EP Review: “Mad Love The Prequel” by Sean Paul

So, I have to say this firstly, I am a big fan of Sean Paul! In my teenage years, I would just listen to his music if I was wanting to dance, like no joke! I am still that way, but my hips ache and pop more frequently than before.

I am very excited to talk about this EP finally! I am very proud of myself, I actually stayed away from listening to it. I like to express what I’ve heard for the first time because I think when I listen to it multiple times before reviewing it, my general thoughts will change with each play. However, when it comes to dancehall or EDM music in general, my thoughts rarely change – I usually like it or I don’t. That’s just how I roll sometimes.

So, we’re going to get into this right now and hopefully you like it.

We start off with “Naked Truth” that has Jhene Aiko, and it’s very light, definitely not exactly what I was expecting. I usually prefer heavier songs to begin an album or in this case EP, but I like the balance between Sean and Jhene’s dynamic vocals. What I thought was interesting though was since Sean is originally based in Jamaica, why does this sounds more bollywood to me, especially the drum beats. I’m not saying I didn’t like it or anything, it was just the first thing that popped into my head. Second is “Bad Love” with Ellie Goulding, and I really miss Ellie! This is also a mild song too, but it still has a nice groove. It’s not overwhelming and works really well with Ellie’s soft voice. I had a hard time not dancing to this, so we’ll say it’s a winner!

Next we have “Mad Love” and it features both David Guetta and Becky G. After hearing the two quieter tracks, you have this sucker and I love it to pieces! This is another one that I love dancing to, both day and night. I really like the exotic feel, such a party anthem and Becky G’s vocals are fun and kind of seductive in a way. The only song that doesn’t have a guest artist on board is “Jump On It” and I’m very happy that there is at least one with just Sean, although I would have liked to have more but since this is an EP, maybe if he releases an album later on, I’m sure there will be more like this. Anywho, the song itself is pretty mellow, the beat isn’t crazy but I like it as it was though. It was sexy too!

From the moment I saw that Major Lazer would be on this “Tip Pon It”, I was instantly like, “well, this is going to be awesome” and it definitely didn’t disappoint! It was so much fun and I couldn’t stop dancing when the bass dropped. Although it wasn’t a big drop, the sound itself changed and got bigger and I think that’s why I ultimately ended falling in love with it! Next there’s “Jet Plane Trip” with an artist that I had only heard once and it was a couple of months ago, Stefflon Don. This is actually kind of calming, if that’s the right word to use, it had a nice rhythm but it has more of a slow dance vibe. It was good though!

These are the last three songs on the EP, and we have “Body” featuring Migos. One of the reasons why I really liked this was because it mixed both dancehall and hip hop together. I love that combination, and I actually liked Migos on the track. I’ve always been so-so about them, and I don’t know why so don’t bother asking me that question. Next there’s “Tek Weh Yuh Heart” with Tory Lanez. This is another good one! I thought at first I’d be a little bored with it, but it’s actually pretty great! I think Tory was a good addition to it, his voice is soft and goes with the beat well. The last song is “No Lie” with Dua Lipa, and I have heard this one other time before starting this review and I don’t think I liked it very much. I am turning into a fan of Dua Lipa, but I am also very picky with her songs. This has a great beat and it’s fun. It’s the ideal, light end of summer type of song to me.

I think in general the EP was very good. It had a lot of interesting artists on it, each brought their own sound with them. One thing that I always tend to have issues with is that whenever Sean Paul works with other artists, they seem to be more prominent in the actual song and he just kind of fades into the back, so it’s just the singers and the happy, dance-y beat. That’s why I ended up track #4 a lot more than some of the others.

Have you listened to Sean Paul’s new EP yet? What were some of your favorites and thoughts?

 

The Rise of the French House Scene | A Guest Post by The Life of a Thinker

It all started with Daft Punk’s galactic, robotic synth-pop. Since then, artists such as David Guetta, Martin Solveig and Madeon have warped the French house scene. So, with that in mind, what’s next for this genre of music, and how has it evolved over the years?

First of all, we have to start with Daft Punk. At the moment, they have been relatively quiet with their music since the release of Random Access Memories in 2013 and the success of their track Get Lucky with Pharrell Williams. However, despite them lying low nowadays, the majority of French and international DJs admire their work (including Madeon – more on that later).

Aside from their choice of wearing masks when performing causing them to stand out, it was the duo’s (consisting of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) fusion of electro and funk which was one of the setting stones for the French electronic genre.

Since then, other DJs have added to the industry. David Guetta’s album Nothing But the Beat (and subsequently the 2.0 version) was, in my opinion, the album which brought the French DJ to the spotlight. For example, his track Titanium not only brought Sia fame, but was also a successful electronic ballad (almost) which a lot of people still remember today. As well as that, their other single together, Falling to Pieces branches out more into dubstep, and his latest tracks including Hey Mama drift more into the hip-hop genre.

Finally, we have Madeon, who – admittedly – is my favourite DJ at the moment. Last year, he released his debut album, Adventure, which saw the musician (real name Hugo Leclercq) collaborate with the likes of Kyan, Dan Smith (from Bastille), Passion Pit and Mark Foster (from Foster the People).

In terms of his style, Hugo still gives a nod to one of the original artists from the French house scene. In tracks such as Cut the Kid, Ok and Pay No Mind, Madeon uses imaginative and flourishing melodies in an off-beat fashion which develops upon Daft Punk’s original style.

But, at the same time, Leclercq brings something fresh and exciting to the French dance music industry. If anything, as well as making links to other music styles within his music, his ability to creatively tell a story through his songs is impressive. In his track, Imperium, Hugo tries something different and almost branches out into dubstep. Meanwhile, in his collaboration with Bastille frontman Dan Smith, Leclercq almost mimics their alternative style of music and in You’re On, the track is an electronic take on the euphoric pop songs of today.

So, as we enter another year of music, perhaps French DJs are about to make their mark? In terms of the genre of music, could it see a merge between pop, alternative and dubstep? Comment your thoughts below!

Liam
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Tune Tuesday: France

We head into another full week, but take a break and find some new music that maybe you haven’t discovered yet. Like I said in the Denmark post, I don’t mind artists and/or bands don’t speak in English. I would prefer they do but I kind of like the mystery of not knowing what they are saying. This also goes for techno and dance hits that don’t have guest singers on board the track. I like humming the beat instead. I have always have and I always get weird looks from people whenever I say that, but it’s true. While we’re on the subject of dance tracks, I also like when a dance album has a few tracks that are longer than your normal songs. Not all of them that are ten minutes long are going to be my favorites, because songs have a way of telling you there are done I think. I get very weary when I see some pop and dance songs are ten minutes long because there’s a 50/50 chance that it be a good thing or really, really bad.

Two acts that I have centered this post about are very different music wise, but have that certain mystery that I like a lot. Everybody likes a good David Guetta track. I mean, come on! You can try to deny it all you want but he’s got a lot of good shit to listen to. He’s actually the first DJ that I got into when dance became popular here in the states, and not Skrillex. I find David gets played on the radio more than both Skrillex and Calvin Harris combined. David also got me out of the small thing I had for deadmau5 but I’m always up for a new dance track from him though. This other is a band called Eths. Trying to figure what this word actually means in French was not pleasant! Anyways, I found this band when I saw this video of their current female single Rachel Aspe on France’s Got Talent or something like that. She looked like an innocent looking girl until she started to do the harsh metal screaming. It was awesome to see the crowd enjoying it and reading the nice and surprising comments below. I was definitely shocked and ever since then I’ve followed her on Facebook and I have actually listened to two of Eths albums on Spotify. Can’t understand a word they’re saying but I’m perfectly okay with that!

Turn Me On by David Guetta & Nicki Minaj

Sexy Chick by David Guetta & Akon

Harmaguedon by Eths

Crucifère by Eths

What are you listening to right now?
Next week we head into Germany! I have a LOT of different people to talk about in that post!
♥