The amazing dance duo is back, this is exactly the sort of songs that I love to hear from Rihanna as dance music suits her voice perfectly and it's clear she loves singing these sort of songs. With Drake still at number one with "One Dance" which marks it's twelfth consecutive week at number one, my Chart Mondays review is open for the top ten again, although a music video for "One Dance" is on it's way, it has yet to be released. This one is currently sitting at number four on the UK chart. Rihanna performs perfectly in rag-like clothes that she easily pulls off, loving her life in a visual cube box as well as out of it. Calvin Harris' This Is What You Came For shows the Rihanna we all know and love.
Calvin Harris, real name Adam Wiles, is an inspiration to us all. He's one of those rare acts that have built his name from scratch. This Scottish DJ has worked and worked and worked to become this international star, and it has definitely paid off. Calvin Harris will always be setting the charts alight. He collaborates, once again, with Rihanna, real name Robyn Fenty, who has also worked hard to get to where she is now, yeah she may have had a few hit singles when she started, but she made a name for herself by working hard, she wouldn't be here if she didn't. This song was written by Calvin Harris and Nils Sjöberg.
Directed by Emil Nava, the music video is exciting after seeing the cube box and hoping for an extremely visual music video much like Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One"; yet it doesn't work as perfectly and what could have been amazing, falls flat.
Some perfect projected images and video used works really well, and at times it is visually amazing, but the cube fails to work the way we all had hoped, so they switch it up, focusing on Rihanna alone.
Rihanna shines throughout, she clearly loves EDM, house and dance music. She's having so much fun recording the music video, this is the sort of music she enjoys. It's enlightening to see her so happy performing.
Her style is somewhat disappointing, yet she seems relaxed in this rag-like costume, like it's something she wears around her house and pulls out of her wardrobe often. She pulls it off as if it was meant for her, it probably was to be honest.
Overall, the cube fails to work out the way we had hoped, and Sergey Lazarev's "You Are The Only One" really puts this music video to shame in comparison. However, Rihanna's performance is infectious and some visual scenes are on point. They made it work, but it is somewhat lacking.
The video and song everyone is talking about, this is the lead song from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. Rihanna has been working on it for at least two years as far as we know, and this is the outcome. She claims to have been a fan of the Star Trek franchise since she was a child and it's a part of her childhood, so it's no wonder that she would want to become involved in the new film in one way or another. Rihanna becomes an alien or extraterrestrial up in her own planet, creating small magic that has us wishing we had her powers. This hypnotic music video for Sledgehammer puts us all in a trance-like state.
The film hasn't even been released yet and this music video is out, but Rihanna, real name Robyn Fenty, as ever, surprises us all. The film is expected to be released at the end of this month, which is when I expect this song will rise quickly in the charts, much like P!nk's soundtrack single "Just Like Fire" did when Alice Through The Looking Glass got released. Rihanna's new single doesn't interest me all that much, she has stepped away from the style of music I loved from her, "Don't Stop The Music", "Umbrella" and "Shut Up And Drive" seem like light-years away, especially in comparison to this which definitely has a Beyoncé 2016 feel to it. It was written by Robyn Fenty, Sia Furler and Jesse Shatkin.
Directed by Floria Sigismondi, the video really captures the loneliness of a person on a planet all by themselves. It was shot through IMAX cameras, the first music video to entirely be shot using these cameras, it probably looked amazing at IMAX cinemas and theatres.
Rihanna transforms herself into some sort of alien, some out of this world being that has magical powers that I'm pretty sure we would all die for. However, she isn't looking all that appealing, but I guess we're used to that with anything from Star Trek, it's more geeky than sexy, and Rihanna pulls it off perfectly.
There isn't much else to add to my review of this music video, there are some magnificent visual concepts and scenes, but none defining or developed enough for us to fully embrace it. This is one of those videos that you will either love or hate, and it totally relates to Star Trek, something I've never managed to get my head around.
Okay, so as I've previously mentioned I will be seeing S Club, Booty Luv and Big Brovaz at The Nightingale Club in Birmingham at the end of this month, only it's Jo and Bradley from S Club, so not exactly the full group, but it'll be worth it. This song is their introduction song, even though it was their second single, this song is known at the one where you got to know the members of S Club 7. Much like Big Brovaz first single "Nu Flow", this song features the names of each of the band members. S Club inspire confidence in this music video that is totally nostalgic for anyone who watched this back in 1999. Mashing up 'Grease' and 'Back To The Future', S Club 7 gets involved in a car race, that they undoubtedly win.
S Club 7 were at the height of their career, having had multiple TV shows, they were doing so well on the UK chart, they were literally marketed amazingly. The group consisted of Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Rachel Stevens. The band slowly dissipated after Paul Cattermole left and although they continued on as a six-piece, they failed to make chart hit after chart hit. They eventually disbanded to do their own things, with many of the members stating that being in the band was exhausting, and considering how much promotion went into the group, it's unsurprising that they were overworked. Many reformations have happened in the past, featuring some or all of the members, a full reunion tour happened, but nothing new came of it. Now only two of the band members, Jo O'Meara and Bradley McIntosh will be performing at The Nightingale Club, but it's going to be one hell of a show regardless. This song charted at number two on the UK Charts, and did well worldwide, hitting number one in New Zealand as well as number two in Australia. The song was written by Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen and Hallgeir Rustan.
Directed by Andrew Margetson, the video was filmed on the set of the TV movie 'Back To The '50s', which is a parody sitcom produced for CITV back in 1999 and features S Club 7. It parodies 'Back To The Future' and 'Grease'. The video includes clips that weren't in the movie and vice versa. Filmed at the famous Vasquez Rocks.
The group go back in time to 1959, in the US, where they end up having a race, which they obviously win.
There is a few scenes from the movie, such as the start and the end, this shows off their lack of acting skills as they don't really mean what they are saying, it's all laughable, and yet as kids we totally didn't notice any problems with the script.
The dancing is totally over the top, and definitely explains my confidence as a child, it all totally makes sense now, this is exactly why I never was afraid to dance on the dancefloor, and considering the moves back then were current, you wouldn't be seen dead doing half of these dance moves, let alone have the confidence to pull them off. But it's kind of nice to realise that this group gave me confidence even at such a young age.
This embarrassing clip fails to relate to the song, and more or less relates to the movies it's inspired from as well as the soundtrack to the TV movie. Regardless, this will always be a part of my childhood and how can I not like the song, I probably sang it day in day out when it was released.
Fergie is back with her follow up to "L.A. Love" and this one is a lot more saucy, or should I say milky? Definitely a song for the mother's of the world, announcing that women can still be themselves even after childbirth. Fergie proves that she's one hot momma, with the help of a few famous faces, "M.I.L.F. $" empowers confidence in everyone.
Fergie, real name Stacy Ferguson, has come a long way, having already had a successful solo career with her debut album back in 2006, she is now back ten years later, Having already helped the Black Eyed Peas become a solid name since she joined them, the constant hiatus of the group allows her to explore her second album, and if it's going to be anything like the first, it's going to be amazing. "L.A. Love" has worked well as the first single, and hit it big here in the UK, and it looks like her second single off her new album is set to do just as well. This song was written by Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones and Jocelyn Donald.
Directed by Colin Tilley, world renowned director and explains why this music video is so good, it is set in a town called 'Milfville' and features a range of famous mothers. These include Kim Kardashian West, Chrissy Teigan, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ciara, Gemma Ward, Tara Lyn, Devon Aoki, Angela Lindvall, Isabeli Fontana, Amber Valletta and Natasha Poly. The male actor, milkman and love interest is played by Jon Kortajarena, and a bar tender is played by Jordan Barrett. Anja, Alessandra Ambrosio's daughter, and Luna, Chrissy Teigan's daughter, both appear in this music video too.
A star studded cast, in this wrapped up performance and narrative video, that is totally set in a dream-like world.
Fergie defies sexiness and sassiness, pulling off the dance routine effortlessly with her backing dancers, no matter what version of reality she is in. Giving Kelis a run of her "Milkshake" money, Fergie works the camera in every way possible.
Dream like visions appear, including a milk room where the famous faces bathe in milk, to the milkshake parlour, where Fergie has red hair and looks super cute at the diner. The obvious dream one appeared, where she is transformed into a black-haired teacher, with a vocal range that proves that Fergie is one heck of a good singer, she struts her stuff in front of a classroom full of guys.
The ending shows that we've all just been caught up in Jon Kortajarena's dreams as Fergie has love struck him as she fans his face whilst he's lying on the bench with her. Later the TV reintroduces the famous faces as they drink or spill milk.
Overall a highly conceptualised music video that is so detailed that it doesn't surprise me that Colin Tilley directed this. A brilliant performance piece, Fergie really owns this role, with a great narrative infused. This video works, it relates, it's high quality and it's humorous, what's not to like?
I had to review this song as my Thursday Revisit purely because it was the last music video the group ever recorded, and although new songs have materialised on iTunes, there hasn't been a music video. The group are going to be performing at The Nightingale next month, which I cannot wait for! They entered the national selection for Eurovision with this song back in 2007 and came third in the public vote, behind winners Scooch with "Flying The Flag (For You)" and second place Cyndi with "I'll Leave My Heart". Honestly, this song would've done much better in the contest because of it's originality. There is still a market in the music industry for these guys. Turning into superheroes, Big Brovaz final music video is confusing and difficult to follow, but the song is vocal perfection.
Big Brovaz, at this time were a four piece group consisting of Nadia Shepherd, Cherise Roberts, Randy Jackson and John Paul Horsley (J-Rock). Originally a six piece, the group dwindled both in numbers and in chart positions, unfortunately this track is their lowest charting position, because promotion for the song wasn't possible due to it being submitted for 'Making Your Mind Up', the UK's national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The four-piece still perform nowadays, but reports suggest that they will not be releasing any new music in the future, unfortunately. This song was written by Nadia Shepherd, Cherise Roberts, Randy Jackson, John Paul Horsley, Dion Howell, Lars H. Jensen, Martin M. Larsson and Christina Undhjem.
Much like many other groups before and after them, Big Brovaz are transformed into superheroes. They resemble X-Men in more ways than one. Other acts to have done a similar thing includes Liberty X on "X" and The Saturdays on "Ego".
The narrative is incredibly difficult to follow, with many repeated scenes as well as various unrelated clips. It's even difficult to get to grips with the story line let alone understand what is going on.
They don't even suit the superhero look, and there is more focus on the setting of the video and the way everything looks in the shot, rather than how the video is going on as a whole.
It comes across totally messy, and definitely difficult to follow or make heads or tails of.
Regardless there is a main performance side which has the energetic vibes that we are used to seeing from these guys. Ones I hope to see on stage next month, there is clearly still a chemistry between all four of them, and that this is meant to be, apart from this video which doesn't work at all.
