ESCBubble New Music Roundup for April and May
We’re in the midst of the post Eurovision depression period and so it’s only right that ESCBubble brings back the New Music Roundup now that the contest is wrapped up for another year.
Whilst you were all absorbed by the events in Tel Aviv we have continued to collate new music from your favourite Eurovision and National Final artists and we’ve trawled back through Spotify and Apple Music for the best releases from April and May!
Eleni Fouriera – Gypsy Woman EP
It almost feels like yesterday when Eleni Foureira returned to the Eurovision stage and stunned us all with her majestic cover of Verka Serduchka’s ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’. Not satisfied with that she’s also unleashed a whole EP of bangers, centred around a cover on one the biggest club classics of all time – ‘Gypsy Woman’ by Crystal Waters. Featuring tracks varying from the reggaeton of ‘Maria’ to the anthemic ‘Call Ya’ there’s something here for everyone to play on the beach this summer:
Mosimann & MARUV – Mon Amour
I’m sure many of you have wondered how Ukraine’s MARUV would have fared in Tel Aviv with her masterpiece ‘Bang’, and we suspect a very high finish was there for the taking. She’s put her spare time to good use though (since refusing to sign UA:PBC’s contract to go to Eurovision) and recently teamed up with Switzerland’s DJ and singer Mosimann. The result is ‘Mon Amour’ – a sexy sapphic smorgasbord which stay’s true to MARUV’s unique style and a video that needs to be seen!
Arash ft Helena – One Night in Dubai
We’re always partial to some new music from Arash, and he teams up once again with Sweden’s Helena Josefsson, who last sang with Arash on the 2018 single ‘Dooset Daram’. Also make sure you check out the Azerbaijani 2009 representative’s previous single = the 2018 football World Cup offering ‘Goalie Goalie’! Here’s ‘One Night In Dubai’:
Eye Cue – Dancin’
Here’s a song which is proving to be a real earworm for us. The 2018 Macedonian ESC duo Eye Cue have returned to present us a follow up to ‘Lost and Found’ which of course disappointedly finished 18th in Semi Final 1. A song full of energy, ‘Dancin” is a natural successor to the uptempo chorus of their Eurovision entry but minus the reggae vibe that song brought:
Laura Tesoro – Up
Belgium’s Laura Tesoro continues to release a lot of quality output post Eurovision 2016, and ‘Up’ is her fourth Belgian Top 40 hit since the contest. Talking about the single, Laura said:
Up is about not giving up and continuing to push yourself, even when it’s not easy. I think everyone can recognise themselves in it and I hope it can motivate everyone too.
MÉLOVIN – Ты
Mélovin has proved to be a prolific artist both before and after his 2018 Eurovision exploits for Ukraine, and his latest single is titled ‘Ты’ (Eng: ‘You’). The song is written in both Ukrainian and Russian and is one that the singer has performed at his concerts for the last two years. Now finally in its studio version, have a listen here:
Aram MP3 – Alabalanica
Back in 2014 Aram Sargsyan, or better known to you and I as Aram MP3, took Armenia to 4th place (their joint highest finish) with ‘Not Alone’. He continues to have success back home, he even got the chance to play Simba in the Armenian version of The Lion King! His latest effort is the tongue twister ‘Alabalanica’:
Secret Garden – The Pilot
Way back in 1995, Secret Garden broke the Irish mid nineties Eurovision dominance with an entry that sounded suspiciously Celtic – the majestic ‘Nocturne’. Since their victory, the duo made up of Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry, have racked up nine original albums, and their tenth titled ‘Storytellers’ features a new single ‘The Pilot’ which the band describe as their ‘first-ever musical-in-making’:
Samir & Viktor – Odödlig
We’re really pleased at ESCBubble to see the return of Swedish duo Samir & Viktor, three times Melodifestivalen finalists. Late last year, Viktor released a book in which he spoke of his battles with his mental health and how he’d tried to commit suicide in the summer of 2017. He described the time as follows:
I stuffed a lot of pills, rinsed my mind, and lay down on the couch to fall asleep.
He was later diagnosed with bipolar and then following treatment was able to get his career back on track. ‘Odödlig’ (Eng: ‘Immortal’) is the duo’s 11th hit together and has made it to number 20 on the Swedish charts:
Wiktoria – OMG
Staying in Sweden and another three time Melodifestivalen finalist, we have the return of Wiktoria Johansson. Following her success with the ballad ‘Not With Me’, she’s back with a sassy new look and a song more in keeping with her usual uptempo style but without those country elements she’s most known for. Here is ‘OMG’:
Dolly Style – Sunrise
The ever changing girl group from Melodifestivalen are back, however their 2019 effort ‘Habibi’ unfortunately didn’t make it out of their heat. Apart from listening to this latest single ‘Sunrise’ we also definitely recommend watching the recent documentary from the Swedish state broadcaster SVT which proved to be a very insightful look behind the scenes of the girl group:
The new single also includes the song ‘Twinkle’ and you can listen to both here:
Robin Bengtsson – Mama’s Song
“This is for you Mum” says Robin when introducing this new song on his Instagram account and the 2017 Swedish Eurovision entrant has dedicated his latest track to his mum Annelie. “You always know when somethings up, you have my back no matter what”, Robin sings as the song becomes a low key foot tapper. You can enjoy ‘Mama’s Song’ below:
Adrian Jørgensen – My Head Goes Oooh
Adrian was the runner-up in this year’s Melodi Grand Prix in Norway, and there was certainly no shame in losing out to the eventual Eurovision televote winner KEiiNO! We had a chat with Adrian before the Norwegian selection and you can find it here to learn a bit more about him. Following the excellently named ‘The Bubble’ he now follows up with ‘My Head Goes Oooh’:
xtra basic ft Katrin Ruuse – Love Ain’t Gone
An act that definitely caught our attention at this year’s Eesti Laul was the duo of Andrei Zevakin and Igor Volhonski, better known as xtra basic. Their summery pop-dance anthem with Emily J ‘Hold Me Close’ made it the final eventually finishing 12th. They return with a new vocalist Katrin Ruuse, an Estonian vocalist who has previously worked with other dance acts such as RD Project. Here is the really cool ‘Love Ain’t Gone’:
Syn Cole ft Victor Crone – Discovery
Staying in Estonia (sort of), we have the return of the Estonian 2019 entrant Victor Crone who helped the country into the Grand Final with his country-pop-EDM entry ‘Storm’. Here the Swede teams up with Estonian and international DJ Syn Cole for an anthemic production ‘Discovery’ which you should definitely be adding to your summer beach playlists!
Golec uOrkiestra & Gromee – Górą Ty (feat. Bedoes)
In one of the most interesting collaborations of the last few months, Poland’s 2018 act Gromee teams up with folk-rock group Golec uOrkiestra, a ten member group formed back in 1998. They’ve released five very successful studio albums in their homeland but have been quieter as of late. They’re definitely back with a bang here as Gromee adds his touch to a swirl of violins and catchy folk whilst rapper Bedoes gives it a great finishing touch:
Alfie Arcuri – Same
Alfie was one of the ten acts who took part in the inaugural ‘Eurovision – Australia Decides’, and his touching ballad ‘To Myself’ was an angst ridden song lamenting not being true to himself about his sexuality. His next single ‘Same’ is a more uptempo affair about losing your first love and replacing them with a visually identikit person! Check out ‘Same’ here:
Sennek – Endlessly
Sennek was the 2018 Belgian representative who just missed out on the Grand Final with her dark, Bond-like song ‘A Matter Of Time’. She’s teamed up once again with the writer of that song, Maxime Tribeche, and they’ve come up with ‘Endlessly’. Sennek described her song on her Instagram as follows:
Nathan Trent – I Got Me
We always enjoy a release from Austria’s Nathan Trent and he doesn’t disappoint on his new single ‘I Got Me’. This is a chilled but still edgy track with Nathan interspersing singing and rapping very smoothly. This is something you’d not be surprised to hear on a Justin Timberlake album! Nathan describes the song as follows:
‘I Got Me’ is an anthem of self-acceptance, where the lyrics transmit a feeling of confidence in a climate of uncertainties.
Trijnje Oosterhuis feat Candy Dulfer – Jij En Ik
You’ll remember Trijnje from her Eurovision 2015 entry ‘Walk Along’, which finished 14th in Semi Final 1. During this time she was also a member of the supergroup Ladies Of Soul with fellow Dutch Eurovision alumni Glennis Grace and Edsilia Rombley. Another of the Ladies of Soul is internationally famous saxophonist Candy Dulfer and they team up here on ‘Jij Ek Ik’ (Eng: ‘You and Me’):
BLGN & Olli – Mercy
Our last track of this roundup comes from the Belarussian BLGN, who finished second to Zena in the national final ‘Nationalny Otbor‘ with the song ‘Champion’. Not much is known about BLGN apart from his real name being Sasha Balagan, he’s an EDM producer and artist and here he teams up with Belarusian indie band Oili on a electro-swing styled new single ‘Mercy’:
And Finally…..
As always we’ve collated all of our April and May favourites in a playlist for you, which you can find below. Our normal weekly reviews will return shortly to keep you entertained and up to date on the latest output from your favourite artists!