SINGLE REVIEW

SONG OF THE WEEK: Get Yourself Together by Dr Robert and Youth

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

‘I’ve known Youth for 20 years or so. We live up in the same mountain here in southern Spain in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. I’m not mad on industrial, metal dub and trance so it seemed only right and proper that, at weird times like this, I would do something unthinkable, like work together with Youth’, says Blow Monkeys frontman Dr Robert.

  • Read on for reasons including why you should seek out this lockdown collaboration

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Suffer by Hurts (Week beginning 5/7/20)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

If debut Hurts album Happiness was about love and loss and its follow up (Exile) about sex and death, then the new material we’ve heard from fifth album Faith (out 4/9/20) feels like a return to the lyrical themes that made their name.

  • Read on for reasons including live reviews from throughout Hurts’ 10-year career

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Tangled Man by Green Gartside (week beginning 27/6/20)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Folk singer Anne Briggs may seem a curious choice to cover for the first solo single by Scritti Politti lead singer Green Gartside.

  • Read on for reasons including why Green chose folk for his first new release in years

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Take Care Of You by Ella Henderson (week beginning 21 June 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Last year Ella had a top 10 hit with Jax Jones as a featured artist on his song This Is Real and the tropical house of this new self-penned single feels like a conscious decision to try to repeat that success.

  • Read on for reasons including why it’s time for Ella to release that second album

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SONG OF THE WEEK: My Freedom by Magnus Carlsson (week beginning 14/6/20)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LISTEN?: ****

OUT: now

Former Alcazar frontman Carlsson references two of his biggest Melodifestivalen hits in this positive, high-energy tale of coming out and finding happiness which is, appropriately, this year’s Stockholm Pride anthem.

  • Read on for reasons including a chance to listen to My Freedom and hear which former hits he namechecks

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Backfire by Dotter (week beginning 7 June 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Regular readers of monstagigz will be familiar with Swedish singer songwriter Dotter, real name Johanna Jansson, not least through bringing her idiosyncratic brand of indie pop to the last four Melodifestivalens.

  • Read on for reasons including to listen to Backfire and our hopes for what Dotter does next

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Rain On Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande (week beginning 22/5/20)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

Lockdown might mean there’s a great deal of life people are missing out on but dealing with it by declaring ‘bring it on’ through gritted teeth might be the best way to sum up the sentiment here.

  • Read on for reasons including everything we know about Gaga’s Chromatica LP out soon

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Voices by Hurts (week ending 23/5/20)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

The look is very lockdown: singer Theo Hutchcraft has longer hair than we’ve ever seen him sporting before and multi-instrumentalist Adam Anderson’s beard is fuller than we remember.

  • Read on for reasons including everything we know about Hurts’ 5th album

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SONG OF THE MONTH: Te Amo España by Divine Comedy (May 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: available to watch on YouTube

‘One day when the lockdown is over, We’ll get on the ferry at Dover, We’ll drive down to Spain, to say: ‘Hola!’ again, Te amo, Te amo España.’ Derry boy and Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon has Eurovision form.

  • Read on for reasons including how to vote in the Isolation Song Contest

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SONG OF THE MONTH: Kings And Queens by Ava Max (April 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

OUT: now

At just 162 seconds, this pop gem manages to combine so many influences and on first listen we’d describe it as very classic Eurovision sounding, both very ABBA and Ace of Base.

  • Read on for reasons including a link to watch the video for April’s lockdown song of the month

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