5 February 2016 Well, here we are now: the first One Direction solo single and chart-topper, and it's not by Harry. With hindsight, even with 1D mania and the sensation of Zayn's departure the stakes here were quite low; all his first freelance track has to be is better than the solo debuts by Robbie … Continue reading Zayn – ‘Pillowtalk’ →

27 November 2015 It would have been a baller move indeed, and in keeping with his apparently homeopathic levels of tact and decorum, if Justin Bieber had styled out his 2013-14 string of high-profile misdeeds as a series of promo events culminating in the release of a track called 'Sorry': a Super Bowl half-time ad … Continue reading Justin Bieber – ‘Sorry’ →

30 October 2015 One-off Bond title song aside, how do you follow 'Someone Like You'? With something like 'Someone Like You', of course! In fairness, the whole world loved 'Someone Like You' to the point that it overshadowed Adele's other hits and defined her sound. So, why not give the people what they want? Also, … Continue reading Adele – ‘Hello’ →

23 October 2015 A few months earlier in 2015 we saw Ireland's last number one from an Irish boyband, HomeTown's 'Cry For Help'. Now here's Ireland's last number one from any boyband. We'll still have a chart-topping single from a girl group, though, plus solo number ones from former band-boys including two of 1D. But … Continue reading One Direction – ‘Perfect’ →

4 September 2015 I had just got undressed when I looked out the window and saw Justin Bieber right outside. His visit to Bushy Park in Dublin to shoot some hoops in June 2017 was one of Ireland's more unexpected celeb-sighting stories. The basketball court in Bushy Park happens to be just beside the men's … Continue reading Justin Bieber – ‘What Do You Mean?’ →

21 August 2015 So, what do we think 'Can't Feel My Face' is about? Perhaps I don't need to be so coy - The Weeknd himself certainly wasn't, going by the lyrics of his subsequent track 'Reminder': "I just won a new award for a kids show / Talking 'bout a face numbing off a … Continue reading The Weeknd – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’ →

14 August 2015 It only scraped to no. 21 in its home of America, so how come 'Marvin Gaye' by Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor got to number one in the UK and in Ireland? I put it down to our shared taste for top, top banter - the Brits when it involves mild sauciness, … Continue reading Charlie Puth ft. Meghan Trainor – ‘Marvin Gaye’ →

7 August 2015 It was the fate of most boy bands and girl groups to have one member leave. In the case of One Direction, we probably all thought it would be high-profile Harry who'd be first to do a Robbie-style bolt for solo success. Instead, Zayn left for personal reasons. 'Drag Me Down' was … Continue reading One Direction – ‘Drag Me Down’ →

10 July 2015 Country-core fashion and country-adjacent pop have been huge in 2024-25. The countrifyin' of chart pop goes back a lot further, though. In particular, the colossal success of Avicii's 'Wake Me Up' in 2013 helped make country vocal-hook choruses a cheap, easy and popular option for shoehorning a bit of basic-bait sentimentality into … Continue reading Lost Frequencies – ‘Are You With Me’ →