Category: Song Of The Day

SONG OF THE DAY: Bouvier & Barona ft Abigail – “Surrender”

Abigail will forever hold a special place in my heart… She has sung some of my all-time favorite anthems (“Let the Joy Rise,” “You Set Me Free,” “Constant Craving,” “Don’t You Wanna Know”) and the only thing more powerful than her voice is the kindness and love she brings to the people in her live performances.? With such a strong voice, she can easily overpower a producer, but thankfully the team of Bouvier & Barona step up to the plate with a strong tribal/electro hybrid track for “Surrender.”? Yes, there is a touch of ’90s in the mix, but it’s modernized to sound respectful and, more importantly, current.?? The strings in the breakdown are quite special, giving a pretty ‘hands in the air’ feel, which is perfectly-timed to be emotional yet not too long to kill dancefloor energy.? As great as the original version is, digging through the plethora of remixes there is clearly something for everyone, with my favorites being Sted-E & Hybrid Heights (progressive electro),? Manny Lehman (traditional circuit), Matt Consola & LFB (modern Hi-NRG), and ShockPop (experimental).??? “Surrender” is the lead single from Bouvier & Barona’s forthcoming Pride album which includes vocal collaborations with Nick Clow, labelmates Kelsey B and Julissa Veloz, as well as another Abigail gem “Take Me Back.”? I am just hoping that there are more wonderful club tracks coming from the glorious Abigail.

Image courtesy of Carrillo Music.

SONG OF THE DAY: HIIO ft Abigail Bailey – “Waiting for the Night”

If Chuckie calls it “loud and proud,” you know it’s got to be energetic. South American duo HiiO follows up their recent club hits “Something About You” and “Meant to Be” with “Waiting for the Night,” a big room electro stomper equally balanced between massive energy and chilled-out dropouts. What makes this track stand out (aside from the amazing vocal performance by Abigail Bailey) is the way the dropouts aren’t completely beatless and have a groove that will keep the dancefloor. The rhythm is quite memorable but driving my trainspotter brain crazy, I thinks it’s a bit of Lee and Cabrera “Shake It” mixed with Deep Dish “Flashdance” in there. The lyrics are quite strong, also taking a different direction on the same theme recently explored by Armin van Buuren & Fiora. If the lyrics could be fleshed out into a complete verse/chorus/verse structure, this could be the basis for quite a strong pop song in its own right. As it is, watch for “Waiting for the Night” to be a big room club smash for most of the summer and festival season.

Image Courtesy of InCharge/Be Yourself Music.

SONG OF THE DAY (SUNDAY FUNDAY): GIMM+ICKY – “Shake That”

More proof that there is more than country in music city.? Nashville-based pop duo Gimm & Icky made an explosion on the club chart earlier this year with the infectious “Shake That.”? The ode to female grinding is a combination of sung/rap vocals over a radio-friendly dance groove with a rock feel. Unlike other tracks of this nature that might be considered to be demeaning to woman, “Shake That” is much more celebratory and respectful with a bit of the tongue-in-cheek, snarky sensibility of their other tracks like “Dump Me” and “Serious Face.”? The plethora of remixes by Jump Smokers, Lynnwood, Dirty Freqs, and Papercha$er take the song in many aggressive electro directions while keeping the fun of the original in place.?

Image Courtesy of Hitshop/Warner Bros.