SINGLES CORNER! 29/06/2009

It’s been a few weeks since we caught up with our pick of singles releases, but with a big name, a familiar voice or two and a song that seems inescapabale, we’re back. So read on for our opinions and then why not share yours?

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Island

Florence has made waves this year, steamrollering her way to awards and praise in the lead up to her debut album’s release (and check back later this week for our opinions on that). Dreamy and otherworldly, this is the perfect antidote to the synth pop of La Roux or Little Boots and we love it all the more for that!

LUCKY ELEPHANT – Edgar

Sunday Best

This friendly, summery track, skips along merrily, summoning up the feel of summer evenings on the bands native Isle Of Wight. Manu’s vocals sit strangely atop the mix, his French accent prominent and not quite in synch with the feel of the rest of the song, somehow though, it all comes together and forms something really quite lovely.

AYAH MARAR – My Spy

Hubba Hubba

Jordanian Marar’s debut single is a curious affair. It sounds like an od Nancy Sinatra or Eartha Kitt track remixed with modern technology. Interesting stuff and all held together by that haunting vocal. If Marar herself sounds familiar, you may remember her from collaborations with the likes of Calvin Harris and Jack Penate…

LISA HANNIGAN – I Don’t Know

Hoop Recordings

Sit back, take a deep breath and then breathe out all your worries one by one. Repeat for two minutes forty six seconds and you’ll understand what it’s like to hear this track. This is the aural equivalent of a load being lifted from your shoulders. Not big, not trendy, but lovely nonetheless.

THE THIRD DEGREE – Mercy

Tri-Sound

Yes, this is the Duffy’s Mercy, but not quite as you’d recognise it. The Third Degree have taken this song back to it’s roots. Imagine a big band rhythm & blues/northern soul sound with a wailing male vocal and you’re on the right path. The original has been played to death, but listening to this might just remind you how great a song it is, and either way, you’ll enjoy the experience!

NEWSFLASH: Lisa Hannigan to release debut solo single

Acclaimed Irish singer Lisa Hannigan will release the beautiful ‘I Don’t Know’ as a single on 29 June through Hoop Recordings.  The track is the first single to be taken from Hannigan’s debut album Sea Sew, her first solo release since parting with Damien Rice’s band. It follows her first headline tour of the UK, which culminates at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire tomorrow (13 May).  Hannigan will perform on BBC2’s Later…With Jools Holland tonight (12 May) and 15 May.
 
Described by the New York Times as ‘exquisitely ethereal’, Hannigan’s chance meeting with singer-songwriter Damien Rice led to a long period of collaboration and development that included Rice’s critically acclaimed albums O and 9.  When this collaboration came to an end after seven years, Hannigan was left with a notebook of songs and the desire and confidence to put them onto a record. Released through Hannigan’s own label Hoop Recordings, Sea Sew has already achieved Platinum sales status in her native Ireland.  The album has been nominated for both Best Irish Album at the Meteor Music Awards and the Choice Music Prize, whilst Hannigan was awarded ‘Best Debut Album’, ‘Best Irish Album’, ‘Best Irish Track’ and ‘Best Female’ in the 2009 Hot Press Reader Poll.
Hannigan’s first UK solo show took place at London’s St Johns Church in December 2008. thelondonpaper proclaimed, ‘A glorious London debut ahead of what promises to be one of the great solo debut albums of 2009’, whilst the Daily Telegraph wrote, ‘Stunning. Hannigan’s music leaves a lasting impression.’ The FT declared, ‘A beaming presence.  Rice’s next work is a plainer prospect without her. His loss is our gain’ and The Times simply put, ‘Mesmerising’.