New Music: Marina And The Diamonds, Kid CuDi, Maroon 5 + More

Marina & The Diamonds - Oh No!
She looks just like Shakira, no-no it's Catherine-Zeta, actually her name's Marina! One of 2010s more consistently reliable acts offer up their new single, 'Oh No!' Taken from their debut album, The Family Jewels, 'Oh No!' doesn't really offer anything that separates it from many of the band's other tracks. That's not to say it isn't good, it just doesn't stand well against 'Hollywood,' 'Mowgli's Road,' 'Shampain' or 'I'm Not a Robot' which were all kind of amazing. Still, it's worth a listen and better than a lot of 'music' that's out there right now.

Rating: 3/5
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Kid CuDi ft. Kanye West - Erase Me
Someone's looking for a hit. Cudi's dropped everything that's interesting about him, moving away from alternative hip-hop and into some sort of electro-rock-hip-hop-pop hybrid of a song that's sure to put him back on the charts. If that really is his aim, enlisting Kanye was a smart move as he puts in one of his better guest star efforts, not at quite the same level of say, 'American Boy.' I'm assuming that this will be a song that I will learn all the words to, only because it will be played at every club I go to. After a snifter of port at said establishments, I will probably partake in the dancing to said song. Then I will feel dirty.

Rating: 2/5

Maroon 5 - Misery
Maroon 5's first album, Songs About Jane, was good for what it was. It was a fun pop-rock album that contained a couple of good songs ('She Will Be Loved' and 'This Love'). People liked them. Then they released sophomore set, It Won't Be Soon Before Long. Stupid name. It sold well enough, based mostly on hype, but didn't set the world on fire. Some people stopped liking them. Why? Because they realised they release the same thing over and over again. They knew they had a good thing going with Songs About Jane and tried to pull the wool over everyone's eyes and offer nothing new to the table. 'Misery,' the lead single from their new album Hands All Over, only confirms what we already knew... Maroon 5 suck. Now, hopefully everyone will stop liking them.

Rating: 0/5

Sara Bareilles - King of Anything
Catchy, thoughtful, creative. Welcome back Sara Bareilles. I'll admit, I didn't miss you. In fact I had completely forgotten about you. It was still a nice surprise to see you hadn't faded away and you're about to release a new album. If 'King of Anything' is um, anything to go off, her new album will keep the energy from Little Voice, while steering her in a less commercial, lyrically rich direction. Take note Maroon 5, you don't have to change everything about you, just enough to make sure that you stay interesting.

Rating: 3/5
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