Her debut album, Hall of mirrors, is a declaration of love, an exchange “all that I’ve learned on my life path, I now try to give it back as best I can” she says again. – a beautiful way about her and a collection of 14 gem songs like “Imagine One Day”, “Bang Bang”, “Lost” plus a very nice cover of Ike Turner’s “Working Together”....
James Blunt is a former Royal Air Force soldier who saw active combat during the NATO mission in Kosovo, an experience detailed in his debut album’s harrowing closer, “No Bravery.” Judging from the rest of BACK TO BEDLAM, he’s also in the market to become either a one-man Coldplay or a more commercially acceptable version of Elliott Smith. A collection of midtempo ballads based around Blunt’s acoustic guitar and piano and his high, reedy voice, BACK TO BEDLAM is tailor made for a generation of sensitive college girls and their frat-boy boyfriends. Blunt shares Smith’s knack for pretty mopery and self-destructive tendencies (several songs, most obviously the opening “High,” tacitly romanticize drug use), as well as Coldplay’s talent for decorating simple melodies with effective production tricks. Tracks like the UK smash “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover” are backhanded anti-love songs that suggest Elvis Costello’s lyrical wit, and add a little bite to this otherwise radio-ready set of tunes....
Happyland is the second album by Swedish singer Amanda Jenssen, who finished second in Idol 2007. It will be released on October 28, 2009. The first single off the album was the title track “Happyland” and it was released
September 28, 2009 and entered the Swedish Singles chart at number 3....
Hafdis Huld, acoustic / folk artist and singer-songwriter was born in Reykjavik, Iceland and now divides her time between the UK and Iceland. From the age of 15 she sang and toured the world with iconic Icelandic collective GusGus. When they weren’t touring, Hafdis took time out to star in several Icelandic films....
One of the more quirky but thoughtful albums of the year comes from a San Francisco band fronted by a multi-lingual singer who has a day job as a hospital doctor. Rupa Marya moves effortlessly between different musical styles and languages because she has spent much of her life crossing borders. After all, her parents are from India, she was born in San Francisco, but spent much of her life in southern France before returning to the west coast to study medicine. She started out playing in Bay Area clubs and cafes, but surely deserves to become something of a global celebrity thanks to her cheerfully cool and soulful vocals and ability to write songs that switch between Gypsy and Mexican styles, reggae, French chanson and Indian themes, with a dash of jazz and hip-hop thrown in – but without sounding forced. The songs are in Spanish and French (and just one in English) and her guitar work is matched by her five Fishes playing bass, drums, cello, accordion and trumpet. The result is a set that constantly switches direction. This is a band who sound even better playing live, and they’ll be back in the UK later this month....
Gipsy Kings
Alicia Keys
Frida
Katie Melua
Silje Nergaard
