Will Young - Losing Myself

If you'd have asked someone a few years ago if they'd ever have thought Will Young would re-invent himself as an angelic synth-pop artist, you'd probably have been greeted with silence.

But that's exactly what Will managed to achieve this year, and it's resulted not only in some of the best material of his career, but some of the best pop music around at the moment.

Where previous singles Jealousy and Come On felt futuristic and reflective, new track Losing Myself has its feet set firmly in the 80s. The production is pure bliss and Will's soulful vocals suit it perfectly. This could easily be something off a late 80s George Michael album, but imbued with all the maturity and electronic glory of something New Order or Depeche Mode would have been proud to call their own.

Some people dismiss electronic music as cold and dispassionate, but Losing Myself is wrapped up in such warmth, such delicacy and nuance of emotion that it packs the intensity of any hard-wrought campfire ballad. As 2011 turns into 2012, Will Young has proven yet again he stands as an artist of continuing relevancy and one of the prime examples that reality TV prodigies can be forces for good in music.

Losing Myself is released on the 19th March.

Will Young - Come On

Sometimes, an artist will just get it bang on the money with their next single choice. This is the case for Mr. Will Young, who's gone for his delightful cover of Kish Mauve's Come On as the follow up to Jealousy.

Half of Will's album Echoes is penned by the electro-pop group (who, if you remember, also gave us Kylie Minogue's brilliant 2 Hearts) and just with Jealousy, there's both the instant appeal of the song's hooks, but also a kind of gradual dawning of just how beautiful and true the lyrics really are.

With his Echoes album, Will has hit on the real sentiment that lies at the heart of each and every one of us.

As Come On launches into its chorus, the song feels like its been locked up in Will's heart ever since he won Pop Idol - it positively bursts out from him, full of emotion and some rather nice vocodered ad libs (note to George Michael, this is what your cover of True Faith should have sounded like)

Take That hit their stride when they turned to dreamy synth-pop, and so too has Will Young. There's much to be said to pairing a voice as soulful and relaxed as Will's to the futuristic electro-scapes that populate his album. There's a crisp, crystalline quality to the production that exudes such luxury, you get a real sense of both the song and album being a real 'premium' product.

Come On is released on the 21st November.

Sainsbury's Super Saturday - the pop gig of the summer!

Ok, doesn't this just sound like the best line-up for a pop gig ever?

The Saturdays
The Wanted
Taio Cruz
Chipmunk
The Sugababes
Dappy
Pixie Lott
Nicola Roberts
Olly Murs
Will Young

Actually AMAZING. And it's just down the road from me in Clapham Common too. The addition of The Wanted and Will Young to the bill was only announced today - let's see what the lads had to say...

The Wanted: 'We can’t wait to perform at Super Saturday and hope to get involved with the Paralympic sport demos on the day too. We’re all fairly fit after the touring we’ve been doing so hopefully we won’t embarrass ourselves competing against the UK’s top athletes!'

Will Young: 'Sainsbury's Super Saturday sounds like it's going to be a brilliant day out, there's nothing better than a day of music in the park and I'm thrilled to be able to support our Paralympic team. I'm really looking forward to performing some brand new tracks from my album Echoes and I might throw in one or two classics on the day too.'

Bring on the 10th September eh!

Tickets for the even are still available from Ticketmaster.

The chart battle is on - Olly Murs vs. Will Young

I can still remember the day, ten years ago, when I rushed out to buy Will Young's debut single Anything Is Possible/Evergreen (back when Woolworths stocked the entire Top 40 singles). Fresh from Pop Idol, Will had ushered in a brand new era of pop - the age of reality TV dominance. He set the stage for X Factor to follow, and the UK charts have never been the same since.

In the 10 years since his victory, Will has also released some absolute gems - from the eternally popular Leave Right Now, the lovely Who Am I, right down to the soundtrack to a million Natwest adverts: Grace.

His new track Jealousy is something tantalisingly new and exciting - delving into the world of shiny synth-pop with top producer Richard X, the track is a storming exercise in why Will very much still deserves his place amongst pop's higher echelons of stars.

Currently, the track lies at Number 4 on iTunes - a remarkably strong showing considering so many of Will's contemporaries have long since faded away. Standing at Number One however is a male reality star of a newer age - and standing between these two, the makings of good old fashioned chart battle.

As it stands, Olly Murs is undoubtedly the true winner of X Factor 2009 - while Joe McElderry has spiralled perilously first out of the charts and then into reality tv doom via Popstar to Operastar, Olly has nabbed himself three Top 20 singles and a double platinum debut album.

Very well done indeed. To be honest, he remains one of the more likeable X Factor contestants - his early audition of Superstition remains one of the show's high points and his everyman honesty and charm without a doubt played a part in his snaring the Xtra Factor presenter role this year. Oh, and his songs are half-decent too.

New single Heart Skips A Beat is easily Olly's most adventurous record to day, spinning his cod-reggae off on a dance-pop tangent with a guest rap from Rizzle Kicks. Oh, and the track is co-written by Preston from The Ordinary Boys.

It's like an exercise in laddishness - in the month where The Inbetweeners movie has surged to such immense success in cinemas, it seems only right that a song of such boyish enthusiasm and sturdy love-cliches is on its way to the top too.