The Scoop

Summer releases – Part 6

Last chapter of our “Summer releases” series 🙁 but hopefully lots of new music will be released during the rest of the summer and the year! Enjoy our recap below and don’t forget to give your opinions too! 😉
Željko Joksimović (Serbia) – Ranjena Zver

One of the most important artists in the recent history of the ESC, Serbian Željko Joksimović, presented a song called “Wounded Beast” in the local version of X Factor (“X Factor Adria“), a show where Joksimović acts as judge. The track is quite a basic disco beat that doesn’t seem to be one of his creations, to be honest. Forgetting for a moment the fact that he wasn’t singing live on the show (where the contestants MUST do so to be judged by him!!), we could say the rhythm, the vocals and even the choreography and the outfits shown on the video above lack the power and elegance we would expect from one of his performances. The keyboard on a silver platter moment made me lose respect for Željko for the duration of that (painfully long and kinda pathetic) instrumental break. NEXT!!
Kati Wolf (Hungary) – Utazás

Kati, who represented Hungary in Düsseldorf 2011, published the official audio for “Utazás (“Journey”)  in late June. A classic pop song with some subtle rock ingredients, focusing on showcasing Kati’s voice and some emotions of, most likely, longing and yearning. So far, we don’t even have an official lyric video but well, it’s much worse having nothing at all… The sound of this one reminded me a bit of some old Céline Dion’s songs mixed with the guitar riff of David Guetta’s “Titanium” but in slow motion (so that nobody will notice the similarity). All in all, it is an easy-listening track 😉
Natasha St-Pier (France) – Tous Les Acadiens

First single coming out of her new album “Mon Acadie” (available on 2 October), Natasha St-Pier (France 2001) surprised us last month with “Tous Les Acadiens” (“All The Acadians”), a country song dedicated to the people of the old French-Canadian colony of Acadia, where St-Pier has her roots (yes, she is actually Canadian). A short and upbeat track that will make you dance in case you like country music. Me? Well, I’m too in love with her ESC entry to tolerate her beautiful voice doing this style… Forgive my narrow-mindedness Naty, no disrespect to your hometown 😉
By the way, Joan Franka called… She wants her feathers back! 😀
Jedward (Ireland) – Oh Hell No

Before even watching the video or listening to the song I thought… “I hope I won’t be using the title of the song to talk about it in a negative way”. Guess what happened after watching it?? I went “OH, HELLLLL NO!!!!!!” Jedward are rappers now??? For rap music lovers, this is a song with a modern beat that would’ve sounded quite good done by other people (Beastie Boys, to name an example) but it lacks credibility performed by these young twins. The attempt to make them look and sound butch or aggressive is pointless as the result is rather disappointing, given that they only sound like two kids playing to be adults. Dear Jedward, you gotta have a lot of soup before you can even try to pull this genre off, stick to the basics for the time being, thanks.
Καλομοίρα/Kalomoira (Greece) – This Is Summer

With quite a “Cascada” sound to it, this new track from Kalomoira is a true floor-filler summer anthem!! For sure, a Greek club must. Catchy, fresh and including very nice arrangements here and there, which is not necessarily a common feature in summer songs, is it? Positive vibe, pleasant mental pictures and a successful shot at transporting the listener to a hot and sunny place by the ocean, like Greece, for example 😉 Hopefully, she will give us an official video for this one before summer is gone… I know some of our readers wouldn’t mind seeing Kalomoira rocking the bikini look, right?
Julio Iglesias (Spain) – Fallaste Corazón

Julio Iglesias (Spain 1970) is as active as ever and is making a big comeback in his mother tongue, TWELVE years after his latest album in Spanish. In this opportunity, Julio is dedicating his latest work to Mexico, and precisely that (“México – Julio Iglesias”) will be the name of the album to be released in September. The first single is called “You failed, heart”, a song sung by Mexican legend Pedro Infante in a film made by him in 1955. Iglesias is adapting Mexican songs of different eras to a more contemporary sound, introducing them to a younger audience and honouring one of the first countries that saw him grow as an artist. This song in particular has strong and dramatic lyrics and, in my opinion, is a very classy cover and more than worthy performance by the 71-year-old.
The Common Linnets (The Netherlands) – We Don’t Make The Wind Blow

This is not really a brand new release, as this song was published by the Linnets in May. However, this new version of the video (out since last month) only features the band as opposed to the original video, which mixed images of the group and scenes of the TV series “Wayward Pines”, where “We Don’t Make The Wind Blow” contributes as part of the soundtrack. This is a delicately crafted, nostalgic and retro piece with some hand-picked folk and country elements in the equation. For those who can remember the ’80s, this track possesses an undeniable influence from English supergroup Fleetwood Mac (I strongly recommend checking them out, if you don’t know that group). I absolutely LOVE this song and the new video, telling us a mysterious tale of love and loss, in line with the plot of  “Wayward Pines”.
נדב גדג’/Nadav Guedj (Israel) – Good Vibes

Released today, this is the new single from our favourite Golden Boy (yes Nadav, get used to it, Madonna had to be the “Material Girl” for ages and now you’ll suffer the same thing with this nickname, sorry). If we stick to the name of the song, “Good Vibes” could have been the twin sister of “Summer Together” but far from it. Still with a positive and young attitude (although not as young as his other songs), this track shows a difference in terms of style: not so party oriented and more focused on creating a laid-back atmosphere… By far, the coolest stuff we’ve heard from Nadav. In my opinion, it seems like each step he takes leads him in the direction of a higher quality of sound. Keep going (Golden) boy!!
 
That’s it boys and girls! Hope you enjoyed the retrospective on this summer releases (so far). Stay connected to escXtra and we’ll keep you posted for all the Euronews! 😉

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