National Album Day just passed this weekend in the UK, celebrating a strong pop culture and tradition that has catapulted the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran to millions of albums sales in the 21st century. Speaking of which, this week's pop music column sees an orchestral take on 'Million Pieces' by Bastille, AJ Mitchell and Ava Max's Baz Luhrmann-inspired new video, and Niall Horan's latest track, 'Nice To Meet Ya'.
Bastille - 'Million Pieces' (ft. The Chamber Orchestra Of London)
Having released their third studio album ('Doom Days') this past summer, Bastille have taken the unusual step of taking an album cut and giving it an orchestral twist. In this instance, it's both a bold and brilliant gamble, as the soaring 'Million Pieces' is giving an added emotional thrust as Bastille combine with The Chamber Orchestra Of London.
AJ Mitchell - 'Slow Dance' (ft. Ava Max)
Rising teen AJ Mitchell collaborates on his new EP title track 'Slow Dance' with Ava Max, whose dubiously named 'Sweet But Psycho' topped the charts in the UK and beyond in 2018. 'Slow Dance' starts off in fairly proto-typical ballad fashion before its beats kick in, with the boy-girl vocals of Mitchell and Max further elevating proceedings. Be sure to check out the video, evocative of 1996's Leonardo DiCaprio 'Romeo + Juliet'.
Niall Horan - 'Nice To Meet Ya'
With One Direction's 2015 hiatus looking increasingly permanent, we're still looking for the standout solo performer from the group a la Destiny's Child's Beyonce or N'SYNC's Justin Timberlake. Impressively, each member of 1D have made notable contributions with their solo output, and Niall Horan's new finger-clicking single 'Nice To Meet Ya' is another strong addition. Delivered with a vocal strongly reminiscent of Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, nice to listen to ya.
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