Lopez Blogs

When lezapping started in early 2006, i looked suave and stunning like in the picture above :) I was busy jabbering on about how ace Simon Curtis, Digital and Ryan Ferrada were and how big they were going to be. Well, as I have mentioned before 2006 stars have taken a little longer than expected to shine, but shine they are and finally there time is here. Check below for the latest and greatest from this blog's original music crushes...

Ryan Ferrada ~ Dirty In The Club: Being ridiculously gorgeous isn't enough for Ryan. He also has to produce absolutely slamming dance-pop tunes that just reak of hit potential. It's chock full of electro-synth beats and a vaguely "male Kylie" feel to it - no surprise considering that Ryan has been working with Kylie alum Greg Fitzgerald. Despite this connection, the song feels like it is totally Ryan - i particularly love the backing vocals that whisper "i love it when you dance on top"... It's sexy, sensual pop that is fine and dandy merely in it's radio edit - add some funky remixes from the likes of Bimbo Jones and FutureFreakz and it's your average pop-dance whore's idea of nirvana. Be prepared for this to hit big very soon. It's already gone top five on the UK Club charts with absolutely no promotion. A video has been filmed though and should be available very soon :)

Ian Brearley ~ Goodbye To Yesterday: Digital were all poised to be massive thanks to anthems like Get Your Kit Off (yes please lads) and Do Me Dirty (ditto), and I even got to have a Chinese meal with them when one of the band pissed off to form another boyband, Ian picked himself up and dusted off the remnants of Britain's most scandalous undiscovered boyband to hone his craft as a solo artist. His debut single Goodbye To Yesterday is a midtempo shuffling affair that is part JT Cry Me A River and part sparse piano led/string infused addictive slice of heaven. There is also a rather lovely acoustic version of the song that brings these instrumental elements to the fore. If the sadness of the lyrics makes you yearn for something a bit more cheerful, then be sure to check out the perky Wicked Kinda Love which is more of a straightforward but no less delightful pop stomper... Ian is cocksure of how to create a decent pop song and these tracks bode well for a corking debut album out in 2009...

Dean Lennon ~ See Through: I've been holding off on posting about Dean's music because it's not on his myspace yet, and it's much more exciting for people if they can actually go and check out what i'm writing about. Plus one of my pet peeves is websites saying "oh i have this but you can't hear it yet!" (Popjustice used to excel at this, but has calmed down recently :P) Anyway as the music is coming to myspace "any minute now", now might be a good time to talk about the music that the other former Digital boy is doing. Now clad in topman day-glo, that only the youthful and attractive can get away with, See Through is an urgent declaration of the shallow vapidness that is inherent in many of today's celebrity wannabes. The music is intense and the swirling synths create a dark atmosphere leading into a chorus that just soars with the disdain it pours onto it's subject matter. Don't let the dark matter fool you - this is a super pop tune that, along with the two tracks above, deserves a much wider audience...

Kevin Jon ~ Shaking That: Ooo it's popjustice's single of the day in it's remixed jason nevins format. Often remixes can take a mediocre song (Unbreak My Heart, Strobelight, We Want The Same Thing) and turn them into something incredible. Luckily this track was fairly decent to begin with. It's interesting to hear how much more confident Kevin has become in both his vocal delivery and his lyrics since I first featured him back in 2006. This track has it's foot firmly in the feelgood club popper factor and while the video is amusing if only for it's attempt to look cool and funky, it's actually a decent little pop tune that bodes well for Kevin's album out early next year... Personally, I'd go for the Wideboys remix. Quite spicy.

Simon Curtis ~ look how he's changed! Now bring on Alter Boy already little boy blue!

Later this week: The redemption of Keane; more Same Difference; ace new girl group...