JLS: album #4 – five things we have learned!
JLS are one of those groups who seem like complete work-a-holics… it feels like just yesterday they announced their previous album and now here we are in September 2012 with ANOTHER one on the way already. Still, we’re not complaining if the music stays as poptastic as it always has been!
JLS have had more number ones in the UK than any other X Factor act and have sold out over ten nights at London’s O2 Arena, a record matched only by pop icons Take That and the Spice Girls! But that’s old news, you want to find out what’s NEW on the good ship JLS, right? Right. So here it is:
Album #4 is called Evolution
It will be released on 5 November 5 and the lads chose the title because it explains their new sound. This will be their fourth album since graduating from The X Factor in 2008. An album per year! Wowzers.
Their new material is “very grown up”
JB, Aston, Oritise and Marvin describe the first single as being a sleek, modern club song which takes the group out of pop territory. Hang on a second – out of pop territory? Will we need our passports?!
The single? It’s called… ‘The Hottest Girl In The World’
…and according to the lads themselves, they “go in” on the high notes. Well, it just wouldn’t be a JLS track without a few acrobatic vocals thrown in for good measure, would it?!
They’ve worked with some pretty BIG producers…
‘The Hottest Girl In The World’ was produced by Bangladesh, who has worked with Beyoncé and Usher! That’s quite a pop pedigree. Other producers on the album include Rodney Jerkins (Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears) and The Runners (Chris Brown, Rihanna)
A deluxe version of the album will be released too!
It will include bonus tracks and previously unreleased tracks! Rumour has it some acoustic versions of your favourite JLS hits might be on there too.
Stay tuned to Maximum Pop! as we bring you ALL the JLS news as we get it.
Are you excited for Evolution or do you think JLS should take a break? Have YOUR say in our comments box below or on Twitter @maximumpop
Do Marvin and the boys still make you wanna OH OH OH OH OH OH?
Mutya Keisha Siobhan – five things we’ve learned!
So, the original Sugababes have reformed, but of course they can’t call themselves Sugababes because that’s still Heidi, Jade and Amelle (except when it comes to stationery and gift wrapping, but we’ll ignore that because frankly this is making our heads hurt already). What matters is that Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan – the ice cool trio who scored early Suga-hits ‘Overload’ ‘New Year’ and ‘Run For Cover’ – are back, back BACK!
Now trading under the imaginative band name Mutya Keisha Siobhan, they’ve been secretively working on new material for the best part of a year now and we’re finally close to hearing the first fruits of their labours. Here are five things we learned from their first ever post-reformation interview with the ever-wonderful Popjustice.
The album isn’t out until 2013
Boo! But there is a new single pencilled in for November. Does this mean an X Factor performance could be on the cards? That intro-video would certainly be interesting…
They’ve been working with some interesting people
Teen production whizz MNEK, who co-wrote ‘All Fired Up’ for The Saturdays and ‘Home Run’ for Misha B, is one such interesting person. Others include ex-Blazin’ Squad members Mojam, Spice Girls wizard Biff Stannard and Girls Aloud architects Xenomania! OMG!
Some song titles ‘n’ stuff
‘Drum’ – a repetitive dance track inspired by Rihanna
‘Back in the Day’ – a TLC-esque early 90s jam
‘Too In Love’ – the first song they sang together on since the One Touch days
‘Love Me Hard’ – written with Biff and former Triple 8-er Iain James. Remember Triple 8?
Siobhan’s favourite post-One Touch Sugababes song is ‘Stronger’
She also likes ‘Freak Like Me’. The girls are open to performing songs from post-Siobhan incarnations at their gigs. We wonder what Heidi, Jade and Amelle will make of that?
They wouldn’t say no to a Girls Aloud duet
But they’re not – unsurprisingly – so keen on the idea of getting together with the current Sugababes lineup.
Overall it sounds like the MKS “project” is going pretty swimmingly so far, and the girls are determined not to repeat the mistakes that saw them fall apart the first time around. With some seriously cool producers on-board and fan excitement at fever pitch, this is bound to be one of the most interesting comebacks of the next 12 months. We do sort of hope the “other” Sugababes come back with some goodies too though, there’s plenty of room on pop’s playground after all, and a good old fashioned chart battle could be just the thing to boost record sales for both groups.
Are you on team MKS, or will Heidi and co always have your heart? Have your say in our comments section!
Ten things we want to see at this Spice Girls Olympics reunion!
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First they were doing it, then it looked like they’d been snubbed, then they’d been offered the chance but Victoria wasn’t on board… frankly, following the Spice Girls’ ‘Will They, Won’t They?’ Olympics saga has been more of an emotional rollercoaster than all of the actual sporting events combined! But with just hours to go, it finally looks like they’re definitely going to be taking to the stage for the Closing Ceremony. Here’s how we want it to go down…
• They must open with ‘Wannabe’. The thought of Mel B’s dirty northern cackle booming through the speakers and the clatter of platform shoes rushing towards the stage before they emerge to that intro is just too amazing not to happen.
• Geri needs to be wearing the Union Jack dress. It’s London, it’s the Olympics and Team GB are doing us proud across the board. There could be no more appropriate occasion to bring back Ginger’s most iconic ensemble.
• Mel B needs to be wearing at least 70% leopardskin print, because that’s how Scary Spice rolls.
• Melanie C needs to rock the ponytail. Olympics = return of Sporty Spice. C’mon, that’s a no brainer.
• Emma needs to be in Baby pink and Victoria needs to be wearing the Little Black Dress, because if the other three are doing it old school… (although come to think of it, Posh is still always wearing the Little Black Dress).
• They somehow need to get as many of the hits as possible into their running time. We’re thinking a medley of ‘Stop’, ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and ‘Say You’ll Be There’ could be time-effective and amazing.
• We need at least a few bars of ‘Viva Forever’. They have a musical to promote and it’s clearly their best song.
• There needs to be a lighters-aloft moment to
‘2 Become 1′.
• They need to close with ‘Spice Up Your Life’, accompanied by a massive light show and fireworks. It would be a truly incredible pop moment.
• Geri needs to do something completely ridiculous to ensure she gets all the headlines the next day. If she can’t find the Union Jack dress, re-creating her 2000 BRIT Awards performance where she emerged from between a giant pair of inflatable legs should do it. To be honest, it’s Geri. We can’t possibly predict what act of madness she’ll pull out of the bag. All we know is she’s bound to have something up her sleeve, and it’s bound to be amazing.
Don’t let us down, ladies.
Spice Girls in London rehearsals for Olympics closing ceremony!
Rumours have been circling for months that 90s pop icons the Spice Girls are to reunite for a special one-off performance for the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony in London on 12 August.
The organisers and the Girls themselves have been notoriously tight-lipped over confirming whether this will happen, so what can we glean from their recent interviews and tweets?
Pressed on the issue last Friday on American chat show Good Afternoon America, “Scary Spice” Mel B declared, “I think that would be a great idea. I am gonna be in London next week.” For the closing ceremony, perhaps? “That would be amazing. I am always up for a Spice Girls reunion.”
On the very same day, “Sporty” Melanie C was co-presenting Heart FM Breakfast, and did her best to dodge the question, giggling “I couldn’t possibly comment”, before later admitting she thinks the closing ceremony will be better than the opening ceremony and bursting into conspiratorial laughter. What ever could she mean?
“Ginger” Geri Halliwell took to Twitter this morning to share this thought: “What a lovely day…. I’m smiling…..eeeeee”, and as if these hints weren’t enough, “Posh” Victoria Beckham has pretty much given the game away with this picture of a familiar looking microphone…
The Spice Girls are in London. All five of them. Rehearsing for the biggest show on earth. We are officially very excited.
Beyoncé’s baby chart history, Marvin’s stag do, Katy’s award glory and exciting times for Parade – gossip!
There’ll be no dodgy wigs and middle-age strippers on Marvin’s stag do, JLS have already started planning the second biggest day of their bandmates life and they’re going all out! The boys want to hire a private jet and fly their mates around the US for an eight day bender. Stopping off at their favourite clubs in Vegas and Miami, this is gonna make a serious dent in Rochelle’s wedding budget.
Katy Perry worked the sympathy vote like a pro picking up five trophies at last night’s People Choice Awards in the US. Katy was meant to make her first public appearance at the show since her marriage breakup but instead watched from home (probably) as she won awards for Favourite Female Artist and Song of the Year. Hopefully that’ll perk her up a bit.
Brit nominations are announced today (and we’ll have a full report on that later) and whilst most pop stars are probably crossing their fingers quietly behind their back, Max from The Wanted just went and right out admitted that he’s hoping the band will get a nod or two. Good luck boys!
Willow who? Blue Ivy Carter (that’s Beyoncé’s baby daughter for those of you who’ve been under a rock for the past week) has made Billboard chart history by being the youngest ever “artist” to appear on the R&B and Hip Hop chart. Confused? Daddy Jay-Z has released a brand new track featuring a sample of Blue Ivy crying. Next week she’s launching her own fashion line.
If it’s your birthday today, then you are one lucky soul because you’re sharing your special day with not one… not two… but THREE brilliant pop stars. Massive happy birthday wishes to One Direction’s Zayn Malik, Pixie Lott AND the legendary Mel C. Not bad, not bad at all. We’re definitely not going to Google how to officially change our date of birth. Promise.
And last (but certainly not least), the Parade girls have been tweeting all month about exciting meetings – and from the looks of it, they’ve got another planned for today. We met up with the band yesterday and whilst we don’t know for sure (*cough*), we’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going on. Stay tuned because we might have more on this sooner than you think…
Cher Lloyd’s getting hitched, Bieber says no to sex and you could duet with JLS! – gossip!
Cher Lloyd is all grown up,*wipes away solitary tear of pride.* According to reports she’s engaged to her bf of six months Craig Monk! They might not have been together long but Cher has already been showing off her new sparkler to friends and family. We’re keeping everything crossed that this rumour is true, that wedding dress would be epic!
Sounds like we can look forward to a few more years of kerazy Bieber lyrics like “she woke me up daily, don’t need no Starbucks,” he’s just not ready for sex songs, OK? In a new interview Justin says he won’t be singing about partying, drugs and sleeping around anytime soon, “I’m into love, and maybe I’ll get more into making love when I’m older. But I want to be someone who is respected by everybody.” Um he hasn’t forgotten about Selena has he?
During a Q&A at last night’s Skins premiere, one particular cast member (who we won’t name in order to save her from further embarrassment *cough Dakota cough*) revealed to a stunned audience that she DOESN’T LIKE NANDO’S. Her cast members booed her, she stopped being our favourite, and MP! Thing’s stomach growled…
Gabrielle tribute act Rebecca Ferguson is releasing her new single next month. “Too Good To Lose,” out on February 26th will be the second release from Rebecca’s album Heaven which had the biggest first week sales for a debut female artist last year, take that Jessie J.
Fancy singing karaoke with JLS? The boyband have teamed up with Brit Award sponsors Mastercard to offer fans a personal karaoke session. Emeli Sandé and Labrinth are also taking part and not only will the winner get to sing with their favourite act, they’ll also get VIP tickets to the awards AND their duet will appear on telly. MP! could totally challenge Aston in the high notes…
Jumping on the reunion bandwagon, Mel B has hinted at a Spice Girls reunion, she reckons this year’s Olympics would be the perfect place for the comeback. Someone needs to convince Victoria though, apparently she’s worrying about her singing ability. We wouldn’t worry about that Vic, no-one wants to hear you sing. Just shoehorn Geri into the Union Jack dress, shuffle about a bit and it’ll be hailed the greatest comeback since, well the last Spice comeback.
