Maria Mena has always been known as a rather brutally honest artist, even at the expense of exposing her innermost secrets and demons. This past July, she released her first two singles off her new album, Cause and Effect, in Europe. I'm not sure, however, if it will be released here in the states or not. Mena, who is known stateside for her 2004 hit "You're the only one"(you can view it here in case you don't remember it), gives listeners an honest look, with this album, into what has made her who she is.

After having a somewhat successful album here in the states with her 2004 hit, White turns Blue (which was a combination of songs from her first two albums: Another phase and Mellow), she chose not to release her fourth album, Apparently unaffected, here in the states. Which, I believe, was truly a shame since it was a good album and would have garnered her more hits and fame in the U.S. The first two singles from the new album titled, Cause and Effect, that have been released in Europe from her latest album, which is due to be released on September 16th in Europe, "Belly up" and "All this time", have gained heavy radio play in Europe. While Germany is the first country in which "All this time", a tune that finds Maria, in a way, writing to herself in an attempt to look at things in a positive view in a similar way that she did on her previous album's opening track, "Internal Dialogue", was released as the first single, "Belly up" was released as the first single in the rest of Europe. "Belly up", musically, shows the growth that Mena has experienced over the course of her musical career. While it still contains her signature pop sound and brutally honest lyrics that have been a mainstay on her previous albums, one can't help but hear the Imogen Heap influences on the song, among other artists. It effortlessly blends a sugary pop sound with soft rock touches here and there.
I hope that Maria's record label releases the single in the US, though, because I think that it could easily become a top 40 hit.
The song, lyrically, is a tune about the singer realizing that the relationship she has with her partner has run its course ("We lie belly up in the pool of us") even though she isn't quite over him ("I must say I'll always love you... even if it hurts"), something I know more about than I would care to admit. At times, one might feel like the song was almost specifically written about whatever relationship you have gone through at the time, which is rare with today's music.

Anyway, here is the first single "Belly Up"

In case you wanted to also listen to the single that was released in Germany, here is the link to "All this time" (which is a pretty good single as well): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZE_67BRdmk

You can visit her myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/mariamena
And on September 16th, you can purchase her fifth and latest album, Cause and Effect, here:
http://www.amazon.com/Cause-Effect-Maria-Mena/dp/B001DWIAQK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219585487&sr=1-5

Lights Out!

I was quite excited last month when I read that Santogold was releasing "Lights out", one of my favourite songs from her debut album, as her second single. Santogold, a Philadelphia native, has often been compared to M.I.A (who is also a friend of hers). But this song, in my opinion, proves that she isn't just an M.I.A carbon copy. It's quite different than most of the songs M.I.A has released, which aren't as mainstream as Santogold's music.
There has been a flurry of new acts who have brought back variations of New Wave, one of my favourite genres of music, and have added their own personal touch to it, most notably The Sounds, Black Kids, Bloc Party, Stereo Total, The Epoxies (who are one of my favourite bands, but who are broken up as of sometime early this year), and a few other select bands. The song, with its chunky guitars and synthesizers, harkens back to early '80's New Wave, unlike most of the bands that have had strong New Wave influences. It's sort of something The Cars or The Go-Go's might have done.

Anyway, here is the music video for the song.
It almost seems like it was shot in a hurry and doesn't look very creative even though they tried to make it that way with the different coloured walls and screens. I still like it, though. It's just not as good as I thought it might be.

Carolina Liar

It's been a while.
I didn't have time to post anything the last couple of weeks because I was in Europe. It was fun, but exhausting. Now that I'm back in the states, I'll have more time to post.

Anyway, I heard this song in a commercial a few days ago, and it caught my attention right away.
Carolina Liar's song "I'm not over" has played on the Hills, so you may be familiar with them already. Several blogs label them as the next big thing, but I wouldn't be so quick to pin them as the next big thing yet. Although, their organic pop rock is like a breath of fresh air. Here is the song "Show me what I'm looking for" that was on that commercial. Hope you enjoy :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpt_S6x-7-4