Welcome to the second edition of The Vinyl Countdown, brought to you this week by Zitrone and our special guest Plebings (because Evanora is away!) Every two weeks, we will be showcasing the best tunes from a variety of artists and genres. We hope you enjoy our reviews and don’t forget to listen and leave your own small reviews in the comment section below! To read the last edition, click here.

Also, from now on all songs featured in The Vinyl Countdown will be added to a Spotify playlist, which you can follow by clicking HERE. Happy listening!

Marina & the Diamonds – Blue / MUSIC VIDEO

We kick off this week’s edition with a Habbox favourite: Marina & the Diamonds! ‘Blue’ comes from Marina’s third studio album ‘FROOT’, with the music video for the song dropping the other week. Personally, this is one of the best tracks on the album with its lovelorn lyrics and upbeat, catchy sounds. It explores the themes of love and break-ups, which must have been a difficult period in her life! However, where there’s an opportunity for music to be made, it’s always best to dive deep into your emotions. Dreamland Margate, UK is the setting for the video which is very playful, where we see Marina looking glamorous eating candyfloss and working as a fortune teller.

Tove Stryke – Number One / MUSIC VIDEO

The music biz is a harsh world, but recently we’ve seen more and more artists call out their labels for the difficulties and problems they’ve faced; from Beyoncé to Little Boot’s (fantastic) new album and now Tove Styrke is getting her word in too. Number One can be compared to the work of Swedish pop starlets Tove Lo and Robyn, smart, clean and most of all catchy pop music. Tove tackles the adversities of being a new, under the radar artist (“You’re only eighteen”) and how fickle labels can be (“No one ever wants to give you some, but everyone loves a number one”). Number One can appear sweet and upbeat but behind the grin you may spot her fangs.

Disclosure – Omen ft. Sam Smith / MUSIC VIDEO

This next song comes from Disclosure’s highly anticipated album Caracal which is out September 26th, however it’s not the first time the British house-pop duo have worked with Sam Smith. Latch, released in 2012, propelled Smith into stardom who has had many hits himself is compared to artists such as Adele and he’s even rumoured to be singing the next James Bond theme song! Now, Disclosure and Smith have come together again to create the extremely catchy tune Omen. Perhaps it’s not as good as Latch, but it certainly gets our heads bopping! The music video is the second in a series of four that follows the story of Mariella. You can watch the first video by clicking here.

Major Lazer – Powerful ft. Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley / MUSIC VIDEO

This powerful track comes from electronic music group Major Lazer, who recently had major success with Lean On. Singing from their souls are Ellie Goulding and lesser-known reggae artist Tarrus Riley, and they definitely don’t hold back! Riley has a similar vibe to musician Labrinth and this song could be his key to exposure. In the music video, Goulding and Riley gain supernatural abilities whilst in a café and cause havoc among diners. Major Lazer have demonstrated that it’s possible to mix different types of sound in their new album Peace Is the Mission which is out now.

Demi Lovato – Cool for the Summer / MUSIC VIDEO

Is nothing sacred? We can finally tick Demi off our Disney fallen angel bingo card, and about time too because that’s truly when they start to get interesting! Demi has delivered a banger with this one, from her cooing verses, to the surprisingly heavy chorus. The bridge remains a standout though as you hear the song begins to ramp it to 11, “Don’t tell your mother” before the metal guitars blast out the chorus. Demi certainly pulls the song off convincingly – let’s just hope she can keep it up for the album campaign. Cool for the Summer is out now!

The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face / MUSIC VIDEO

Scorching the stage in this next song is R&B god The Weeknd with “Can’t Feel My Face”. The fiery video landed on Apple Music this week and it doesn’t disappoint! The Weeknd has gone from an indie favourite to a world-class pop star, with recent hits such as “Earned It” from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack and “The Hills”. This catchy tune will definitely be a summer hit, and has already reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The uptempo track has a funky rhythm but dark lyrics exploring his drug addiction – “She told me, don’t worry no more. We both know we can’t go, without it. She told me you’ll never be in love, Oh, Oh, Woo” – he personifies drugs as if they were women. Depressing but still a great tune!

Alessia Cara – Here / MUSIC VIDEO

 Our final track comes from Alessia Cara, a Canada teen who has recently found moderate success with the track “Here”. Before the song, she was known for her acoustic covers of songs on YouTube… If it worked for Justin Bieber it must work for Cara! Cara’s silky voice brings life to this song, which explores the expectations of a typical teenager to be having fun at parties and raves, when in fact some people would rather be at home or in Cara’s case, recording music. Recently she covered The Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face which you can watch by clicking here (some would even say she did it better than The Weeknd himself!) The future looks bright for this new and upcoming artist and we can’t wait to hear more from her in the future!

What music video did you think was the most creative? Is the music industry becoming better or worse? Leave your thoughts and recommendations in the comment section below!

(No Ratings Yet)