Welcome back to CelebMix’s New Music Round Up. The past seven days have left us feeling completely overwhelmed as our favourite artists have been dropping new releases left, right and centre. It’s certainly been one of the most exciting weeks for new music so far this year, and we’re not complaining!
This week saw former X Factor winner Louisa make her comeback with the certified banger, ‘YES’. The track features a guest verse from rapper 2 Chainz and is Louisa’s strongest offering yet. Charlie Puth and Kehlani also dropped an incredible new track called ‘Done For Me’, taken from his forthcoming album Voicenotes.
In fact, most of this week’s big players when it comes to singles have been epic collaborations between a variety of artists. Yungen and Jess Glynne teamed up for the summer-infused ‘Mind On It’, whilst Sabrina Carpenter and Jonas Blue went all intergalactic for the release of ‘Alien’.
Q-Tip and Demi Lovato dropped their soulful reworking of Elton John’s ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, taken from the forthcoming covers album Revamp. Halsey released a new version of her album track ‘Alone’, this time featuring Big Sean and Stefflon Don, Bea Miller teamed up with NOTD for ‘I Wanna Know’, whilst Kygo and Miguel teamed up to release ‘Remind Me To Forget’.
Other new offerings came from the likes of The Chainsmokers, Sigrid, Ruth Lorenzo, PRETTYMUCH, Dami Im, Emma Blackery, Emily Middlemas, Halo Circus, Faul & Wad Ad, VASSY, Fickle Friends, Melissa Mickelson, and Michael Mancuso.
However, we’re not done just yet. Here are a few more tracks which you need to be listening to right now.
Kate Nash – ‘Life in Pink’
‘Life in Pink’ is the lead single from Kate Nash’s forthcoming album, Yesterday Was Forever, due for release on March 30. The track combines elements of bubblegum pop and driving rock to create a powerful offering which speaks frankly about Kate’s battle with her mental health. ‘Life in Pink’ sees Kate fighting back against her demons, and the track is set to be an anthem for anyone who’s struggled with their own mental health issues. The music video stars Iona Catherine and GLOW co-stars Ellen Wong and Rebekka Johnson. Directed by Liz Nistico, Kate explained to her Kickstarter backers that “the concept of the video is balancing the sane and what I’m told are “insane” parts of my brain and how I think you need a balance of the 2 to really make it in this life. I need the bunnies in my brain and the wild parts of me that send me into the black holes and I also need the self care routine and to know when I’ve gone too far into space aka allowed my mental health issues to get the best of me. I couldn’t be me without both of these sides, but both sides in their extremes are negative. Somehow we have to meet in the middle, dance and laugh and be free and full of love. Hope you relate.”
Anna Leone – ‘If You Only’
Swedish singer-songwriter Anna Leone is back with her stunning new single, ‘If You Only’. The track showcases Anna’s gorgeous vocal and emotional honesty. Speaking about ‘If You Only’, Anna said: “I’d been up all night and was just putting away the guitar when I came up with the riff. I think it was 4am in the morning or something and the track was created in a kind of sleepless haze. When I went into the studio with Bryan we experimented with a lot of different sounds and had a lot of fun. It was cool to try something a bit more upbeat than usual. ‘If You Only’ will appear on Anna’s forthcoming debut EP, Wandered Away, which is due for release on April 20.
I Am Karate – ‘Expectations’
We introduced you to I Am Karate, made up of Erika Soldh Ahlström and Marta Petterson, in August 2016 when they released the synth-infused ‘Swayze’. Since then, the electric duo have been quiet but behind the scenes they’ve been working hard on creating on new music for our enjoyment. To our delight, they made their comeback on Friday with the mesmerising ‘Expectations’. Speaking about their time away from the spotlight, they said: “We realized that we needed to just write new music for a while and not think about anything else. So, we made a pact that we wouldn’t release anything for at least a year. We’ve grown even more close since then and now we finish each other’s sentences like twins, haha.” As the saying goes, what’s good is worth waiting for – welcome back I Am Karate.
Lxandra – ‘Dig Deep’
‘Dig Deep’ is the new single from Finnish artist Lxandra. The powerful track follows on the release of ‘Hush Hush Baby’ and Flicker’. Speaking about the euphoric single, which criticises the outdated image of women in society, Lxandra said: “Women quickly become ‘too much’ in the eyes of our society. They are expected to be calm and quiet. This theme is repeated in the video’s visuals. We portray a strong, loud and free woman that many people fear because the world is still not used to it yet. We’re not just showing the pretty girl next door who keeps her mouth shut. This also reflects the #MeToo campaign. It’s about speaking out when things are unfair.” Lxandra will be supporting Dua Lipa on her Dublin tour dates on April 9 and 10.
Towers and Trees – ‘Head Down / Heart Up’
‘Head Down Heart Up’ is the new single from four-piece indie rock/pop band Towers and Trees. In a press release, the track is described as “an anthem for the overthinkers of the world; a reminder and challenge to turn the volume knob in your head down, and let your heart take the wheel every once in a while because it almost always knows where to go. There’s so much noise these days, and so much information coming from every direction, that I think a lot of people identify with this anxiety and ‘analysis paralysis’ from our minds working overtime to try and take everything in and make sense of it all. Despite this, almost all of the things that truly matter – family, community, helping others, self-love – these are products of the heart that can be easily drowned out by the excess noise.” Towers and Trees will be on the road throughout March and April – find out all the dates here.
BORGORE x AFK – ‘Jimmy’s Rage’
If you’re after a heavy hitting track then ‘Jimmy’s Rage’ is for you. BORGORE has teamed up with AFK on the track, which is armed with a bass-heavy instrumental and screeching synths. ‘Jimmy’s Rage’ is pretty hardcore and not for the faint-hearted, so prepare to completely lose yourself in the mayhem. ‘Jimmy’s Rage’ completes BORGORE’s collaborative collection, which includes the previously released ‘Svddengore’ featuring SVDDEN DEATH, ‘Freak’ featuring Gentlemens Club and Watson, ‘B.Y.D’ with Benda, and ‘Reasons’ with Axel Boy and GG Magree.
Corporate Slackrs and Emma Zander – ‘Wasted Love’
‘Wasted Love’ is a collaboration from rising duo Corporate Slackrs and songstress Emma Zander. The track was released jointly through Tiësto’s label, Musical Freedom and Insomniac
Records. Speaking about the track, Corporate Slackrs and Emma said: “Wasted Love is somewhere we’ve all been… young and broke, messed up relationship, in love, friends with benefits, wasted at a party, not that into someone, seeking something we haven’t found. It’s a blur of all that happening at the same familiar party spots we’ve all been to. It also has that tinge of darkness that harsh reality gives us, kind of like the pounding headache of a hangover the next day. We can’t wait for everyone to hear it!”
Hudson Taylor – ‘Old Soul’
‘Old Soul’ is the charming new track from Hudson Taylor, made up of Alfie and Harry Hudson Taylor. The track, which features Gabrielle Aplin on backing vocals, is taken from their forthcoming EP Feel It Again, which is due for release on March 23. The EP will be made up of five tracks: ‘Run With Me’, ‘Easy Baby’, ‘Travellin”, ‘Old Soul’ and ‘Feel It Again’. Hudson Taylor will be heading out on an Irish tour at the end of the month, which includes a date at Dublin’s prestigious Olympia Theatre on March 28. They will also be playing a string of UK festivals this summer.