Janelle Monáe, Dance Apocalyptic

Janelle Monáe is a 27-year-old American singer who's career pop-out after the hit collaboration We Are Young with fun.

Owner of a very powerful and soulful voice, Monáe is also a great songwriter, a huge performer and a unique talent.

Influenced by many great artists like James Brown or Gnarles Barkley, Janelle Monáe has a very personal groove who complements her iconic image and jazzy-upbeat-pop impressive songs.
She ain't afraid to take a risk and sometimes that creates this "hard to really embrace" her music moment but she is quite a key in this industry and her uniqueness and ability to innovate is surely bringing her up high right now.

After one successful album The ArchAndroid in 2010 and two EPs in 2003 and 2007, it's time for the really expected second album.

The Electric Lady is inspired by her mother and all the women in her life. About this new record, Monáe started to write and create the songs around rebel women who dared to live their life to the fullest and who didn't settled with was is done.
According to the artist, she created this persona who represents "the woman I wanted to see around me." When describing her, she also adds "I have hundreds of these paintings with the same feminine figure over and over... (...) My colleagues and friends told me to name this mysterious figure because she seemed to be a totem, a powerful symbol for me. So I named her The Electric Lady, and that's where the album's title came from."

Dance Apocalyptic is a very upbeat pop song, with a big reference to Mark Ronson music and following the footsteps of Prince's glam era, breathing a retro rockabilly guitar and 50's dance moves and inspiring to a huge rave, perfect to a "dance apocalyptic".

Dance Apocalyptic is the perfect zombie-end-of-the-world-incarnation personified by a powerful 60's energetic lady.

Bruno Mars, When I Was Your Man

Bruno Mars, the very known American singer-songwriter responsible for songs like Just The Way You Are, Grenade or The Lazy Song.

After the successful first album Doo-Wops & Hooligans in 2010, Unorthodox Jukebox, released in 2012, consolidated his career and talent, besides showing-off a new side of his work and inspiration.

After the tremendously big hit that the reggae funky lead single - Locked Out Of Heaven [read here]-, got, the hopes for the upcoming single were a bit high.
Gladly, Bruno Mars got higher than the expected, When I Was Your Man is the ballad of the record.
At first sight, it got really close to ballads from Elton John or Train but there's something really honest and real in this song.
The minimalism of the duet of Bruno, with his near-desperate-but-extremely-rhythmatic and his piano is, probably, the highlight of the song - showing off that there's no need to complicate what is possible to simplify, calling for his soul roots with strong glimpses of Prince, Michael Jackson and even, Stevie Wonder.
For sure, this single won for being so simple.

About the song, Bruno once said "When we started the record, I was like, "I'm never singing another ballad again", but that came from the gut - it's the most honest, real thing I've ever sang".
It talks about a heartbreak and how much he regrets for letting his girl go and not doing everything he could. It seems to be a letter for himself and especially, a reminder of all the things he should have done at the time.

"My pride, my ego, my needs and my selfish ways

Cause the good strong woman like you to walk out my life

Now I'll never never get to clean up the mess I made

Ooh and it haunts me every time I close my eyes"

Friendly Fires, Live Those Days Tonight

Friendly Fires are an English trio from Hertfordshire, created in 2006 and composed by Ed Macfarlane, Jack Savidge and Edd Gibson.

They have two studio albums released Friendly Fires in 2008 and Pala in 2011 and Kompakt, Carl Craig and Prince as their biggest influences.

More details about the band here.

Pala was released on May 16th 2011, its name came from Aldous Huxley's final novel Island, telling the story of a journalist shipwrecked on an fiction Island, Pala, creating a utopian society.
The album's cover was chosen amoung the private collection of the Norwegian fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø.

Live Those Days Tonight is the debut single was  first played on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1 on March 22, 2011. The single was later released on May 16, the same date has Pala's release.

The elements of this song are really funky, with a catchy samba rhythm mixed with synthesizered sounds and a bit of 80's pop. The combination might sound confusing but Friendly Fires really know how to make it work and incredibly well. I dare to compare Ed Mac's voice with Jamiroquai at some point turning everything more exciting.
Live Those Days Tonight is absolutely fresh and it will always surprise, you are always able to discover something new which is great!

"Face the ghost the keeps me on the ground
Take the best of what they talk about
In the cold outside we're waiting
To embrace the nights and pull it close
I'm gonna feel the love you had"

themed week // Prince, Purple Rain

Prince is the artistic name for the American singer, musician and songwriter Prince Rogers Nelson, who's career started in the late 1970's.

Known for his peculiarity, eccentricity and talent, Prince is the creator of songs like When Doves Cry, Kiss, Cream or Diamonds and Pearls.

At some point, Prince was known as The Symbol or The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, written as

With 25 studio albums, 2 live albums, 5 compilations, 12 EPs and many singles, Prince is one of the most complete and creative artists of the last decades.

Purple Rain is taken from the album Purple Rain released in 1984, belonging to the same titled movie.
The song is a mix between rock, pop, gospel and orchestral music and is considered to be one of Prince's signature songs.

Artists like Etta James, Ben Harper, Foo Fighters or Maroon 5 have performed this song.

"I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted one time to see you laughing
I only want to see you laughing in the purple rain"

Friendly Fires, Hurting

Friendly Fires are an English band, formed by Ed Macfarlane, Jack Savidge and Edd Gibson.

The band's name comes from a track taken from the English post-punk band Section 25's album Always Now, released in 1981.

Known for songs like Hawaiian Air, Paris and Blue Cassette, they are inspired by "lush shoegaze melodies" and "classic pop songwriting" naming as main inspiration Kompakt, Carl Craig and Prince.

Currently signed by XL Recordings, they've released 2 studio albums - Friendly Fires (2008) and Pala (2011) and three EPs - Photobooth (2006), Cross The Line (2007) and The Remix EP (2007).

Pala was released on May 16 2011 and charted at number 6 on the UK Albums Charts. The album names comes from Aldous Huxley novel Island - telling the story of a journalist shipwrecked on an fiction Island, Pala.
Hurting is the last released single from the album, confirmed on October 10, 2011.

"I can feel in my body
Standin' tall I make the moves

With the sun kissing my face
There's no way that I can lose"