LISTEN: M.I.A.’s Newly Leaked “Baby” Produced By William Orbit
Apparently, pop provocateur M.I.A. has been in the studio with the legendary William Orbit, and a song from their session sneaked its way upon the Internet last night. Entitled “Baby”, it’s an unexpected, but not entirely surprising pairing, as Maya has worked with pop-friendly producers like Richard X and Timbaland before. Hear the icy, minimal track below, before it’s taken down!
UPDATE: M.I.A. has stated on her Twitter that this is an unfinished demo for Madonna and is not for her new LP.
STREAM: M.I.A. – Baby
In more baffling Orbit-related news, the pop maestro also uploaded a new track on his Soundcloud yesterday, the synth-laden “All Fired Up” (not a Saturdays cover, sadly), featuring none other than Tina Barrett – well, she of “S Club 7” fame! It’s a bit on the cheesy side, while I do like the fizzy electro production, her vocals left a lot to be desired. A quick search revealed the track actually floated about on Youtube since 2008, so will it be on Tina’s forthcoming solo album? Will she be the one to threaten an S Club 7 reunion? The plot thickens.
STREAM: Tina Barrett – All Fired Up (Produced by William Orbit)
Also, he uploaded an instrumental version of the forgotten Nadine Coyle album track “Unbroken”. His instrumentals are always worth a listen for their intricate, pristine production, but really I’m just waiting for an instrumental of All Saints’ “Black Coffee” to be put up. I need that in my life.
In other news, the Madonna reject that Orbit gave away to Chris Brown, “Don’t Wake Me Up”, shot up to #2 last week on the UK Top 40. Blimey.
Covercentric: Saint Etienne – Just Friends (Amy Winehouse Cover)
Saint Etienne have become somewhat of a serial cover mount tribute CD contributor as of late. Roughly 2 months after their Beach Boys cover for Mojo, the band has once again lent their reinterpreting talent to Q’s Amy Winehouse issue. They picked “Just Friends”, their least favourite track on “Back To Black”, for fear of ruining the better ones, but I think they did an excellent job. I could be fooled into thinking it’s a St. Et. original had I not known better. As Louis Walsh would say, they really “made the song their own”.
MP3: Saint Etienne – Just Friends (Amy Winehouse Cover)
Preview 30 secs of each track here, though I should warn you it features bits from ‘The Cribs’ and ‘The View’. View the full tracklist after the jump.
LISTEN: Sam Sparro – Last Night (feat. Róisín Murphy)
Pop mad hatter Róisín Murphy has joined forces with that guy that sang “Black & Gold” for a midtempo funky boudoir jam called “Last Night”. The freshly leaked collaboration was rumoured to be on the deluxe edition of Sam Sparro‘s new album “Return to Paradise”. Honestly I found this to be a bit bland and cringeworthy, but then some new Róisín is still better than no Róisín. Sam Sparro’s output has always been mostly miss for me except “Black & Gold” which is a classic, and I’m not feeling his new ’70s disco direction much either. Róisín, on the other hand, got to add yet another bulletpoint to her longlist of collaborations with everyone from David Byrne to The Feeling. At this point her featured tracks are probably enough to fill a full-length album and some. Still no solo music news in sight though *sighs*.
STREAM: Sam Sparro – Last Night (feat. Róisín Murphy)
Hear her other recent guest vocal stint on David Morales’ “Golden Era”. Sam Sparro’s new album is out now in UK.
Covercentric: She’s So Rad Reinterpret Twin Peaks & Julee Cruise
I won’t object to a nice Twin Peaks and NZ indie-rock band She’s So Rad did just the trick with their cover of the David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti kitschy dream-pop tune “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart”, balancing fuzzy guitars with candy-coated vocals in the same spirit of Julee Cruise. If you like The Raveonettes, then you oughta like She’s So Rad.
MP3: She’s So Rad – Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart (Twin Peaks/Julee Cruise Cover)
It also reminds me of another Twin Peaks fuzz-pop makeover of the theme song “Falling” by Girls Names, released back in 2010.
Pop Labyrinth 
