Solo Artist of the Week: Olly Murs

http://www.facebook.com/ollymurs

Welcome my dearest readers to the first official Solo Artist of the Week! And who better to kick off this new branch of promotions than the one and only Olly Murs.

You see, as many of you may know, I have One Direction Infection bad. Like... real bad. If I had it in me to feel ashamed, I probably would be. Luckily enough, I have no shame. But I digress. This confession is necessary because it's thanks to One Direction that I know Olly Murs. Sure, I'd heard the name before and I knew of him, I just hadn't listened to him. Not because I didn't want to, mind you, but because I just never got around to it. So when I finally got around to really listening to Mr. Murs, it was at 1D's Atlanta concert just a few nights ago.

You see, hearing people live is probably one of my favorite ways to discover artists, because really if they're great live then of course they're going to be good on album. It's like the true test. I can love an artist based on performance alone. So when Olly came out and lit that stage on fire, it was needless to say that I needed him on my iPod, and I needed him there ASAP.

For those of you who don't know, Olly was the runner up in the The X Factor UK in 2009. You know, that same X Factor that gave us our beloved British boy band. (I just love alliteration, don't you?) He was slated as the dark horse of the competition, though if I'm being honest, this Joe McElderry must be pretty damn phenomenal because I can't think of any other reason why Olly would have been beat if it weren't for that.

He's just a really funny guy, freaking adorable, and SUCH an entertainer. You know when you can just tell that someone was born to perform? Yeah. That's how I feel about him. AND on top of that, his music is quite literally the musical personification  of sunshine and happiness. Wikipedia likes to classify it as pop/reggae fusion/ska/dance/soul, which is kind of a lot of different things to roll into one, but honestly, it's probably how I'd classify it as well. I seriously can't NOT be happy when listening to his tunes. Even his slower stuff is amazing. I'm also quite certain that "I Need You Now" was written from my head, okay. If you can't relate to it, you're cold and heartless.

Of course, he also performed "Superstitious" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" and you guys should probably know that I freaking love Stevie Wonder too, so I may be just a tad biased.

But that's why I'm here, to tell you to look people up and decide for yourself if you think they're amazing as well! (Which you should, because right now I'm listening to him sing "Isn't She Lovely" and I just can't even handle it.)

PLEASE America, I BEG OF YOU, love Olly Murs so he can headline in the US and we can all fangirl over him and bask in the sunshiney happiness that is his music. And I mean, did I mention he's like, the cutest thing ever?

Go Download: WELL, first off, you can pick up a free remix of his single "Heart Skips A Beat" if you sign up for his newsletter. You can also pick up the original version of the single over on iTunes. And LASTLY, you should definitely pre-order his album which is released in the US on September 25 for jus $7.99, also on iTunes. Take it from me, it is worth SO much more than $7.99. (But you should know my favorite, hands down, is "I Need You Now.")

And if you have 10 minutes to spare for some Stevie Wonder Medley Goodness, check this out. You won't regret it. I promise.

New format

Hey guys!
It's been awhile, and currently I'm working on Spanish but I thought I'd drop in and let you know you'd be getting a post ttomorrow and another the next day because I'm starting something new.

You see, Bands That Need Love Too seems to have evolved into Solo Artists That Need Love As Well, and I want to get back to BTNLT, but I also want to keep up with my solo acts, THUS I'm starting up two posts a week.

One will be a Band That Needs Love Too and the other will be the Solo Artist of the Week.

It'll keep me posting and it'll keep new music flowing into your speakers!

exes&ohs

Zach London

http://zachlondon.tumblr.com/

I've been missing for the past week. I even promised to give you a new artist/band and didn't hold up to that promise. Which makes me feel like a terrible person who should not be allowed to run a promotional blog and have Spanish homework at the same time. With that being said, I've been scratching my head trying to find who to break my mini hiatus with. I've had three solo artists queued for a bit, and I'm ever in the search for more bands, since, well... this is BANDS That Need Love Too. So finally, after much agonizing, I've decided to come back to you all with artist Zach London.

Much like the many that have come before him, Zach London was discovered through on of my various social networks. (Tumblr this time for all those wondering. I'm assuming he followed me due to the One Direction part of my blog, as I don't think the post-hardcore/pop-rock part of it wouldn't call out much to his genre lol.) What intrigued me so much about him is that none of his sites-- well, his Youtube, Tumblr and Facebook anyway-- are more than three months old, which leads me to believe he is seriously THAT brand spanking new.

Now, let's jump into his covers, shall we? That's right, all the guy has up right now are covers. Three on his Youtube and one on his Tumblr to be exact, but don't look anything into it, because each one is stunning. I'm particularly partial to his cover of Usher's "Climax." Maybe it's because I already loved the song to begin with, but Zach London breathes such a rich, smooth feel into it that I can't help but just sit back and feel like I'm rolling around in something completely decadent. (Think chocolate fondue for the ears, yeah?) Not that Usher DOESN'T deliver some rich R&B, but it's Mr. London here who takes it above and beyond, his tone the perfect breathy and light that makes it seem more like a heartbreak song than it sounds when Usher does it. (Let's be real, when Usher sings it, it's baby making music. Is that too far?)

He also covered One Direction's "More Than This," which is actually my least favorite of his covers. Not because I don't like it, because honestly I think this boy is great, but because it's too faithful to the original version. It's almost like I'm listening to 1D's long lost sixth member, and personally, I would like to hear more Zach London, because if I wanted to listen to 1D, I'd throw their album on.

His other two covers, Beyonce and Frank Ocean's "Miss You" and J. Cole's "Work Out" are both great covers. "Work Out" is almost tied with "Climax" as far as favorites go for Zach's covers. It's uptempo and is just fun. It's good stuff AND he made it his own.

I really, sincerely hope that we get new music from him soon, whether it be another cover or if it be something of his own. I think he can breathe some new life into the R&B/Pop scene and would GLADLY buy an album from him. So I think, you should get to liking him too. That way we all can point fingers and say I told you so when he makes it big :)

Go Download: It's a sad, sad day when I can't post a link for you to download anything, but hey, you can give his songs a listen on his Youtube!

So I started a Spanish class

In which I get 55 or so assignments to complete every 5 days.
This is why you haven't gotten another band, but I promise you you will have one this upcoming week.
I'm just trying to get ahead in this class so I don't fall behind. Things might become one band a week for awhile.

Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up :)

Lawson

http://www.facebook.com/lawsonofficial

I must be masochistic. There's no other explanation for why I keep finding artists outside of the US who I can't 1) see in concert and 2) download their music. But I guess it's a burden I'm all too willing to bear because let's face it, Lawson is spectacular.

I decided to look into them after seeing the boys of The Wanted tweet about them, and after seeing Sugarscape tweet a picture from one of their shows, I decided they would most definitely be worth looking into. And boy am I glad I did. Upon finding their YouTube channel, the very first thing I decided to watch was their cover of Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night." Why you ask? Well, I haven't seen any covers of "Marry The Night" and the fact that this British pop-rock band decided to cover a song that my pop expert friend regards as one of Gaga's best and most under appreciated single intrigued me. How would they cover it? And most importantly, how could they possibly do it justice? Well, the answer is quite simple. They stripped it down and slowed it into a gorgeous ballad feel that ultimately caused my to get chills. (It also did the same for Siri, so that's sayin' something. It wasn't just me lol) That cover alone was all I really needed to solidify my love for them. But I can't really justify writing a post mainly based on one cover, so I found myself listening to their latest single.

Now, if you're thinking that they can only pull off other people's songs, I'd have to call bullshit, because "She Was Mine" is a wonderful piece of pop to rival that of artists such as Parachute. It has ALL potential to get on the radio, and honestly I'll be quite disappointed if it doesn't make it's way to America ASAP.

I mean, it'd only make sense that they would break the US, right? They've toured with the likes of The Wanted, Avril Lavigne and Westlife. They also had their own headlining tour in May AND are a part of the lineup for T in the Park. Basically they're going places in the UK and with the amount of UK acts taking a crack at the US right now, I can only hope they'd join along.

That all being said it looks like their album isn't set to drop until September and we all know that means that here in the US of A we'll have to wait a couple months longer than that, but lemme be the first to tell you that this band is DEFINITELY worth the wait.

Go Download: You can pick up a download of their song "Red Sky" for nothing more than a tweet or Facebook like, which I SOOOO worth it. (Also, it might be time to dust off that youtube to mp3 converter so you can replay that "Marry the Night" cover as many times as you'd like.)