Welcome to Poptastic Confessions! This blog is dedicated to glorious, unashamed alternative pop music! We hope to share new music with you that you might not have heard before because it is usually overlooked by the masses. Of course, we'll always encourage you to buy the music legally to support the artists. Enjoy! —Davearama, editor of Poptastic Confessions
Dear Poptastic Readers, Alphabeat have released their second single of the year and this one is called "I Don't Know What's Cool Anymore." You might remember we featured their previous single "Shadows" in March.
So what's the new song like? It is a fun song where they talk about feeling old because they were born in 1985. <Insert eye roll here.> We get it, they are in their mid-30s now and commenting on how the next generation are the hip ones. It happens. It is a fun song, though. Check out the music video here ...
Dear Poptastic Readers, We've been meaning to feature this one for a couple of weeks now, so many of our readers might already know about this one. But in case you don't, Swedish artist Tove Lo has a new song out with Kylie Minogue called "Really Don't Like U."
"Really Don't Like U" is fun pop song about running into ex at a party and having a hard time having fun while they are there. Check out the lyric video ...
"Really Don't Like U" is available on digital outlets everywhere. In fact, it is on Tove Lo's new album called Sunshine Kitty. Purchase your copy today. We've added the song to our 2019 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. Woo!
Love, Truth & Honesty, —Sausi O'Sullivan P.S. Please follow Tove Lo, Kylie Minogue, and Poptastic Confessions on social media .... Tove Lo Facebook Instagram Twitter
Dear Poptastic Readers, Last week the Pet Shop Boys released a new single with the synth-pop group Years & Years called "Dreamland."
So what's the new song like? It's a mid-tempo duet between Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant and Years & Years singer Olly Alexander. Check out the fun lyric video here ...
Dear Poptastic Readers, The newly reformed Shakespears Sister has just released their new single and music video called "When She Finds You." It is a stark change of pace from the triumphant comeback anthem"All The Queen's Horses" earlier this May, which was featured on their greatest hits album Singles Party in August.
The orchestral, “wall-of-sound” intro sets the scene for a more reflective and sentimental composition from Siobhan and Marcella. This song is a duet between Siobhan and guest vocalist Richard Hawley, while Marcella adds her signature operatic adlibs to the chorus and backing vocals to the verses. The production is very nostalgia-tinged and an extension of the western sound explored earlier this year.
The music video is a theatrical affair, directed by the genius Sophie Muller—who is part of the group’s DNA. Keeping the film noir look, it ends with a throwback to the classic Hormonally Yours videos that parodied Hollywood classics like Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? We won’t spoil it, just have a look …
Dear Poptastic Readers, We hope you enjoyed our interview with Isle Of You this week. Today we feature another pop duo sensation: REYNA. This wonderful sister act just debuted their music video for their latest glorious single called "The Way I Love You." We actually featured the song over 2 months ago and we've been loving it all summer long.
So what's the music video like? All parts FABULOUS! It is a camptastic telenovela that you won't want to miss. Pay close attention to the subtitles, as they are quite funny. We absolutely love their sense of humor, not to mention their music. Have a look ...
Stay tuned to Poptastic Confessions for this song is likely to do well on our year-end countdown in December in our Top 100 Songs of 2019. Cheers then, —Davearama P.S. Please follow REYNA and Poptastic Confessions on social media. REYNA Facebook Instagram Twitter Poptastic Confessions Facebook Instagram Twitter Poptastic Confessions 8th Anniversary
Please like and share our links so that more people hear and buy the music!
Dear Poptastic Readers, If you don't know the Swedish duo Isle Of You, you simply must check out their AMAZING debut album Party Until We're In Love, which came out this summer. It is one of our favourite albums of the year. Our posts about their singles and their album caught their attention on social media, so we asked them for an interview. They kindly agreed. So here is Isle Of You ...
Isle Of You is Ida and Elina
We
are so happy that we found out about your music this year. We wish we would
have known about you earlier, but better to be a bit late to the party than to
miss the party altogether.
We’re
so happy that you found us! Exactly… we’re always late to parties, sessions,
meetings and so on but we’re working on that! Bad habit...
Ha!
You’ve been best friends since the age of 10. At what age did you realize that
you would want to be singers/songwriters/musicians?
Well, both of us started
to sing before we could talk. When we realized that it’s actually possible to
sing while playing guitar, it was ground breaking. We met through guitar
classes at the age of 10 and became best friends immediately and sat up the
goal to sell out Madison Square Garden even before we knew three chords. We
started writing songs and just never stopped…
I don’t think we’ve ever
said the words “let’s start a band”...from one day to another, Isle of You
suddenly just existed. Like the universe. Big Bang, Isle of You was born. So
long answer short: since forever!
Nice!
How did you decide the name Isle Of You as your group name? It took us a few
days to say it out loud and have that a-ha moment.
The first years we just
called ourselves Ida and Elina, but those names are like the most common names
in Sweden, and impossible for non-Swedes to say out loud, so we decided that we
wanted a bandname. To begin with: we are from a small island outside of Sweden
and thought a lot about island-related names. At first, we thought about Isle
of Two, and Isle of Us, etc. But then we were just like “Why fight it?” and chose
Isle of You. Cause it sounds like I love you. We write about love and are both
suckers for love so it just felt good!
Very
good. Your first single was a charming acoustic pop song called “50+1” in 2017.
Why didn’t make the new album?
Yeah, that’s right! It’s
so funny that you remember that old banger! We changed our soundscape after
that single, cause you know, we grew older, got more confident in the studio
and started to feel that we could lean on our songwriting instead of our
acoustic guitars. I mean, today we love the 80s synthesizers, arpeggios, and
heavy basses, so it comes naturally to make that kind of music. Back in the “50+1”
era, we listened a lot to Taylor Swift and had a lot of acoustic preferences.
So the main thing is, for us, to just write that kind of music that we wanna
listen to ourselves.
Did
you ever hear from Taylor Swift about the name drop?
Haha, no, unfortunately
we haven’t heard a word from Taylor Swift, but we’re still waiting (with just
one shoe).
Did “Mindcrime” ever get
an official release? It doesn’t appear in digital outlets in the USA. What
happened there?
(Somebody
committed a crime and stole it from streaming devices.) We had a record deal
back then, but only in Scandinavia. So it’s only available in that territory…
and that’s why “Mindcrime” sort of became a mystery for a lot of people. Sorry
about that.
It happens. “Skintight”
was the next single, and is on the new album. In the USA, we can see a video
trailer on YouTube, but we can’t see a video. Is there one? If so, could you
make it available worldwide?
There
is no video for Skintight, sorry again! If there was one, we would make it
available for everyone, of course. But it’s just a trailer, for social media to
make people curious about the single… I guess we succeeded? We make all
of our content ourselves, so back when we made that trailer, we probably got
too caught up in writing a new song and forgot about finishing a video.
Your
bio says that your third single “Bodyguard” was written after you performed at
a high security prison in Medellín, Columbia. How did two Swedish young women
like yourselves get that gig?
Well, we were going to
Colombia to travel and meet up with our friend. Six weeks without music would
make us go crazy, so we thought about performing at Hard Rock Café, but it was
a bit tricky to get in touch with the owners. At the same time, we found out
about a Swedish foundation called Ankarstiftelsen. They are working with
prisoners in Colombia and asked if we wanted to perform at a prison for women.
Without thinking, we said yes, but in retrospect, we had no idea what we signed
up for (which was going to a high risk security prison in Medellin, the town of
Narcos, the country where war is still a fact and there’s, in some areas,
shootings on the streets).
When we arrived at the
prison, we found out that plans had been changed so we were gonna perform for
the male prisoners as well. After walking through three security gates and
passing prisoners pressed against the bars we found ourselves face to face with
the prisoners at this special/peculiar department. The prisoners told their
stories, most of them had penalties of 70 years because of various crimes, like
murders, drug dealing, or gang criminality. When they were finished it was our
turn. So we played our poptastic
catchy songs for them, like “50+1.” And in that moment, we realized the power
of music, how it connects people no matter their stories.
Amazing
story. Speaking of connecting with stories, “Backseat Ceremony” is fabulous
song that, like many of your songs, we can’t seem to get it out of our heads!
What was the inspiration there?
Thank you! When we moved
to Stockholm, from our small hometown, we were struck by the most overwhelming
feeling of freedom and were literally high on life. We fell in love with
everything, the city, the pulse, the clubs…and a lot of guys. “Backseat
Ceremony” is about falling in love with a stranger and in that moment wanting
to spend the rest of your life with that person, so even marrying that stranger
in a taxi feels like a good idea.
Love
it! And speaking of love, “Change Of Heart” was the song that we first heard by
you and it has a special place in our hearts. That wonderful chorus! You must
have known you were on to something special when you were writing this one.
Thank you!!! You guys!!
<3 <3 Actually… Yes! haha. The moment Joakim Buddee, our amazing
producer, made the bassline, we all felt like “okay... this is gonna be good.”
The prechorus is quite intense and desperate, so we wanted the chorus to be
more simple and hopeful but still holding on to the darker theme of the song!
We always start with the melody, and so when we felt that we had the lyrics all
set, we were all like screaming! That feeling, when you’ve created something
out of nothing and you love it, that is like a nicotine combined with dopamine
rush!
We
don’t smoke so we’ll take your word for it! Ha! “Hold Tight” is always one that
we wonder if you are taking turns singing solo or anyways singing in unison.
Can you clear this up for us?
Actually we’re always
singing both, and mixing our voices together so tight that they almost sound
like one. We use to say that our voices are better together. They are very
different. Ida’s voice is more powerful and straightforward while Elina is more
airy bloomy sounding. Both are important for our sound.
Very
cool. “Hard To Forget” is the amazing current single and it was also released
around the time of your debut album. How does it all feel for your music to go
out into the world, and not just in Sweden?
We’ve always wanted to go
worldwide with our music, but it’s still feels surrealistic that people from
US, Canada and Mexico are listening to our songs. We love our fans from the
bottom of our hearts and they’re so important to us!
We love what Rebecca and
Fiona do. We’ve met them a couple of times and they are amazing. We’re also
very inspired by other cool and powerful girls like Robyn, Tove Lo, Little
Jinder, and Charlie XCX.
Awesome!
Of course we love Robyn, too. We’re sure you can’t reveal too much, but what’s
next for Isle Of You? Inquiring minds want to know.
Well, we’ve been touring
this spring and summer, and we are not finished yet. After that we will go back
in to the studio and create new stuff, we are in a very inspired mode at the
moment! So keep your eyes and ears open!
There you have it. Isle Of You's debut album Party Until We're In Love is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today. You will want Isle Of You to be part of the soundtrack of your life when you look back on 2019. Have listen here ...
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Isle Of You and Poptastic Confessions on social media.
Dear Poptastic Readers, Australian artist Carda has a new single out today called "For A Little" featuring a singer named SØPHIA. Now you might remember that back in February, we featured Carda's previous single with Cirillo called "Caught Up."
"For A Little" is a really nice pop song with a wonderful melody. We aren't sure who SØPHIA is, but she has a really lovely voice. Perhaps we will hear more from her. Check out the lyric video here ...
Stay tuned in December to see where "For A Little" and "Caught Up" will place on our year-end list. Love, Truth & Honesty, —Sausi O'Sullivan P.S. Please follow Carda and Poptastic Confessions on social media. Carda Facebook Instagram Twitter
