He’s a true phenomenon, Harry Styles that is. Broke off from a boy band, made a psychedelic rock album, and became the hottest artist of the summer. Who would’ve ever thought? Not me. Why? Because former members of boys bands generally have it rough. Although they achieve mainstream success and all the accolades that go with it, still, history doesn’t look favorably upon boy/girl bands. They are faced with a stigma of being manufactured – songs written by a committee of songwriters, image created by fashion consultants, and to top if off, the association with Simon Cowell’s The X Factor.
But Harry Styles pulled it off. His voice is superb, the songs are excellent, and he’s a born performer. Harry made a rock record and it’s huge, he’s played on every radio format, except for rock radio of course, speaking about backwards. Can someone give those guys Darwin Awards?

I thought I was listening to a new version of Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive‘ when I first popped on the track, but no, it was Summer Nights by ZIMINY. Although the trend is 80’s now, David Amezcua has been doing this for years. Type in Hot Streets in the search bar or listen to them on Spotify and listen to tracks like Dr. Doctor or Sleep Machine. The tracks are more relevant now then 10 years ago. His new project is excellent, again, if you love the 80’s. David Amezcua is based in Los Angeles and former member of Awolnation.

Former Coasts frontman Chris Caines dropped a new track Home under a new project called The Forever. It’s an indie rock track, but it was the harmonies that stuck out. I don’t know too much about the Bristol based singer-songwriter other than he went through some dark times which fueled his new project that he describes is filled with love, angst, hope and fear. Give it a listen.

You are living in a cave if you haven’t heard  The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights“. The song is breaking all kinds records having spent weeks at No 1 on radio. The Weeknd isn’t just for the weekend warrior,  he’s for everybody. He makes music that has universal appeal that transcends all genres. Only a few artists can do that and he’s one of them.
Why did Blinding Lights take off? I don’t know, but it’s uptempo, has a great melody and it has an 80’s feel, similar to a-ha’s 1985 track ‘Take on Me.’ When a track is successful execs search for all kinds of answers like maybe people are feeling nostalgic or radio is taking less chances. Nobody knows, but one thing I do know is that great tracks rise to the top and buck the odds, and let’s not forget The Weeknd is a great performer and visualizer.

I’m liking ‘Be Your Someone‘ by Maryland based singer-songwriter Eli Lev. I find it soothing and it’s a fantastic track especially if you’re a fan of acoustic, coffee-house, indie/folk. Lev said: “I wrote it at the beginning of the pandemic about how we need to find that person to just connect with through all this, who we are quarantining with, who we are asking to go to the rally with us, who we are working out all the difficult questions posed to us as individuals and as a society with. It’s both asking and telling, will you be my someone? will you let me be your someone?” Give it a listen.