Emblem3 - End Of The Summer



Emblem3 and Fifth Harmony were always the two groups who battled it out, they both started out on The X Factor US, and then later they were competing for chart numbers. Emblem3, at one point, were doing better than Fifth Harmony, but that soon changed, leaving this group broken, especially when a member left, but he returned and they have come back stronger than ever with this catchy new tune! Emblem3 bring the summer with this skater anthem that is bound to get stuck in your head by the end of the summer.

Emblem3 consist of Keaton Stromberg, Wesley Stromberg and Drew Chadwick. They hit it big in 2013, just out of The X Factor US, they managed to get on the billboard hot 100 at 93 with "Chloe (You're The One That I Want)". However it wasn't meant to be and with Drew Chadwick leaving, the group went on an indefinite hiatus, but guess things worked out for the better in the end, because they are back stronger than ever. This song is from their third EP titled Waking Up.

This music video is a typical summer video that you expect from a boy band, only proving they can skateboard and drive cars while they are singing.

It's fun, hot and relaxing, it's so nice to see them all get along well, and it's interesting to see how far they will go this time around.

The guys are looking hot and sexy, although their style needs to be drawn in some more. The skating appeals to young teenagers who are into that thing, and yet they aren't looking like a group that guys look up to, and girls scream at, not just yet anyway.

Summery and catchy this is a song that you need to have playing over the summer, and yet there's nothing that interesting in the accompanying music video. Apparently former member Kyle Miner appears in the video, adding a bit of nostalgia before Emblem3's audition on The X Factor US. It's just the average summer music video though, with nothing interesting, although the love interests are way out of their league, just saying.
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Eric Saade Featuring Gustaf Norén - Wide Awake



Eric Saade is back with this amazingly emotional video which features Gustaf Norén, this Swedish superstar has already done well in his career so far, but now he needs to make it big internationally, having already had a few hits in his home country, he hasn't been getting the chart hits he clearly deserves over there. Eric Saade stuns in this emotional narrative of this song, highly personal, he can't stop thinking about this girl that is keeping him Wide Awake, so he wrecks the caravan, featuring Gustaf Norén.

Eric Saade has recently dropped his EP with this song and his other recently released songs, in promotion of the new album that is expected to be released this week. He originally was in a band called What's Up!, he later went solo and has had two number ones in Sweden, these are "Manboy" and "Popular", now he has gone down a more mature route releasing songs that are highly emotional and much more personal. He attempted to represent Sweden in Eurovision 2010 with "Manboy" but came third overall in Melodifestivalen 2010. The following year he won and "Popular" became Sweden's entry to Eurovison 2011, where he came third overall. He attempted to represent Sweden again in 2015 with "Sting", but he came fifth in the final of Melodifestivalen. The featured star is Gustaf Norén, who is just kick-starting his solo career after being a founding member of rock band Mando Diao, he left the group last year after being with the band since 1999, he was one of two frontmen. He adds flavour to this highly emotional song which was written by Eric Saade, Gustaf Norén, Vikor Norén and Joakim Andrén.

Directed by the artist himself, Eric Saade manages to make this entire video personal, both on screen and off screen. With that emotional link to the song, it's no wonder he managed to create such a great video.

Who doesn't want to wreck a caravan in pain? Eric Saade clearly brought up all the feelings about this song and unleashed it on the caravan perfectly. Wrecking the place with anything he could get his hands on before burning it to the ground.

There are various performance scenes, some of which are in black and white making this even more emotional. Eric Saade performs with his usual style, but Gustaf Norén really outshines, he stares at the camera sultrily, working the camera as he sings.

Overall a faultless music video, that engages and works perfectly, however there's no sign of a love interest and so the audience wonders who they are singing about, but great work, and I can't wait to see what Eric Saade brings in the future, especially with his new album about to drop soon.
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Chart Mondays: Calvin Harris Featuring Rihanna - This Is What You Came For



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.
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Rihanna - Sledgehammer



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.
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S Club 7 - S Club Party



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.
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