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.

Erik Hassle

http://www.facebook.com/erikhassle

I like Swedish things. Swedish Fish. Alexander Skarsgard. Swedish Meatballs. Now I can add Erik Hassle to the list. You see, my mom loves watching dance, and a choreographer named Kate Jablonski posted a new dance and the song was gorgeous. After much searching (Ok... I scrolled down to the comments section) I found that it was a cover of Robyn's "Be Mine" by Ellie Goulding and Erik Hassle. Now, I already am head over heels in love with Ellie, so it only stands to reason that I'd check out this Erik Hassle, especially given that his voice is so marvelous in the duet. And he DEFINITELY didn't disappoint. (Funnily enough, my good friend Luis wrote about Erik in October on his blog Album Confessions and honestly his post is probably more read worthy than my own lol)

You see, Mr. Hassle here has seen much success in Sweden, his album 'Hassle' making it's debut on Swedish charts and #2 and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks. Pretty damn impressive if I do say so myself. And as I went through all his songs on youtube I couldn't help but wonder, why the hell isn't he bigger here? He has such a powerfully soulful voice and sings about love and loss that everyone can relate to. ("You don't know what you've got until you're missing it a lot" he croons in his song "Hurtful" that was a free song on iTunes awhile back. Sadly enough, I missed that one -.-')

One of the best parts about his music is that even though they may tackle some pretty sad subjects, they have a strong beat to support them, making me want to dance along even though my heart is hit with all the feels. ("Nothing lasts forever, what the hell am I doing here, standing where you left me?" Seriously. If I wasn't too busy dancing, I'd probably be crying into my pillow.)

The 23 year old pop singer-songwriter is magnificent, and if we're being honest, I am completely confused as to why he hasn't been/isn't on the radio right now. I know a lot of people are losing faith in pop music, but if there is ANYONE who is gonna save it, I think it's Erik Hassle. 

Go Download: PLEASE just buy his whole album 'Pieces' because it's marvelous. But I guess if you're looking for a song to look into first, hit up "Hurtful." (You should also note that "The Thanks I Get" has GORGEOUS piano in it.)

(Just listen to his voice. Even the dog is mesmerized.)

Empire Holiday

http://www.facebook.com/empireholiday

It's been awhile since we've had a Siri Suggestion (that's catchy, I might keep using that) here on Bands That Need Love Too, but I figure since the girl cannot stop talkin about these boys, I'd FINALLY give in and talk about them :P So here we go.

First, can I just say that Siri first REALLY brought the guys up to me on our Dallas adventure, which happened after Spring Break so I've been hearing about them now for.... two months? Ish? Yes. And those are two months that I should have spent listening to these guys as opposed to ignoring her obvious promotions for them. Yeah, yeah, I know. I don't know why I didn't listen to her earlier either. Everyone makes mistakes right? With that being said, Empire Holiday's music is kind of like Breathe Carolina's (okay maybe I took that comparison from Siri lol), only with a little more emphasis on face melting beats. (I'm currently sitting here blasting "Ballroom Murder" and it's quite intense.) I literally can't decide if I wanna turn it up louder to rock out harder or turn it down to preserve my face, which I'm sure will melt off if I turn it up another decibel. Pair said body rockin', fist pumping, blood rushing beats with Christopher Shelton's clean vocals and Ronnie Hughes' screams, and you've got one of the most in your faces songs that I have heard in a long time.

So much so in fact that I would dare say that they seem to pull off what Breathe Carolina is going for far better than Breathe Carolina does (at least, in their newer stuff). Instead of putting 50% of effort into the dance side and 50% of effort into the hardcore side to create a decent song, they give both aspects all they have which definitely sets them apart and quite frankly I love it. I can only hope that they continue down this path because "Ballroom Murder" blows the rest of the music on their Facebook page out of the water. Not to say that their old stuff wasn't decent-- and I mean, who doesn't love a cover of "What Is Love?"-- but this glimpse of what they're doing now runs circles around it.

I'm glad these guys decided to continue on with the band after a quick hiatus (er, breakup turned hiatus?), because let's face it, what they've got going is quite promising. I greatly look forward to what they have coming up next. And I very much look forward to my dear, dear Siri dragging me along to their shows :)

Go Download: Their new single "Ballroom Murder," duh. I mean, I've only been talking about it this whole post and it's only .99. You really have no excuse to go get that bad boy on iTunes!