Jerry's Pick: "Capsize"

"Capsize"-Frenship (featuring Emily Warren)

Frenship is actually the group name for a couple of West Coast musicians (Brett Hite and James Sunderland) who became fast-"frens" while working together at an LA fitness store.  Soon they were creating music and a buzz on the internet with their synth-laden single-word singles "Knives," "Nowhere" and "Carpet."

As part of their first EP for Columbia, Frenship hooked up with someone you may have heard of... indirectly.  Over just the past three-years, New York-native Emily Warren has co-penned dozens of songs for acts like Fifth Harmony, Jesse J, Melanie Martinez and 5 Seconds of Summer.  Earlier this year Emily scored her biggest hit to date with "Don't Let Me Down," a tune she co-wrote for the Chainsmokers.

This time around Emily not only shares writing credit on the Frenship track "Capsize," but a microphone as well... and with beautiful results. Her vocals are delicate and boyant and breathy but with metaphors that convey sudden heartbreak and long-lasting regret.

All the words seem to be carefully chosen and laid-out as a conversation between lovers who recently split, not unlike Gotye's 2011 duet "Somebody That I Used to Know."  Except less bitter and more blue.  I especially love the chorus where his concern ends with a hesitant, "Are you...?" But before he can get out the word "okay" she responds immediately with, "I'm fine."  But... you just know she's not.

Hite told Andrew Hannah from the alternative music site The Line of Best Fit that the song is all about honesty and that it "meant something very different to all three of us, so we each wrote about something different in the two verses.  Ironically, that is the version that felt the most truthful and cohesive in the end."

I found "Capsize" uplifting yet dark but still likable and a very easy listen.  In fact, I guarantee this breezy little pop gem will have you thinking "Oh my God!" after just one spin.  Actually, it's sort-of unavoidable.  ;v)

By-the-way, that voice you hear at the end of the the track is an audio snippet taken from a message left on Warren's voicemail from her grandmother to whom she credits inspiration.

Jerry's Pick: "Tilted"

"Tilted"-Christine & the Queens

This wonderfully mesmerizing synth-pop song has been bouncing around in my head ever since  I witnessed Christine & the Queens' choreographed act on stage as part of the Coachella Music Fest last April.  I should have written something about this hypnotic yet danceable Euro-track that day, but -- for some reason -- I let it slide.

Then yesterday -- as I sat numb absorbing news of yet another deranged murderer taking the lives of so many beautiful souls in the name of hate during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice -- I was brought back to Christine and her message of acceptance.  Not only of others, but more importantly of oneself as well.

"Christine" is the androgynous, non-sexualized alter-ego stage-name of five-foot tall French-native Héloïse Letissier, and the non-existent "Queens" is just a tribute to the drag queens she met in London who inspired her to lose her inhibitions and turn all of her energy and uncertainties into a career in music.  Héloïse explained, “Christine was a statement about being an unusual little thing... moving and loving people.” 

I was immediately attracted to her song "Tilted" with its quiet, steady pulsing synthesized beat and its bilingual we're-all-just-a-little-bit-crazy message.  She said it was about, "making an easy song with an uneasy subject.  It’s about feeling out-of-place, not finding your balance, or being depressed even, but with playful images, with a song you can dance on."

Speaking of playful, I was immediately taken by the line, "I'm doing my face with magic marker/I'm in my right place, don't be a downer..." which I perceived as just another way of saying; Go ahead -- it's okay -- let your freak-flag fly!  On the other hand -- although I haven't the slightest idea what she's saying -- Christine's soft and crisp French-styled rap during the middle-eight is delightfully unique and très mignonne.

By-the-way... If you ever have the chance to see Christine & the Queens live, GO!  It's pop performance art at its most tilted.

Jerry's Pick: "This Girl"

"This Girl"-Kungs vs. Cookin' On 3 Burners

This is a story of a French producer remixing a seven-year old Australian single and coming up with a big chart hit this year in Germany, England, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Could the next stop for "This Girl" be the States?

It's a simple song as far as construction goes --  jazzy brass with soulful vocals and an often-repeated yet hooky guitar riff -- but it's one of those charming melodies that has this innate ability to elevate your ever changing moods.

19-year old French DJ Valentin Brunel -- whose performing sobriquet is Kungs (pronounced "Koongs")  -- got his hands on a single from the Melbourne trio Cookin' On 3 Burners and did a bit of remixing.  Not only did he add house drums, horns and hand claps to "This Girl," but a few RPMs as well, eventually creating a popular European club hit.

I was already somewhat familiar with Cookin's vocalist Kylie Auldist as I first heard her soulful voice as one of the singers with the Bamboos after discovering the track "Avenger" a couple of years ago.

After my very first listen to "This Girl" -- eventually credited to Kungs vs. Cookin' On 3 Burners --  I immediately made comparisons to Paul Weller's 80s new wave British band The Style Council and the Robin Schulz remix of Lilly Wood & The Prick's "Prayer in C"  from 2014.

So, the next time you wanna get your groove on, why not kick-up the Kungs.  It's just "something that you got to know... 'This Girl'."