New Music; Katy's dream comes true - Ace of Base are back!!!

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Following the enormous worldwide success of California Gurls, pop superstar Katy Perry's latest offering is the slightly slower tempo Teenage Dream. Not too dissimilar melody wise to its predecessor, it's another surefire hit with an instantly memorable chorus, plenty of attitude and oomph and far better than what the pretenders trying to steal her crown are coming out with. For somebody once tipped to be a one hit wonder after I Kissed A Girl, she's made that tricky transition to bona-fide megastar and should have a very long career ahead of her. Her debut album, One Of The Boys, was easily one of my favourite albums of 2008, the singles as well as Self Inflicted in particular, so I can't wait to see how the album of the same name shapes up when it's released at the end of August. The early signs are very promising indeed!



Ace Of Base - All For You

Out are Jenny and Linn, and in are Clara and Julia with a change of (noticeably younger) vocalists from the Swedish pop band. Ulf and Jonas remain behind the scenes, therefore the actual music and production doesn't stray too far away from what you'd expect. It sounds modern and contemporary yet delightfully 90's influenced at the same time. Melodically I'm reminded of Cutting Crew's (I Just) Died In Your Arms funnily enough but there is more than enough here to convince you that this is the same band that released such classics as The Sign, All That She Wants, Life Is A Flower and Don't Turn Around. Instantly catchy, typically Swedish, I was quite worried about the new line-up seeing as I loved Jenny and less so Linn, but luckily we have the former's solo career to look forward to as well (which was kick started with the excellent Here I Am), so two Ace of Base-related albums coming very soon, I can't wait!!!



Lena Meyer-Landrut - Touch A New Day

Following the monster European smash, and of course Eurovision Song Contest winner, Satellite, was never going to be easy for German teenager Lena. She opened her chart career there with three simultaneous top five hits of course, Satellite, Bee and Love Me. With the arguable highlights of the album already out, yet only one of these a 'traditional' single, a new single was needed and the pleasant and breezy, but clearly album filler fodder, Touch A New Day was chosen. It's leagues behind Satellite in terms of quality, but is clearly aiming for a different audience, which should help shift more copies of the album if nothing else. At the time of writing it's fallen from #28 to #38 in the space of a few days on Germany's iTunes which probably suggests that they are suffering from 'Lena fatigue' or maybe that a better single should have been picked, Not Following or her gorgeous cover of Jason Mraz's Mr Curiosity for example. The last thing Germany will want is for their new superstar and national treasure Lena to become a one hit wonder (well three I guess, how confusing!). But she's been confirmed to represent her country again next year to attempt to 'defend' her title, so she should have another #1 single on the way next March. The chances of having another Eurovision winner on her hands are probably slim to none.