Introducing... From Above - Not The Same Girl

They're a UK group with the backing of a bonafide US music-mogul. New girl band From Above, who even have their own MTV show, are the latest effort from Mathew Knowles (Beyonce's Dad!) and are looking to stride straight into a scene which with the Little Mix X Factor win, is primed for a host of exciting new girl groups. With Knowles previous experience managing Destiny's Child, you imagine he'd know a thing or two about making From Above a success.

Their debut single Not The Same Girl taps right into the R&B/Dance market which has become such a domineering force in pop music this year - it's feisty, forceful, empowered, and particularly, very Pussycat Dolls.

For those that have missed said group's girl-power anthems since Nicole went solo, Not The Same Girl is a refreshing blast from the past, but one that is intuitively keyed into the sound of 'now'. Of all the girl bands looking to make it big right now, Not The Same Girl sounds the most like a ready-made chart hit.

Lookswise, the girls are closer to the likes of the Sugababes - like the 'babes, From Above feel like a more grown-up, mature group; one that isn't looking to speak down to its audience, or dress up their music with rose-tinted glasses.

The band's album Breaking From Above is chock-full of glossy girl power anthems courtesy of producers previously behind the likes of Jason Derulo and Chris Brown - expect their material to be supersized, US style.

Even just looking at the track titles: Pink Stilettos, Work, Live Your Life; female empowerment is the key theme, these are girls doing it for themselves, and like Beyonce herself said, looking to run the world.

Not The Same Girl is released on the 22nd January. The album Breaking From Above is available to download on iTunes now.

All Mankind - Break The Spell

Don't you just love it when a song sounds so utterly like another time, another place, that just with the opening bars, you're sent spinning back into the recesses of your memory? Even better then when that blast of nostalgia comes from two distinct directions - All Mankind stand as one such creature.

They're steeped in the sound of The Killers; and a good Killers at that, when everyone's favourite New-Wave inspired US rockers were firing on all cylinders. Lead singer Rich Beeston's vocals bear a striking resemblance to Brandon Flowers and these lie at the very heart of the churning hurricane of energy that is Break The Spell. Launching from an aHa-esque piano hook, the song feels like the older, wiser coming to said band's classic Take On Me.

Remember when The Killers dominated the airwaves back in 2005, their first album sweeping away all else in its path? And how all those other bands fought for a slice of that action by fronting a sound very similar to The Killers? The Bravery... Boy Kill Boy... Was it coincidence they sounded like the band soaking up all the limelight? Merely a question of striking on a similar sound at a similar time?

The interesting thing was that these 'similar' bands actually opened up the market, for as similar as they sounded, they each came with their own personality and differences. A Boy Kill Boy song sounded like the Killers, but it also definitely sounded very 'Boy Kill Boy'. Identity. That was what it was all about. And in a crowded market, these bands fought tooth and claw to carve out their own patch on the scene.

So coming back to All Mankind, to see a band returning to a sound that some years ago worked SO profoundly well is rather refreshing. It's like revisiting all your favourite records only to find they sound new and exciting with some new twists and turns thrown in. Break The Spell is the essence of a radio-friendly rock track these days. And for Sydney-based All Mankind, it also sounds like the key that will unlock so many doors for them in the UK. The band have recently finished recording their full debut album and with their track Hollywood Tonight featuring on that glamorously amazing hit MTV show The Hills, things look very promising indeed.

Break The Spell is out this week and available to download here.

And Nicki's finally confirmed...

It looks like Britney herself might end up being the last person to tweet about it but we finally have official confirmation on her website that Nicki Minaj will be joining Miss Spears, Nervo and Jessie & The Boy Toys on her US tour. Whether she'll be there for the UK dates (if there are UK dates that is...) is another matter.

The US tour runs from June 16th to August 13th and takes in twenty-six dates across the country. The tickets go on sale on April 30th. Britney's statement on her site is getting us very excited about it all:

"This is the Femme Fatale tour and I'm thrilled to have the hot Nicki Minaj join me and Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo will get everyone on the dance floor. Can't wait to take the Femme Fatales on the road."

 In a recent interview with MTV, Britney's manager Larry Rudolph revealed that the tour will have a post-apocalyptic feel similar to that in the Till The World Ends video.

"The way we come up with a concept for a show like this is we sit with Britney, she talks to us about what she's interested in and what excites her," said Rudolph. "We start with the songs on the album; we start with coming up with general, broad concepts. She tells us what interests her and excites her."

See the full list of tour dates here.