Carly Rae Jepsen holds onto #1 for a second week as the top ten is stagnant save for a switch between Matt Nathanson and Alabama Shakes for #8 and #9. Second-week singles from Robin Thicke and Nicki Minaj, Lianne La Havas, and Jepsen make big moves into the top fifty. In the lower half, Years & Years score the week’s highest debut, as “Desire” enters at #61. They enter over new songs from Emily King, Rob Thomas, and The Band Perry, along with newcomers Felix Cartal (featuring Nikki Yanofsky), Audien (featuring Lady Antebellum), and Shane & Emily.
Matt Nathanson
After a record 27 weeks at the top, Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance” falls to #2 as Carly Rae Jepsen takes over with “Run Away With Me,” her first #1 hit. Alessia Cara and Matt Nathanson also move upward within the top ten, and Lianne La Havas posts two big jumps for Blood album cuts “Midnight” (61-12), “Ghost” (93-35), and “Tokyo” (92-44). Just below, Robin Thicke scores the week’s highest debut with “Back Together,” his new single featuring Nicki Minaj. Also making appearances are the remaining two tracks from La Havas’s album, Calvin Harris and Disciples, James Bay, a pair of tracks from Tame Impala, newcomer Hailee Steinfeld’s debut single “Love Myself,” a re-entry from Ashley Monroe, Gavin James, another Jepsen cut, and Young Brother.
R5 moves into the top ten with “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight,” which jumps from #12 to #7. Adam Lambert (“Evil In The Night,” 42-32) scores the first of several double-digit jumps, also achieved by biggest movers Sage The Gemini and Nick Jonas (“Good Thing,” 94-37) as well as two more Lambert tracks (“Underground,” 56-43 and “Another Lonely Night,” 98-99), Joy Williams (“Until The Levee,” 59-44 and “What A Good Woman Does,” 97-75), POWERS (“Beat Of My Drum,” 79-45), ROMANS (“Uh Huh,” 74-55), Alessia Cara (“Here,” 90-63), Sia (“California Dreamin’,” 91-65), and Thomston (“Expiry Date,” 88-74). Matt Nathanson lands the highest of seven debuts with “Gold In The Summertime” at #46.
While many people flocked south to Austin, Texas last week for this year’s South By Southwest festival, which showcases more than two thousand artist performances alongside label presentations, technology reveals, and discussion panels, some of us had to settle for attending Couch By Couchwest from home. I spent the past week digging through a spreadsheet of 2,121 artists who were slated to play during SXSW 2015, and after whittling down the list and listening to 622 of them, I have selected 76 independent acts that warrant further attention now that the festivities have ended. Read a short blurb on each artist below along with a prime track among their discography, or skip ahead to the full playlist on SoundCloud by clicking here. Continue reading “76 independent artists to watch following SXSW 2015”
As the music industry wakes up from its holiday slumber and begins the new year, attention shifts to developing new artists whose careers are beginning to build. Below are forty hand-picked artists of varying genres and current levels of success. Some are completely independent, while others have already topped charts. Regardless, all of them show potential to be even bigger names, particularly in America, in the coming year. Listen to the artists through this SoundCloud playlist, and check back later in the year to see how these predictions turned out. Continue reading “Class Of 2015: 40 promising artists to watch this year”
Owl City and Shawn Chrystopher move into the top five with “Alligator Sky.” Christina Perri and Matt Nathanson each move sixteen spots upward into the #14 and #15 slots with “Arms” and “Faster,” respectively. Owl City also claims the highest debut with “Lonely Lullaby” at #30.