New on your playllist

27 November 2015 - 02:32 By Yolisa Mkele and Helen Brown, © The Daily Telegraph

Hot sounds of summer STORIES, AviciiOn the face of it Swedish producer Avicii's second studio album Stories should be a perfect contender for album of the summer. After all, his last album, True,was a smash hit that managed to do something EDM (electronic dance music) has struggled with ever since it went pop: be different.So it was understandable that there was a lot of hype when the album dropped. The central question being what would this young Swedish maverick do now?Sadly, the answer is not very much. Yolisa MkelePOSITIVE SONGS FOR NEGATIVE PEOPLE, Frank TurnerPunk is, as a rule, short on tennis metaphors and songs about mittens. But both appear on the sixth solo album from the former hardcore singer from Hampshire whose stock has been rising ever since his 2005 reinvention as a "folk-punk" troubadour, combining the bluntly English, narrative appeal of Billy Bragg with the everyman-in-the-arena ambitions of Bruce Springsteen. Helen Brown, © The Daily TelegraphART ANGELS, GrimesWhen Canadian indie darling Claire Boucher cleared the dance floor while DJing in Ibiza two years ago, she was surprised that her selection of pop hits by Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey and the Vengaboys did not meet with the approval of her hipster fans.''Will leave it at this," she tweeted at 2.52am, "nothing about anything I do is ironic." The Ibizan crowd should not have been surprised. Although the inventive music she writes, produces and performs appeals to lovers of outsider electronica, Boucher (now 27) has always worn her mainstream influences on her punky, fishnet sleeves.A former goth, who studied literature and neuroscience before becoming involved in the underground music scene, Boucher has previously come out swinging in defence of Beyoncé's feminism and the anti-racist significance of Gangnam Style.She delivers her own big, melodic hooks (Flesh without Blood) and club bangers like feminist Venus Fly with its haunting, Gallic instrumental break. It all adds up to a fearless and fascinating record. Helen Brown, © The Daily Telegraph..

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