums they were destined to, but one of the [...]

This is what probably went down during a meeting between Rihanna and her record company a few months ago. - Ri, you screwed us with your last album. It was too dark. It flopped. - Yeah, Boss, but I had just been beaten up by that motherf*cker Brown. My music had to convey my state of mind. - Don't care, ho. You're here to make some cash. We're lucky you had that dull song Rude Boy to save the thing a bit. - Uh it sucked. - So. That "Don't [...]

Ladies and Gentlemen, my favourite newcomer Marina (and her Diamonds) just released her new video for what has to be my second-favourite song on her fantastic debut album The Family Jewels : Shampain . The video looks like a girly re-interpretation of Michael Jackson's Thriller. No less. I'm not sure this video will help her connect with the masses, but at least she's not giving up on her artistic integrity. This girl is here to stay, maybe not with a #1 every three months, that's all.

Hey, Goddess ! This is Kylie 's new video for the second single of her near-perfect 11th album Aphrodite , the sexy Get Out Of My Way . It's visually splendid, yet simple, and fits the song perfectly. If the visuals are anything to go by for The 2011 Folies Tour, then' we're in for a big treat. Ok, I should add "as usual". Well done team Minogue, so far the Aphrodite campaign is great. Ok, I should add [...]

This Shakira 's new single Loca . It's no Loba, but I like it. You can dance along to it. It's taken from Shak's forthcoming album Sale Al Sol , due out on October 19th, so just a year after her previous one Shewolf . Remember how bad that campaign was ? Stupid single choices and all. Let's [...]

I told you a few months ago that swedish duo Gravitonas were awesome thanks to only one song : Kites . You how it is. Sometimes a band has one killer song and that's it. That was something one could fear with those two guys. But fear not, reader. Their just-released 4-track EP The Hypnosis is fantastic. Their moody and sometimes a bit over dramatic songs have one quality that's too often missing from contemporary pop : it sounds heartfelt and consistent. [...]

SO. Shame, that long-awaited RobbieWilliams / Gary Barlow duet is finally upon us. It's disappointing if you expected some sort of Patience vs. Rule The World vs. Angels vs. Rock DJ mashup. Which I kinda was, I must admit. Ok, let's be clear, it sucks and is miles away from what it should be. So its title suits it well. As for the video, the plot is totally inspired by Brokeback Mountain , you know that movie where Heath Ledger and [...]

(c) @MonsieurStef - awesome artwork maker and twittbuddy. I you follow me on Twitter ( here ) you probably know that The Saturdays ' Missing You isn't exactly my favourite song of the year. In fact I might have used the word "crapfest" to describe this boring, not-really-uptempo-not-really- a-ballad disappointing single. In fact I think the problem lies in the production. It wants to sound modern but it sounds awfully dated and cheesy. Frankie's vocals sure [...]

Florrie is one of Xenomania 's protégées and their in-house drummer, having played on recent Girls Aloud and Pet Shop Boys records. The cutie was also chosen as the face of the latest Nina Ricci perfume campaign. Not bad for a 21 year-old, eh? After posting lots of remix tracks on her website for free, this week she just dropped two original songs that are more than worth your attention. Give Me Your Love and You Wanna Start Something [...]

Oh yeah! The second Scissor Sisters single to be taken from their absolutely fantastic third album Night Work is the equally awesome Any Which Way, a fine contender for the "Song Of The Year" crown here at It's Pop! HQ. Remember, it's the track they performed at Glastonbury with Kylie . Their new video is fun, funky, colorful and awesome, much like the band itself. And quite frankly, a video where there are flying sushis [...]

The image above is taken from some new Goldfrapp "video content" I just received with their newsletter. How nice of them! It's not presented as the video for the band's next single Believer , but I think it is. So in the newsletter's own words it is "a wonderful little film [...] a mix of all the shows and some backstage stuff." Spot-on description, Goldfrapp HQ, cause it's indeed a nice little movie which gives a taste of what the life on the road is like. Pretty much like [...]

If I were Katy Perry and I had to shoot a video for the not-very-good follow-up single to my huge worldwide hit California Gurls , I'd hire a super cute male model and I'd do naughty stuff with him on a bed. Oh, I'd also have him get half-naked just because. This way people would focus more on my video than on the actual song. Guess what? That's what she did. Katy Perry - [...]

The Saturdays - Higher Still considering that the band's ear-raping new single Missing You doesn't exist, I'd rather introduce you to their next single Higher . Taker from the Headlines EP, this is the song that should have led the whole project. It's a near-perfect pop track in the vein of Up and Ego , ie. with a great chorus, a huge tune and beat you can dance along to. Nothing to do with the crapfest we're [...]

Sometimes, simple is just the way to go. The new Janelle Monae video for her wonderful song Cold War is an astonishing proof. While just being a close-up of the artist's face singing her song's lyrics, the whole clip is very moving and powerful. Probably because that's how Janelle Monae is. You should definitely check out her excellent album The Archandroid if you haven't already. You're in for a real treat of originality and pure talent.