Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

This summer, hip hop's pre-eminent Renaissance man DJ Khaled unleashed “Kiss The Ring” his highly anticipated sixth studio album and second release on Cash Money Records. The Grammy Award-nominated multi-platinum producer, personality, and recording artist continues to up the ante with each record, and this latest offering is no exception. Right out of the gate, the album's lead single "Take It To The Head" featuring Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, & Lil Wayne is a powerhouse anthem. It features soulful vocals from Chris Brown, an icy, airtight flow from Rick Ross and sexy savoir faire from Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne's inimitable, impenetrable rhyming. Khaled fires off his biggest hook yet over undeniable production and locks in unison with an A-list posse surrounding him. It's shaping up to be another smash. “Kiss The Ring” comes hot on the heels of an amazing year for Khaled. In 2011, he received his first Grammy Award nomination for the hit ...

Earlier this year Somebody That I Used To Know was a worldwide smash, now Gotye returns with his new single I Feel Better on the 3rd September . Somebody That I Used To Know, which was released in the UK in February, has been a universal hit; to date it has sold over 10 million, topped the charts in 18 countries (iTunes #1 over 40 countries) including the UK where it has sold over 1 million and still sits in the Top 20. Somebody That I Used T0 Know spent 8 weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and broke the record for a No.1 hit across four Billboard charts in the same week. The video has tallied up an astonishing 281 million YouTube hits and is still averaging over a million hits a day. I Feel Better is the contrasting new single that showcases Gotye's keen genre-hopping ability and remarkable vocal range. It is a joyous, up tempo track that revisits the Motown sound of Learnalilgivinanlovin, which was the breakthrough single from Gotye’s first album Like Drawing Bl...

Jess Mills came out of the blocks with her first offering in 2011 with the Breakage produced ‘Vultures’ quickly followed by her debut single proper, ‘Live For What I’d Die For’, both of which set the stage for her career as a solo artist . Jess had previously provided guest vocals for Breakage’s own material (namely 2011’s Top 40 hit Fighting Fire), which led the two to work together in the studio on her own music. Jess also toured the world as the live vocalist for Leftfield while her path to pop stardom was being forged. 2012’s ‘Pixelated People’ went further to prove Jess’s talents as a songwriter. A talent which at every turn is underpinned by her unwavering love of dance music, a genre, both underground and mainstream, that has shaped Jess as a person and musician since as early as she can remember. ‘For My Sins’ is her new single hot from the studio where she’s been holed up writing and recording her debut album in recent months. This new offering, as well as part of the album,...

I celandic alternative folk sensation Of Monsters and Men have emerged as the breakthrough international act of 2012. Whilst the excitement around the UK release of their debut album ‘My Head is An Animal’, out 27th August on Island Records, continues to grow, the band announce details of a 2013 UK tour. Of Monsters and Men’s rise to music’s upper echelons has been unstoppable. ‘My Head is an Animal’ has already enjoyed huge success outside the UK, topping the charts in Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Canada and America. Crafting epic songs inspired by their amazing homeland, fairy tales and personal history, the band went from battle of the bands winners to the must-see act at Iceland Airwaves and SXSW festival. The bands first single ‘Little Talks’ to date has received over 18 million views on YouTube and is currently on the A-List at BBC Radio 1. Of Monsters and Men began as the solo project of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir however it quickly grew with the additions of friends Ragnar “Ra...

Tinchy Stryder is set to release the follow up single to his chart busting ‘Bright Lights’ featuring pop starlet Pixie Lott. ‘Help Me’, due for release by 4th & Broadway/ Island Records on 1st October 2012, will be Tinchy Stryder’s 13th commercial single release to date. Produced by Art Bastian, Tinchy Stryder’s ‘Help Me’ is the latest cut to be taken from his forthcoming, fourth studio album, ‘Full Tank’ due out in 2013. Combining anthemic ‘hands in the air’ production with Tinchy’s charismatic lyrical flow and an infectious chorus, ‘Help Me’ is sure to not only become a common request on dance floors across the country, but also make an impressionable dent on the UK charts. Remixes of the single by fresh in-demand duo DEVolution (Lana Del Ray, Wretch 32, Wiley) will also be made available. The video for ‘Help Me’, directed by Dan Henshaw (Kasabian, Kano) and shot in New Orleans also acts as a perfect accompaniment with its striking montage of in tune visuals. Since the success...

DJ Shadow, rightly regarded as one of the most influential and consistently innovative artists to emerge from music in the last 20 years, has four collections of his finest recordings released on September 3rd via Island Records. “Reconstructed: The Best Of DJ Shadow” will be released on one single CD and double vinyl, while “Reconstructed: The Definitive DJ Shadow” will be issued as a multi-disc box set. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, each set will be individually signed by DJ Shadow and will include 8 discs, 1 x 12” vinyl record, as well as a booklet, featuring an essay by acclaimed music writer Dave Tompkins, and numerous photo. With stunning artwork and design by Trevor Jackson, the box set is the most ambitious and comprehensive retrospective ever assembled to represent Shadow’s output. “It’s never an easy task to sum up a career in one release,” says Shadow, “but this box comes pretty close. This is the definitive, final document of the sound I’m most known for.” The box w...

Mumford & Sons release their new single, ‘I Will Wait’ on the 24th September 2012. It is the first single to be taken from their second album, Babel, released on the same day . The story of Mumford & Sons has been written and mapped out on the road. Since before the release of 2009’s debut album Sigh No More, the band has rarely been off tour, but the recording of Babel brought them off the road and back into the studio. Many of the songs on the new record found their dynamic through years of tested live performance. ‘Whispers In The Dark’, ‘Lover Of The Light’, ‘Below My Feet’, ‘Lovers’ Eyes’ and ‘Hopeless Wanderer’ might be familiar to fans that have seen the band perform live over the past eighteen months across the world. Babel was produced by Marcus Dravs, a man whom the band trusts to replicate and to understand the importance of live energy as much as they do. In a similar fashion to its predecessor, it is a record that marries the upbeat with the intimate, and the unre...