Ariana Grande tackles EDM with ‘Break Free’

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Ariana Grande’s music has been more R&B-leaning so far, which makes sense given she’s been many times compared to Mariah Carey for her vocal range, and Carey’s sweet spot has been powerful urban and R&B styles. But with her latest single, Grande delves further into EDM than she has in the past, with decent results. Continue reading →

Video released for Andrew McMahon’s ‘Synesthesia’

…and here’s another one! The debut today of Andrew McMahon’s ‘Synesthesia,’ which comes off his recent EP “The Pop Underground,” reminds me a bit of the recent video for Ariana Grande previously discussed here, with video projected onto a wall and the singer. However, whereas Grande’s video felt just a bit cheap, the colorful tapestry of interspersed moments and kaleidoscope-like editing kick it up a notch; the fact that Grande is signed to a major label and McMahon’s music is an indie release brings into sharp relief how much attention McMahon pays to all of this.  Stellar effort.

Required listening: Ariana Grande’s “The Way”

I listened to this the first time purely because it had reached iTunes’ top ten singles and I hadn’t heard of it before.  It sounds like a Mariah Carey song from about 10 years ago… how is it that a newcomer can do Mariah Carey better than Mariah Carey?  Continue reading →