St. Vincent - Digital Witness

St. Vincent's self-titled fourth album, if you don't count the David Byrne collaboration, comes out on February 25 (24 in the UK) and today we see the release of a music video for the album's second single, "Digital Witness".  Directed by Chino Moya, the video features a stoic yet cartoonish Annie Clark set against a variety of backdrops that one might find common in a Wes Anderson film.  Her newly grey hairdo is in full force as well, instantly transforming almost every frame into a serious contender for an alternate album cover.

Pre-Order: St. Vincent - "St. Vincent"

Kylie Minogue Announces Kiss Me Once - Listen To The Single "Into The Blue"

 

Remember way back in early 2013 when Kylie shook the pop world a bit and signed with Roc Nation?  Sometimes I like to imagine Kylie and Jay-Z discussing her career plans over a drink or two, when Beyoncé randomly decides to drop by.  That must be how it works.  Anyways, 2013 was pretty light on the new Kylie album side of things, besides the random "Skirt".  But the new year brings good news: Kylie is releasing her twelfth album Kiss Me Once on March 17.

Kiss Me Once has an interesting track listing, to say the least.  Writing credits include Sia, Pharrell, and Enrique Iglesias, with the latter of the three actually being featured on "Beautiful".  Standout song titles include "Sexercize" and "Les Sex", and just look at that pouty artwork.

The lead single is "Into The Blue" and it's been out for a couple days now.  Produced by Mike Del Rio (???), it actually took a while to grow on me.  This single didn't seem to have that immediate "wow" factor like "Timebomb" did in 2012.  After a few more plays I've labeled it a slight "jam" of some sort, but it leans on the predictable side.

You can pre-order Kiss Me Once here and check out both the album track listing and lyric video for "Into The Blue" below.

Kiss Me Once

1. Into The Blue
2. Million Miles
3. I Was Gonna Cancel
4. Sexy Love
5. Sexercize
6. Feels So Good
7. If Only
8. Les Sex
9. Kiss Me Once
10. Beautiful (With Enrique Iglesias)
11. Fine 

 Special Edition Bonus Tracks

1. Mr. President
2. Sleeping With The Enemy 

Lana Del Rey - Once Upon A Dream

 

Lana Del Rey is slowly becoming a master of cinematic music.  Last year's "Young And Beautiful" was probably featured in about half of The Great Gatsby's significant scenes, or at least it felt that way, and now Lana is singing the theme song to Disney's dark fairy tale story Maleficent.  According to the internet, Angelina Jolie specifically chose her to sing the Sleeping Beauty classic, "Once Upon A Dream".  It's dark, dreary, and extra Lana-y.  The new trailer featuring the song premiered during the Grammys and it managed to get me interested in the film, so I think it's working.

"Once Upon A Dream" is available to download for free on Google Play or you can watch the trailer below.  Maleficent is in theatres on May 30.

Lorde & Beyoncé Win The Grammys

 

Last night's Grammy festivities seemed even longer than usual.  There were so many random performances that involved two or more artists colliding in ways that no one ever asked for.  I sat through Robin Thicke and Chicago performing a medley of songs ending with "Blurred Lines" because sometimes life isn't fair, but that's a post for another day.  Even though Daft Punk won Album Of The Year, the real winners were Queen Bee and Queen B.

Lorde performed a strange slowed down version of "Royals" and won two major awards, Pop Solo Performance and Song Of The Year.  She looked especially hipster goth chic, but sported a slightly more tame mass of hair compared to her usual mane.  I think it's safe to say that Lorde's reign won't let up anytime soon and she deserves the recognition so much.

But let's just talk about Beyoncé and Jay-Z opening the show with "Drunk In Love".  She did that weird music video dance.  She had the wet beach hair.  She even added more surfborts to the song!  From the lighting to the camera direction, the production was fantastic.  The only flaw was some lazy censorship by CBS, which resulted in a few full lines being muted.  This is how you perform at the Grammys.

Stream Dum Dum Girls' Too True

I'm not sorry for the overflow of Dum Dum Girls posts as of late.  I'm just so pumped for this record and NPR is currently streaming the entire album over on their site.  I've just listened to it and this album is definitely continuing Dee Dee's recent eighties pop-rock adventure while also sounding distinctively "Dum Dum Girls".  There's a nice balance between the polished shine and the band's usual rock tinge.  It's produced by Richard Gottehrer and Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes!!!), so there's another reason to love it.  If you enjoyed "Rimbaud Eyes" or "Lost Boys And Girls Club" to any extent, then check out Too True.  The album's street date is January 28 and it's arriving via Sub Pop.

Stream Dum Dum Girls' Too True At NPR