The 1975 Become Children Again in "Heart Out"

The 1975 have digressed a few decades to become children again and have have essentially copied them with kids playing the band on stage in the eerily familiar video for their new single "Heart Out," the final single and arguably one of the best tracks on English indie rock band's self-titled debut LP, which is a ruthlessly catchy and Accidentally Interesting album, quite possibly the most verse-chorus intensive pop-rock record since Andrew W.K.'s "I Get Wet."
Hailing from Manchester with successful hits like the ever-popular "Chocolate," The 1975 is becoming a more recognized indie-rock group with a growing fan base, and they are riding the hype train to the top. Frontman Matt Healy described his lyrics to The Guardian as "a genuine kind of diary." He added: "And that's the thing I'm really proud of in this album - it's me figuring myself out. Even the line in Heart Out - 'Your obsession with rocks and brown. And fu**ing the whole town...' I'm always talking about me, really."
The video begins in a bizarre, awkward fashion. As soon as it starts, the viewer is immediately transported to a middle school talent show. As one might expect from such an event, it all begins with a weird hip hop-dance performance by three young girls awkwardly with little rhythm and poor posture and some old dudes clapping, before a tween version of The 1975 take to the stage performing their recent single, much to the horror of the elderly onlookers. It's unique, almost creepy and a little bit weird, but that makes the whole ordeal that much more refreshing.
Receiving horrified stares from parents and adults in attendance, the clip comes to life through the excitement of a distinctly more youthful version of the band appearing in the show. The whole scene is put through the lens of their lofty dreams of becoming rock stars. They perform "Heart Out" in a cool, casual demeanor, and the youngsters don't seem to get distracted by the out-of-place spotlights, fog machines, and falling sparklers. Clearly unfazed by the fact that they're performing in a middle school auditorium, this version of The 1975 is everything a good rock group should be.

The 1975 get nostalgic for "Settle Down"

The 1975 have unveiled a brand new video for latest single "Settle Down," the fifth UK single taken from the Manchester-based indie rock band's self-titled chart-topping debut album, which was released last fall. The video sees frontman Matthew Healy and the boys take a nostalgic approach this time around, and returning to their grim and dark black and white aesthetic present throughout most of The 1975's earlier videos after abandoning it for recent videos - the American movie vibe of "Sex" and the colorful pop feel of "Girls."
Manchester has a lot more to offer than a famous soccer team. This band also calls it home, and their magnetic energy is causing an excited reaction within music lovers everywhere. With their self-titled debut, The 1975 marked the arrival of a new British rock sound: something dark in imagery and storytelling but warm and pop-y in sound. Their seamless ability to connect with each other and the music is refreshing even now. Their honest electro-pop/rock music has a versatility similar to pop of the '80s. This trait has found a way into music in our day and made it hip again. Their album, and the song, "Settle Down," possesses a youthful vigor that is infectious.
This sensual track "Settle Down," is about the obsession Healy, has for the pop legend, finds he singing of an ill-advised relationship and the chaos that ensures. It was inspired by Michael Jackson, whom Healy has noted his admiration for in the past. The lyrics tell a tale of the nonsensical attraction between lovers and the chaos that ensues. It'll be hard to resist getting up out of your seat and not cracking a smile. The cheerful guitar riffs accompanied by the pulsating drums make for a song you just want to get lost in.
The accompanying video for "Settle Down" - documenting the minutiae of small town life - tells the story of two mysterious teenage boys, lost and troubled in a post-industrial rural village, who reveal supernatural powers. Healy's there, wandering out looking moody and observing proceedings before they take a peculiar twist before the end. It was shot in Redcar, Yorkshire and features various shots in and around the Northern England town. The video is sure to please the hardcore fans, after many didn't take issue with the nudity or drug use shown in the "Sex" video, but were disappointed the band had ditched the black and white aesthetic they have used since their early days.

Paramore shatter world records in "Ain't it Fun"

Three months after Paramore announced they'd ditched the idea and scrapped the video for their self-titled album's sixth track "Ain't It Fun," they've returned with an actual, completed clip and it's a gem. Most music superstars want to smash sales records with their songs. So it may come as no surprise to see a rock trio go on a quest to try it literally with a million LP discs. However, Hayley Williams and her gang have now returned in spectacular fashion with a four minute promo for the new song in which it looks like they had an enormous amount of fun with their antics.
Paramore try on a bunch of new styles, from new wave to pop-funk, and Williams even busts out the uke for a couple of confessional interludes. While a rock song, "Ain't It Fun" includes influences from funk, soul, new jack swing and gospel, genres that Paramore are typically not associated with. Paramore is having fun living in the real world with the song's sarcastic lyrics. "Ain't It Fun" absolutely steals the show - a perfect blend of funk, early '90s pop and swing team with an insanely catchy melody, awesome scat section and pristine production to create one of the year's best songs.
Directed by Sophia Peer, this re-shot version of "Ain't It Fun" follows Paramore as they attempt to set a series of increasingly ridiculous world records - everything from "fastest time to smash 30 clocks with guitars" and "most feathers caught in 30 seconds" to "most cartwheels in 20 seconds while wearing boots" and, of course, "fastest time to run backwards holding stuffed animals while blindfolded for 30 feet" - with the ultimate goal of breaking more records in a single music video than any other band.
Who previously held that record? Who knows? Probably no one and that's not really the point. Like its title (sarcastically) implies, "Ain't It Fun" is very much about joy, camaraderie, silliness and reckless abandon. It doesn't really matter if Paramore end up breaking the most records, or even if their record holds up in a rather brilliant interactive move, they're actively encouraging fans to make records of their own through RecordSetter.com. This one's all about inclusion. "Ain't It Fun" is blissed out and buzzy, born of a brilliant concept, and an absolute blast to watch. It may have taken a while for Paramore to get it made, but no one ever said having fun was supposed to be easy.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals perform "Stars"

After going all "Where The Wild Things Are" for their dark fairy-tale like video for "Never Go Back," Grace Potter & The Nocturnals take a much more low-key approach for their new starkly stunning video on VH1 Storytellers for a deeply personal tune, "Stars," the new single from the Vermont quintet's fourth studio album, "The Lion The Beast The Beat," which promises to be their most eclectic project yet, drawing on influences that range from 60's R&B to 70's rock to contemporary country.
The lead vocalist Grace Potter's signature wail left the crowd breathless as she roared through a set of soul-filled rock-n-roll while performing before an intimate crowd at NYC's legendary Metropolis Studios. She has one of the strongest female voices in rock music, and Potter is also quickly becoming a favorite in country circles. Along with her band, the Nocturnals, they're winning over fans with their high-energy set and infectious tunes.
On her motivation for writing "Stars," Potter recalled it as being about a recently passed childhood idol, who was "really wild and really wonderful," but who "always did take it a little bit too far. It's kind of like when you are a kid and you have a balloon that just sort of slips off your wrist," she said, choked up and with tears in her eyes. "And I wrote this song, because I don't like looking up when I think about this person. I don't like anywhere that I used to know her, used to see her."
In Philip Andelman-directed performance clip, though, Potter does look up. Wearing a sequined evening gown, she plays with her Nocturnals under a dark, starry sky, and surrounded by thousands of stars, her eyes fixed on Heaven's Boulevard above as she sings about how she cannot even stand to look up in the sky since her love left her. It's a contemplative affair, all black-and-white and quiet, Potter at once large against the stars and small underneath the sky. "It's a form of grieving, really, writing songs like this," Potter says.

Maroon 5 only stays with love "One More Night"

Maroon 5 have unleashed a music video in support of their latest single "One More Night." It follows frontman Adam Levine as a father of one who works a grueling schedule as a boxer. One night after a big fight which he won, he goes home with battered face only to find out that his family has left. The the catchy reggae-drenched tune is the lead-off track and second single from pop rock band's just-released dance-heavy new album, "Overexposed." Kicking off with a reggae-style guitar on "One More Night," the album starts on a subtle yet sharp note.
It is a pop song, with a reggae beat infused into the percussion, giving the song a more dancey feel. Lyrically, the song is built upon the idea of the quintessential push and pull between what the heart, mind and body want, which are usually opposing things. The song is erected on a thumped out beat, in addition to Levine's signature falsetto, where he tosses off lyrics about not getting along with (or being able to untangle himself from) his lady love, and hoping he only stays with her just 'one more night.'
"One More Night" is not a dance floor anthem, it's certainly a bouncy, reggae-flecked midtempo with a chorus that feels reassuringly familiar that's sure to inspire sing-alongs. "I do love the lyrics," Levine said of the song. "The metaphor that we spoke of earlier, a relationship between two people, sometimes when it's not going so well, it feels like a battle. Like a boxing match." Levine wins a big fight, but it no longer matters when he returns home and finds out that the people he loves dearly have left.
Things don't end too well for our hero, whose wife ends up leaving him, and their romance is not of the fairy-tale variety. But Levine’s still grateful Kelly showed up in the first place. The music video is directed by "Battleship" helmer Peter Berg. "Just go with It" babe-alicious actress Minka Kelly plays Levine's love interest. "I play a heartbreaker, I guess," she said in the clip. "I do very bad things... but necessary." To prepare for the fight scene, the frontman got a training he'll never forget. He said, "I got the guy who was training me. He hit me, and it hurt."

Maroon 5 Premiered "Out Of Goodbyes" Video

Maroon 5 have recently premiered the music video for "Out of Goodbyes," the official fourth single taken from the Grammy Award-winning pop rock band's latest third studio album "Hands All Over," which is reminiscent of albums past, but encompasses a larger variety of genres this time around, and has been in stores since last September. "This album has a lot of different styles - a little Motown, a little country, a little straight ahead rock n' roll and pop music," lead singer Adam Levine explained. "It's everything we love all wrapped into one beautiful package."
The soulful, funk-rock-pop crooner and his band's countrified, heartbreaking collaboration with the Grammy-nominated and CMA award-winning country trio Lady Antebellum for "Out of Goodbyes," which is a nice country-ish ballad sweet, sad song came together in a single day in Switzerland. Keyboardist Jesse Carmichael told Rolling Stone: "We're excited for a lot of new people to hear our band through that song." A very nice song, and awesome collaboration between Maroon 5 and Lady Antebellum lead singer Hillary Scott.
It definitely sounds like a different kind of track than what Maroon 5 fans are used to, but it is a good track. "We are so happy with how it turned out," Levine told CBS News. "They did an incredible job. We wrote the song and her voice (Scott) was perfect for it and the band filled in the spaces in a beautiful way. It was a great collaboration." Although Maroon 5 shows a softer side with Lady Antebellum, Levine isn't any closer to figuring out what love is really all about.
Instead of featuring the Adam Levine-fronted band and the country music trio, the Travis Schneider-directed video takes its focus on a young woman and her wounded lover, played by Dwight Yoakam and model/actress Diora Baird. It seems that she causes him multiple wounds. She patiently takes care of him only to hurt him again once the wounds are cleaned and bandaged. The clip shows the woman cleaning a bloody wound and removing a bullet from the man's chest, after which she gets up to leave, but grabs her revolver and shoots him.

Michael Jackson Dreams Of "Hollywood Tonight"

A new dance-infused video for Michael Jackson's current single "Hollywood Tonight" has debuted via the pop star's official website. The Teddy Riley produced song is the second official single taken from the late King of Pop's posthumous release "Michael," and one of its standout tracks. The storyline of "Hollywood Tonight" charts the journey of a young woman arriving in Hollywood from small town America as she follows her dream to be a star; though her ambition is to be a dancer, her story represents the struggle for every artist or musician struggling to make it in the world.
Originally written during the recording of 2001's "Invincible" album, this song warns about the dangers of chasing your dream in Tinseltown. It received its television debut on last December when talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres premiered the tune on The Ellen DeGeneres Show while dancing throughout the audience. Riley told Billboard magazine that he had Jackson's more danceable hits in mind when concocting its sound. "I was looking at just doing the next level of 'Billie Jean' meets 'Dangerous' or 'Doggin' Me Around,'" said the producer." "It's like one of those driving bass lines that you will remember."
The Wayne Isham-directed video was filmed last month on the sidewalk of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and over 60 dancers were on the set as they joined the female lead in an MJ-inspired dance routine. Flashdance, Showgirls, Burlesque...all these things have one thing in common. The video is a sweet story, follows the journey of a young and feisty woman, who idolizes Jackson, played by Algeria-born hip hop dancer Sofia Boutella, arrives in Hollywood on a bus to pursue her dream in hope to become a professional dancer.
The French dancer steps off a charter bus, suitcase in tow, ready to take on the big city. She moonlights as a waitress by day, a stripper by night, hits the audition circuit to no avail. She incorporates many of Jackson's signature dance moves into her own style and wears costumes similar to those worn by the late King of Pop. And she eventually has an emotional moment next to Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and recaptures her passion for dancing. "Her story represents the struggle for every artist or musician struggling to make it in the world," so Sony Music explains about the video. Jackson will long be remembered for his groundbreaking music videos and "Hollywood Tonight" is hoped to once again offer an innovative visual pairing to the erstwhile King of Pop's music.