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

Jessie Ware's hugely anticipated debut album 'Devotion' yesterday capped a flurry of critical praise with a much coveted nomination for this year’s Mercury Prize. Having previously gone straight into the album chart Top Five, this accolade confirms Jessie as one of the UK's brightest new stars. With album single 'Wildest Moments' going on to the BBC Radio 1 A-list and recently receiving an intimate rendition on BBC One's Breakfast Show, now comes new single 'Night Light'. True to its name, 'Night Light' sees Jessie's powerhouse vocal shining with stirring emotion to a backdrop of swirling guitars, majestic piano flourishes and addictive down-tempo rhythm. Released ---- on PMR Records, ‘Night Light’ is equal parts modern soul and timeless pop that demonstrates yet again that Jessie Ware is in a class entirely of her own. Along with this, Jessie Ware will be embarking on her first UK and Ireland headline tour in November, with dates in L

In June, the London duo of producer George Reid and singer Aluna Francis released their debut EP, 'You Know You Like It' on the experimental Tri Angle Records. The three tracks seamless marriage of UK glitch and bass culture and sample based production with futuristic R&B sheen and British pop sensibilities packed a contagious punch, winning the accolades of everyone from the NME and The Guardian to Pitchfork and Spin, quickly highlighting AlunaGeorge as one of 2012's brightest hopes. Hot off the heels of that resounding opening gambit, AlunaGeorge now announce their new single, ‘Your Drums, Your Love’. Picking up where 'You Know You Like It' left off, ‘Your Drums, Your Love’ continues the duo’s streak of cutting-edge club pop with an enticingly downbeat R&B ballad. Reid’s elusively liquid synths, rumbling low-end bass and hip-gyrating electronic sway provide a glistening backdrop to the sweet allure of Aluna’s voice, soaring with the arching, fragile ref

Keane's new album 'Strangeland' entered the UK charts at Number one to make it their fifth consecutive number one album, equaling Coldplay and Radiohead, and beaten only by The Beatle s. 'Strangeland' has debuted in the top ten in twenty countries around the world. It is their fourth studio album, after 'Hopes & Fears' (2004); 'Under The Iron Sea' (2006); 'Perfect Symmetry' (2008) and the 'Night Train' EP (2010) which also topped the UK Album Chart. The critics hailed ‘Strangeland’ as one of Keane’s classic records and the once-heard, never-forgotten chorus of ‘Disconnected’ puts this classic sound centre stage once more. The Beatles-esque production of the song courtesy of producer Dan Grech (Radiohead, Lana Del Ray, The Vaccines, Howling Bells), colours the heartbreaking lyrics with a deceptively breezy pace, harmonies tugging at the emotional chords as only you could expect from one our biggest bands in the world. Cu