New Pop on the Block

Vincent – The Moment I Met You (Listen)
Super-talented Swedish pop bloke Vincent has been taking his time releasing the second single from his new album, but the wait has been completely worth it – I think this might be his best single yet! It’s in keeping with Vincent’s usual style, but probably the poppiest track he has done. If you love Erik Hassle and Ed Drewett (as you all should – they’re both amazing) you should give Vincent a try as his style is very similar and just as good. He has to be one of the most underrated pop acts around. Erik Hassle may have failed to gain the international success he was expected to achieve, but he is at least remembered fondly by those who believed he would achieve it. Vincent in comparison doesn’t have any awareness outside of Sweden. Hopefully that might change with this new album if it’s all as good as The Moment I Met You.
86% Poptastic!

Birdy – Shelter (Watch)
Teenage singer Birdy (aka Jasmine Van Der Bogaerde) is making a name for herself with stunning piano covers of recent indie favourites, first Skinny Love by Bon Iver and now Shelter by The XX. Not being a fan of The XX I was only vaguely familiar with the song, so I listened to it while I was waiting for Birdy’s version to make its way online. I couldn’t imagine how she could make such a boring song enjoyable. It turns out I don’t have a very good imagination. Her haunting rendition of Shelter shows that Birdy could make singing the phonebook sound arrestingly beautiful. Birdy’s voice is, in my opinion, on a parr with Adele’s, so if you also consider the fact that she is only 15 and currently still at school, it’s obvious that her debut album is going to be absolutely massive. Like Adele she’ll be at home on Radio 1 and Radio 2, plus she’ll attract the teenage audience due to her age. Is it even possible for this to go wrong?
68% Poptastic!

Taio Cruz – Troublemaker (Listen)
When an artist starts a trend with their music it’s always a big challenge for them to continue being so forward-thinking with their follow-up releases. Although I do like this new song from Taio, which is set to be the first single from his upcoming third album of the same name, I’m disappointed that it is so derivative of his previous hits. I’m especially disappointed as the verses rip off my least favourite of his singles, Dirty Picture. The chorus is much better though, exemplifying the euphoric sing-along urban dance style he is known for, and includes some brilliant “oh-eh-oh”s. I am sure it will be a hit, but as a lead single from the album that follows his massive international breakthrough, I don’t really think it’s strong enough. Then again, I wasn’t that impressed with Dynamite on first listen, and ended up loving it after a few more listen. So I’d better put Troublemaker on repeat and hope for the best!
79% Poptastic!

Emeli Sandé – Heaven (Listen)
What do you get if you cross Leona Lewis-esque belting vocals with the musical style of Yasmin? Emeli Sandé’s new single! I am a little disappointed that Emeli seems to have been moulded into this Yasmin/Katy B/Jess Mills style as I’m getting pretty bored of them already (for starters I can’t work out why there are so many of them when only Katy B is doing particularly well) but her strong vocals at least make Heaven stand out from the crowd. The track starts quite pleasantly but gets better as it goes on and gradually gets more dramatic. It’s a good example of a style that’s currenly in vogue, but I don’t see it doing any better than her competitors. To do that she needs to present us with whatever the next step in this style is going to be, or just do her own individual thing with the confidence someone as talented as her should have. Heaven would have made a brilliant Leona Lewis comeback single, though. Oh, what could have been…
72% Poptastic!