Music Related News

• We Are Stations released "Found My Way" (available for free now) and it's so sweetly perfect that it hurts a little. The sound feels like heading home while vocal harmonies are satisfying enough to be played at full volume with your windows down and there is something about the song, especially that guitar progression on the bridge, that just feels so right.
• Becky G released the music video for "Shower" and it is as just as deep as the song's lyrics would imply. I especially love the obvious product placement; the endorsement of Covergirl in this video is more noticeable than Stay Puft's in Ghostbusters. The most disappointing thing about "Shower" though is the fact that it is utterly void of the easy-to-sing-along-with-even-on-the-first-listen lyrics that we so desire in our thoughtless summer hits, even though the melody promises something fun. "Call Me Maybe" this is not (update: after ten listens the dancing and singing has commenced, but I will never forgive her for "Becky From The Block": that was straight up blasphemous).
• Ariana Grande released the track list for her forthcoming album, My Everything, due out August 25 and it reads like a who's who of celebrity mash-ups you've always wanted but were too afraid to dare dream of asking for (names include Childish Gambino, Big Sean, Ryan Tedder with Benny Blanco, and A$AP Ferg, among others). Catch her tomorrow night (July 2) during MTV's Total Ariana Live and watch for her new single, "Break Free" featuring Zedd, dropping tomorrow during the half hour event. 
• Sia continues her streak of sultry sweet summer sadness singles with "Big Girls Cry" and an intro which states "tough girl in the fast lane, no time for love, no time for hate... tough girl, whose soul aches" should have you completely hooked but when that beat drops and the melody frantically tries to keep up with soulful vocals that plaintively plead "I wake up alone" before allowing themselves to be wrapped up with "I don't care if I don't look pretty, big girls cry when their hearts are breaking" it's so gorgeous it aches. If you don't love Sia already, you haven't yet heard her music (or, more accurately, her heart-breakingly honest lyrics).  
• Watsky's first single since Cardboard Castles is catchy as ever; "Whoa Whoa Whoa" continues to prove that Watsky's production could not be better and his tongue in cheek lyrics are just as fun as everything that made you fall for his music in the first place while the choral repetition of "what do you take us for" hints at his omnipresent use of meaningful underlying messages.
• Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj are set to release the powerhouse collaborative single "Bang Bang" July 29 via Republic Records which will serve as the first single off Jessie J's forthcoming album due out this Fall and will also be available on the deluxe edition of Grande's My Everything.
• Owl City released the video for "Beautiful Times" (featuring Lindsey Stirling) from Ultraviolet (available now) and it sounds like a solid mixture of "Hello Seattle" and "Fireflies" and, to top it off, he is wearing the same damn shirt in "Beautiful Times" as he is in the "Fireflies" video (also it's the same fucking room and the same dang theme and this complete disregard of originality infuriates me, no matter its 'deeper' meaning). "Wolf Bite" was kind of awesome (honestly progressively better with each listen) and "Up All Night" is catchy as hell and they both veer far, far from that "Fireflies" sound, so check those out if you're tired of the watered down over-played radio singles.
• I don't want to like 5SOS but they're so greatly weird that it feels like they just happened upon their boy band status by accident and were like "'kay, cool; let's do this" and now they're just rolling with it but still putting out awesomely awkward videos that are totally cool with you being a freak. You do you and listen to 5 Seconds of Summer this summer because, let's face it, you can't stay away from it (and "Don't Stop" is pleasantly adorable).
• James Bay's Let It Go EP is still the most satisfying album you'll hear this summer. Sweet piano riffs are tied up with tangy guitar riffs that sound like home and rich vocals you will never grow tired of trot out lines that could not be more perfect were they taken from your journal (if you could ever remember to keep up a journal). 
• Australia's Sheppard (siblings George, Amy, and Emma Sheppard and friends Jay Bovino, Michael Butler, and Dean Gordon) are set to make their U.S. debut with their undeniably catchy single "Geronimo" and that fun melody that twines perfectly with an upbeat rhythm and wonderfully satisfying vocals is far too great to pass over; listen to it now and add it to your summer playlist, because you will be (shamelessly) addicted. 
• Lane 8's "I Got What You Need (Every Night)" featuring Bipolar Sunshine has to be the most satisfying single of this past week, though. With a sweetly slinking rhythm, a melody that breathes summer vibes, and charmingly full vocals doling out adorable lines you'll be singing along with in no time, the track is undeniably worthy of playing on repeat while dancing around. 
• I'm honestly so addicted to Zella Day's latest single that I don't even think I'm okay anymore. Seriously though, you have to be persistent as fuck to make it through any of Steinbeck's novels (even his novella's feel like a lifetime) and to write a song with lyrics which allude to the most basic ideas presented in East of Eden (that the creativity of a single person is the only real freedom left in this world) while a sturdy, persistent rhythm and pretty lilting melody feel like the constant struggle between good and evil (also a running theme in the novel) -- I'm too impressed with the writing style and production techniques to not be completely sated with this song that will never fall out of my head. 

- E