The full list of BRITs nominations have been released.
Among the nominations:
Harry Styles and George Ezra are up for Artist of the Year
Ezra (Green Green Grass), Styles (As It Was) and Lewis Capaldi (Forget Me) are up for Song of the Year
Mimi Webb is up for Best New Artist
Becky Hill is up for Best Dance Act
Styles, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith are up for Best Pop/R&B act
Beyoncé, Lizzo and Taylor Swift are up for International Artist of the Year
Swift (Anti-Hero), OneRepublic (I Ain’t Worried), Lizzo (About Damn Time) and David Guetta/Bebe Rexha (I’m Good (Blue)) are up for Best International Song
“Harry’s House” by Harry Styles is up for album of the year.
Some/most of you might remember the Regard song “Ride It” which was released in the second half of 2019.
I managed to track down the original song, which was released by Jay Sean in 2008. At that time he had yet to chart in Australia (his 2009 hit song “Down” becoming his international breakthrough).
“Snap” is one of those songs where it takes you a couple of listens before you can really get into it. Yes it can get overplayed on radio (and this is only my theory but) it’s a good thing because it tells you that 1) the music fans really like it and 2) it does very well on the charts, even though it only peaked at #20 and ranked a rather disappointing #84 on the year-end ARIA Charts.
“Remember” by Becky Hill and David Guetta was the second-most played song on radio in Australia last year, receiving its first airplay as early as February, but only peaked at #34 on the charts in August. It’s only the second song featuring Hill to chart in Australia (the other being “Lose Control” with Meduza and Goodboys, which peaked at #11 in January 2020).
As expected, “Gloria” by Sam Smith has debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart. It is their first number one album since their debut “In the Lonely Hour” in 2014.
“Diamonds & Dancefloors” by Ava Max debuted at #31. Despite this, not one single from the album has charted in the ARIA Singles Chart.
I know of some fans on social media that have accused her of not being original with her music. Case in point - “Million Dollar Baby”, which samples the LeAnn Rimes 2000 classic “Can’t Fight the Moonlight”.
Conversely, David Guetta and Bebe Rexha get praised for their take on the Eiffel 65 classic “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, which topped the charts in at least 20 countries including here.
Sampling an old song is one thing but having every song you release sound the same as all your other songs is another thing.
If you have a look at artists who have many hit singles in their career and longevity on the charts, they are usually the ones who will change styles and will reinvent themselves over time.
If every song you release sounds the same then you won’t have as much interest. People will just listen to your first couple of hits and then not bother to return.
I remember The Script tried to change their style in 2017 with their fifth studio album “Freedom Child”, but it wasn’t well received by the public, or in Australia at least. While it peaked at number five on the ARIA Albums chart, its lead single “Rain” did not chart, despite it getting plenty of airplay on Nova 96.9 back then.
So much so they went back to their roots for their sixth studio album, “Sunsets and Full Moons”, which the band released with little promotion.
In fact, the band hasn’t had a single song chart in the top 50 since “Superheroes” in 2014-15; this week marked exactly eight years since it dropped out of the ARIA Singles Chart for the last time. A far cry from 2009 when “Breakeven” peaked at number three and was one of the most played songs on Australian radio that year (speaking of which, it was played on Nova 96.9 twice this week, and KIIS 106.5 on the Saturday just passed - a possible fact that while their recent music hasn’t done too well, they are still well loved by the older music fans including myself).
I think I can also understand why their latest song “Dare You to Doubt Me” (released in September last year) wasn’t pushed to Australian radio - while I like the song, it sounds average at best.
Well, ultimately every artist has a lumited lifespan on the charts. Often the fans stop buying the new stuff but remain loyal long after they stop charting.
You look at someone like Elton John and he hadn’t had a hit single for years (maybe decades) until the recent remix duets with Dua Lipa and Britney Spears yet he sells out huge arenas on his tours.
Maybe fans didn’t like the new direction The Script took or maybe their lifespan had come to a natural end. Coldplay is a good example of a band that has changed styles and continued to chart. They also cleverly did some collaborations with newer artists who were popular (Rihanna, The Chainsmokers, BTS) and this seemed to keep them relevant.
I read an article recently which stated the band would have split up if it wasn’t for COVID. In fact, what the pandemic did was force them to “take a break” from recording any new music; during this time they released a Greatest Hits album (which peaked at #16 on the ARIA albums chart) and its lead singer Danny O’Donoghue confessed that the world tour which they undertook last year (including four shows in Australia) would’ve been their “farewell tour” had the pandemic not occurred.
Also, just recently, a DJ named Badscandal (real name Luke Power) released a song called “The Shore”, which features his father, Glen Power (The Script’s drummer).
Another band whose recent music hasn’t charted are the Kings of Leon; while they haven’t had a single chart in the top 50 since “Supersoaker” (peak #43) in August 2013, its most recent album “When You See Yourself” did top the albums chart in March 2021. I also knew them well before “Sex on Fire” topped the charts in the second half of 2008 (when its song “On Call” was featured on So Fresh: the Hits of Winter 2007).
I also noticed last year Ariana Grande didn’t release ANY music at all.
Well you have some good taste in music with The Script and Kings of Leon.
Ariane Grande, Ava Max, Mimi Webb, Freya Ridings and Sabrina Carpenter seem at complete odds with that style of music. Although they all sound same, same.
They just happen to be four of my favourite female artists going around at the moment.
“Nonsense” by Sabrina Carpenter has just started to get some airplay on radio nearly three months after it was released in the United States. I knew her before that song, via the songs “Alien” (a collab with Jonas Blue) and “Skin”. She did tease the possibility of an Australian tour later this year on Smallzy’s Surgery on Nova this week.
Most music fans will still remember the song “Castles” by Freya Ridings, which was her international breakthrough. I wonder if her record label will push for her recent release “Weekends” to be played on radio; same goes for “Red Flags” by Mimi Webb which Sony Music has promoted this week.
I suggested that Webb’s newest single, which comes off the back of her UK Top 40 hit “Ghost of You”, could be her “New Rules” moment. Even this Billboard article suggests so:
She is also up for Best New Artist at the BRITs, which takes place next Saturday (February 11).
I also think she deserves much more promotion, plus a much better chart run in Australia; her only entry in the charts was “Dumb Love” which peaked at #43 in August 2021, while “Good Without” achieved a Gold status despite not charting. “24/5” and “House on Fire” also got some good airplay on the Nova Network between December 2021 and April last year.
Another forgotten artist that some music fans may (or may not) remember: Agnes Carlsson, who won Swedish Idol in 2005 aged 17.
I heard recently that she’ll be heading to Sydney for the Mardi Gras Party later this month. In 2009 she released the worldwide hit “Release Me” which peaked at #26 on the ARIA Charts; from what I remember the song received plenty of airplay on Nova and (what was then known as) MIX 106.5.