Exo -Wolf

Korea's Exo were one of the groups that really got me interested in K-Pop. There are boy and girls bands by the dozen in the genre, but I found that Exo-K's debut EP was really to my taste musically. I still find History and Mama to be stunning pieces of pop music. The main drawback of K-Pop, at least as I see it, is that it doesn't tend to be all that consistent. So many groups sound the same, which means it's more about the songs they're given by the producers/songwriters than it is about their individual talent. Obviously, that's not true with everyone (G-Dragon and PSY are two unique characters I can think of right off the bat), but I'm finding it to be the general rule. For Exo's comeback, they released the bizarre Wolf as their first single. It's a weird, WEIRD rap/dubstep hybrid with howls and everything. I really like the melodic parts (though they're few and far between) and the production is suitably dramatic, but I can't tell if this is going to grow on me or if it's just too cheesy to register. Only time will tell. It's certainly no Mama or History or even What Is Love. But the group has enough goodwill left over that I'm willing to give them a chance.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Preorder the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Anton Ewald - Can't Hold Back

"Got me dizzy by the way that she moves"

Anton Ewald was probably the best surprise to come from this year's Melodifestivalen. In fact, I think he would've been the right one to represent Sweden and undoubtedly would've done better in Eurovision than Robin did. I still much prefer Ulrik Munther's song, but I've also been a longtime supporter of Anton's Beggin'. That song appears at the end of his just-released EP, and definitely holds up outside of the MF/Eurovision world. Releasing an EP instead of an album was a really smart decision, as such a short track list makes it much easier to keep the quality up. Honestly, the kind of music Anton's making isn't particularly groundbreaking. That's fine, but to an certain extent these songs could've come from Eric Saade, Danny, Darin or any other of his fellow Swedish popstars. Much of this kind of music often feels pretty anonymous, which makes quality control all the more important. And I'm happy to say that the five tracks on the EP are all at a high level. It's straightforward, trendy pop/r&b/dance, but the production and hooks are very solid. Other than Beggin, Can't Hold Back is the danciest of the songs, and even if it feels slightly familiar, there's no resisting a song like this. It's pretty massive.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the EP here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Playb4ck vs SuperMartxe ft. Mohombi - I Don't Wanna Party Without You

"You're like the sun in California"

This song has been kicking around for awhile now, and I've been meaning to feature it. It's been somewhat of a staple in the Scandinavian charts for weeks and I can see it absolutely blowing up this Summer. Whatever we may feel about it, for now and the foreseeable future, DJs and production teams are the new rock stars. As such, just getting this track's name and feature list out of your mouth is a doozy. However, here at alienhits we are quite familiar with Mohombi, who's released some great music in the past. It was his name that first drew me to this track, and his vocals are the standout here. It's obviously quite a bit more club/dance than we're used to from him, and if I'm being honest, the production basically just follows the template set out by every other club track, but with the weather getting nicer, we can never have enough of songs like this.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

The Limousines - Love Is A Dog From Hell

"We can do anything we want to"

Though I've been familiar with the Limousines in the past (and even posted about them three years ago), for some reason I never really gave them the full attention they deserve. Then I heard this song, and I started wondering why they'd fallen off my radar for so long. This is the first single from their new, upcoming kickstarter-funded album, and it's sonic bliss. Sometimes you a track just hooks you the first time you hear it. The dreamy, synth-drenched production, the anthemic (yet not overpowering) melody and the character-laden vocals combine to produce something quite epic. It reminds me of Swedens The Sound Of Arrows, who released my favorite album of 2011. This song is also a little reminiscent of MGMT before they got all weird (think Time To Pretend, but remixed to fit in a John Hughes movie). Brilliant. I can't wait for the album.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Preorder the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.