Clean Bandit + Jess Glynne = New Eyes

The happiest band of the year release their debut album, New Eyes, a perfect blend of classical and house music, after couple of years of struggle in the music industry. Nobody took them seriously. And why would they? It seems to me that the more pathetic you get today, more executives will think you are a serious selling material. Whatever happened to going to live shows, listening to bands playing live, whatever happened to that serious state of exuberance caused by good music? I don't know, but we somehow got stuck on Adele on YouTube and made it a trend.

Rather Be, the single that made Clean Bandit a place in the music business, is a happy happy tune, yet simple and profound, beautiful lyrics, but what makes the day are the amazing vocals by Jess Glynne, who is the one to watch in the nearest future. Her silvery, yet slightly husky voice is a perfect universal tone appealing to everybody.

The first single from the album, Mozart’s House, dates from 2010, and is the one that made them less credible in the eyes of music producers. It's perky and twisted in the same time, and definitely lots of fun. And it's definitely the group's credo. ''so you think house music is boring, you think it's stupid, you think it's repetitive,... now we made it to Mozart's House''. Extraordinary, sharing it’s sensibility with Rather Be, a soothing tune that probably gained it’s popularity thanks to the amazing video, introduces us to another amazing voice on the album, Sharna Bass.

                                                         

Everything you can hear on this album is screaming fun and freedom, it’s a crossover album of a band that don’t take themselves seriously, and therefore, that makes them honest, real musicians, spontaneous, and edgier than anybody else on the scene right now. 

Nikki Yanofsky: A young vocal powerhouse

Nikki Yanofsky, only 20, has already made some amazing connections and references from the music industry like Tony Bennet and Quincy Jones who was the executive producer on her latest album, Little Secret. A girl who was nicknamed a new Amy Winehouse by the French Rollingstone, definitely bears a certain resemblance to the late soul jazz icon, although more swingy, joyful, and although being on her own ground at the much higher register. Probably, they were referring to You mean the world to me, one of the best songs on the album. The first single, Something New, a Quincy Jones tribute, is screaming retro,sun, fun and happiness, and may exude too much happiness at moments. Waiting on the sun, a silky summer tune, brings so many positive reactions, even though it may come across as a bit loungy at moments, it still makes you feel good to the bone and makes your day.  Also, one more song that stands out from the Blue Cantrell, Jazmine Sullivan pseudo-aggressive themes or swingy finger snapping girl dance party themes, is definitely Out of Nowhere, non-forcibly retro tune, where her voice gets to its best.

She is young, radiating, and vocally unstoppable, but is it enough to make an impact the size of Amy or Duffy, I doubt so.

So, what’s lacking? Everything is there, in fact, there’s too much of it. And that’s a problem. We somehow don’t succeed to find Nikki Yanofsky within all this production boost, and even within her own self, her voice is so good, but it’s just that, really good. Nothing wrong with it. And today that’s just not working. Everybody knows it, you have to be average or know and understand average to be great. So this amazing girl came across as a teacher’s pet who can scat like nobody else on this planet, while she was only listening to her older mentors, hoping to achieve immediate success, and hence, got the’cute stamp’ and nothing more than that for now.

Sam Smith, In the lonely hour: One-sided love balladry in the search for identity

After reaching the tops of music lists worldwide with two massive hit singles with Disclosure (Latch) and Naughty Boy (La la la), Sam Smith releases his debut album in the lonely hour, a heartbroken balladry of the one in the shadow. His debut single, Lay me down, a beautiful tune on the verge of being a lullaby, ''...you told me not to cry when you're gone, but the feeling's overwhelming, it's much too strong...'', is where Sam Smith is on his own ground.

The sophomore single, Money on my mind, one of the two up-tempos from the album, is both cutting-edge and retro production-wise, whereas the other up-tempo, Restart, is a poor Whitney Houston/Beyoncé impersonation, but still comes across as amazingly soothing, especially in the verses. And it’s all thanks to his voice. All of this. Just thanks to that sheer power in his voice, but even before that, he bought us with his impeccable falsettos and his soothing lower register. The identity of the album is unknown. However, what Sam Smith has to offer is a special nuance of bitterness and heartbreak, both gnarled and beautifully molded. And this time it’s thanks to his personality, which we cannot but like. And when Mary J. Blige steps in for a duet, a new rendition of Stay with me,  you know that this guy has definitely something to offer, and my guess is he lured her with that suffering in his voice which they both share. The song is plain and simple but pristine, which is regarded as art today.

Other than that, I would definitely recommend a bluesy tune, I’m Not the Only One, in the style of John Mayer, guitar-wise, a tune you sing in a bar, wasted, alone since everybody else has gone home, sticking it to the universe with a slice of optimism left in your pocket. The optimism coming from his age maybe, it’s still to see on his sophomore album, but for now Sam Smith is safe and sound and luckily has all the attention a rookie in the music industry, especially in this genre, can get. And also, thanks to his collaborations with the godfather of the Third Brit Invasion, Eg White, as well as Fraser T. Smith and Steve Fitzmaurice, his album stands among the best releases of the year.

Natalia M. King: Kako pevač iz metroa, čak i na Saint-Germainu, ostaje pevač iz metroa

Jedan veoma sunčan dan, duga šetnja, i potpuno spontana odluka da odemo da slušamo koncert na Saint-Germainu a ne tribute to Aretha Franklin. Malo je falilo da odem i propustim Nataliu M. King, glas i pojavu koju ću pamtiti do kraja života. Toliko je mladih ljudi koji plaču i govore kako nikad neće postati uspešni i kako je strašno u Srbiji. A ne znam da li iko koga znam poseduje to što poseduje Natalia M. King. Nakon što je ostala bez novca počela je da peva u metrou kako bi zaradila za opstanak, a onda je slučajno jednog dana kamera prešla preko njenog lica i njen glas dobio priliku da peva i van podzemlja.

Koncert u luksuznom kvartu na trgu Saint-Germain počinje Ninom Simone, a potom prelazi na autorske pesme s novog albuma, Soulblazz, na kojem potpisuje većinu pesama. Soul, blues, jazz, ali je jasno da je ona zapravo rokerka – ’’You know, I’m a rocker at heart’’.  a tu je tribute Thelonious Monku, i sve to glasom bivše ljute rokerke, ali nikako bezobrazno drske poput današnjih, već toliko zrelim glasom koji će uvek ostati glas iz metroa. Onaj koji prosi za novac, onaj u kojem se čuje blues. Ej pa ko još danas ostane dosledan bluesu? A da nije hipster. Ovo je sve na nivou najvećih, a tek uživo je sila koja se samo s najvećima poput Ette James, Sama Cookea, Nine Simone može porediti. 

Najupečatljivija, i pesma koja predstavlja album je I’ve changed, koja slobodno može da se uvrsti među blues klasike. Pesma koja jednostavno predstavlja novu kožu, i ono kako kad ostariš prestaneš da se igraš, i kako svi imamo pravo na novu kožu. Lady of the night, u isto vreme seks i nevina brižnost, uživo zvuči potpuno oštro, negde između rocka i jazza. Stronger than I, monotoni soundtrack za kišu i čašu viskija, je najjača blues emanacija na albumu. Nasuprot njoj, Ring Ring Dingaling, razigrani swing o opsednutosti telefonima, prikazuje beg od buke istih, odnosno beg od prošlosti koja smara.

Album koji je izašao u aprilu, u izdanju izdavačke kuće Jazz Village, predstavlja savršeni spoj soul jazz i blues muzike, kao što to govori i sam naziv, savršeno je pitak ali nikako frivolni kolaž ljubiteljke jazzy zvuka. Natalia M. King je daleko originalnija od toga, čak i u izvođenju klasika koje smo toliko puta čuli. Glas, ali više pojava i prisustvo koje se zauvek uvuku pod kožu.  

Live in Saint-Germain-des-Prés