Coldplay begin a busy summer with the release of new album, Viva la Vida, a series of free concerts and their North American Tour.

Their hot new new album Viva La Vida or Death and All Its Friends came out on June 17 internationally and features UK Chart hit Violet Hill and their American Billboard number one title track.

Alanis Morissette Flavors of Entanglement

Canadian superstar, Alanis Morissette releases her seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement. Produced by Guy Sigsworth who has worked with Bjork, Madonna, Seal and Imogen Heap in the past, Morissette's new album is a highly danceable fun and summery disc you oughta know about. Read my full review here

New Music Review for Week Ending May 16, 2008

This week iTunes and other online music stores offer new tracks and albums from Ladytron, The Cure, Hot Chip, She Wants Revenge, Delirium, Pendulum and Welsh singer Duffy.

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My New Favourite Song: James Blunt - 1973

James Blunt dropped into the world’s lap in 2005 with the heart wrenching “Your Beautiful” and the solemnly gorgeous “Goodbye my lover”. His songs raced to the top of the chart, radio played them to the point of saturation and both newly weds and the newly single found solace in his lyrics.

Back with “1973”, Blunt once again muses about love. On his brand new single, he recounts the story of lost days, this time reminiscing about his true love and the best time he spent with her in kitschy discos 34 years ago – when he was but a glimmer in his father’s eye apparently since Blunt is only 33 years old.

Regardless of the soap opera history, Blunt’s new single indicates a new direction for the singer/songwriter. One that is more tightly focused, more musically complex and less sappy – less sappy for a man who builds his albums around sap. Instead of relying on simple voice and piano to express the emotion, “1973” builds to a funk driven chorus with stronger vocals that sound less winy.

A great new single that should establish Blunt with a larger audience than lovesick housewives and the heartbroken.

My New Favourite Song: New Young Pony Club – Ice Cream

New Young Pony Club’s debut single ‘Ice Cream’ leads off with a beat reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s classic ‘Beat it’. And the 80’s influence on this group doesn’t stop there.

Sounding like a cross between Ladytron (themselves influenced by the 80’s new wave movement) and broody New Order material from the pre-Substance days, New Young Pony Club fit nicely into the new-new wave club alongside teamsters Peter Bjorn and John.

While lyrics such as “I could make you ice cream/we could be a sweet team” don’t make poetry worth pondering and this single having missed the chance to advance further than 40 on the UK Chart, it won’t rewrite the history books as one of the best songs ever. But who cares, its fun, its spunky and it sounds like nothing else on the charts today – the perfect car song for those summer road trips.

My Favourite New Song: Prince – Guitar

Prince’s new single may not have the pizzazz of former hits like “Let’s go crazy”, “U got the Look” or even “Diamond and Pearls” and it certainly doesn’t touch on world topics as did “Sign O’ the times”.

But in keeping with his new-found consistency for crafting great (if embarrassingly un-commercial) albums such as 2004’s ‘Musicology’ and 2006’s ‘3121’, his new track “Guitar” romps through musical genius and comes out smelling like diesel. No artist today makes a guitar sound as sexy as Prince does, and on this new single, his instrument smokes and purrs like anything from his generous back catalogue.

Sounding as fresh as he did back in his 80’s heyday, Prince declares his love for an unmentioned attention grabber, telling her he loves her “But not like I love my guitar”. 80’s era Prince would have amped up the sly sexiness of this song causing much sought after controversy.

Today’s Jehovah’s Witness Prince, however, concentrates on the Bible, only stirring up controversy in England where he has decided to give away copies of parent album ‘Planet Earth' with each copy of the Mail On Sunday newspaper. This bold marketing move has ruffled the feathers of local retailers who claim that giving away music draws attention away from their stores and potential buyers of new albums.

Oh the marketing genius of Prince should never be doubted. Now if he could only score a hit.

My Favourite New Song : Rihanna – Umbrella

An old school beat drops and Jay-Z begins an unnecessary rap. But once the boys finish their tacked-on interference, this song sizzles with enough summer heat to outlast beach season. An understated dark guitar drives this track where Rihanna summons her lover to weather out the storm under her umbrella. The best part of this track comes during its silly chorus; an infectious repeat of syllables (under my umbrella ella ella ella ai ai ai). ‘Umbrella’ in a very short time has stormed to the top of the charts in the US, UK and Canada, and one listen reels listeners in to the point where humming ella ella ella ai ai ai comes naturally. Sounding nothing like anything else on the radio at this time, Rihanna has hit pay dirt with this risky pop classic, the first true hit of summer 2007.

My Favourite New Song : Enrique Iglesias– Do you know (the ping pong song) / Dimelo

Using a ricocheting ping-pong ball as the base for a drum line sounds like a bad idea. But Enrique has taken this hallow sounding bounce and propelled it into an international smash. The song follows the brokenhearted formula as a pre-kiss off song (Do you know what it feels like loving someone that’s in a rush to throw you away) and doesn’t stray far from the dancy Latin influence of his other tracks, so it takes barely a listen to feel comfortable with this one. With a great beat and a sing along chorus, its guilty pleasure feel makes it one to pump up as you get ready go out on a new date leaving that loser well behind.

My Favourite New Song : Mutya Buena - Real Girl

What happens when you mix a little Lenny with lots of suga? You get ‘Real Girl’ from ex-Sugababe Mutya. Getting a jumpstart on her solo career last year with the brilliant ‘This is not real love’, a song she sang with George Michael, Mutya finally takes the plunge as a full blown solo artist. Ripping the familiar opening arrangement from Lenny Kravitz’s “Its not Over ‘til its over” and morphing it into an echo repeating throughout the whole jazzed up affair. You can’t help but move your body to the sway. The problem with this song also makes it great. The familiar feel reminds you too much of Lenny’s original and you long to hear that version, forgetting that Muyta is singing something about how she’s strong and real. A great track, destined to be the biggest number 2 song ever.