Something strange is happening in this week's new releases. It's as if in several different parts of the world a small number of popstars have independently decided that this is the week when pop must finally collapse in on itself.
Black Eyed Peas sampling Rhythm Of The Night? Sure! Pusha T chucking the Succession theme tune on a song? Fine! Hanne Leland banging out The Sound Of Silence, Sondr reworking Eiffel 65's Blue, Baby Ariel interpolating Lou Reed, Lucas & Steve singing new words over A‑ha's Take On Me? THIS IS ALL ABSOLUTELY NORMAL. There's a dodgy Freak Like Me remix knocking around somewhere this week, too. (Most of this stuff, I should add, hasn't made this week's playlist.)
To top it all off someone called Scott Walker has decided to launch a pop career in spite of the fact that pop's Scott Walker quota (which is 1) is already full, meaning that the Spotify artist page for one of music's most epic voices now lists his first posthumous release as being a money-for-old-rope house effort. I'm sure it's what he would have wanted.
Additional notes:
- Song Of The Week by about half a mile is E^st's new one Talk Deep, which finds her reunited with Jim Eliot and is both BREATHY and PERKY. It's the first look at her debut album I'm Doing It which is a) a really extraordinary new body of work, b) due next year and c) and a handy reminder, for the time being, that E^st's existing catalogue of pop is very much work revisiting.
- Harry Styles is veering into Zayn territory with Lights Up.
- Cher Lloyd has released a song called MIA but WHEN WILL MIA RELEASE A SONG CALLED CHER LLOYD?
- The latest Charlie's Angels song, How It's Done, features a lot of artists, none of whom will ever include this song in their live sets.