Lana Del Rey - Born To Die - Single Review

Official Single Cover

Lana Del Rey, a.k.a. Lizzy Grant, is a newcomer to the world stage, but girl has been on her grind since 2006. Her retro persona has received massive criticism, notably from hipster blogs, who question her authenticity, claiming that her image and music is the clever marketing of major record label Interscope, giving her the appearance of an independent artist using a grassroots movement to gain popularity. For the record, I don't buy that, I believe that she has been working on music for the past couple of years, uploaded Video Games to YouTube, not expecting the resulting popularity, and as a result, got signed to a major label.

That aside, not only is she retro-vintage in her aesthetic, but her music has this fantastic vibe to it, a combination of All-American pin-up girl, the stylized era of the 20's, with an often tribal/hip-hop beat underneath. Her current single, follow-up to the immensely popular and haunting Video Games, Born To Die, is one of those great moments in music that makes you stop and think, it's like nothing else I've heard. Some parts autobiographical, some part ill-fated love story, it's inherently "Lana" with it's melancholy-tinged lyrics and melodic chorus. The abstract beat of hand-claps, clanging metal, shouts and jungle noises is layered with soaring strings and her powerful voice. Her voice is a thing of interest in it's own right; changing from her deep, lower register, to high falsetto, and the Betty-Boop-sex-kitten. It reminds of Paris Hilton's dual voices, but with a touch more class.

Her lyrics are genuinely impacting, opening with "feet don't fail me now/take me to the finish line/oh my heart it breaks/every step that I take", building emotion as it build to the chorus: "don't make me sad/don't make me cry/sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough/I don't know why" and reaching the peak with the final line of the chorus "choose your last words/this is the last time/cause you and I were born to die". What's different on this track from her others is her almost religious references, mentioning searching for something, and the line "I'm hoping the gates tell me you're mine". Though she's no catholic schoolgirl, during a live performance, she changed the line "let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain" to the more explicit "let me fuck you hard..."

Her charm is her unassuming air and general innocence (the single opens with her whispering "What? Who me?"), and yet can drop f-bombs and say "ride or die" and "bitches" without changing character. She never once seems like she assumes, but every every so often, there's a glimmer in her eyes that seems to say "I know exactly what you think about me". The girl transfixes with both her appearance, revival of Americana and her discordant, other-worldly voice. Her music is indie in nature, but with pop-melodies, blues chord transitions and hip-hop stylings, Lana is defying the boxes people try and constrain her in. She's poised to become Pop's new "It Girl".

Lana Del Rey is currently signed to Stranger Records, and is planning on releasing her debut album under Interscope Records on January 31st 2012 Worldwide.

Wild Heart - Single Review

Official Single Cover

You may know her as the girl that guys get "steaming like a pot full of vegetables", and "you make me feel the la la la la la", but that's just the tip of the iceberg for her. Jenice Dena Portlock, a.k.a. Sabi is the former lead singer of the girls group "The Bangz", which have since split up, and Sabi's wasting no time establishing herself as a solo-act, featuring her vocals on Britney Spears' "Beautiful (Drop Dead)" and Cobra Starships' Top 10 hit "You Make Me Feel...".

However, on this track, gone is the 'hard' rapping, or the shimmering multi-layered hook, and it's replaced with a moody, stripped, dubstep tune, not resembling anything on the radio. "Damn this wild heart of mine, it's goin' get me in trouble" Sabi sings, over a pounding beat, courtesy of the Dream Machine, a.k.a. Let's Go To War, a member of which is up-and-coming producer Cirkut, who has worked a couple tracks (notably co-producing new singles "Domino" by Jessie J, and "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida, as well as a remix of Ke$ha's "Blow"). The song's strengths are the vivid lyrics, while not the most original, it's not a cliche-ridden track, and it's stark production. The melodies on this number read like a rapper-turned-singer, and there's not a lot here for R&B fans, it's a moody, atmospheric, electo-fest. Overall, it's a great tune, with some good, ass-busting promo, it might catch on, but it's a bit complex for the current radio listener, so it'll probably stay a buzz-single. 

Sabi is currently signed to Warner Bros. Music and her debut album is expected sometime in 2012, featuring production from Benny Blanco, Diplo, Ammo, DJ Cirkut, and The Cataracs.

Natalia Kills - Artist Profile & 'Perfectionist' review

How did Natalia Kills get her start as a musical artist? What Flo Rida song feautures background vocals from Natalia? Why is her name 'Natalia Kills'? Here's a rundown of her musical career and my track-by-track review of her debut album "Perfectionist", released April 1st, 2011.

Who is Skylar Grey?

Official Single Cover

2010 was a big year for seemingly new singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, with songwriting credits on "Love The Way You Lie" (all 3 versions, serving as co-producer on the Piano Version), "Coming Home" with Dirty-Diddy Money (which she's also a featured artist on) and "Castle Walls", the chilling T.I. featuring Christina Aguilera single. Interesting fact though, the only people credited on the single "Love The Way You Lie" (check it) was Holly Hafferman, a.k.a. Holly Brook, a.k.a. the girl who sings the chorus on Fort Minor's well known hit "Where'd You Go" (in which she also plays the piano).

As a solo artist, Holly has released material as recent as June of 2010, however any official pages the artist had have either been cancelled, like her Twitter, which had previously updated posts on her MySpace, the last entry was June 20th 2010, and her Facebook Page, the last post being July 28th, however there are many posts by people asking about her name change.

Stage Names are nothing new in Hollywood or the music industry, whether it's dropping your last name (Cher, Beyonce, Rihanna) or an entirely new one (Lady Gaga, Fergie, P!nk), it's not out of the ordinary. It would appear that Holly is taking a Gaga-esque approach to renaming herself, removing all former websites, music and pictures of herself from the interwebs, however it wasn't that hard to put two and two together.

So what does this mean for the new artist? Well, she is clearly talented, she has a great voice, writes great songs, and great piano pieces. Great. Hopefully we'll start to see more of her new persona, not just on other people's records, but putting out some of her own, and then actually being out there, seeing her perform live, be more visible.

Fun fact; Holly Brook WAS signed to label Machine Shop Recordings, run by half of Linkin Park, including Mike Shinoda, a.k.a. Fort Minor. Alex Da Kid, up-and-coming producer-genius behind "Love The Way You Lie", "Airplanes" and "Coming Home" has signed her to his production company Wonderland Entertainment. Together, they make magic, not unlike the Dr. Luke + Ke$ha combo that proved very successful.

EDIT: Here's the list of songs she has written/composed that have been listed on the BMI song list.