Today's Pick

Loick Essien has revealed the video to his new upbeat love song "Me Without You," which will serve as the fourth release from the London singer's forthcoming debut album, "Identity," is currently slated for a March 5, 2012 release. Following on from the summer success of his No.2 club hit "How We Roll," the 21-year-old returns to the charts with another winner track and it shows that the young artist isn't scared to show his vulnerable side with a raw and emotional ballad insight into love and heartache.
Having co-written this emotive track which is mixed and produced by Mike Spencer, "Me Without You," is a proper blub-fest about breaking up with someone who you still want to be with, and trying to go on without them. "There's nothing worse than ending a relationship with someone you don't want to break up with," says the daredevil. "This song is about trying to rebuild your life when it feels like you can't go on without them. Everyone has felt like that at some point and it's something we can all relate to."
In the current pop climate, it takes balls bigger than a prizewinning pumpkin to steer of the ubiquitous lowest common denomiguetta club sound that has pop pinned to the wall by its throat, and on the basis of his second single we can conclude that Essien does indeed, metaphorically, have a sizable scrotum. "Me Without You" sounds current, of course, but there's a lightness of touch in the production that lets the song itself breathe. Which is all rather splendid. It should also be noted that "Me Without You" concerns one of our favorite pop topics: the nonstop blubbathon stage of a collapsed relationship.
That was sad enough. Then we saw the new video for it and it seems that Essien thinks being completely heartbroken makes him immune to getting run over. From one promising UK act to another, Essien has yet again delivered a single that sounds nothing like its predecessor. Undeniably mesmerizing, the voice re-establishes his abilities, and exactly why the R&B singer was nominated for a MOBO. "Me Without You" is an amazing Pop R&B song. It is a really beautiful and heartfelt, sad, breakup song. It has a cool, harder, almost-rock-type beat with smooth vocals on top. I'm really impressed with this singer's voice. He's got talent.

The British-Irish girl group The Saturdays have unveiled their new video for their Pop ballad "My Heart Takes Over," which is the third cut to be lifted from The Saturdays' upcoming fourth album "On Your Radar," slated for a November 21 release. "My Heart Takes Over" is a heart-wrenching breakup ballad, and the video visually translates the emotional weight that the sorry carries.
The girls have abandoned their previously favored club sounds for the new track - a powerful ballad which shows off the band's tremendous vocal abilities. The song finds the gorgeous quintet harmonizing about letting go and letting love take over. This is one of several ballads on "On Your Radar." Speaking to Digital Spy, The Saturdays said of the LP: "The ballads this time are very strong. There are quite a few tearjerkers on this one. Our last album (Headlines) only had one ballad. This time, we have a few more and they are very singalong."
The Saturdays look as glamorous as ever in skimpy outfits despite the freezing cold in new promo for "My Heart Takes Over" on the black sand beaches of Iceland. The video sees the five-piece face heavy gusts and cold temperatures as they sing their lungs out on the hillsides of the Icelandic stormy countryside. Throughout most of the video, the girls are pictured alone as they each face their own personal obstacle, which are represented by natural elements like strong winds, rough tides, and a downpour of snow.
The quintet flew to freezing cold Iceland in late September to shoot this new video. Although the video is meant to invoke feelings of loss and heartache, it's hard to believe that any of these girls have had their hearts broken. The Saturdays' designer gear, perfectly tousled hair, and overall supermodel appearance isn't the most convincing "scorned lover" act - far from the smudged mascara, puffy red eye look that the average girl sports after a breakup. Simple, stunning, cinematic, the clip reaffirms the saying that sometimes less is indeed more.

Cody Simpson unveiled his new beachy video on MTV for his latest heartfelt single "Not Just You," taken from his second EP "Coast to Coast," is available in stores and on iTunes now. The song storyline is about a boy who realizes that both people are at fault for the ending of a relationship, and it definitely follows a girl, because we get to see Simpson up-close and personal with his love interest, standing together on the beach and even serenading her on his guitar.
The YouTube sensation takes it slow with this beautiful ballad, he might be young, but doesn't mean he doesn't know heartache. The 14-year-old current MTV Push artist shares a tender moment with his music video love interest, Madison McMillin, and strolls through the cold city streets as he thinks back on his carefree summer days on the beach with his former girlfriend. The Aussie teen explores the post break-up blues, as well as his ability to wear clothes in all different types of weather, in his latest video for "Not Just You."
The the Kids Choice Award winner's lovelorn new clip was filmed on Venice Beach, and in downtown L.A., and was directed by Roman White, who explains his concept for the project in the "making of" clip. "You have this couple and they've kind of broken apart, and Cody's video girlfriend, Madison, is leaving him," he says. "So he's alone in the city, she's alone in the city, it's winter, it's kind of cold... and Cody's realizing that it wasn't just her that was part of the reason that they broke up, it was him as well."
The director adds, "Halfway through the video, he realizes he can't let her go." In the new clip, we see Simpson sings his sad song as he reminisces about better days on the beach with his girlfriend, who packs her bags and gets ready to get on the subway to take her somewhere far, far away. We also see a winter-coat-clad Simpson walking through the dimly lit backstreets of New York, looking back on a summer love that somehow went awry. In the end, the broken couple are seen at a train station trying to make amends until his love disappears.

British pop starlet Pixie Lott has unveiled the brand music video for for her new jam "What Do You Take Me For?" a collaboration featuring New York rapper Pusha T and produced by dubstep mixer Rusko, the new track, set to drop on November 7th, is the second cut taken from Lott's forthcoming sophomore studio album, "Young Foolish Happy," is scheduled for release on the same date as the single in UK.
The singer was discovered when she was just 15 years old by famed producer L.A. Reid, who signed her to Def Jam Records. Talking about the album's title, Lott once explained, "It was inspired by a lyric from an old soul song that I love by The Tams called 'Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy' - 'Young Foolish Happy' pretty much sums up the vibe of my album. It's a feel good party album but with lots of soul. I also think its a great sentiment for all ages to live life by!"
"What Do You Take Me For" is a stand-out track, full of energy and fantastic performances, which has described as an intoxicating unique blend of funk samples and warping basslines. The track features rising rapper Pusha T, who recently signed to Kanye West's label Good Music. Follow-up to her this Summer No.1 single "All About Tonight," Lott is finally taking risks because "What Do You Take Me For" is different to anything she's ever released or better yet recorded, and brings out her sexy vocals on scene, and very sleek clip.
The 20-year-old Bromley born singer in a black leotard and matching boots performing a collection of seductive and flirts with the camera as she dances sexy routines created by Beyoncé Knowles' choreographer. Directed by Declan Whitebloom, the promo is a high-energy sequence of contemporary dance moves between the two singers and putting their best feet forward with their back up dance teams in an explosive and upbeat performance. Lott is up next using her amazing voice, dance moves, and legs to leave viewers hypnotized.

The hard rock band Valora have released the official music video for their first and title song from band's Hollywood Records debut album, "I Waited For You," will be released to digital retailers on October 24th. Musically, Valora could be considered fans of hard rock bands such as Muse and Foo Fighters, but within the band's style flows an expanse of rock influences.
Valora is a six piece hard rock band from Whittier, California. featuring electrifying frontwoman Syd Duran, who sings with fearsome conviction, summoning all the just powers of rock into her three-octave range, her powerful vocals and stage presence have catapulted the band from obscurity to national attention. But Duran is about more than technique or stage presence. She has stories to tell: stories about isolation and betrayal, of misbegotten love and life out of whack. As the album shows, her rock vocal chops would mean nothing if she didn't sing from the heart. "I didn't want to write a feel-good record," she says. "You don't always feel good. For the most part, in life you're getting over something."
Valora will be issuing their debut album, "I Waited for You," in the coming months. The album opens with this savagely indignant "I Waited For You," a song Duran co-wrote a few years ago, and which drew early attention to the band. "I'm really proud of it," she says. "I wrote it right out of high school." "I Waited for You" was produced by Grammy-nominated Johnny K and mixed by Neil Avron. It's simple and raw – no horns, no synths, no auto-tuned perfection. "The main thing Johnny had to understand about Valora was the feeling I want people to get when they hear my voice," Duran says. "I needed to find a producer that valued vocals as much as I do."
For a paltry $500, an early incarnation of Valora snuck into local Whittier High school after hours and shot their own DIY video for "I Waited For You," which intrigued Hollywood Records execs. Duran explained: "We decided that 'I Waited for You' was probably the catchiest thing we did and it had potential to be a hit. So we found a film student that made the video for us for a budget of like $500. We broke into my local high school [Whittier High] and shot it there. Then we threw it up on the Internet and this was right when YouTube starting blowing up."

Oklahoma country music star Blake Shelton premiered the music video for the country-fied reboot of the hit "Footloose" on Thursday's show 'Entertainment Tonight,' for the first time since Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983. "Footloose" was performed for the original 1984 film by music legend Kenny Loggins, and the film is about a town that has banned rock and dancing, will open in U.S. theaters on October 14.
Writer-director Craig Brewer helms a new take of the well-loved 1984 film, which was loosely based on real-life events that happened in 1980 in Elmore City, where students convinced the school board to let them organize the school's first prom, despite an 80-year-old city ordinance banning public dancing. The Oklahoma farming community marked the 30th anniversary of the first prom last year. Shelton tells The Boot. "When I open my mouth, what comes out is country. There's really only one way to approach it when you think of it that way: a fun, uptempo, catchy version just like Kenny Loggins did."
It's no surprise that a movie about dancing features a lot of dancing. However, the video for "Footloose" is incredibly middle American good time and fairly vibrates off the screen with high-octane dance segments from the movie. There's simply no room to compete. The 35-year-old singer wants to cut loose, but he wisely leaves the fancy footwork to others, and choosing instead to sing in a pickup bed and let the energy bubble around him.
The video started as a quiet night, but brings life to a sleepy drive-in theater, and turns into a raucous block party when "The Voice" coach exchanges pleasantries with the old man running the joint and then grabs his guitar and sings the iconic title song from the upcoming film standing in his truck bed, while a bunch of dancers embark on a well-choreographed routine around him. "Footage" and key scenes from the film, which also appears as loyal to the original as Shelton's remake of the theme song, are spliced throughout and it all blends seamlessly that looks just as great now as they did 27 years ago.

A month after debuting her latest single on NBC's America's Got Talent, Susan Boyle has unveiled the official promo to support her underwhelming new single, "You Have To Be There." This stirring ballad is the lead single features on Boyle's upcoming third full-length album, "Someone to Watch Over Me," to hit stories and iTunes November 1st. The album features Boyle's interpretations of pop classics by George and Ira Gershwin, Joni Mitchell and others, as well as original material.
Unlike the other artists, the 50-year-old singer shuns elaborate costume changes, over-the-top choreography and dramatic storyline. She's doing what she does best; belting out the lyrics in high notes. "Well this song makes a demand on Gods presence, it raises questions as to whether or not he can be there when needed," Boyle said. "It's a powerful song. It was written by Benny & Björn from ABBA and originates from their musical Kristina and it's very evocative and emotional."
ABBA's Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus originally wrote the song as "Du måste finnas" for the 1995 popular Swedish musical "Kristina från Duvemåla." The show is based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg set in the mid-19th century, which tells the epic story of an extended family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America. It's a really good song with a mighty chorus that roars in a Celine Dion sort of way. The essence and feel of the video is sure to grab your attention.
The clip was filmed during her rehearsals for major televised performances at London's Symphony Orchestra home on Old Street. It's classic Boyle in every way, too, as this Scottish singing sensation, who surprised the world and claimed her fame through "Britain's Got Talent," shows off her ridiculous vocal range, and keeps it simple yet classy in this black-and-white affair, backed up by a full string orchestra when showing off her pipes.