The Fabulous Friday Playlist ft Marcus Collins, fun., & Marlon Roudette

It's Friday. The sun is shining (despite an icy weekend weather warning for us Brummies). Painkillers are numbing the throbbing pains in my left side and back (marv). I'm about to tuck into a nice sandwich for lunch (prize if anyone guesses the filling). And there are a plethora of lovely new singles to thrust (good word, thrust) me into the weekend! But enough waffle, on with the musical morsels mes amies :)

Marcus Collins ~ Seven Nation Army:

Ooo, that were reet quick weren't it? Marcus, runner up of the factor commonly known as X, already has a debut single all lined up ready for a March release date. Magnif. Followers of my X Factor blog will already know I was quite quite smitten with the idea of Marcus The Pop Star. His weekly performances exuded energy and radiated star quality, plus he dressed quite well and was snogging the goodlooking one from Eton Road. All these qualities have luckily transferred directly into his first single - a cover of White Stripes Seven Nation Army. As you can see from the youtube clip above, his quiff is in better shape than ever (you could probably drop a brick on it and it would bounce right off) and he is still rocking the bow-tie combo with effortless chic and class. The interpretation of the song - much like Marcus - is vintage style mixed with contempory cool. There is some glorious piano in there, framed by some stabbing synths and sumptuous horns. It's all held together very ably indeed by Marcus who delivers an invigorating vocal. Pared back and playful when it needs to be, the song soars in the choruses and has some lovely trademark "whoos" thrown in for good measure. An assured debut then, now bring on the originals on the album please :) Ta.

fun. ~ We Are Young:

*HRNK*!! New obsession alert. I belatedly have stumbled onto this frankly amazing song and have played it a ridiculous amount of times in a row to fully partake of it's astounding brilliance. It's the first peak into their upcoming album "Some Nights" (due feb 21st album purchasing fans) and if it's half as good as the single, it's likely to be a euphoric, jubilant affair. This track is almost like two different singles meshed together. It starts with percussive drums delivering a persistent beat & a distinctive vocal from singer Nate Reuss. The first chorus shifts tempo and creates this soaring refrain that you can't help singing along to. This shift sets the pace for the rest of the tune and it instantly becomes an anthemic call to arms for anyone who felt like doing something crazy just for the gosh darn heck of it. The sweet addition of Janelle Monae in the middle 8 to a backdrop of chanted na na nas is the proverbial cherry on the delicious pop cake. Engrossing, mesmerising, inspiring pop. A few things - do watch the awesome video above. And do check out a lovely acoustic version here. Merci beaucoup.

Marlon Roudette ~ Anti-Hero:

I'm slightly behind on Marlon - he's already had some very excellent songs out (as well as giving away a fine free track for signing up to his mailing list), but it was his newest single Anti-Hero that caught my attention. Better late than never I suppose :) Armed with a lovely souful tinge to his voice, the song is a shuffling retro-soul gem whose romantic layered instrumental belie the searingly honest lyrics that accompany it. It's an interesting combination as the gorgeous synthy riff combined with the dreamy Marlon vocals make you want to grab the one you love and shimmy the night away. And there's certainly an optimism in the words as the song progresses that makes it an ultimately uplifting vibe. Bruno Mars may have laid the foundations for this type of song, but there's no doubt it's Marlon who'll make this track absolutely soar. Heavenly.