Marina Is Back & Wants Out of This "Man's World"
"Don't underestimate the making of life / The planet has a funny way of stopping a fight." Marina, the Artist Formerly Known as Marina + The Diamonds, has returned to the mess that's America (well, and much of the rest of the world) once more. One year after Love + Fear, the "Bubblegum Bitch"…
"The Streets Where I Belong": Annie Captures the Feeling of Moving Back Home
"I let the music take me home to the streets where I belong." Hey Annie, well...look at you. It's been 16 years since the Norwegian crooner first burst onto the scene with 2004's critically hailed Anniemal, chock full of instant classics like "Heartbeat," "Me Plus One" and, of course, "Chewing…
Medina, Danish Queen of Pop, Returns With "In and Out of Love"
Welcome (back) to Medina. For those of you less versed in the movers and shakers of Danish pop, the legendary Medina Danielle Oona Valbak is one of the reliable heavy-hitters on the scene for over a decade now, including 2008's Danish No. 1 "Kun for mig," which later became her English-language…
'Lie to Me': Vera Blue Dives Into New Pop Depths
The Voice, in the United States at least, doesn't quite have a track record for producing pop superstars, but Vera Blue is proving to be quite the exception to the rule. Having placed in the Top 3 of Season 2 of The Voice Australia in 2013 (then known as Celia Pavey, mentored by the legendary…
Lucia & the Best Boys' 'Perfectly Untrue' Is Perfect, Truly
"Fridays used to be for you." Sometimes a song just hits right from the very first line. Lucia & the Best Boys' "Perfectly Untrue" is one of those songs. The Glasgow-based band is a relatively new discovery for me (as of this weekend, in fact), but a brief dive into their back catalog proves I'll…
'Let's Love': Sia & David Guetta Reunite to Reassure Us, '80s Style
Sia and David Guetta go together like peanut butter and jelly, wine and cheese, Christina Aguilera and a tube of Blu-Red LipSense - whenever they pair up, magic happens. Nearly a decade after teaming up on their ginormous smash "Titanium," and almost a dozen collaborations ever since, including…
'What the Future Holds': STEPS Tackle the Present Moment & Go Beyond
What the future holds? I mean, your guess is as good as mine...and Lisa Scott-Lee's. We all love to talk a good game about who will Save Pop™ (not that it ever needs saving), but when it comes to stepping in (eh heh), grabbing hold of our hands and hearts, and distracting us from the daily horrors…
'Santería': Lola Índigo, Danna Paola & Denise Rosenthal Take Over the Globe
Sisters are doing it for themselves in 2020, and we're all truly so lucky to be experiencing this ongoing pop culture moment of powerful women teaming up and taking over in the middle of such an otherwise bleak cultural landscape. From Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga's "Rain on Me" to Megan Thee…
GRACEY's Got It 'Like That'
"There's something 'bout you got me changing my mind like that..." GRACEY might have had a delayed debut this year, but she's absolutely on the right track. The 22-year-old Brighton singer already notched her first Top 10 UK hit in the form of disillusioned dance floor banger “Don’t Need Love"…
Aluna Is Going Solo & Getting 'Envious'
Aluna, of AlunaGeorge, is having a solo moment. The 32-year-old singer-songwriter, and one-half of the electronic duo that’s given us everything from “You Know You Like It” (which went massively popular with DJ Snake years later) to “White Noise” with Disclosure to…
Agnes Has Her 'Fingers Crossed' on the Dance Floor
“Are you that somebody? Are you?” Agnes doesn’t necessarily come around all that often, but whenever she does, she never gets it wrong. Ever. In fact, the “Release Me” Swedish Idol – literally, she won the second season of Sweden’s Idol in 2005 –…
Mariah Carey & Ms. Lauryn Hill Are Just in Time to 'Save the Day'
"It's too divided, too deep to understand / But if we don't do it, tell me, who will?" For an Elusive Chanteuse, Mariah Carey sure has made herself incredibly visible in 2020, just making the most of life (it's like that, y'all) amid the pandemic. She's also making the most of the Lambily's…