Lopez Blogs

I always get the feeling that my December mix cd for friends and family is never long enough because there are so many great tunes from albums released around this time of year. And I'm sure my normally fairly static charts (PPG once charmingly described it as "little love affairs with songs") will reflect that shortly too :) It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year!! On the down side I just had an Egg Nog Latte (venti, what a fool I am!) and it did not taste good. I'm going to have some vanilla added next time to see if that helps :) Here's the non Christmassy best songs to be released from albums this December!

1 ~ Robbie Williams, You Know Me: It's no wonder that this song has already had a strong top 20 debut and isn't even out as a single yet. It's simple, elegant pop that is pure melody, confident vocal and just enough vulnerability. Loving the matching of Robbie and strings and while this may not quite get Robbie the number one he deserves in the Christmas market, it absolutely confirms that he is still a creative force to be reckoned with.
2 ~ William Young, If It Hadn't Been For Love: Clearly I wrote about this on Monday and my love for the tune has increased exponentially since then. It's quite a lovely ballad that William does so well and as Ben pointed out in the comments mixes the agony and ecstasy of love together in a brilliantly, slightly melancholic fashion. It's a crime that his music isn't doing better, but brass often wins out over continuing class. His album "The Hits" should debut top ten on Sunday though :)
3 ~ Leona Lewis, Stop Crying Your Heart Out: Much like William, Leona eschews the need to follow trends of pop music and just churns out timeless pop that will stand the test of time. As Larry Flick said on his twitter "If she can tough out the next few years, she'll be a rare premiere artists who isn't a slave to charts and trends. She'll just sing". And what a treat that will be - her vocal here is quite stunning.
4 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, A Stranger Saved My Life: Had I been in charge (and I should have been) of promoting MZW, I would have concentrated heavily on the first two singles of my choice (Hope and Glory; Home) then bombarded the world with a couple of lovely pop jams (Rewind; Forever) at the start of autumn. This gorgeous ballad (would be a massive country hit in america with the right artist) is what Westlife should have come back with and is just the right side of syrupy to be a lovely addition to the Mans catalogue.
5 ~ Alcazar, Thank You: Sure, it is more of a pastiche than anything the Simpsons have ever produced in loving tribute, but this Abba-influenced song is just so wonderfully singalong that it's hard not to completely enjoy it. If Alcazar were hugely popular in this country this would be massive :)
6 ~ Alexandra Burke, Broken Heels: I'm not really a fan of the Red One intros that he forces on his artists, but I am a fan of this perky pop number that is almost as equally delicious as Bad Boys. The record label could have easily gone for the more traditional ballad "The Silence" but i like that Alexandra is sticking to the dance routines. Let's just thank Santa it wasn't the Ne-Yo duet...
7 ~ JLS, Close To You: Let me preface this by saying I'm not a huge fan of the late Oct/early Nov single release then rush release for Christmas sales of the following single (a la GA Biology/See The Day) but I could see that strategy working for JLS who are at the peak of a crazy wave of popularity; this lovely languid if slightly twee (but then aren't all their singles?) ballad will have their fans in a spin :) There are a few too many "gurls" for my liking, but it works within JLS world. Apparently this won't be a Christmas single but the ace One Shot will be released early next year! ACE!
8 ~ V Factory, Get Up: Why oh why aren't v factory massive yet? (Melismatic, that's directed at you!) This duet with Naturi Naughton is a fine example of a solid pop tune being largely ignored by the world at large. Well it's a tough world out there, but if you get time do check out this tune and perhaps there will be a debut album yet. Fingers crossed because the band fascinates me!
9 ~ Blake Lewis, I Left My Baby For You: I'm whizzing through potential single choices from Blake. Sad Songs in August, Heartbreak in October... Frankly there is no time to waste in recommending this synthy delight. It's one of the highlights of his fine album filled with great lyrics, soaring falsetto and an 80s beat to die for. Seriously Blake, come to England and we'll take you to our collective bosom because it doesn't get much better than this!
10 ~ Alphabeat, DJ: Their "The Spell" album is still amazing 50 listens in... DJ works well as a second single because a) it's better than The Spell (single) which was already quite good wasn't it? and b) it's got a nice balance between the Stine and Anders vocals which play off each other friskily as the 90s influenced pop track powers forward :)

11 ~ The Saturdays, Ego: Thank God the disaster that was the generic rock-pop yawn of Forever Is Over is over forever. It was far from their finest moment and just another example of how they seem to be struggling to find their niche in the land of pop. Ego is a much more pleasing nugget from them with dancey beats and a huge singalong chorus. Guaranteed to get the Christmas parties started with a swing, even if it does mean that any followers of theirs on twitter will be spammed with desperate pleas to get them to number one!
12 ~ Jordin Sparks, Walking On Snow: Kudos for Jordin for a well fought campaign with her second album. Anthemic Battlefield was a grand opening statement while frenetic sampler SOS was a nice bit of diversity. Walking On Snow may or may not be the next single, but if it is it's quite a lovely midtempo jam that showcases another side to the quite good at singles, less so at brilliant albums Idol winner. And yes, I realise the contradiction of praising Jordin's diversity while having just criticised The Saturdays' for the same thing. Fact - Jordin does it better.
13 ~ Dragonette, Big Sunglasses: Placing this right after Jordin's snow themed track provides a nice contrast to the wintery vibes. There is no denying that Dragonette can churn out top notch quality pop tracks rich in melody, catchy choruses and addictive beats. Saying that this is one of their better tracks means this is amazing stuff, because even their standard fare is so much better than most...
14 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Viva La Vida-Domino Dancing: Again, I wrote about this the other day. I was anticipating this so much that I fully expected it to be my second Viva cover chart topper this year. It won't be, but I'm pretty confident that the boys will debut on top this week. Not that this isn't excellent because it is. Every second of the cover version is thoroughly intoxicating from the first beat to the insertion of lines from Domino Dancing to the closing notes. Amazing.
15 ~ BWO, Kings of Tomorrow (Disco Version): I often close my eyes and imagine an England where BWO are as massive as Steps were at the turn of the century. It would be quite a brilliant country let me tell you. Sigh. Any"hoo", I love ballady BWO normally but this time I'm in the mood for the gently reswizzled uptempo version of another great tune from their quite smart Big Science album :)
16 ~ Agnes, Love Love Love: This has been around for a while and for some reason it hasn't registered properly on my radar when I first heard it. This is a great tragedy because I've spent months missing out on it's utter magnifosity. It's a little bit motown, a little bit pop and a little bit dancey but totally heavenly. It's a bonza bit of music and should have been her second single in the UK instead of the barely scraping top 40 I Need You Now. When will people listen to me :P
17 ~ Owl City, Fireflies: I'm way behind on this aren't I? Bit disappointed that this isn't out in the UK until February as much like stateside I suspect it would be a surprise big seller over the festive month. It's twee and delightful and synth driven and Postal Service and quite enchanting. The album? Not so much, but certainly not without it's moments...
18 ~ The Yeah You's, Ready To Love Again: Boo to the British public for not making them the next The Feeling. Or based on their current single sales perhaps making them too much like The Feeling :( Either way it's a bit crap. Because the music isn't. This is like bits of Shine mixed with bits of I Thought It Was Over mixed with bits of The Yeah You's. Should be massive. Won't be :(
19 ~ Julian Velard, Joni: I have a big post coming up soon on Mr Velard's debut album which is out very soon. He's been putting out music for a while and has a brilliant knack of creating genius piano driven pop with smart wry lyrics and an engaging vocal style. Joni continues the joyous piano-pop of Steve McQueen and Love Again For The First Time. Join in now or regret it...
20 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Scars: By far the best track on the very good first half of Natalie's criminally delayed latest album. A Coldplay composition, it is a dreamy piece of smartly constructed music made all the more magical by polished production and Natalie's lovely vocals. If only England would catch on again quick...
21 ~ Nerina Pallot, When Did I Become Such A Bitch?: Why on earth does Nerina pretty much have to start career building from scratch with every album. Each time she puts together a cohesive collection of funny and heartbreaking tunes, and each time it takes a while for the public to catch on. This is canny sing a long stuff with the best title in pop since If A Song Could Get Me You...

Back soon. Perhaps tomorrow with The Feeling doing Solitaire. If not see you Friday!