New Pop on the Block

Backstreet Boys – If I Knew Then (Listen)
When I got the new BSB album I gave it one listen and decided it was all boring, apart from the Max Martin song and the two by RedOne, so I was very surprised when the third single was not the incredible unreleased RedOne track, All of My Life, but a Soulshock and Karlin song called If I Knew Then. However, it all became clear when I gave it another listen – If I Knew Then may not quite reach the great heights of RedOne (an impossible goal for anyone but Max Martin, really) but it is a cool, current-sounding pop-r&b song that brings the boys right up to date. In fact, I heard it on Capital FM recently and as the presenter didn’t name the artist, I imagine most other listeners thought it was the latest US R&B boy singer, someone like Chris Brown or Mario. After sixteen year and seven albums, the BSBs are still the best boyband around!
88% Poptastic!

Eliza Doolittle – Skinny Genes (Watch)
I’ve been a fan of Eliza for ages, despite no-one else really seeming to care, so I’m really excited and feeling quite vindicated to see her among today’s most watched music videos on YouTube. Skinny Genes is my favourite of Eliza’s songs, although she does have many ace ones. I’m very pleased that it’s her first single, as I always thought it could be a huge hit. It is a bit weird that a song I’ve listened to so much already is only now being released, and it’s strange suddenly having a real person to associate with the voice, as I hadn’t seen many photos of Eliza before. I imagine that the idea was to wait until now to release the single so Eliza could get onto the ‘ones to watch’ lists, but with others like Ellie, Marina and Daisy playing the same tactics, I’m concerned that the less buzzed about Eliza could lose out. Let’s hope I’m wrong.
86% Poptastic!