ARIA Chart Top Ten 31st July: Linkin Park return

Yet another crazy week on the ARIA charts with two new arrivals in the top 10 (well one old new...you'll see what I mean when we get to it)

There were two songs that exited from the top ten with "Attention" by Charlie Puth dropping from number 10 to number 13 and "I'm The One" by DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper dropping from number 8 to number 14.

Of course the one place where things remain the same is at number one where "Despacito (Remix)" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee feat Justin Bieber remains at the top for the eleventh week. It has fours at number one to go if it's to equal Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" for the record of most weeks at number 1 in Australia ever,

"Thunder" by Imagine Dragons climbed two places to take the number 2 spot thanks to a good week on iTunes by enlarge (spent alarge portion of this week at number 1)

Calvin Harris continues to find success with the fourth song he has dropped from "Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1" with "Feels" featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean climbing to number 3 from five last week.

"Strip That Down" by Liam Payne and Quavo dropped two places to number 4 because that song has peaked by the look of it.

Despite having a good week on streaming, "Wild Thoughts" by DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller didn't have the best week in sales which saw it drop back to number 5.

Nial Horan's "Slow Hands" remains at number 6.

A song that has broken into the top ten is "Glorious" by Macklemore featuring Skylar Gray. Bit of a surprise considering the reviews of the track but it climbed from 15 to number 7

At number 8 is "Mama" by Jonas Blue featuring William Singe which dropped to number 8 this week. Suspect this peaked at number 5 is heading out of the top ten but we'll see.

"There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" by Shawn Mendes remains inside the top 10 at number 9 for another week.

Re-entering the ARIA top 50 is Linkin Park's 2002 hit "In The Enf" following the recent awful suicide of lead singer Chester Bennington and was the highest of the 6 Linkin Park songs that re-entered the chart this week. "In The End" originally peaked at number 4 in their 2002 chart run.

Now for the big chart movers of the week. Heading up is "Praying" by Kesha which got back most of it's traction to move back up to number 16 from number 22 last week while Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not Sorry" climbed to number 28 from 35 last week.

Mostly all the big moves were down with Jessica Mauboy's "Fallin'" dropping 10 places to 21, it wasn't a good week for Selena Gomez with "Bad Liar" dropping six places to number 24 and "Fetish" dropping from 23 on debut to number 38, "Know No Better" by Major Lazer feat. Travis Scott, Camila Cabello and Quavo dropped to 41 after a climb to 34 last week.

There were several exits as well with "Green Light" by Lorde, "The Cure" by Lady Gaga, "Mask off" by Future, "Moments" by Bliss 'n' Eso feat. Gavin James,"Location" by Khalid, "It Ain't Me" by Kygo and Selena Gomez and "Swish Swish" by Katy Perry feat. Nicki Minaj exiting the ARIA Top 50. Some a bit prematurely like "Swish Swish" and others because they've had a good long chart run like "Green Light" and "The Cure"

Two new entries with the highest of those being "Back to You" by Louis Tomlinson, Bebe Rexha and Digital Animal Farm at number 26, "New Rules" by Dua Lipa at number 46.

That completes this week's ARIA chart rundown. Back with New Music Friday review with new singles from Charli XCX, The Killers and...Anastacia (Those who remember "I'm Outta Love" and "Left Outside Alone" will remember her) so until then it's goodbye for now

New Music Friday Review: Louis Tomlinson/Bebe Rexha, new boyband alert

So we got a pretty quiet week for New Music Friday however we did get a new song from One Direction alumni Louis Tomlinson and we have a new boyband that has arrived on the scene that somehow has dropped a pretty catchy debut single but we'll get to that.

Song: Back to You
Artist(s): Louis Tomlinson, Bebe Rexha, Digital Farm Animals\




It's fair to say that I held some major reservations over Louis Tomlinson as a solo artist, I wasn't impressed with "Just Hold On" (the song he teamed up with Steve Aoki) and to a point I wasn't going to even bother with "Back To You" when it dropped last week and yeah, I am beginning to think I should have stuck to the plan to not bother because this is pretty underwhelming as a song.

The production is all over the place with what sounds like a mobile phone ringtone and clicking fingers during Bebe Rexha's verse before the piano nearly overwhelms Rexha's voice in the pre chorus before completely swamping her in the chorus and the same almost happens to Louis Tomlinson. The harmonies aren't too bad anf the lyrics about a toxic relationship ending but the two people being drawn to each other work but god damn the instrumentation and production really let this song down something terrible.


Rating: 5/10



Song: Would You Mind?
Artist: PRETTYMUCH





With One Direction on hiatus and exploring their opportunities as solo artists, it's not really a surprise that Simon Cowell got himself busy finding the next boyband that could possibly hit the big time and follow in the footsteps of One Direction because heck, he needs something to do while the members of One Direction are recording solo albums or being movie stars with the result of Cowell's work is a US and Canadian boyband called PRETTYMUCH.

Granted the members of PRETTYMUCH look like frat boys on the cover but for a first up effort "Would You Mind?" is decent even though the production and the lyrics  really doesn't do it a lot of favours (the word 'mind' repeated ad nauseum), the boys have some pretty sweet harmonies and quite honestly I kind of got suckered into this song. It's shades of Backstreet Boys meets *NSYNC if you know your American boybands from the 90s-early 2000s, think "Backstreet's Back" merged with "Tearin' Up My Heart" and you get "Would You Mind"

Rating: I think I kind of liked this a little more than I thought. 7/10



Song: Sorry
Artist: Nothing But Thieves






I keep waiting for Nothing but Thieves to get huge especially after a fantastic song like "Amsterdam" but it hasn't happened yet which is beyond FRUSTRATING because they deserve some big success and after reviewing two pop/ R & B songs it is time to look at some rock with Nothing but Thieves dropping a second song called "Sorry" from their upcoming second album "Broken Machine"

"Sorry" is a song about getting older, those past regrets and facing up to those almighty demons through the eyes of one individual who can't hold down a relationship and yeah this song just gets things right with the lyrics and the instrumentation, I love the guitars in this song...a lot.


Rating: 8/10



Song: Wedding Crashers
Artists: Amine, Offset





Is there anything that you can't find members of Migos involved in that feature on the New Music Friday list every single week? Usually it's Quavo but this week it's Offset and man both Amine and Offset sound truly petty and rather off putting petualant on the latest song to be released from Amine's album where the melody really does belong in a primary school classroom.\

"Wedding Crashers" really is just Amine bragging that he has finally made it as an artist in the music world while taking a dig at the haters and referencing Remy Ma in the process while Offset mentions brands and the Pope in his verse but yeah this one really is one I am going to forget in a few days time.


Rating: 4/10


Song: idont'twannabeyouanymore
Artist: Billie Eilish





I have been looking for an excuse to cover Billie Eilish for awhile largely because I kind of rate her as a talent. Eilish is a fifteen year old hailing from Los Angeles, she has been hailed as the future of pop music with her brand of warped pop by some critics and "idon'twannabeyouanymore" plays to the more introspective side of Eilish compared to a song like "Bellyache" (one of my favourite songs of the year outside of the ARIA Charts).

This song is Eilish being vulnerable and it certainly works with the piano and build into the chorus, its a pretty damn good song. Check it out and while you are at it, also check out "Bellyache"


Rating: 8/10


Other songs:

- "She's on My Mind" by JP Cooper (Not a bad song if you can get past the vocal fragments at the beginning. 7/10)

- "Ahead of Myself" by X Ambassadors (I love the acoustic guitair in this. It's actually a pretty good song all things considered. 6/10)

Best: "Sorry" by Nothing but Thieves
Worst: "Wedding Crashers" by Amine feat. Offset


New Music Friday 28th July

Anastacia returns with "Caught in the Middle" but apart from that, it's all a bit of a surprise so we'll see.

Best Hit Songs of 2017 so far.

Like I said during the worst hit songs of 2017 so far, it's been a pretty damn good year on the charts so far, some terrific songs have done well and I'm actually pretty happy with the top 10 on the ARIA chart right now even allowing for the ridiculous and unnecessary amount of Justin Bieber there is inside that top 10 currently.

The rules for this list is the same, a song only has to appear inside the ARIA top 100 singles during the first half of 2017 in order to make this list which means good songs like "The Man" by The Killers do miss out

Let's start with the Honourable mentions...

Honourable mentions

“Want You Back” by HAIM | Peak: 54

Alana, Danielle and Este are back and I should be honest here, I don’t see “Want You Back” as being anything different to songs from their debut album “Days Are Gone”. That said this is a good a song about a woman wanting her lover back despite the relationship falling apart due to the pair being totally opposite to each other.

“Keep Me Crazy” by Sheppard | Peak: 37

Okay so this may well be a little controversial and I get some of the criticism that was directed at it but “Keep Me Crazy” is a song that gets stuck in my head and yeah I kind of connect with what this song is saying about being in love and wanting to run away with this crazy new love and yeah I do love the harmonies along with the instrumentation and how the final bridge builds into that final chorus/outro. It is nothing like “Geronimo”, I promise you!

“Fresh Eyes” by Andy Grammer | Peak: 5

Now I know this song was released in 2016 BUT it did not peak on the ARIA chart until late January 2017 so quite honestly it needed to be included here because it is a good song which makes me wonder why I haven’t connected to more Andy Grammer songs in recent years. This song has its faults with the production and being in love with a stranger line really doesn’t wash but hey it’s an inoffensive pop song that works on some levels at least for me.

“Way Down We Go” by Kaleo | Peak: 30

I feel like rock is making a slow but steady come back although Finnish band Kaleo really do come off sounding like Hozier rip offs with “Way Down We Go” but ehh as a rare rock song on the charts. I will damn well take it and run, that is for sure.

“Humble” by Kendrick Lamar | Peak 2

I put this in largely because I feel like “HUMBLE” is one of those rare quality hip hop songs that stood out above all the bragging that has virtually almost become an industry within modern day hip hop music. It’s probably right that “HUMBLE” isn’t as good as some of the stuff on “To Pimp a Butterfly” but this song is still hard hitting and Lamar makes his points well. Given hip hop isn’t having a year to remember, this song is really a saving grace.

“Jungle” by Tash Sultana | Peak 39

Tash Sultana is one of those artists that I’ll confess I nearly missed but I am glad I did finally catch on because “Jungle” is a fantastic song from start to finish and her voice just elevates the song to something that I don’t think I can imagine any other artist singing. It just works as a pop song.

So now to our top ten…

10. “It Ain’t Me” by Kygo feat. Selena Gomez

There’s going to be a couple of songs from artists you would not expect to find in a top 10 best hits especially from me and “It Ain’t Me” is one of them, literally because the production suits Selena Gomez limited range and works so well against Kygo’s production and to be honest, it’s the best thing Selena has done in a LONG time.

9. “Adore” by Amy Shark | Peak: 3

A song that suffered for being around at the same time as when Ed Sheeran decided to unleash two songs at once totally dominate the charts early in 2017 for weeks on end but yeah, Adore is just the sweetest song complete with a brutal honesty in the lyrics from Amy Shark which also is something that winds its way through her NightThinker EP.

8. Slide by Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean and Migos | Peak: 11

The remarkable highlight of 2017 has been the emergence of Calvin Harris as producing something more than generic EDM bangers as per “This is What You Come for” with Rihanna last year, this time around he pulled in Frank Ocean and Migos for a song that shouldn’t work but somehow works in a way you almost don’t expect. “Slide” is the ultimately the best song of the four that he has released from Funk Wave Bounces Vol. 1 and yeah, it’s a song I keep coming back to.

7.  Water Under the Bridge by Adele | Peak: 23

A song about a relationship getting serious and Adele being frightened by the seriousness of the feelings in this relationship just hits nerves I didn’t know I had. The instrumentation works as does Adele’s vocals in quite the powerful way. Really get into this song every time I hear it. Not quite the best song from 25 but pretty damn close too.

6. Slow Hands by Niall Horan | Peak: 2

Bit lower down because I am struggling to overcome the “Sweat dripping down our dirty laundry” line which is all kinds of gross but still “Slow Hands” is a pretty great song delivered with a lot of maturity. Niall more so than Harry has been the break out star of One Direction which has surprised a lot of people apart from myself…just look at “This Town”. I just love the guitar in this song though.

5. Green Light by Lorde

No one should have been expecting Lorde to recreate something similar to Pure Heroine for her sophomore album especially not now that she is four years older and wiser. “Green Light” was the perfect way to start the “Melodrama” era. A song about Lorde’s first heartache and man, did she ever nail that return. Welcome back, Ella!

4. “I Feel It Coming” by The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk | Peak: 9

The Weeknd isn’t one of those artists that I am naturally drawn too…at least until he released Starboy and hell yeah, I loved this song which yet again combines with Daft Punk. A silky retro sounding song that just gets you slow dancing. Speaking of slow grooves….

3. “That’s What I like” by Bruno Mars | Peak: 5

Another artist who really hasn’t been my cup of tea until he dropped the retro sounding 24k Magic album (it’s a crime it’s so short) and this song just makes me sing-a-long. Should have been a bigger hit in Australia but with “Versace on the Floor”, I guess there’s still a chance Bruno Mars will have a massive hit on his hands.

2. “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton | Peak: 70

This will make some people roll their eyes at me…what’s a genuine country song doing so high up this list? but as far as country songs go, this one is close to perfect…at least as a cover goes. “Tennessee Whiskey” was originally by George Jones whose original is still excellent but damn Stapleton does a good job here, manages to make it all sound extremely raw and emotional which is odd for a song that’s virtually about alcohol but perhaps those listening to Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" should give this a listen to hear what REAL country music is like.

1. “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran | Peak: 2

I am pissed Ed Sheeran didn’t make this the lone first up single from “Divide” rather than letting get lost in amidst the hype for “Shape of You” largely because “Castle on the Hill” is so much better in that it draws on his past and tells a story that draws on the heart strings along with instrumentation that could have been a U2 song only less sharper and not as edgy as U2 at their best. It’s clearly the best song from “Divide” but yet again this should have been the lone release as lead off single!

ARIA Top Ten: 24th July. Chart goes a little crazy

This week was a bit of a step back and say whoa kind of week with some surprisingly changes in the top 10 and up and down the chart so the top ten is anything less than stable but before we get to the madness that ensued within the top 10, "2U" by David Guetta and Justin Bieber left the top 10 for the 2nd time and slipped back to number 12.

Now to the top 10, "Despacito Remix" by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and the now banned in China Justin Bieber kept the number 1 spot for a tenth week and quite honestly I am not sure what is going to challenge it right now. Sure, it lost number one in the UK but that was largely due to a change of rule that sees a song lose half it's radio airplay etc should it reach 10 weeks at number one (which is a fair enough rule, the charts being stagnant is boring)

Liam Payne and Quavo returned to number 2 with "Strip That Down" and yet compared to "Despacito Remix", it's the streaming that let's it down a little. 

The new UK number one "Wild Thoughts" by DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller remained at number 3. Eh, really not much to say here. Sales not great but streaming is good, hell, it's 2nd to "Despacito Remix" on Spotify which is pretty good right now.

At number 4 is a song that for me gets even more grating every time I hear it, "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons which climbed two places. (I am yet to see the appeal of this song quite honestly)

"Feels" by Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Swan spins it's wheels this week as it remains at number 5.

The biggest surprise this week is the four place drop for "Slow hands" by Niall Horan to number 6. Get the sense that this song has peaked and is on it's way out maybe?

"Mama" by Jonas Blue feat. William Singe regained some of it's lost momentum to return to number 7. It's a good song and deserves to be top 5 if you ask me)

Songs that continue their slow downward spiral are "I'm the one" by DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo and Lil Wayne at number 8 and There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" by Shawn Mendes at number 9 with both dropping a place each.

Returning to the top 10 at number 10 is "Attention" by Charlie Puth. This song's success surprises me largely due to it really not being the best song.

Anyway outside of the top 10. Jessica Mauboy's "Fallin'" sits at the cusp of the top 10 at number 11 which is a pretty epic rise from 25 last week albeit an appearance on The Project seemed to help that song gain some promotion.

:Unforgettable" by French Montana featuring Swae-Lee climbed 4 places to number 18, this song just broke into the top 10 in the USA. Could be well worth a watch on it in terms of the Australian top 10.

Another big climb was by Macklemore with "Glorious" featuring Skylar Grey at number 15 from 22 last week. 

The asinine "Body Like a Back Road" by Sam Hunt continues its unwelcome climb up the ARIA charts hitting number 17 from 23 last week...we can only hope that it has peaked, right, Australia?

Lower down, "Know No Better" by Major Lazer feat. Travis Scott, Camilla Cabello and Quavo climbed ten places to 34

Some big losers include Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" dropping now rather quickly to 21 from 13 last week, "Malibu" by Miley Cyrus to 20, "Praying" by Kesha to 22 off the debut last week.

Maybe the biggest surprise is that "Get Low" by Zedd featuring Liam Payne has dropped out of the top 50 off it's debut at number 39 last week which is very odd. Maybe One Direction fans still distracted by "Strip that Down". Either way it's weird, maybe it'll be back next week

Also dropping out were "That's What I like" by Bruno Mars and "Castle on the Hill" by Ed Sheeran which make sense as both had pretty much maxed out their chart life. 

As for new entries...just three of those this week, Selena Gomez scored the highest debut with "Fetish" entering at number 23. Vance Joy's "Lay It On Me" entering at 31 (I really want this song to do well, it is so good). Demi Lovato's "Sorry Not Sorry" entered at number 35.


That wraps up ARIA Top Ten/Chart Review for this week. Don't see anything knocking off "Despacito" at the moment and I don't see anything from the new releases doing it either but yes, New Music Friday will feature Louis Tomlinson's new song along with X Ambassadors, Nothing But Thieves and a new Simon Cowell created boyband. 

New Music Friday Review: Demi returns

We have got one hell of a busy week this week headlined by the returns of Demi Lovato, The Script, and Vance Joy and a new single from Selena Gomez so without delay let's get into this beginning with Vance Joy.



Song: Lay It On Me
Artist: Vance Joy




So Vance Joy is back with his first single since "Fire and the Flood" and its a pretty damn good song. I love how the song builds into the chorus and the lyrics deliver some personality from Vance Joy the song talks about a relationship between two people who have gotten pretty comfortable with each other so much so they are laying it on each other. I really dig this. Give it a listen if you are curious.


Rating: 8/10. I am not fanatical about the drums in this. Feels like there's no steady build or slow down between the verse into the prechorus and then into the chorus which was yeah a little disappointing


Song: Sorry Not Sorry
Artist: Demi Lovato





I cannot be the only person who on first listen thought "Sorry Not Sorry" sounded exactly like a song made for a sophmore album from Meghan Trainor?. Sure it had the quintessential element of a Demi Lovato song that being Lovato belting but this song really did have the unmistakeable vibe of being a Meghan Trainor song in waiting which is odd because Trainor had no part in writing this.
The song is okay if you can get past the Meghan Trainor vibes but if you can't, it's probably better if you steer clear.


Rating: 6/10. I guess I can come back to it occasionally. Demi has done better though.


Song: Fetish
Artist(s): Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane




I've done a 180 on "Bad Liar" since I reviewed a month or so ago, I can't stand it now due to the fact Selena sounds so off key and that chorus has got to be most annoying thing I have ever heard so quite honestly I was looking forward to "Fetish" which was said to have been pretty good at tthe time so what did we get with the newest song off Selena's next album? It's pretty much take 300 of Selena Gomez trying desperately to be sexy and not quite pulling it off. Honestly, there's just nothing about this "I'm trying so very hard to be sexy" song and lyrically it doesn't make sense in that apparently this guy has a fetish for Selena's love but I thought fetishes were supposed to be for some part of the body and not for love? Eh, whatever the case this song is really isn't anything that the hype suggested it would be.


Rating: 4/10



Song: Rain
Artist; The Script




The Script are back with the lead off single from their forthcoming new album and I have to say I am hearing a serious shift in the same direction as Lukas Graham and I am really not sure it works here for them. It's still a listenable enough song but maybe it's one for just out and out fans of The Script. Not sure I really connected with what they are trying to convey.


Rating: 5/10


Other songs to note:
"Summer Bummer" by Lana Del Rey feat. A$AP Rocky (Well at least this is somewhat less boring than some of Lana's previous work. I am not a massive Lana fan. This is an interesting song. 7/10)

"Don't Tell Me" by Ruel (A 14 year old kid writing songs like this. I am really impressed. Check this song out if you haven't already. 8/10)

"Goodbye" by Echosmith (Ehh. It's not bad per se but really the only really good thing about it is that solid guitar riff to open the song. Disappointing we don't hear it again for the rest of the track. 4/10)

"Kingdom" by Dan Sultan (Another cracking song from upcoming new album "Killer". Out next week, everyone!. This song is just superb. 9/10)


Best song: "Lay It on Me" by Vance Joy. Just something that keeps me going back for more. Check it out if you are curious.


Worst: Nothing outrageously awful this week but I am giving it to "Fetish" by Selena Gomez and Gucci Mane for the overtly try hard to be sexy feel of the song, it's obvious in the accompanying video clip which really is uncomfortable to watch.


Next New Music Friday.

"Back to you" by Louis Tomlinson feat. Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals is set to be released tomorrow. Beyond that, I am not sure what to expect.

ARIA Top Ten: July 17th. Don't be afraid to catch feels and stay the same

This week's ARIA top ten blog is going to be pretty short this week cause not a great deal happened apart from one or two shifts within the top ten. Charlie Puth's "Attention" did however leave the top ten replaced by a song that sounds like something Daniel Bedingfield was doing years ago that returned to the top ten this week but we'll get to that.

It's week number nine for Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber with "Despacito (Remix)". Look, it's going to be awhile yet before we get a new number one even though the remix is about as necessary as buying a toupee for Donald Trump because it is just dominating everything including streaming and sales.

That means it's a 2nd week at number 2 for Niall Horan's "Slow Hands" but I don't see this getting to number 1 and yet again it's because of streaming. It's just not doing well on Spotify or any of the other streaming apps. It's at number 12 on Spotify in Australia which is not a good sign.

Perhaps the most imminent danger to "Despacito Remix" lies at number 3 with DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller with "Wild Thoughts" but it remains at number 3 due to sales numbers not really doing enough to knock on "Slow Hands" despite it's streams being better.


Liam Payne and Quavo remain at number 4 with "Strip That Down".

Coming after is the biggest mover inside the top 10 with Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean breaking into the top 5 with "Feels" and right now, it could very well have some serious momentum behind it to climb further so we'll see having climbed 4 places.

"Thunder" by Imagine Dragons remains at number 6.

"I'm The One" by DJ Khaled and co dropped to number 7, "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" by Shawn Mendes dropped to number 8 and "Mama" by Jonas Blue dropped to 9 because all three look like their run in the top 10 is coming to an end.

Rounding out the top 10 is a Daniel Bedingfield sound alike "2U" by David Guetta featuring Justin Bieber.


Only two new entries this week, it's welcome back to the ARIA Chart after 5 years away for Kesha with "Praying" entering the chart at number 19. I honestly hope this song is massive for her.


The other new entry came from Zedd and Liam Payne with "Get Low" entering at number 39

And that really rounds out the week but Australia, did we really need Sam Hunt's "Body Like A Back Road" to climb twenty places to number 23 this week, we don't need an Uncle Kracker rip off with less personality in the top 20.

Anyway Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez new singles look set to enter the ARIA chart next week but before that New Music Friday Review. See you then!

New Music Friday Review: Kesha's return.

It's back after a two week break! There are so many stories to this week's New Music Friday, we could talk about the collaboration between Zedd and Liam Payne, the bizarre cover of Daryl Braithwaite's hit "The Horses", the return of Cut Copy but all of that was cast to one side when Kesha dropped her first song in five years.

So how did things stack up? Let me give you all the downlow beginning with Kesha.

Song: Praying
Artist: Kesha



Kesha's big return after a well publicised 5 years away from the music scene, I won't go into why she was away from the music scene for so long because we know why (Dr Luke...ahem), she is back with the power ballad "Praying" and quite honestly this song seems so apt for a first single given all that Kesha has been through in the last 5 years, we were never going get an upbeat, fun party song as the first up song from Kesha's third album "Rainbow" as to a certain extent I think it would have been inappropriate.

So how does "Praying" turn out?. It is an intense ride which a lot of power ballads are and at times you do feel what Kesha is feeling in her lyrics and in the way she sings but there's hope and inspiration in this song in knowing that the dark days are over and happier times ahead for her and even the person who did the wrong thing by her, this is a a very raw, personal song from Kesha and it was one that was necessary and I am glad she felt she could share it with us. Thank you Kesha.


Rating: 9/10. I loved this and it has inspired me so at least for me, Kesha has achieved what she set out to do.


Song: Get Low
Artist(s): Zedd, Liam Payne



I really do wonder when Liam Payne is actually going to step out and have a complete song to himself instead of featuring a rapper or being another artist's feature act, this time he is the feature for Zedd's latest single "Get Low" another electronic dance song almost in the same vein as "Stay" Zedd's song with Alessia Cara.

So while Liam's single with Quavo "Strip That Down" is one that I have come to like despite my view that the gang vocals on that track were unnecessary. "Get Low" really doesn't do anything for me, I don't know what it is about the song that puts me off it, might have something to do with the instrumentation as the lyrics seem inoffensive enough. Eh, I think this song could have sufficed as a Liam Payne song outright if I am blunt.


Rating: It's not bad but I'm not sure it's good either. 5/10



Song: My Name is Thunder
Artist(s): The Bloody Beetroots, Jet




So hand up everyone who got a little shock when this song appeared on Spotify last Friday? I first saw this song had landed via the Triple J website so yeah I was surprised and the return of Jet is almost a stereo typical return with Nic Cester doing his best to sound like a combination of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson as he screams his way through the song.

Its a pretty intense old rock tune, ehh, worth a listen if you are into wild intense rock music with an EDM feel.


Rating: 6/10. Cester's screaming got on my nerves a little bit


Best of the week:

Kesha's "Praying" obviously!


No worst as there are only three tracks this week


Next New Music Friday
It's a long list!
"Sorry, Not Sorry" by Demi Lovato
"Fetish" by Selena Gomez
"Goodbye" by Echosmith
"Rain"  by The Script
"Lay It On Me" by Vance Joy

ARIA Top Ten: July 10: The Voice Australia finale impacts.

We're back to the days of when Australian Idol ruled the music charts...well,,,not quite but it was a big week for acts that appeared on The Voice Australia finale, you'll see what I mean as we go on but it was a big week particularly for those who have already hit the jackpot on music contracts more so those on The Voice Australia seeking a recording contract.

Firstly we unsurprisingly lost Miley Cyrus's "Malibu" and the actual somewhat of a surprise loss of "2U" by David Guetta and Justin Bieber (Only been in the chart 4 weeks and only 3 inside the top 10 bit disturbing considering the feature act is Bieber. Come on).

No surprises with number one though with "Despacito Remix" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber spending an 8th week at number one but there are some kinds of weakness here. It didn't have it's strongest week on iTunes with it dropping from number 1 there and not exactly ruling on Youtube right now but it still rules streaming on Spotify right now.


The first of the beneficiaries from performing on The Voice finale is Niall Horan whose single "Slow Hands" has climbed number 2, Horan's highest charting single so far, the thing holding it back from number 1 is poor streaming figures and when you consider that "Despacito Remix" is being held up at number 1 by streaming than that isn't a good sign for "Slow Hands"


DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts" featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller dropped to number 3, it's still the closest thing to "Despacito Remix" on streaming but it lost out badly on Youtube this week,

At number 4 is "Strip That Down" by Liam Payne and Quavo, I feel like this song has peaked and is now. It's lost traction on Youtube and also on streaming.


Also losing ground was "I'm The One" by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo and Lil Wayne at number 5. Mainly through Youtube and also suffering due to radio being more interested in DJ Khaled's song with Rihanna and Bryson Tiller.


Not sure what brought this on with the album released two weeks ago but Imagine Dragons climbed six places to number six with "Thunder" continuing a trend that's happened around the world lately with this song doing rather well on a number of charts including in the UK.

"There's Nothing Holding Me Back" by Shawn Mendes switched places with "Mama" by Jonas Blue featuring William Singe to go to number 7 with the latter dropping to number 8


However "Thunder" is not the biggest mover this week with "Feels" by Calvin Harris, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean jumping from number 26 all the way to number 9 off the back of the release of Harris's new album. I like this song a lot so am happy to see it in the top 10.


Rounding out the top 10 is Charlie Puth with "Attention" for a second week.


Only two new entries to the chart this week with The Voice Australia winner Judah Kelly debuting at number 19 with his debut single "Count on Me". It's a pretty cool song, might do well with a good video.





The other debut came from The Voice Australia runner up Hoseah Partsch debuting at number 35 with his debut "Paper Planes" but it is not going to help this go further up the chart if it's not going to be on Spotify!. Not as sold on this song but we'll see...


So that wraps up what was a The Voice Australia dominated ARIA Chart this week. Next week, we'll find out the impact of Kesha's new single.

ARIA Top Ten: July 3. Mama the big mover as Despacito Remix stays at number 1

This week was a wild one. Shifts and changes all over the place and resulted in some major stories including two songs breaking into the top 10 for the first time and ended the runs of two fairly major songs inside that top 10.

This week saw the unsurprisingly departure of "HUMBLE" by Kendrick Lamar from the top 10 after a good run inside where it peaked at number 2 but also it saw the departure of former number 1 "Shape Of You" by Ed Sheeran which means that for the first time since early January, there are no Ed Sheeran song in the top ten.

What hasn't changed is that "Despacito Remix" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber remains at the top of the chart for a seventh week although I am not sure for how much longer it will be number 1, sure it's still strong on streaming and radio but on iTunes, it has been taking a few hits with it falling from number one largely due to strong promotion for Niall Horan and others.

"Wild Thoughts" by DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller climbs to number 2 and looks like challenging for the number one song soon give or take a week or two.

"Strip That Down" by Liam Payne and Quavo dropped back to number 3 after a week at number 2. Not sure if this song has peaked or what the go is here.

Off the back of the release of "Grateful". DJ Khaled's song "I'm The One" with Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne climbed back up to number 4.

The yo-yo performance of "Slow Hands" continues for Niall Horan, it's back down to five but a strong week on iTunes after performing at the Voice Australia finale should see it return to somewhere close to the top of the summit.

Shawn Mendes hangs on in the top 10 at number 6 with "There's Nothing Holding Me Back" up one from last week.

Then we get to one of two new entries to the top 10 with "Mama" by Jonas Blue feat. William Singe leaping from 11 last week to 7 this week. It's a good song. Deserves the success for sure. Happy to see it here.

"2U" by David Guetta feat. Justin Bieber wasn't able to pull back the gains lost week and in effect fell to number 8.

Miley Cyrus run in the top 10 looks as though it could be coming to a close with "Malibu dropping one place to number 9.

Charlie Puth holds the second of the new top 10 entries with slow but effective mover "Attention" climbing from 12 to number 10 to round out the top 10 this week.


Of the new entries, Jessica Mauboy also benefitted from being on The Voice Australia with "Fallin'" entering the ARIA chart number 20.

Drake had one new entry of the three new songs released last week with "Signs" entering at number 39.

Finally a new entry that shocked me given it was around in the USA for some time last year. Khalid's "Location" enters at number 43.

Best of the year so far coming up as as well as New Music Friday review featuring Adam Lambert and maybe some songs that you may not have heard of in 2017 that are well worth a listen.

My Top 10 Worst Hit Songs at halfway point of 2017

2017 to date has been a pretty good year for popular music, songs that were good to great became hits, the songs that were mediocre to awful got what they deserved but some of those god awful songs somehow slipped through the cracks to have a chart run unfortunately. There's only one rule for this list, the song needs to have appeared on the ARIA top 100 at some point in 2017, this list is purely based on my opinion.

Let's get to those songs that have been forgettable rather than outright bad.

Dishonourable Mentions

"Issues" by Julia Michaels | Peak: 5

Largely due to this song just purely being a hit for the hook and the chorus but other than a decent hook and chorus there is really nothing to this song about a relationship hitting crisis point, it just lacks emotional depth and the instrumentation is nothing special.

"Play That Song" by Train |  Peak: 8

Somehow this song wound up as a top ten hit and I have no idea why. The lyrics are god damn AWFUL "Play that song the one that makes me go all night long". What the hell? Music is not designed to be some bizarre form of increasing a woman's sexual performance in the sack.


"Despacito Remix" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber | Peak: 1
It being unnecessary doesn't make this a bad song per se so I couldn't bring myself to put this in the top 10 worst songs of the year so far, the original was going to be a hit around the world regardless and the recent behaviour of Justin Bieber by refusing to learn the words to the song show just how blatantly unnecessary the remix is. I'll take the original ANY DAY over this remix.


"Now or Never" by Halsey | Peak: 16
The lady who thinks she is alternative but continues to write blatantly awful pop songs as "Now or Never" demonstrates. The production and lyrics are sloppy and boring. Halsey attempts to be sexy and she doesn't pull it off at all. This isn't as bad as "New Americana" but geez, Halsey can stop pretending she's an alternative artist cause she is anything but.


Rightio so that's the mediocre at the midway point of 2017, now for the absolute worst of 2017 so far.


10. "I'm The One" by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper, Quavo and Lil Wayne | Peak: 1

So you would think there would be a real swagger in a song about being the one guy for any woman but truth be told none of the artists involved with this song deliver much swagger apart from maybe Chance the Rapper. Bieber's vocals are passable but he really doesn't deliver that passion or that edge that would hook me into a song that supposed to be about being number 1. Lil Wayne steers the song way off course with references to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's relationship which was abusive and toxic!. All in all, its just not a good song at all. Saved from being higher up because there's far worse ahead.


9. "Heavy" by Linkin Park and Kiiara | Peak: 33

I was really looking forward to seeing what Linkin Park were going to do and how they would change things up while keep their sound...until they veered way too far in the direction of pop which okay given pop/EDM/dance are kind of the big trends at the moment, maybe it's not the worst move but is "Heavy" really the best result of that new sound from Linkin Park. A bland,somewhat forgettable song that I really haven't been in a hurry to hear again. Ugh.


8. "Everyday" by Ariana Grande feat. Future  | Peak: 96

Yeah, this song makes this list purely for that shit chorus which is basically Ariana repeating "He give it to me" and Future repeating one word "Everyday", there used to be a time when choruses would have some depth or point to them but clearly judging by this, there's no need. There's just nothing to this song lyrically and the production is absolutely TERRIBLE, Ariana's vocals don't save it.


7. "Bad and Boujee" by Lil Uzi Vert feat. Migos. | Peak: 34

This song is why on occasion the ARIA Chart is better than the Billboard Hot 100, this lazy garbage inspired from a meme only peaked at number 34 on the ARIA chart but somehow it got to number 1 on the Hot 100, USA, what were you thinking?. Lil Uzi Vert can't stay on the beat to save himself here and most of Migos contribution is purely shallow bragging. Can we pretend this song NEVER happened?

6. "Mo Bounce" by Iggy Azalea | Peak: 63

Well we can be grateful for small mercies, this song got the short shrift it deserved chart wise, it seems people are sick of the big arse anthems. Any song that has to repeat the title over 100 times is not worth my time to listen to it. Says as much I can't get through the video without laughing. Seriously, Iggy, come back when you have something remotely interesting to say.


5. "Still Got Time" by Zayn feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR | Peak: 20

2017 has so far been the year of Drake and unfortunately the forgettable "I wanna be like Drake club" and at the top of that list is Zayn Malik's effort in teaming up with PARTYNEXTDOOR for this drone called "Still Got Time" which I think is an absolute waste of Zayn's talent as a vocalist, he can do so much better than this mess of a song and probably the fact that he disappointed with this song is the reason it's up so high on this list.


4. "Cold" by Maroon 5 feat. Future | Peak: 27

A sterile song with not a lot to say really, it's more about Adam Levine as a solo artist now than about Maroon 5 as a band but honestly this song lacks any killer punch or any reason for it to stay inside your head so yeah fair to say I am really very cold on this song and I don't see myself warming to it any time soon.



3. "Kissing Strangers" by DNCE feat. Nicki Minaj | Peak 96

The reason this abomination is here is not because of the production which is actually pretty catchy and does get stuck in your head but do we really need a song advocating kissing random people until finding somebody they love. You'd hope DNCE understand that sharing a bond or connection with somebody special is also apart of being in love not just kissing.



2, "Bon Appetit" by Katy Perry feat. Migos. | Peak: 35


This song has got to be one of the stupidest and most ill concieved pop songs to appear on the charts in ages. It basically uses all manner of food double entendres as Katy Perry sings about smelling seduction, "fresh out of the oven" and "spread at the buffet". Really? Food double entendres as a method of singing about sex become boring and stupid back when Justin Timberlake made a song using them and no giving Migos a third of a verse each does nothing to improve the song. That said given the lack of single friendly songs on "Witness", kind of not surprised they released this mess.


"Bon Appetit" is bad but wasn't bad enough to claim number 1, so what could possibly be so bad to top it?


1. "Body like a Back Road" by Sam Hunt | Peak: 48 (It's still climbing the Australian charts too)

This thinly disguised excuse of a 'country' song (it's barely country) sees Sam Hunt claim he has explored his partner's body so much he knows her body as well as he knows a road riddled with cracks, pot holes and generally is in a state of disrepair. WTF? Fair to say if he ever did that to me, he'd be shown the door pretty damn quick.

Everything to be said about how utterly redundant and stupid this song is is in the line "Imma take it slow just as fast as I can"? It makes Pat Monahan from Train look like a lyrical genius and I outlined how bad lyrically "Play that Song" is.

Gah. Please don't let this song stick around. 48 and out of the top 50 next week, Please, Australia?


Anyway, we'll flip over the coin and look my best hit songs of this year so far plus the ARIA top 10 for this week as there have been some big moves on that front.