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
Django Stewart has released his second single called "Just For Tonight." You may remember that we featured his previous single "Burning Bridges (For Your Love)" last month.
"Just For Tonight" is a sultry dance pop song. The bridge has some impressive falsetto vocals by Django. This emotional pop song definitely has a groove. Just have a listen ...
"Just For Tonight" was written by Django, Lewis Martinee (known for writing and producing for Exposé), and Ruben Cardenas. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Support the artist and buy your copy today! We've added it to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear "Burning Bridges" there. Enjoy!
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Django and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
Swedish artist ABELA is back with a new song called "In The Summer." You might remember we featured 2 of her songs last year: "Care Level 0" and "Good On My Own."
"In The Summer" is a pop rock song about heartbreak. If you like guitar-driven sing-a-long anthems, then this is for you. ABELA gives a great vocal performance, too. Have a listen ...
"In The Summer" was written by Antonia Bondén (ABELA) and Marcus Sandgren. It was produced by Marcus Sandgren and Hannes Andersson. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today! We've added it our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. WOO!
Love, Truth & Honesty,
— Sausi O'Sullivan
P.S. Please follow ABELA and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
Annie is back with a brand-new song called "Neon Lights" and it is a duet with Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears (we just featured his single "Do The Television" earlier this month).
"Neon Lights" is a glorious slice of retro synth pop. You may even do a double take and think, is this a song from the 80s? No, it isn't. With the talking middle part between and Annie and Jake, you realize this is high camp and just a lot of fun. Have a listen ...
"Neon Lights" was written by Annie and Stefan Storm, who also produced the track. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Stream the music when you can, but also buy the music to help support the artists. We've added it to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. Enjoy!
Love, Truth & Honesty,
— Sausi O'Sullivan
P.S. Follow Annie, Jake, and Poptastic Confessions on social media ...
Rikky Disco are back the world is a better place because of it! Not familiar with them? Well, they had their debut single in 2019 called "Getting High." It was a 6-minute affair! So their follow-up single is out today called "Deep In Love." And we are!
"Deep In Love" is a glorious slice of disco pop! Unashamed disco with real strings and horns. You will feel like you being wrapped up in Studio 54. So glamourous! So luxurious. Get your dancing shoes on for this one! We are so deep in love! Have a listen ...
"Deep In Love" was written and produced by Chris Tall and Fanacy (aka Rikky Disco). It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Stream the music when you can, but also buy the music to help support the artists. We've added "Deep In Love" to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. Enjoy!
Cheers then, —Davearama P.S. Please follow Rikky Disco, Fanacy, Chris Tall, and Poptastic Confessions on social media! Rikky Disco Facebook Instagram
Today is our 10th anniversary! That’s right, 10 years ago today, Davearama started this blog to share his love of the music that was often overlooked by the masses, whether it be independent artists, veteran artists, or artists from other countries. He wanted to show that there was much more to pop music than mainstream radio.
For our 10th anniversary, several of the artists that we have featured over the years have sent us videos wishing us a happy anniversary. It has filled our hearts with so much love. Here are those artists …
Christie is an amazing English singer who was featured in our blog before we even knew who she was. She was in a short-lived group called The Face and they had a 2012 song with Swedish producers Dream Beats called “Love Stuck.” The group broke up and Christie continued making music with the Dream Beats. They had amazing songs like “Wasn’t My Fault”, “Learning To Dance”, and “My Boyfriend’s Clothes.” We haven’t heard from her in a while, but she let us know that she has been writing songs. So we hope to hear more music from her in the future!
Carda is an artist from Melbourne, Australia. We found out about him and his music on Instagram, and we have really been impressed. He has guest singers on his tracks, which he produces himself. We know he has a bright future ahead, and we are looking forward to the journey. Our favourite Carda songs are “Never Let You Go”, “Caught Up”, “Need You Now”, “Sacrifices”, “Wasted”, and his latest “Giving You Half.”
Isle Of You are a Swedish duo of best friends Ida and Elina. We first saw their video for “Change Of Heart” in early 2019, and things were never the same since. We went bonkers for that song. And we knew from the music video that they had something special. Their 2019 debut album Party Until We’re In Love is a glorious slice of pop including “Hold Tight” and “Hard To Forget.” Not a bad song on the album. We even interviewed them. Earlier this spring, they got us hooked again with their fantastic song “Fallback.” Now they have just released “Ears Ringing.” It is a pop injustice that more people don’t know them or their music. We can’t say this enough: We love Isle Of You.
Chris Tall is Swedish producer who we first noticed with his glorious 2017 single “Lucy (Sun Goes Up).” We danced and danced to that song. We still love it to this day. Chris is also part of the duo Rikky Disco who have their second single out this summer called “Deep In Love.” As for Chris Tall songs, our favourites are obviously “Lucy (Sun Goes Up)” as well as “Weekend”, “Dancin’ Alive” and his latest “So Much Love To Give.”
Francine Belle is another artist who was featured in Poptastic Confessions before we knew who she was. Like Christie above, she was part of the group The Face who only released one song in 2012 called “Love Stuck.” We followed Francine on Twitter and then in 2014 found out about her fantastic collaboration with Parralox called “Crying On The Dancefloor.” We must thank Francine for bringing Parralox to our lives. In 2018, Francine amazed us with her debut solo single “Beautiful Heights.” She followed that up with “Diamond” and we even did a little interview with her. We are looking forward to new Francine Belle music.
Henrikes is a Swedish duo who we have featured for the past two years. Their songs are generally very mellow, beautiful, and captivating. They just released their first EP this spring and we love it. Our favourites are the gorgeous ballad “Nostalgia”, “Velodrome”, “Vintage Love”,“Stockholm”, and the latest upbeat single “Fictional.”
REYNA is an American sister duo who take great pride in celebrating their Mexican-American heritage. We haven’t known them for too long, but we absolutely love them. They have fantastic songs, and a great sense of humor — just watch their AMAZING music video for “The Way I Loved You.” That is probably our favourite REYNA song, but we also quite like “Coachella”, “Saw You With Somebody Else”, “Heartbeat”, “Clueless”, “Lonely Girl”, and their latest “Quarantine Baby.”
Jody Watley is a legend, and she is the Queen of Cool. Most people know her from her massive hits in the late 80s and 90s as a solo artist. Some may also remember before that, she was in the group Shalamar. And even before that, she was a Soul Train dancer. Perhaps what many don’t know is that Jody Watley is now an independent artist who continues to make fabulous music. She has always written her own music, and now she publishes music on her own label. She is in charge of her social media accounts, website, and all of her promotion. Jody Watley is an icon. She also has her own online boutique, JodyWatleyShop.com, where she sells clothing, candles, scented oils, and perfumes. We have featured Jody’s music many times in the blog over the past 10 years, and she has been very appreciative and supportive of our work. Dave and Arturo have seen her many times in concert and we are seeing her in 6 days! It will be our first concert in almost 2 years. We are very excited! In the past 10 years, Jody has had our #1 song of the year twice: “Nightlife” and “The Mood.” Our other favourite songs from her have been “Dancer”, “Sanctuary”, “SlowDance”, “Dancing Out”, “The Passion”,“Just Werrrk”,“Waiting In Vain”, “Good Good Reason”, and her 2020 single “The Healing.” We just love Jody Watley!
Davearama is the founder of Poptastic Confessions. He was inspired by the websites Popjustice and Scandipop. Initially, the blog was called Davearama’s Guide to Poptastic Music. He disliked the name as he didn’t like the focus on him, and it wasn’t long before the name changed to Poptastic Confessions. The mission stayed the same: highlight great music and encourage readers to support the artists.
Poptastic Confessions would like to thank everyone involved over the past 10 years. Please remember: streaming is nice, but buying the music really helps those artists make money to continue making the music that we love. Having said that, we have put together a 10-year anniversary playlist on Spotify of some of our favourite songs. We hope you enjoy!
Cheers then,
—The Poptastic Confessions Collective
P.S. Please follow Poptastic Confessions on social media …
Swedish duo Isle Of You have just released their second single of the year and this one is called "Ears Ringing." We really like it and think you will, too. We hope you didn't miss their previous single "Fallback" because it is fantastic.
Don't be fooled by how "Ears Ringing" starts off as it doesn't take long before the pace picks up and the music takes you to soaring heights. It is a haunting pop song that encapsulates you and it sounds like it could be part of the soundtrack for the end of the world. Isle Of You call this their post-pandemic song and say: "To us, 'Ears Ringing' sounds like driving in the middle of the night through Tokyo, with Rihanna's dance hits from the 2005 speakers. Like a moment where you do not get enough of the music. You just want to increase the volume more and more and more." Check it out on YouTube ...
"Ears Ringing" was written by Elina Danielsson, Ida Johansson, (Isle Of You), Jennifer Aalto, and Joakim Buddee, who also produced the track. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Stream the music when you can, but also buy the music to help support the artists. We've added "Ears Ringing" to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear "Fallback" there. Enjoy!
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Isle Of You and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
One of our favorite Swedish artists Clara Mae has a new single out today called "Not Sad Anymore." We love it and hope you do too.
"Not Sad Anymore" is uplifting track about getting over heartbreak. Clara captivates us with her emotional vocals. This has a really BIG CHORUS. It is epic. There is a music video that is out today, too. See it here ...
"Not Sad Anymore" was written by Clara Mae, Johan Lindbrandt, and Robin Stjernberg, who both produced the track. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today to help support the artist. We've added it to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear her Swedish-language single "Någon Annan" there. Enjoy!
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Clara Mae and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears has a new solo song out called "Do The Television." We just had a listen and liked it. We think you will, too.
"Do The Television" is a fun pop song that has a great melody and some really nice elements. It is sort of disco pop with a funky bass. The music video has some fun elements from TV over the years. Have a look ...
If It sounds like the Scissor Sisters song, that is because it was written by the Scissor Sisters for their third album, but not used. "Do The Television" was written by Ana Lynch, Jason Sellards, Scott Hoffman, and Vaughn Oliver, who also produced the track. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today! We've added it our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. WOO!
Love, Truth & Honesty,
— Sausi O'Sullivan
P.S. Follow Jake and Poptastic Confessions on social media ...
Swedish producer Chris Tall is back with another dance pop song called "So Much Love To Give." Yipee. We featured his previous single "Dancin' Alive" back in April, and it has been high on our playlist ever since.
"So Much Love To Give" is a fantastic song that starts off sounding very space age. The beat kicks in after the first verse and it turns into full-on dance pop song. Not sure who does the vocals, but they are very gospel, and there is a choir that comes in, too. Check out the music video ...
"So Much Love To Give" was written by Charlotte Almgren, Christian Jonson (aka Chris Tall), and David Andersson. It was produced by Chris Tall. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today! We've added it to our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear "Dancin' Alive" there. Enjoy!
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Chris Tall and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
You might remember that back in April, we reviewed the fantastic EP by Alice D called Where The Wild Flowers Grow. The lead track from the EP is called "Paper Roses" and we have sort of gone bonkers for it. Alice has officially released it as her current single, but in acoustic form.
"Paper Roses" is one of our favorite songs of the year so far. Like we said earlier, we've kinda gone bonkers for this track. We know we can all be about the dance beats, but songs like this remind us to slow down and enjoy life. "Paper Roses" is a beautiful song about not trusting someone with your heart. The music is breezy bossa nova. While we love Alice's original version, her latest version is an acoustic affair that slows down the song in the beginning and then the instruments sound so clear in the acoustic version. Alice sounds just as amazing with a new vocal take. Have a listen.
"Paper Roses" was written by Alice and Tim Blok. The acoustic version was produced by Julian Simmons.It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Support Alice D by purchasing your copy today. We love both acoustic and original versions so much that we have put them back-to-back on our2021 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify. You'll also hear Alice's previous singles "Drunk Talk" and "Diamond" as well as "Fairy Tales" there. Enjoy!
Cheers then,
—Davearama
P.S. Please follow Alice D and Poptastic Confessions on social media …
