Betty Who To Experiment With Her Sound On Her Sophomore Album

 

Betty Who is gearing up to get back on the road and perform new music from her sophomore album. With the record slated for release later this year, Betty will be in and out of the studio this summer putting the finish touches on her follow up to ‘Take Me When You Go’.

Who was slated to preview new music at Gov Ball last month, but a bout of rain cancelled her set and we’re without a taste of her new LP. Thankfully, Betty sat down with Entertainment Weekly that weekend to share a few secrets about what we can expect from her second album.

I’ve experimented a lot. I don’t mean like indie and atonal—I haven’t experimented that much. But I’ve definitely tried to find the holes in the last record. I’ve learned so much from touring: “Okay, I’m on stage and this song makes me feel really awesome, but I don’t like the feeling of that song.” I had to identify why I feel the way I do and put that information directly into the writing process for this album. I wanted it to be a record that I was excited to play live. That’s my favorite thing about what I do: performing and being with people and dancing especially.

We might be assuming things, but it sounds like Betty is taking her sound to the next level! She’s always had an upbeat, get-on-your-feet quality to her music and it’s pretty common for artists to take what they’ve learned from touring and channel it into their music.

If anything, we should be the most excited about the stories she’s ready to share on this record. Betty shared that she’s reunited with Peter Thomas for this record and brought along songwriting superstars MNEK and Justin Tranter to help her dig deeper for this record.

I’m more interested in emotional range and trying to accomplish multiple stories at once, as opposed to this one overarching [theme], “I’m a romantic and I’m always broken-hearted!” That’s kind of how the first record felt to me. Now it feels more like I’m telling 12 or 13 different stories. I wanted to show more of myself. If I’m angry, be angry. If I’m sad, be sad. If I want to feel sexy, I want to do that specifically. I tried to hit the emotions all the way to the fullest extent, as opposed to dipping my toe in the water.

A change in thematics could prove to expose Betty to a wider audience – she’s one of pop’s brightest rising stars and long overdue for a breakout. Betty always has a knack for writing insanely fun and catchy lyrics. Putting her in space with two of the genre’s best contemporary writers? Call it a match made in pop heaven!

Are you chomping at the bit for Betty’s new record?…

Introducing: Aaron Pfeiffer

 

Brace yourself – New York artist, Aaron Pfeiffer, is about to take over your spring playlist with his debut single, ‘Can’t Shake This’!

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Aaron’s love for gospel, jazz, Neo-Soul and R&B has brought him to this crucial point in his career – his debut EP ‘Nightcall’ that’s dropping later this summer.

Produced by Justin Portis and Eric Denniston, his single ‘Can’t Shake This’ is something everyone can relate to. You know, when you get caught up in a one sided relationship and you just start to realize what the deal is.

It’s a great start for Aaron! His sound, so far, has an ambient 80’s pop&b infused quality to it – something we hope he explores more on his EP.

*Shout out to Jon Ali for putting Aaron on our radar!

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Introducing: Erik Hassle

 

What do you get when you combine Michael Jackson, Prince, Justin Timberlake, and (before creepy/desperate) Robin Thicke? Swedish pop singer Erik Hassle!

The fact that Erik is from Sweden says something…you already know what you’re in for when it comes to his music. Flawless pop melodies, incredible lyricism, and stellar vocals. All seem to be present on his brand new single, ‘No Words’!

A bit about Erik: He hails from Katrineholm, Stockholm and studied at the same exact music school that Robyn did. He’s got a string of top 40 hits in Sweden, found international success with his single, ‘Hurtful’, and toured with Mika!

Not too bad for a boy from Katrineholm, right?

As for ‘No Words’, it may add nothing new to the pop landscape, but if anything, it’s a solid mellow R&B with just a layer of funk injected into it’s DNA. The best part about ‘No Words’? It takes such a simple thing, like falling in love, and transforms it into something larger than life.

Those Swedes and their pop music, man……

Julia Michaels Begs For Your ‘Issues’ On Her Debut Single

 

Occasionally, you’ll find a songwriter in the pop world that decides to step out from behind-the-scenes and give the whole “solo artist” gig a try.

Sometimes, it goes swimmingly. Other times you’ve got something so unnoticeable, you can even feel the drain on your bank account for the waste of time. For every Sia, there’s a Bonnie McKee.

So you can imagine the thrill that set in once it was announced that Julia Michaels (Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, DNCE, Justin Bieber, basically every smash pop hit from late 2015 onwards) was stepping out on her own at the top of 2017.

Produced by superstar producers Stargate & Benny Blanco and co-written by frequent collaborator Justin Tranter, Julia steps out with the impressive and familiar ‘Issues’.

Much like Sia, you could picture any one of Julia’s artists singing this song (Selena, mainly). Unlike Bonnie, it’s clear that Julia isn’t just acting like a pop star, but full embracing her new title on this ode to accepting one’s imperfections.

‘Cause I got issues/But you got ’em too/So give ’em all to me/And I’ll give mine to you/Bask in the glory/Of all our problems/‘Cause we got the kind of love/It takes to solve ’em/Yeah, I got issues/And one of them is how bad I need you

It’s got the right tempo, relatable lyrics, and enough hooks for this to become one of the biggest smashes during the first quarter of the year. Good luck escaping this one……

Fifth Harmony Perform At The People’s Choice Awards Sans Camila Cabello

 

And so came the time for Fifth Harmony to put their best foot forward as a quartet after the departure of Camila Cabello at the end of 2016.

Earlier this week, Ally, Normani, Lauren, and Dinah performed their #1 smash ‘Work From Home’ at the People’s Choice Awards and well…not the best way to rebrand yourselves after a line up change.

The vocals were weak (minus Lauren), the song’s structure was all over the place. Spelling out who’s left in the group was as corny as it got. At least, they looked great and stood like women banding together in a time of strength.

Without a doubt, seeing these four on stage seems more natural than having an extra person up there attempting to hog the spotlight. Will Fifth Harmony live on post-Camila? Absolutely. They seem to have more chemistry more than ever before. But, there is still some work to be done.

Logically, this performance was mostly likely booked well in advanced of Camila’s decision to leave. Things do happen. However, this was 100% the wrong choice for these girls at this time. What should have been the plan was to set these four up with a new song – one that the general public has never heard before off ‘7/27′ or a new single to launch a new era this spring.…