2009

Hailed at the start of 2009 as one of the big acts to watch this year, Marina Diamandis (aka Marina And The Diamonds) has just announced the release of her debut album, The Family Jewels. Here's a bit more about the album:

Britney's back, and with a tune that I actually like. 3 has a bit of a Europop vibe. And by that I mean I can't understand any of the lyrics she's singing. But since when was I ever hung up on lyrics?

If you ignore the truly horrible video, 3 is a damned fine pop song. My favourite part is the 'verse', which is sadly only heard once in the entire song. This makes it necessary to listen to it over and over again to get satisfaction. All the same, the cheap and cheerful orchestra hits and brilliant hook on the chorus give us something to sing along to.

The video, however, is a complete train wreck. Since Britney had her meltdown, she's had a slightly vacant look in her eyes. I'm not saying that to be mean, it's true. And in the video for 3, she looks like she's going through the motions. The sad fact is, she's not sexy anymore, so her attempts at wriggling her back are stiff and frankly pathetic. The costumes are tacky, but they have been ever since the Gimme More video.

December will soon be here, and the last month of 2009 will very quickly ebb away as we get ready for Christmas. Let's do an open thread on Unreality Shout today - tell me your favourite music of 2009.

I've organised it into five groups - Singles, Albums, Music Videos, Solo Artists and Bands. Leave your answers in the comment thread, and I'll share my favourites of 2009 there as well!

1. Best Single
2. Best Album
3. Best Video
4. Best Solo Artist
5. Best Band

Over to you...

The Alexandra Burke machine keeps on rolling, with Broken Heels reportedly the third single from her debut album, Overcome.

Nice to see her keeping it uptempo with this busy pop track, which owes more than a little bit to Alesha Dixon's The Boy Does Nothing. It's got that same funky pop vibe, with the ever-bolshy Burke claiming that "anything you can do, we can do better/we can even do it better in broken heels".

There are a few suggestive lyrical moments, including the "you grow hard, yes you do..." which kind of push the boundaries (and I'm guessing exclude a primetime weekend plug on X Factor) unless they make a last-minute change!

No video available for the single just jet, but Alexandra is said to be rehearsing in Los Angeles for the shoot. She said on Twitter:

2nd Day of rehearsals for BROKEN HEELS! OMG! I hope u guys love this video! Me and my girls are working HARD!!! :-)

Looking forward to it, and still loving Bad Boys... I'll post the video when it gets released!

This time last year, I didn't hold out much hope for The Saturdays breaking into the pop charts in any big way. However, aided by some cracking pop tunes and capitalising on the misfortunes of Sugababes and the slumbering Girls Aloud, they've miraculously returned for a second album, Wordshaker.

Personally, I'm glad they are, although they've ditched the bright colours that were their trademark throughout the promo for the first album. I loved Wordshaker's first single, Forever Is Over, for all its divaesque posturing and melodrama, though sadly I didn't review it.

If there's one thing that Ghostbusters taught us it's that New Yorkers love their city. Am I right? And Sinatra's New York, New York might have a little competition as the city's anthem if this collab between Jay-Z and Alicia Keys has its way.

I first heard this track on the MTV EMAs, and it didn't initially make much of an impression. However, after some repeat listens the irresistable chorus was lasered into my brain. You find yourself running around sporadically yelling "Noo Yawk! The concrete jungle where dreams are maaaade up! There's nothing you caaan't do."

As a collaboration, it brings to mind that other hook-up from last year - Kanye and Estelle's American Boy. Except of course, Empire State Of Mind is far more of an anthem. You can see folks waving lighters and mobile phones in the air to this track.

Leading off her second album with a Ryan Tedder-penned track, Happy, the lovely Leona Lewis is clearly sticking to the formula with this one.

Now, we're obviously fans of Leona here on Unreality Shout - I've read brilliant reviews penned by RandomEnigma and Jay-D lately. Unfortunately, Happy gives me mixed feelings. With Leona, the voice is a given. It will always be flawlessly crystaline and beautiful, even on the high notes. But the song is a wrist-slashingly plodding tedderballad.

Just when I was crying out for a head-clearing blast of metal, I got an email this afternoon about these Canadian metallers A Skylit Drive (contradiction in terms? I think not!) and their new single, Those Cannons Could Sink A Ship.

It's a slab of really heavy, melodic rock, with an accompanying video shot in the Blair Witch style. If you're not familiar with the band, check out the video below.

Those Canons Could Sink A Ship is from A Skylit Drive's second studio album Adelphia. You can listen to more of their music over on PureVolume.

Rihanna has released the video for promotional single Wait Your Turn on 3 November, the first track to be taken from her upcoming fourth studio album Rated R. This was originally thought to be released alongside soon-to-be released single Russian Roulette as an official single, but no, it's just a promo. Hard featuring rent-a-rapper Young Jeezy will be the official second single.