It’s been a funny old month, has our February. Not much in the way of new releases to talk about around the water cooler aside from the whole ’I didn’t know Madonna even had a knicker drawer until it became apparent that Lady GaGa had been rummaging through it’ debate. Yawn. The Brit and Grammy Awards were pretty sedate, besides enraged Justin Bieber fans threatening to kill a relatively unknown jazz musician for daring to win an award, and, just to get on my nerves, ‘Stop Hey’ by my beloved Sunday Girl didn’t even chart. Let’s look at the nuggets of news and on to March, which should be more interesting – with a bit of luck.
1. The Battle of the New Girlbands hath begun. Yes, rather than trying to quietly squeeze in a new girlband like their attempt with Girls Can’t Catch, the labels are now launching a full-on assault with not one, not two, but three new girlbands all releasing their debut singles within a two-month period. Claustrophobic. Here’s what’s in store for you:
Firstly, there’s Louis Walsh-managed Wonderland with ‘Not A Love Song’, a vocally nice if fairly snoozetastic song that resembles something Emma Burton might have churned out back in the day. Which is fine, if you like Emma Bunton. I don’t have vast hopes about this setting the charts ablaze but who knows. Watch the video:
Parade, a girlband who’ve signed a deal with Rimmel cosmetics to provide the music for their new ad campaign, seem to be doing alright for themselves. Their single, ‘Louder’, is quite good, and the girls themselves remind me a bit of The Saturdays before they sold their personalities in exchange for an inexplicably long (in pop terms) career. Here’s the song:
My favourite, though, is definitely Soundgirl’s ‘I’m the Fool’. I’ve been gibbering excitedly about this lot since they rather oddly released the video for their single towards the end of last year (it’s called momentum, ladies), despite its being released in April, but I’m really just splitting hairs here. Little Nikki, Olivia and Izzy B have got the pipes, the moves and most importantly The Sass. If you think about it there’s been a life-threateningly low amount of The Sass in the charts for a while. Influenced by the likes of Salt’n’Pepa and TLC as opposed to just dancey crap, there’s definitely a space for an R&B girlband. The song itself manages to be infectious without being irritating, and even Generic Annoying Rent-a-Rapper towards the end doesn’t get on your tits. Having worked with the likes of Xenomania and Betty Boo, their album looks set to be full of guarranteed goodies. Judge ‘I’m the Fool’ for yourself:
2. Forget the whole ‘Born This Way’/'Express Yourself’ Oh-My-God-That-Gaga-Is-A-Shameless-Madge-Pilferer-gate: the finest Madonna homage comes courtesy of none other than Beth Ditto. Yes, the coolest woman in rock, whose hot and sweaty breasts this writer once had the experience of having shoved in his face (like being touched by an angel), has teamed up with Simian Mobile Disco, the guys she collaborated with on their amazing track, ‘Cruel Intentions’, and produced a solo EP. Which includes this: ‘I Wrote The Book’. With elements of ‘Justify My Love’, ‘Vogue’ and ‘Erotica’ all classily paid tribute to in this strutting, big-hair-and-big-attitude anthem, it’s my favourite track of the past month. Look out for the release of Beth Ditto’s EP on 8 March – and enjoy the video!
3. And now, a mystery. During London Fashion Week the lovely Marina (of the Diamonds) Diamandis attended several shows, looking borderline-turnably gorgeous. Unfortunately, though, her experience of LFW was rather spoiled, as she took to Twitter to explain: ‘Met a designer today who was the rudest person I have ever met. Will never go to his show again.’ She followed up with: ‘Sorry. But was left with such a bad feeling, had to say something. I don’t give a shit if you’re massive. Manners cost nothing.’ We’d love to find out who she’s talking about, so let us know if you have any hunches. In other, less cheerful Marina news, we’re going to have to wait until next year for the release of her sophomore album, after a couple of leaks have put a spanner in the works. Still, something to look forward to in 2012 aside from the Olympics and the whole possible Mayan end-of-the-world thing.
4. My album of the month is a bit of a weird one as, if I’m going to be entirely honest, I haven’t actually heard it. Well, not in full. But from what I have heard of Wounded Rhymes, and from what everyone who’s been evil and listened to the leak has said, Lykke Li’s new album is utterly fantastic and already a contender for album of the year. More assertive than her fragile debut, Youth Novels but still reassuringly beautiful and dark. It’s out on 28 February so make sure you grab yourself a slice of neurotic Nordic niftiness.
5. I finish with news from Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Ish. As one of her die-hard fans I’ve been waiting patiently since 2009 in the hope that her fourth album, Make A Scene, will actually be released before I’m resting in my grave, let alone too old to dance to it without the risk of damaging one of my hip replacements. She actually has a new single out right now, ‘Not Giving Up on Love.’ It’s gorgeous, and would be brilliant were it not for the fact that virtually everyone who wanted to buy it already did so when it was released last August, before they took it off iTunes to flog it again this February. There are also a lot of rumours floating around that SE-B is either label-less and in negotiations with several potential backers after Fascination turned out to have folded as a record label, or that she’s signed to All Around The World (who are re-releasing ‘Giving Up’). I sent a bunch of questions to her publicist and got the following answers:
SSG: Hello Sophie, what have you been up to today?
SE-B: I’m writing a new song with Junior Caldera (with whom I did a song called ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’) and so I’ve been getting my lyrics sorted today.
How did your trance-y new single, ‘Not Giving Up On Love’, a collaboration with DJ Armin van Buuren, end up happening?
I worked with some lovely girls called the Nervo sisters. They seem to know everybody in the dance world and played me some of Armin’s music. I was excited to work on something new, and so I had a go with one of his instrumentals with the girls. ‘Not Giving Up on Love’ was the result.
Why do you think you and Sophie Muller (video director for ‘Not Giving Up on Love’ among many others) always end up producing the most brilliant videos together? Which is your favourite that you’ve done with her?
I love Sophie and I think we always have fun together while she shoots such gorgeous footage. She really knows how to get the best out of women on camera, and over the years has become my friend. I think that comes across in the videos – the fact I feel comfortable and we laugh a lot while we work. To be honest it barely feels like working! My favourite with her is tricky to pick… Maybe ‘Music Gets the Best of Me’ because I think that one captures the side of me most like the ‘real’ me – how I am with my friends.
Do you ever get bored of people asking you questions about your Blue Peter childhood and how you manage to be both a popstar and a mother?
Well I don’t get bored being asked about being a mother, but having said that, people very rarely mention Blue Peter these days! I suppose the popstar/mother thing is a natural talking point and even my friends sometimes ask how I pack everything in. The answer is something to do with having brilliant support around me and not sleeping very much.
Why do you think you’re such a hit in Russia?
I’ve never really known the reason why I’ve done well anywhere – let alone Russia. I don’t mean to sound overly modest, it’s just that I always get on and do what I do and then I’m thrilled that it’s taken me this far. I can’t believe how lucky I am that even over 10 years into being a solo artist I am still playing for new audiences and flying to new cities to perform. I am truly a very lucky girl.
What do you have up your sleeve for album number five?
A new direction. No dance music: time for a change, methinks!
…And that’s your lot. There are more rumours that the album is definitely getting released in May, and from a recent exchange on Twitter with a fan it seems our Sophs is confident that we’ll finally get our hands on it before the Summer. The plot thickens. To tide you over, watch Sophie performing ‘Not Giving Up on Love’ live on ITV1′s Lorraine:
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