Wow! So after three weeks of having no music videos to review for Chart Mondays, the UK top ten gets quite the shake up and I actually have some choice, for now anyway. Dominating the UK Singles Chart is Ed Sheeran, he's currently at number one and number two with "Shape Of You" and "Castle On The Hill", none of which has a music video just yet, which opens the top ten to my Chart Mondays music review. I chose this one as it's my type of music, plus it's the remix that has pushed the success of this song, and I love my remixes, who doesn't love a remix? Watch Starley get out of bed to perform this song, in beautiful settings and with a smoke grenade, before heading back to bed in this "Call On Me" music video.
Starley, full name Starley Hope, is an Australian singer who has released this cute song as her debut single. She has previously featured on a track titled "Into You", released by Odd Mob. She moved to London to pursue music, but later returned to Australia where she ended up getting a record deal; guess that's just the way it works sometimes. It's quickly becoming a worldwide sensation, but the bigger question is whether she can follow it up with another hit record in the future? It's the Ryan Riback remix that has launched the success of this single in a number of countries, including the UK and Sweden. The song was written by Starley Hope and Peter Wadams.
There isn't an awful lot to this music video. It's an expressive performance piece to a very cute song that is definitely going to become a defining track of 2017.
There is a slight narrative throughout that sees her singing in bed, clearly wanting that little bit of extra sleep that we all want in the mornings. Next, we see her amongst a grassy field where she runs and generally relaxes in a playful way, all by herself.
She ends up by the water where she releases an orange smoke grade which only emphasises how stunningly beautiful she actually is, before wrapping it all up back in bed amongst her comfy pillows.
It's a gorgeous visual to the song and is extremely pleasant to watch. It's not inclusive of the audience, though; some viewers may become distracted and it fails to keep the watchers engaged. However, Starley captures the camera and really gets into this song and its music video. I am looking forward to finding out what is next for Starley, she has this glowing star power that will definitely prevent her from being a one hit wonder. I'm excited about her follow-up.
With less than two weeks to go until I see JoJo live in Birmingham for her Mad Love Tour; it's obvious I was going to review more of her music videos on my blog. This one is her newest release and is total fire. I previously wrote an article on the video for CelebMix. This is totally one of my favourite songs from her "Mad Love" album, even though each song on that album is completely amazing. I reviewed the album for Outlet Magazine. Watch JoJo stroll around the streets of New York in this black and white visual of a song about Fake Ass Bitches ("FAB"), with Remy Ma.
JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, has hit the music industry hard with her third album, but it totally isn't a surprise since she has been trying to release this third album for years now. Record label problems stopped her, but she's quite the inspiration for people going after what they want. JoJo wanted to release new music, and she has finally achieved it. If JoJo can overcome the brick walls standing in her way, we can overcome ours as well. Her Mad Love Tour kicks off today in Dublin, and in 13 days she'll be performing in Birmingham, which is where I have meet and greet tickets! It'll be my birthday too so she can totally wish me a happy birthday! Remy Ma collaborates on this track, real name Reminisce Smith. She's a grammy-nominated rapper and is definitely one of the biggest female rappers about at the moment, and totally someone you should be keeping your eyes on. This song was written by Joanna Levesque, Jussi Karvinen, Hayley Warner, Jason Dean, Joe Kirkland, and Reminisce Smith.
Directed by Wes Tedhome, this video is completely in black and white and sees JoJo perform her song "FAB", with a clip of Remy Ma during her rap verse.
This super songstress is walking the streets of New York, looking incredibly sexy in her outfit. She performs with passion throughout meaning every word she is singing. This song is clearly close to her heart and I literally cannot wait to hear this live.
Remy Ma adds some fire to this already lit track, spinning it up totally with a very awesome rap. She performs it amazingly in this video clip, and it works well completely.
Overall, there's so much passion and emotion in this video. JoJo totally loves this song, and so do we! I'm glad this got a music video, and it has the same passion as her tringle singles "When Love Hurts", "Say Love", and "Save My Soul". I so hope she sings those songs at the Mad Love Tour as well!
Craig Stickland is a Canadian singer-songwriter. This song is his most popular track to date, and it's no surprise since it is ever-so-catchy. He released his debut album on 15 January 2016, who would've thought that exactly a year later he would be kicking off the European leg of JoJo's Mad Love Tour in Dublin? He's country vibe easily settles in with his gritty rock-side, mixing the two up to create this awesome sound that will, no doubt, bring more popularity his way.
This music video was directed by Aaron A. There is both a performance side and a narrative side; however, the latter is not that developed and has quite a plodding storyline, which definitely coincides well with the song.
We watch Craig Stickland get up and from the couch, caress his piano with his face, get ready haphazardly to go to the bar, where he has a drink that he nurses before leaving.
The narration feels like it's the morning after a heavy session. It easily relates to the title of the song and gives insight into the lyrics. We've all been there, drinking a bit too much, forgetting things including our shoes. We've all had the "Liquor Store Blues" that is blurring our minds.
The performance is full of soulful emotional vibes, Craig Stickland knows how to perform and build up a song; rocking behind his guitar adding passion into the mic. He excites me for JoJo's Mad Love Tour. He's going to open the European shows in ways we can't expect; he will easily gear the audience up for JoJo.
I had very little choice today for my New Release music video review. I narrowed it down to a couple of music videos, but chose this one as it has been officially released as a single and not an instant grat single; although, it has been released as two different versions, an acoustic and a piano version, so not the original, but it's the best I could do. On first watch of this music video, I totally didn't get what was going on, and honestly, I still don't. Watch Shinedown perform their new single "How Did You Love" in this extremely weird and normality-flipped music video, that is completely difficult to even understand.
Shinedown are a four-piece American rock band consisting of Brent Smith, Barry Kerch, Zach Myers, and Eric Bass. They are one of those bands everyone has heard of here and there but haven't really established themselves a global hit. Their most popular song is "Second Chance", which charted amazingly in the US, but did mediocre in other countries. This song is a catchy rock song that you can't help but like after the first listen. It was written by Dave Bassett, Eric Bass, Pete Nappi, and Scott Stevens.
The music video incorporates scenes from the N.D. Wilson-directed film titled "The Hound Of Heaven", pretty much turning this music video into a soundtrack music video.
The film itself was shown at the Raindance festival and is available to download online. According to the website, the film is about: "A girl believes that she is fleeing death, when she is actually running away from her only chance at life. Set to a surreal, nightmarish poem written in the nineteenth century by a homeless addict in London."
The main performance piece of this music video easily transitions with the film scenes that are included. Intricate and full of energy, Shinedown watches the film as they perform in a conceptual split and warped way.
The film scenes used easily spins this music video into an interesting visual. As a whole, it's not something I would enjoy watching more than I have. It messed with my head although, I did find it engaging nonetheless. The song is a killer track and one I could totally imagine listening to again and again. This song deserves to be heard more.
Slightly cheating with this. The song was released in 2012 and so fits my Thursday Revisit review, however, the video was apparently released in 2016, so in theory, I am totally cheating as the visual isn't five years old. However, out of all the artists I've reviewed this week, Rykka is the only one who has released songs five years ago or more. Therefore, I won't tell if you don't. Now this music video contains flashing images, enough that it makes my own eyes go funny. Watch Rykka perform in a fitness music video for her catchy song "Map Inside", with surprising flashing images throughout.
Rykka, real name Christina Rieder, first came to my attention when she sang "The Last Of Our Kind" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. She was representing Switzerland and unfortunately didn't make the Grand Final, yet she still managed to make an impression on me. She has gone on to release some awesome tracks and her back catalogue is one you need to look into. This song is a testament of that, it's catchy melody perfectly fits with the infectious lyrics that is full of meaning. Unfortunately, this was never officially released in the UK, and so I'm not able to buy it on iTunes, so it looks like I'm stuck to listening to it on YouTube.
The music video is a fitness music video that sees Rykka performing exercise moves with backing dancers in lycra. Everything's so neon and blazing bright compared to the white background.
The opening scene sees a hand with neon yellow nails turn on a bright pink boombox which is on ladders to the left of the set. This is then followed up by Rykka and two backing dancers preparing themselves for their fitness video.
The shocking part of the video is when the flashing images come into play during the chorus. I dare you to try and not look away; it's near to impossible.
There's not much else to comment on, apart from the moves are basic and easy to follow along to, if you so wish. Also, two new backing dancers appear from nowhere and join this fitness video. Neon lycra is everywhere, which is nothing new, but totally makes this feel more dated than what it actually is. Slightly reminds me of Eric Prydz's "Call On Me". It's not something I want to watch again, the flashing images are way too much! However, the song is amazing and I'd totally buy it if I could.
