With some surprise albums and new singles, March was a strong month for music. Many big names like Ariana Grande and ZAYN released new music and some great new artists peaked out from the background. After all, if Kendrick Lamar releases an amazing surprise mixtape, “untitled unmastered,” it’s sure to be a great month.
Starting with one of the most exciting releases of the month, Ariana Grande dropped two new singles that show off a different sound for her. “Dangerous Woman,” the first single, has a jazzy, edgy vibe to it and Grande’s vocals are even more impressive than usual. Then there’s “Be Alright,” a chill, dance track that is now my favorite song of her’s. It’s short and sweet with an infectious beat that just makes you want to dance. It’s a new sound for Grande but definitely more mature, which is a great move.
Newcomer Brayton Bowman also released a surprising new track this month, a mash-up of “It’s Gonna Be Me” by N’Sync and “Work” by Rihanna. The song is called “It’s Gonna Be Rih” and it’s one of the greatest mash-ups out there. It’s a heavy electronic redo of both songs, but it works so well together and Bowman’s voice fits great with both. It’s extremely creative and uses both tracks to their full potentials.
https://soundcloud.com/brayton/its-gonna-be-rih-1
This month also brought us Låpsley’s debut album, “Long Way Home.” I’ve spoken on Låpsley before and I think she is a really talented artist, which really shows in this album. The strongest song on the album is “Tell Me The Truth,” a subtly angry song that ranges from soft, sultry melodic lines to aggressive, low choruses. Also check out “Seven Months” and “Heartless,” two great songs from a very solid album.
In music video news, Years & Years released a video for their single “Desire” with added vocals from Tove Lo. It is a heavily sexual song, which is recreated in the video. The director, Sing J. Lee, spoke on the song in an interview with DIY Magazine, “[The song is] a cyclical conflict of being a slave to desire and the blurring between the lines of lust and love,” which is exactly what the video expresses. It also has a heavy amount of queer representation, which isn’t seen as often in mass media.
March was pretty big month for music. Not everything was great, like the over produced and pop sellout song “No” by Meghan Trainor, but there were still a lot of ups, like the Skrillex remix of “Show Me Love” by Hundred Waters featuring Chance the Rapper, Moses Sumney and Robin Hannibal. The good thing is a lot of singles came out, meaning we are sure to get some albums from great artists very soon.
https://play.spotify.com/user/universityofdenverclarion/playlist/4T4apwuQYZiZKUmnIVRwhe
