Single Selection: It feels better Down Under (Gabriella Cilmi - Hearts Don't Lie; Kylie announcement; more Aston)

There are plenty of marvelous things happening in the land down under right at this very second. Or at least eminating internationally from there. I mean aside from the sheery dribbly hunkiness of Hugh Sheridan, there is additionally quite a lot of excellent pop (and classical) music to be appreciated. Here are some of the current best...

Gabriella Cilmi ~ Hearts Don't Lie: I have been entirely enchanted by the wonderful pop music spell that is Gabriella's fantastic album Ten. It is in fact the best australian pop album with ten in the title since Jason Donovan's Ten Good Reasons. The still excellent On A Mission has become my walk to work anthem despite the fact that I am clearly not a woman. Or on a mission. That's how universal the pop of Gabriella is!! Anyway, there's no rest for the fabulous as Gabriella is already planning her second single - the effervescent Hearts Don't Lie. It's out on May 31st, which is not only a lovely sunny (hopefully) bank holiday weekend in the UK, it's also Birmingham Gay Pride and additionally the weekend of Eurovision so pop magnificence abounds. HDL is a wild beast of a song, almost feral in a new moto blanco remix (below) - you imagine Gabriella reigning in the tune before it bursts free in a massive glittering chorus. Absolutely brilliant. Totally besotted...



Kylie ~ Love Love Love/Announcement: As the world and his dog knows by now, lovely Kylie is making a very important announcement at noon today. So just as Larry Flick starts his Morning Jolt rather conveniently! Hurrah! In the meantime, a rather lovely Biff Stannard track has surfaced that probably won't be on the new album but is just so delicious and heavenly that it's a nice treat to tide the masses over. I'll edit in the announcement later - in the meantime, pop over to PopTrashAddicts for a rather good write up of the leaked track...EDIT: The new single is the Kish Mauve (2 Hearts) penned All The Lovers from the BRILLIANTLY new titled album Aphrodite. This is all very exciting indeed (and quite close to the release of new Scissor Sisters so June is turning out to be an excellent month for pop!). View the album artwork here. Kylie looks stunning.

Aston ~ Telephone (Lady Gaga cover): After writing about the lovely Aston classical music group on Sunday, I've become a bit obsessed with them. It's such a refreshing change to listen to them and they are a very delightful soundtrack to the summery evenings and even make me feel a little bit elegant. Not content with absolutely nailing Confide In Me, they have taken on Telephone, albeit without the overly elaborate video which is a plus. They clearly absolutely love what they do, and part of the joy of their cover is watching them create something together in the video that they feel is special and enjoyable to them. Apparently Empire State of Mind II is their next song. Hurrah.