I had this song stuck in my head last night due to the fact that I was thinking about my last night out, which was Friday, and I remember dancing away on the small stage to this amazingly catchy song, not having a clue who sung it. I googled it last night and to my amazement, it's Meghan Trainor. This is the music video that she took down due to photoshopped results; one I didn't watch because it never became a hit. How? I have no idea. Watch Meghan Trainor work it in her music video for "Me Too" because, of course, we all want to be her.
Meghan Trainor kickstarted her career when she debuted with "All About That Bass" which was a complete international sensation; her follow-up singles and debut album followed suit and she quickly became one of the top female singers; now it's slowly going downhill. This may be due to the lack of promotion of her latest singles; although her album did do well globally. This song was written by Meghan Trainor, Eric Frederic, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Jason Desrouleaux (Jason Derülo), and Peter Svensson.
Directed by Hannah Lux Davis, this is mainly a performance-based music video with a lifestyle narrative infused within. The music video gained controversy when it was first released as an unapproved video was released before quickly being taken down and a new one uploaded the day after. The reason behind this was an image manipulation that made Meghan Trainor's waist much slimmer than what it is. So kudos to her deleting the video and putting the unedited video up since she is encouraging the world to be confident with who they are.
The music video totally represents the confident life, we all have it now and again, we just need to have it inside of us all the time. Meghan Trainor is fierce throughout, from strutting around when she wakes up in the morning to totally pulling off that unappealing giraffe onesie.
To look good, you have to have the confidence to wear whatever you want to wear. People work the clothes they wear because they strut their stuff in it, even if it doesn't suit whatsoever.
She arrives on set and tries on various costumes before deciding on the blue sequin dress. She then goes all out in a choreography number with backing dancers. Totally nailing her performance throughout. If anything, Meghan Trainor is someone we all need to see live. She totally brings it for this music video, I would've just liked a little bit more of a relatable narrative, though.
It's Chart Mondays today, and anyone who has been following my blog these past two days will know that I've batted out seven catch-up blogs to get to this point, so I am totally feeling proud of myself right now. Ed Sheeran is still at number one with "Shape of You", and so, once again, it opens the top ten to my Chart Mondays review. It looks like The Chainsmokers may drop out of the chart next week so hence why I chose this song and music video to review. Both narrative and performance, watch a house fly up into the sky before our main character, Martha Hunt, jumps out and falls to Earth, in The Chainsmokers' "Paris" music video.
The Chainsmokers are a duo consisting of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. They have seriously proven themselves within the music industry, even though their musical style has changed a lot since they first came out back in 2014. Their progression has been phenomenal and just showcases their diversity and their ability to release hit after hit after hit. This song features uncredited vocals from Emily Warren. It was written by Andrew Taggart, Kristoffer Eriksson, and Fredrik Häggstam.
This music video was directed by Mister Whitmore and stars model and actress Martha Hunt. In the description of the music video, the duo explains what Paris is. '1: a sentimental yearning for a reality that isn't genuine. 2: an irrevocable condition for fantasy that evokes nostalgia of day dreams'. In this case, this music video and song has nothing to do with the French capital Paris.
Which is why the music video isn't set in Paris. We watch a house rise up high into the sky, whilst The Chainsmokers just look on as Andrew Taggart sings along to the song.
Inside the floating house is Martha Hunt, who looks out the window in bewilderment before sitting on the edge; pushes herself over and freefalls. We watch as she falls down and down, I kind of expected Andrew Taggart to run and try and catch her; but instead, she just keeps falling; until the end where she floats down into bed. If that happened to me, I'd be doing it over and over again, looks like fun.
Overall, the video works well, The Chainsmokers doesn't really give it their all during the performance side of the music video; however, there is a complete focus on Martha Hunt, who acts her character out perfectly. I guess she makes up for The Chainsmokers' lack of enthusiasm in this music video.
After writing up an article about her new music video on CelebMix, I had to include this on my blog too. It's a complete stunner of a music video, that definitely proves that Sofia Carson is the next big thing to come from the Disney Channel. You may recognise her from Descendants where she plays Evie, or from Adventures In Babysitting where she plays Lola Perez, or maybe the A Cinderella Story: If The Shoe Fits where she plays Tessa/Bella. Either way, she is totally bringing it when it comes to music. In this music video, Sofia Carson pulls on everyone's heartstrings for this music video. She proves this is where she needs to be and how much of an amazing performer she is in "Back To Beautiful".
Sofia Carson first came to my attention after she brilliantly nailed the role of Evie in the Disney film Descendants. She will be reprising her role in the sequel film, which is expected to come out summer 2017. She has been dipping in and out of acting and music for quite a while, having released her own version of "Rotten To The Core", whilst releasing original songs "Love Is The Name" and "I'm Gonna Love You", the latter of which was a promotional single. She is planning on releasing a debut album sometime soon, so I'm excited to see what other tracks will be on that said album. The Alan Walker remix was chosen as the official single, over the Stargate remix, which is why Alan Walker has become the featured artist. He has really come into his own as a DJ, after his internationally successful "Faded". He's definitely a DJ that will go far in the music industry. This song was written by Alan Walker, Julia Michaels, and Justin Tranter.
Directed by Emil Nava, this music video is quite haunting during the verses before an unexpected dance sequence hits off beautifully; lighting up the entire place.
It has a Disney feel to the music video, what with the long staircase and the table. Let's not forget the mirror as well, which is a great link to Evie in Descendants, since her mother is the Evil Queen from Snow White. Regardless, Sofia Carson brings it once again for this music video.
She's got a perfect performance vibes leaching out of her and being received perfectly by the viewers. Sofia Carson is one hell of a performer, connecting completely with the song and portraying it honestly on the screen. I love the stage scene, which is where she belongs, although I would've loved to have been in one of the seats; an exclusive performance just for me.
Overall, this music video is a brilliant portrayal of the song, and we are all going back to beautiful because we deserve to. It's a great inspirational meaning behind the song, especially considering her target audience, and she totally nails it throughout. Shame there isn't a full narrative, but we can't have everything.
A fellow CelebMix writer sent me this video on Facebook the other night, telling me how catchy the song is and how much I need to listen to it. He was completely right, hence why it's appearing on my blog today. It is surely a catchy number that easily gets stuck in my head, just like many others. Watch Christie from Christie & The Dream Beats parade around with angel wings whilst giving an emotional performance in this "Wasn't My Fault" music video.
This is a new collaboration, originally it was The Dream Beats which is Anders Hansson's dance pop project. I thought I heard the name before but wasn't sure where until I was researching the previous releases and found out that The Dream Beats once collaborated with Molly on the awesome song "Beneath The Lights". Now with a full-on permanent singer, called Christie, full name Christie Prentice; it's time for this project to go all out and bring it this year. 2017 might just be their year. The song is highly memorable and will probably have you singing along by the end of it.
The music video is shot in black and white, with intricate colourful transitions throughout, that does keep the audience attention regardless of the filter.
There's not an awful lot going on in this music video. Christie gives it her best shot at performing the song with her all, but it's just not good enough. Her wings are much more interesting than the music video as a whole.
This is a simple case of an amazingly catchy song, with an uninteresting accompanying music video. Regardless, Christie is looking beautiful throughout and is working the camera the best way she can. It's just a shame this isn't exactly a great relatable music video.
Remember back in 2014 when Mr. Probz had a raging international hit called "Waves" before releasing more music under the radar that not many people heard and he was soon forgotten once again... Well, he's here, still releasing music, that you totally need to listen to. "Waves" was the start of international fame for this guy, but with a voice as powerful as his, he won't be disappearing from music completely. Watch as two people prove that love is all about what's on the inside in this shocking music video for Mr. Probz's "Till You're Loved".
Mr. Probz, real name Dennis Stehr, is a Dutch singer, musician, and actor. He has been working in music since 2006 but didn't have a hit single until Robin Schulz remixed his "Waves" single, which totally launched the success of the song around the world. His follow-up singles didn't perform so well and he soon disappeared once again. Now he's proving that he deserves to be in the music industry and this song is definitely showcasing a brilliant new direction he has taken.
Directed by Richard Paris Wilson, this music video is extremely intricate, showing that guys get just as insecure about their looks as much as girls do. We all knew this initially, but this just shows it off at a more visual angle.
A fully narrative video, we watch as two people eye one another across a club. This is something I'm used to happening when I'm out clubbing, so it's no surprise it's happening here. He builds up the confidence to go over to her, and as she caresses his cheek, she pulls a chunk of skin off. Talk about grossing out the viewers.
We watch him go to the bathroom and then he decides to leave. But the woman who ripped his skin off comes outside and drags him back in. Whilst they're on the dancefloor, she removes her skin, revealing that she is just like him; in doing so, he also removes the rest of his skin too. They're dancing as cosmic shadows on the dancefloor.
Overall, it's actually got quite a sweet meaning behind it all. Skin is just a part of your looks, and no one can ever love someone based on their looks. It's what's on the inside that counts and this music video proves this entirely. However, it's highly gross and quite gruesome. I can't help but cringe when she removes the skin from his cheek. It's relatable, it's just a shame there isn't a performance piece to complete this music video.
It's Thursday Revisit time, so I chose this song and music video since it was released five years ago... However, there was a second music video for this song that was released in 2013... It then got a third music video when the song was remixed by DJ Snake in 2014. These music videos will probably appear on my blog at a much later date. Aluna Francis brings it when it comes to dancing to the "You Know You Like It" music video by AlunaGeorge.
AlunaGeorge are a duo consisting of Aluna Francis and George Reid. They recently released "Not Above Love" which I reviewed earlier this week, hence why I'm reviewing this classic now. They've never quite had a full on solo chart hit, although they did feature on Disclosure's "White Noise" which got to number two on the UK chart and definitely propelled them in the music world. I much prefer their latest singles over their old stuff, but I guess that shows how far they come. This song was written by Aluna Francis and George Reid. It managed to chart at number 39 in the UK.
This music video is purely black and white, with not much of a budget behind it, clearly. If you've read any of my other reviews about black and white music videos, you know that I find it knocks the engagement of the viewers as black and white music videos are unappealing. This is totally the case with this one.
There's also not a lot going on in this music video, the backing dancers are all Aluna Francis, which shows that the music video has been edited really well. But there's nothing keeping the audience interested throughout.
There's a few great transitions in the visual but that is the only good thing I can find from this music video. I hope the other two music videos for this song is much better, because I guarantee it'll be difficult to do worse than this one. I would not like to watch this a second time.
A random music video I found browsing through YouTube as I looked for a music video to review. Thought I might as well choose this and see what I make of it. Now that I've watched it, it's complete fire! Today is actually 19th February, but I've changed the date of this review to the 15th, a day before the music video was actually released. Alex Aiono shines throughout this music video, along with all the dancers. "Work The Middle" is a catchy song with a brilliantly sexy boxing music video.
Alex Aiono is a singer/songwriter. He is mostly known for featuring on Feeder's track "Lordly". He has released quite a few songs, and he can also be seen in Awesomeness TV's "Royal Crush" web series. He's definitely gaining popularity and many fans. With his good-looks and vocally-perfect voice, Alex Aiono is surely one to watch. This song is highly catchy and deserves to be a hit, unfortunately it won't chart well around the world, but it should be there, up on the charts. It was written by John Ryan, M. Simmons, A. Schuller, and Dernst Emile II.
Directed by Brazil, the music video features dancers Jade Chynoweth, Delaney Glazer, Cache Melvin, and Jamie Humptmann. The choreography was done by WilldaBEAST Adams. "Work The Middle" is totally out of this world when it comes to the dancing, and works amazingly.
The thing about the dancers and the choreography, it takes away from the artist. Although, Alex Aiono is looking completely sexy in his boxing outfit, the girls dominate in this music video, totally nailing the dance sequences and stealing the spotlight from Alex Aiono.
Having said that, Alex Aiono totally brings it on the performance side of the music video, when he isn't distracted by the girls. He's just as distracted as we are, which just goes to show how they dominate in this visual.
Regardless, I love the setting, I love how it completely relates to the song, and it's totally fired-up. It's just a shame there isn't more focus on Alex Aiono, and he doesn't grab the spotlight from the girls. As a music video, this completely works and I am totally excited to see what's next for Alex Aiono. He reminds me of Eric Saade, and I literally believe he is a rising star.
When YouTube gives you a suggestion like this one, you just have to review it right? I haven't heard from AlunaGeorge in a while but here they are and what an amazing song that is totally relatable to me right now. I'm not above love and nor is AlunaGeorge. This totally works! Watch Aluna Francis from AlunaGeorge fully bring it in this highly emotional music video for "Not Above Love".
AlunaGeorge are a duo consisting of Aluna Francis and George Reid. They're definitely one of the most underrated British duos, and their latest album totally underperformed; however, they're still going on to do great things, and I believe they'll bring it once again, sometime in the future. I'm still gutted they didn't win the Brits' Critic Choice award back in 2013. I cannot wait to see what AlunaGeorge brings in the coming years. This total fired-up single was written by Aluna Francis, Antonia Armato, Yogesh Tulsiani, Tim James, Christopher W. Smith, James Ryan Shelton Hall, and Alexander Jeffrey Hall.
Directed by Sing J. Lee, this music video is both narrative and performance based, with Aluna Francis looking incredibly gorgeous throughout.
The narrative shows Aluna and a bunch of her friends driving away, packing, it's like they're on holiday, although the song suggests that she's left her guy that she's been seeing, because she's not above love. There are various images of the guy in question shown throughout. Aluna fades in and out of her current life, and her friends have to remind her where she is... We all do this from time to time, right?
Her performance piece is on point throughout, adding all the right emotion at exactly the right time. She clearly means every word of this song, and just proves she had a part in writing it because there's no other way to get that emotion across.
Overall, AlunaGeorge has knocked it out of the park once again. This deserves to be a hit song, but like many others in the world, it will disappear. The music video is completely amazing and easily relatable to the song. AlunaGeorge has got it all going on, and they will come back with a hit like no other, this is something that is obvious.
Stormzy is in the top ten of the UK chart, again! Can you believe it? We all thought this wouldn't ever happen, a grime artist in the UK top ten singles chart for the second time, but he's here! He grabs my Chart Mondays review today due to Ed Sheeran still being at number one with "Shape of You". This definitely is catchy, and it's no surprise it is in the top ten. Watch Stormzy sing about being too "Big For Your Boots" all the while including controversial issues in this brilliantly crafted music video.
Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, has really turned into a defining artist and rapper amongst the grime music genre that has been popular for years in the UK. However, it's very difficult to chart, let alone get a second single in the UK's top ten, which just goes to show how big Stormzy has become. He previously got to number eight in the UK with his song "Shut Up". Now he's peaked at that position again with "Big For Your Boots". This song is his first single from his official debut album. It was written by Michael Omari.
The music video was directed by DAPS. It's mainly a performance piece set within a narrative that is strong nonetheless.
He totally brings it on the visual, we expect nothing less of Stormzy. He can rap in style with so much energy that you just want to see him on stage doing his thing. His music videos always have this energetic vibe about them, that it's no surprise it turns up in this one too.
There are some great profile shots of additional characters, although the scenes aren't fully fleshed out into the narrative. We don't know why he is chilling in the sunroof of a cop car, but he does sing 'Drug money in my shoebox' at that point so maybe they lyrics explains it all.
Either way, this is a killer music video. It's full of energetic vibes and great profile scenes. The first half is way better than the second half, but that is due to camera angles and the settings of each scene rather than anything else. The music video is progressive and totally relatable to the song. It works.
I had no idea what to review today, so I let YouTube recommendations decide. Now, Wiktoria first came to my attention when she performed in Melodifestivalen 2016. She is performing once again in Melodifestivalen 2017, and maybe she'll do better. Her song last year was "Save Me" which definitely was catchy. Hopefully, her new one will be just as good. This song was released recently, as a little bit of promotion for her before she graces the Melodifestivalen stage. Her voice is phenomenal as always and I cannot wait to see how she does in the contest, can she go all the way and represent Sweden at Eurovision 2017? Wiktoria brings all her stage presence in the performance music video "Unthink You" that also introduces a talented dancer who interprets the song into dance effortlessly.
Wiktoria, full name Wiktoria Johansson, is fairly new to the music scene, with only a few singles, but she has already made her name known. "Save Me" was quite the banger of Melodifestivalen 2016 and it charted well in Sweden, managing to get to number three and going on to achieve a platinum status. She has released a few singles since, including this one; but her main focus is on Melodifestivalen 2017, where she will perform "As I Lay Me Down". She is hoping to win and become the representative of Sweden for Eurovision 2017. She also voiced Moana in the Swedish-dubbed version of the Disney film of the same name. This song is a banger of a tune and should've been big. She has a killer voice that just oozes future success.
Directed by Michael Sjösten, this music video easily displays Wiktoria's amazing performance vibes, all intercut with an amazing dancer who does look quite like Troye Sivan, but it's not.
The dancer takes on an interesting interpreted dance that is so intricate that it just goes to show how technically great he really is. He kind of takes the spotlight from Wiktoria, though. His moves are incredible and we just want to keep watching, which totally distracts us from the artist.
As for Wiktoria, she brings her usual flair to the music video, seriously giving the camera all the great shots, and performing the song with all she's got. It works well but if the dancer and Wiktoria met in a final scene, it would bring an unthinkable narrative that is clearly missing in this music video.
Another new music video in promotion of her newly released single, Zara Larsson is quickly becoming a full-on international Swedish star. Collaborating with Ty Dollar $ign, just shows how far in her career she is and we're still waiting on an album, but is she attempting to crack America before hand? Especially since she performed on Ellen the other day. Filled with sprinkles of glitter, Zara Larsson's "So Good" music video is a brilliant portrait performance piece with popular rapper Ty Dollar $ign.
Zara Larsson is a total household name in most of Europe; as for America, she's dipped in and out of their Billboard Hot 100 chart. Maybe this collaboration with Ty Dollar $ign will help her to become more well-known over there. Either way, her new album, her debut international album, will be released in March, with the same title as this song. She previously released an album back in 2014 in Scandinavia, but it didn't get released globally; as much as I need it in my life, along with all her other songs in the world - This is why I think they should also release that old album at the same time, because people will no doubt buy it as well. Ty Dollar $ign, real name Tyrone Griffin Jr., has become a rapper everyone wants to collaborate with. He has solidified himself as a popular American rapper and has totally launched quite a few successes. This song has done moderately well in many countries, but it totally hasn't lived up to the successes of her previous singles. It was written by Zara Larsson, Charles Otto Puth (Charlie Puth), Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Gamal Lewis (Lunchmoney Lewis), and Danny Schofield.
The glitter-filled music video was directed by Sarah McColgan. It is a pure performance visual, with a few dance sequences and choreography throughout. Unfortunately, Zara Larsson is missing her stage presence spark that we are used to seeing in her music videos.
We watch Zara Larsson sprinkle glitter on her face in the opening scene. Other scenes follow where she is looking sexy throughout, but there's not much movement or involvement. In the dance scenes, we see her just do the moves, but she doesn't pull them off like in the original "Lush Life" music video. There's just no feeling behind them.
It feels like she hasn't connected to the song at all. She's not bringing any substance to this as a whole.
Ty Dollar $ign brings it like he always does, but again the style of the music video just doesn't work and although the spotlight brings him out more, the emotionless vibe coming off Zara Larsson totally taints the video as a whole.
It's definitely a disappointing music video, one that I don't want to watch again, regardless of the fact that I'm a Zara Larsson fan. I'll be going back to watching her other music videos and leave this one be. I'm hoping she releases a new single in promotion of her album in March, hopefully it'll have a much better music video. The song itself isn't something that I would've thought Zara Larsson would record. It feels like it's going to be a stand-out track on the album for all the wrong reasons. It's certainly a new direction and one that hasn't worked out well in her favour, considering the chart positions.
So many new releases today, some of which are from some big names, and yet no music videos, which means I have to discover a whole new artist. This is Aura, who has an incredible voice. Slightly cheating with this because the EP to this song isn't out until March, however if you pre-order the EP you will get this song and a remix as an instant grat download, although I don't see why they have it as pre-order as it just stops two remixes of this song from being released, which people aren't all that fussed about. Nonetheless, you can actually download this song, and with vocals like that, how can you not? Aura stuns us all with this emotional performance music video of her new song "Can't Steal The Music". You can't take it away.
Aura, real name Maria Joensen, has already established herself as an artist amongst Europe, most notably in Scandinavia, especially her home country of Denmark. She previously went under the name of Aura Dione, and had a trio of hits: "I Will Love You Monday (365)", "Geronimo", and "Friends", the latter of which featured Rock Mafia. Now going with a monotonous name of Aura, she is set on releasing more music and a third studio album, named after this track. The album itself will also feature previous singles "Love Somebody" and "Indian Giver". The song was written by Aura and Jamie Hartman.
Directed by Michael Sauer, the music video shows off Aura brilliantly. She easily gets into her role proving that no one can steal music away from her.
She brings a natural stage presence to the video in the various scenes. She's completely emotional throughout, clearly thinking of her past relationship that stripped her of who she was. But music was the one thing that got her through it, hence the song and her amazing acting skills in the video.
Passionate and effective, there's also some dance sequences mixed in. Aura shows that she can dance, interpreting the lyrics amazingly into a few slow steps that accentuate this music video as a whole. There's also a possible love interest, as Aura cuddles up to a hooded person; is this the person she has been singing too, telling them that they can't steal the music from her? Who knows, but he or she looks quite shady to me. Great music video, I'm glad I chose it for my New Release music video review, and I can't wait to see what the future brings for Aura because that voice is incredible.
We have to admit, this is definitely a catchy song, it's just a shame that they didn't continue the love triangle narrative found in Basshunter's previous music videos. However, I can totally make this music video fit in with the narrative, slightly - but more on that later. I actually thought this song and music video would've been a feature, and an attempt to promote a whole new sexy girl group, however, the female vocalist or vocalists were never revealed and went on as uncredited. Watch Basshunter go clubbing, he gains supernatural powers that enable him to control scantily-clad girls in this "Saturday" music video.
Basshunter, real name Jonas Altberg, hasn't released anything new for years now, and he is practically just promoting himself by doing clubbing tours. We need new music from him, to speak the truth. This song in itself was his last biggest hit in the UK, and I very much doubt he could make a comeback unless he actually releases something amazing. This song was written by Erick Morillo, Mark Quashie, Mich Hansen, Thomas Troelsen, and Engelina Larsen. It contains a sample of Real 2 Real's "I Like To Move It".
Directed by Alex Herron, the video has more to do with Basshunter's love for video games, hence the whole reason why he can control the women in the club. However, I know exactly how this can fit into the whole narration, even if it's actually stepped aside and like "Walk On Water", it's its own music video.
So let's RECAP! "Now You're Gone" gave us Aylar Lie and Lucas Thorheim breaking up by text yet they both go clubbing with their respected friends and end up in the same club and get back together. "All I Ever Wanted" shows them on holiday in Spain, they have fun and go clubbing, but Lucas finds a 'mate's cousin', is it the end for them? "Angel In The Night" broke Aylar & Lucas up via text again, and Aylar finds Jonas Altberg (Basshunter) and after impressing her with his street racing and singing, they kiss... "I Miss You / Jingle Bells" brings Christmas in Norway; there's snow, presents and a dip in the hot tub, as well as Jonas having to fend off a guy from coming on to Aylar. "Walk On Water" breaks the story as we're shown the touring life of Basshunter. "Every Morning" saw Jonas building up the courage to propose to Aylar, but the right moment never happens, and then the water takes her and she disappears. "I Promised Myself" revealed that Aylar had been found and is being treated at hospital, Jonas hops in a taxi and goes over his past memories; however, when he arrives Lucas is the one next to her bed. So how does this music video fit in? I hear you ask... Well Jonas is clearly upset at what he's seen, and instead of talking it out, he leaves the hospital in search of the nearest club so he can get a drink. He just happens to come across a new-age strip club that allows you to control the women. There's my link, and it does fit, but the video itself should still be treated separately even if it does fit within the narrative. As a whole, the video is clever and incredibly sexy. It's fully relatable to the song and Basshunter is definitely looking hot throughout. There isn't a lot of substance to the video, but it's intricate in the ideas. Overall, it works well with the song, but I would've liked to have seen the female vocalist fully credited. It's more her song than Basshunter's, especially since he didn't write or produce this song, so I'm not quite sure what he did to this song himself, apart from his own vocals. Regardless, it works but I kind of wished the girls could control him at the end as a role reversal.
Here is Martin Garrix again, doing another solid collaboration that will surely gain momentum soon. He is one of those DJs who just bring hit after hit after hit, and he's doing so solidly. It's an interesting team-up, especially with Dua Lipa having her own style with those amazing vocals of hers. Upbeat and sexual there is so much passion in the short clips shown throughout this music video for "Scared To Be Lonely" by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa.
Martin Garrix, real name Martijn Garritsen, was ranked the number one DJ in 2016 by DJ Mag, out of 100 DJs. That's quite an accomplishment to live up to. Especially since he is only 20 years old, that is totally mad, isn't it? He's had a whole range of hits, and after leaving his record label - which is usually a bad move for anyone in the music industry - he has totally come on top and is bringing pure fire with all his releases. I cannot wait to see what he brings out next. He's teamed up with Dua Lipa, who is one of the rising stars of yesterday. She's had a number of hits but has yet to have a stand-out hit, but I reckon it's on the horizon. Nonetheless, she's doing well and bringing it when it comes to chart positions and promotion. Expect a massive hit very soon. This song was written by Martijn Garritsen, Giorgio Tuinfort, Nathaniel Campany, Kyle Shearer, and Georgia Ku.
Directed by Blake Claridge, this music video feels quite chaotic - that's my new favourite word. It has a lot going on, regardless of the fact that each scene is similar.
There's a major performance piece from Dua Lipa, who is totally looking sensual and passionate throughout. Her images work well within the scenes shown. As for Martin Garrix, we see him in scenically beautiful scenes, that totally makes him stand out.
There are many romantic scenes showing different couples. I would've liked to have seen a mixture of couples for some LGBT+ support (we can be scared to be lonely too), although kudos for the couples that are shown. However, there are no continuation scenes. It's hard to follow any sort of narrative, although it's clear that the scenes are showing people who are scared of being lonely.
Overall, it both works and it doesn't. I feel the music video, in itself, fails to attract the audience and keep the viewers' attention. The performance piece is less dramatic than what we've seen before, and definitely could be better. This video just comes across average and would probably get lost amongst many others.
This is always my go-to artist for when I can't think of anything to blog about, purely because Basshunter's music video continue on from one another, and so, I feel like I need to do them in order. Even if some of them don't belong as part of the overall narrative, they can be made to fit in. This one, in particular, has a heart-breaking cliff-hanger after the phenomenal storyline found in "Every Morning". It's been a long time since we've seen a Basshunter music video, and we definitely need a follow-up since "Northern Light" was the last one that continued the storyline. Watch Basshunter rush to the hospital after Aylar Lie disappears in the water just as he was ready to propose, only to find someone else by her side in the music video for "I Promised Myself".
Basshunter, real name Jonas Altberg, has practically dwindled in popularity. The once popular DJ hit both the UK and Swedish charts hard, but he hasn't done much recently. He has been doing club tours and what I would call trying to get his name out there more using the popularity he has already gained, I saw him do a DJ set at a local club, but from what I remember, it wasn't all that memorable. He needs to focus on music once again because we are in a world where DJs are doing incredibly well, but he made it before they all did and could come back with a hit if he gave it a good shot. This song only charted in the UK at the low number of 94. It is a cover version of Nick Kamen's "I Promised Myself", written by Nick Kamen.
Directed by Alex Herron, this is the fifth/sixth music video that continues the narrative between Basshunter, Aylar Lie, and Lucas Thorheim. So, let's RECAP! "Now You're Gone" gave us Aylar Lie and Lucas Thorheim breaking up by text yet they both go clubbing with their respected friends and end up in the same club and get back together. "All I Ever Wanted" shows them on holiday in Spain, they have fun and go clubbing, but Lucas finds a 'mate's cousin', is it the end for them? "Angel In The Night" broke Aylar & Lucas up via text again, and Aylar finds Jonas Altberg (Basshunter) and after impressing her with his street racing and singing, they kiss... "I Miss You / Jingle Bells" brings Christmas in Norway; there's snow, presents and a dip in the hot tub, as well as Jonas having to fend off a guy from coming on to Aylar. "Walk On Water" breaks the story as we're shown the touring life of Basshunter. "Every Morning" saw Jonas building up the courage to propose to Aylar, but the right moment never happens, and then the water takes her and she disappears. This video focuses on Jonas and him rushing to the hospital after Aylar has been found. He can be seen in the back of a taxi throughout most of the video. He performs the song with all the passionate emotion that you can possibly give in the back of a taxi. We watch memories of Aylar and Jonas' relationship from their past music videos, as well as recent memories recorded specifically for this music video. There is clear promotion of the Nintendo Wii, and there's a cake fight too. It's nice to see how much Jonas has changed since "Angel In The Night". There are some lovely couple moments in his memories, ones that I would love to have myself at some stage in my life - here's jealous Jonni again. He arrives at the hospital and searches every room for Aylar. The last door he comes to, he sees her. He builds up the courage to walk in, and when he opens the door again; next to Aylar, is Lucas. Then the video ends. It's a critical ending, one that shocks the audience, and can you believe we didn't have a follow-up video until three years later; talk about keeping us in suspense.
Overall, this is a great narrative music video for a cover version of a great song. I feel like there isn't enough to it, I think the memories aren't that substantial and could've been more, but the ending just wraps it all up in a chaotic twist like we weren't expecting. I remember watching it for the first time on the music channels, and I couldn't believe they ended it like that.
I reviewed the current number one, Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You", last week, and so it opened the top ten of the UK singles chart to my music video Chart Monday review. So I chose this one as it's slowly dropping out of the top ten and I truly believe it will not be there this Friday. I was planning on reviewing it a few weeks ago, but I saw it was heading into the UK top ten, so I chose a different video instead and watched this climb up. The music video for "September Song" is completely sweet as we watch a guy and a girl completes a sign, all the while thinking about their past as JP Cooper's amazing vocals sing throughout.
JP Cooper, real name John Paul Cooper, has been fighting for a career in music for many years, having dropped his first EP back in 2012. Finally, at the end of 2016 and now in 2017 he is getting the recognition he totally deserves. His vocals are stunning throughout this music video, just they are in his previous featured song, by Jonas Blue titled "Perfect Strangers" which totally helped to make his name. This certainly isn't going to be his last hit, and I cannot wait to see what his future releases are like. The song was written by John Paul Cooper, Ben Hudson, Jon Hume, and Teemu Brunila.
The music video was directed by ARNE + KINSKI. It stars James Short and Madeline Ross, who play the main two characters in the sweet storyline.
Both a narrative and a performance piece to this, although the latter is hidden in slight shots behind the narrative itself. JP Cooper oozes charisma, his subtle and simple performance comes off totally intricate and emotional. Give this guy a stage and he'll impress everyone, no doubt about it.
The narrative is the most important part of this music video, though. Actor James Short totally works the camera, you can see how much longing is in his body language and the way he acts. He looks out the window, watching actress Madeline Ross start to paint on the gate, but she only manages to paint: "Be realistic plc", the 'c' is clearly unfinished and she runs off at the sounds of sirens with blue flashing lights appear. James Short follows her with his eyes.
We see some brilliant flashbacks of when they were young, we guess from the song that they were fifteen in these clips since the song is about being young and in love. It's clear it didn't work out in the past, but James Short still has those same feelings.
He looks at her word art during the day and later follows the steps she took that night, reliving his experience with her. His ultimate longing shot is when he's lying on top of the building, basking in her presence from the night before. He later returns to the gate and finishes off the word art, although whether the words he ended it with were the ones she planned on writing, is something we'll never quite know.
The cute ending scene is during the night when she returns to the gate and sees that he has completed her words, now it reads: "Be positive plan for a miracle". Which is slightly tongue-in-cheek since he finished off her plan. They stare at each other in a lovely connection moment. What goes on next is anyone's guess.
Overall, this music video is a brilliant interpretation of the song. It's realistic with no gimmicks, just lovely, passionate, memorable longing that we all have probably felt, now and again. I would've liked to have seen more shots of JP Cooper performing the song, but this storyline is so beautiful that I'm glad we got to see it as a whole.
Decided this week I'm going to focus on reviewing male singers, purely because I feel like I'm flooding my blog with female artists, and I need to switch it up a bit. This song and video has been talked about a lot over the last week or so, so I thought I might as well review it on here. The song is amazing and the music video is pretty sexy too! Watch Ansel Elgort topless and kissing someone, looking toned throughout this music video for "Thief" all before he leaves her all alone because he believes he isn't good enough.
Ansel Elgort is mostly known for his acting roles, especially in the Divergent series, as well as The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns. He has subtly focused on a musical career with a few releases under his belt as well as remixes. However, this song acts as his debut music video, and it is as hot as hell and has gained phenomenal promotion in the last few days. No wonder his name is on everyone's lips. The song was written by Ansel Elgort, Kyle Trewartha, Tom Norris, and Christopher J Baran.
Directed by Warren Elgort, the music video sees Ansel Elgort relaxed throughout, he clearly has no problem showing off his body, to which we totally love seeing.
There is both a performance side and a narrative side. Some people have described the whole thing cringe-worthy, and you can see where they are coming from; the dancing is totally freestyle during the performance piece, suggesting that even though he can move, he really needs guidance and choreography. Otherwise, the performance is on point, and he shows off his body during that part which is completely fine with us.
The storyline sees Ansel Elgort get it on with a woman in what could be a hotel room. They undress, he does a few push-ups in his boxers, she just lies sultrily on the bed. They do an upside-down kiss, a slight ode to spiderman obviously. The story gets sexier and sexier until we see Ansel Elgort clothing himself and leaving her in the bed.
Overall, this totally relates to the song, it's full-on sexy and hot, there are no other words to describe this. I would've preferred to have seen a choreographed sequence rather than his freelance 'cringe-worthy' dancing, yet he exudes confidence so totally pulls it off, along with his clothes. This is totally the right step in his musical career.
This was bound to appear on my blog soon, so why not now? Hello Troye Sivan, who is totally my top LGBT+ singer out at the moment, whilst Steve Grand works on his new album and, my newly found, Rayvon Owen is probably also working on new music. Regardless, Troye Sivan pretty much found me, and I will not stop being grateful for the imprint he is leaving online, for the world. I just wish there was someone like him to influence me when I was younger. Troye Sivan shows the troubles and tribulations people have gone through to get to this point for LGBT+ people, the "Heaven" video is more than just a tribute, it's defining.
Troye Sivan, real name Troye Sivan Mellet, the YouTuber turned singer who has hit the world by storm. His music has already touched millions with his songs and impacted many within the LGBT+ community with his stunning confident music videos. His debut album charted well globally, although his singles have done all right. It's a tough market to crack, but if there's anything about Troye Sivan, it's that he never gives up, and he totally believes that he is doing what he needs to do, and it is definitely paying off. This is his new single in collaboration with Betty Who, real name Jessica Newham. She is signed to RCA records and made her name because Spencer Stout uploaded his flash mob proposal to his boyfriend on YouTube with her song. Now she's collaborated with Troye Sivan, and what a song this is! It was written by Troye Sivan. Alexandra Robotham, Jack Antonoff, and Claire Boucher.
Directed by Luke Gilford, the black and white music video sees Troye Sivan in a sexy performance visual where he is embraced by an unfaced shirtless guy. They clearly care for one another; unfortunately, Troye Sivan is clothed throughout.
There are many monumental clips shown throughout including a scene of assassinated gay rights leader Harvey Milk, various gay pride parades and same-sex marriages.
What makes this video inspirational is that both artists are Australian, and the country has yet to pass the same-sex marriage bill. The video completely shows how far we have gone, but it still makes people think how much further we still have to go. It works completely, and it's totally relatable to the song. I do hate black and white music videos. though I can understand it suggests the past with the footage used, but I would've liked to have seen Troye Sivan's performance and cuddling in colour - and topless.
After looking over all the new releases this week, I could only come across two songs that have music videos, this one and Stormzy's "Big For Your Boots", I'm not a fan of either artist, but I have reviewed Stormzy before, whereas this is the first time London Grammar have appeared on my blog, so I might as well switch it up a bit. This song is their second single from their upcoming new album. London Grammar shows off scenic beauty and beautiful starry night skies in overlays during a performance piece of "Big Picture", this music video is glittery, space-like and quite artsy.
London Grammar are a three-piece British indie-pop group consisting of Dominic 'Dot' Major, Hannah Reid, and Dan Rothman. They've done well for themselves after the release of their debut album. They haven't quite had a hit single, yet, although "Strong" has been their highest charting single globally so far. This new album could bring an interesting direction for the group as they continue to go from strength to strength. This song was written by the group themselves.
Directed by Sophie Müller, this video focuses more on scenic beauties, of space and the stars, of mountains, and of glitter. The striking overlays really capture the essence of the song and completely shows the band off brilliantly during their performance piece.
The group shines throughout as they perform the song, it's clear that they have a major stage presence and Hannah Reid's voice totally captures the audience. This is one group that will knock it out of the stadium if you were to go to their concert.
There isn't much else for me to comment on. It's been edited well, with the overlays transitioning effectively and they transparently contrast with the performance visual of the video. It works well and is definitely relatable to the song. No narrative, but shadows are used intricately. It's good but not entirely addictively engaging.
Missy Elliott hasn't been a part of my blog much, so I thought: why not do an old music video of hers for my Thursday Revisit... And so, here we are, with this awesome song that is still catchy today. I recently reviewed an Indiginis Re-Work of this song for Outlet Magazine, which has totally changed the song completely. This is why I like Thursday Revisits because here is an epic music video from back in the day that is still complete fire. Missy Elliott brings it completely for this "Get Ur Freak On" music video, with Timberland in the background and an on-point dance troupe. It's time to get ur freak on!
Missy Elliott, real name Melissa Elliott, was at the height of her career when this song came out. It became one of her biggest hits and became current a second time in the UK when it was used for a promotional campaign television advertisement. She went on to have even bigger and more successful singles and has collaborated with some of the biggest artists in the industry. She is at the top when it comes to female rappers. This song hit number four on the UK chart. It was written by Melissa Elliott and Tim Mosley.
The track starts off with a guy saying this, in Japanese: "Kore kara minna de mechakucha odotte. Sawagou, sawagou." Translated into English, it means: "Everyone start dancing together wildly now. Let's make some noise, let's make some noise." There are other languages used throughout.
The music video itself was directed by Dave Meyers, who has nailed the whole visual in memorable ways. It's a pure performance piece from Missy Elliott, that completely works with the song.
This is one of her most iconic music videos. This is not because of the dance troupe, with their epic choreography that they perfect throughout this video, even Missy Elliott gets involved. It's technically brilliant, and although it looks simple, I assure you it isn't. What makes this iconic is the editing.
This video was released in 2001, so it just shows how ahead of the game the editing team were. They made Missy Elliott's head extend out from her body in a snake-like neck lurch. What is grossly-awesome, though, is that Missy Elliott spits at one of the dancers, and we follow the spit with the camera and watch the dancer gobble it up and swallow her spit. It is also in line with the lyrics of the song.
The ending of the video switches the song up even more, it wasn't enough that Timberland is just chilling there behind Missy Elliott, she just has to prove her rapping skills at the end, and she is fierce. If there's one track you want to see Missy Elliott perform live, it's this one; and if there's a rap music video that is dated but still completely amazing, it's this one!
For anyone who knows me, this was an obvious choice for my next music video review on my blog. I previously wrote up about the music video for CelebMix. As well as the teaser video from yesterday. Inna dropped this music video today, and it's filled with summer sounds and gorgeous visuals that excite me for summer. The song will be a part of her fifth studio album which is expected to be released this year, possibly during the summer. Once again, Inna is stylishly sexy in her new music video, walking the streets of Mexico and soaking up the sun's summer rays in "Gimme Gimme".
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, has been teasing this new song for a few months now. She is set to release her fifth studio album, that will include previous songs "Heaven" and "Say It With Your Body". Having seen her perform in Ireland two months ago, I know that the amazing stage presence she shows in her music videos are just as amazing at her concerts. She is my favourite artist in the world, and she is continuing to bring it with every song and music video that she releases. This song was written by Inna, David Ciente, Marcel Botezan, Sebastian Alexandru Barac, Breyan Isaac, and Vasile Elena Luminita.
The music video was directed by Khaled Mokhtar. It takes place in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico; where Inna, back in October, fell in love with the beauty of the place and it's architecture. The video is visually beautiful, it's no surprise she chose this place for the music video.
There are many different scenes that see Inna performing her song. The main one is where she is relaxing against a Volkswagon Beetle, as well as when she is performing in front of brightly coloured front doors to houses.
Other actresses appear, one with balloons, another with a topless guy (who totally reminds us of Alexandra Stan - just slightly), and a few others here and there. Extras are also shown who are clearly Mexicans.
This whole summer feel of the music video is making me wish it was summer again. It's neatly packaged with some brilliant shots in the whole video. The ending sees Inna let loose and have a party with her friends. Inna is looking as gorgeous as always, and this video totally works, although it's a shame there wasn't a romantic element in the visual.
