JoJo treats fans with Mad Love song

With the release date of her album quickly moving closer and closer, JoJo has been teasing the music with little acapellas and lyrics on snapchat and Instagram. Finally we get to hear one of the new songs in full with the release of the titled track Mad Love.

Mad Love kind of made this all the better. As a fan of her as a singer and performer, JoJo has really lost me with the music for this era. The TRINGLE felt flat and a grab for public interest (with her mixtape having much better offerings (even giving not using a track that went to a K pop idol, and it sounding way better than what she released). When Fuck Apologies came out, it seemed like a move in a better direction, but still not completely hooking me.

Mad Love is a much stronger effort for the singer. What I think has been lost on me is the musical production. All generic and very vanilla. While Mad Love takes inspiration from the 50’s and doo wop (a very much used era for retro inspired music), it stands out among her other songs so far. Couple that with JoJo’s consistently impassionate delivery (although she might be a little to brazen for such a period piece kind of song), Mad Love hooks me in the way I have been wishing JoJo would since last year.

Mad Love will be released October 14, with Presales happening now. Mad Love the song is available on iTunes.  

Sevyn Streeter releases the sensual My Love For You

The last week has been a bit of a treat for some fans. With many new releases (all very diverse), it’s nothing to not talk about. Sevyn Streeter has been trying to crack the music game for years, and as of late has done a great job as a soloist. Her first two eps gave us catchy flexible tracks that really would have people questioning why Sevyn wasn’t gunning through mainstream success.

Admittedly the newest era has only started with the Gucci assisted Prolly (which only Sevyn could make work), but we get a new song titled My Love For You, which exist on the opposite end.

The one thing I wanted to know was if this was going to have any sort of nod to the late Whitney’s Saving All My Love For You. There has been a big surge of samples as of late pulling from a lot of 90's R&B (yes we are at that stage of life). While Whitney's classic isn't exactly the 90's, I would not be surprised if they sampled her to use as a deconstruction. The only thing I pick up is what sounds like the back voice seems to be an altered Whitney, but other than that, the song is very much its own beast. Instead of being a somber ballad about the relationship of a sidepiece, Sevyn proudly proclaims herself as the only one of her love interest.  

My Love For You admittedly isn’t my favorite. While it combines many of today’s music trends with a romantic twist, it feels super clunky lacking the smoothness that could have really made the song. Near the end is where I found the song at its best musically. The two different changes in melody worked and I was sad that we didn’t see much of them where it mattered.  

While not the greatest song, or even Sevyn’s best, MLFY is a testament to Sevyn. She has a naturally light and sweet voice, and instead of belting her way through, she meanders in a way that is very reminiscent to many R&B singers of today. That trap like delivery. With a sweet voice and charismatic delivery, Sevyn saves this song from being a little too hard up. While I think Sevyn is versatile as a voice, she has this breezy bright quality to her that just seems right with being casual and run filled songs. And while this has seem to become a bigger part of today's singers, Sevyn doesn't seem to lose the ability to be interesting while doing it. 

My Love For You is a cute addition to Sevyn’s catalog. Nothing great, but definitely listenable mostly due to a singer whose greatest strength is how lovely she sounds doing the least. If above all else, I have yet to lose my excitement for a full record from her.  

Little Mix Get Weird Tour Vocal Range

Somebody was really awesome enough to make a Little Mix vocal range video for their Get Weird Tour. From just watching the clips I had a sneaking suspicion I was going to have to edit their posts, and well...I was kind of right.

Lets watch this, and below the break, we will dissect the new content!

As a group I think Get Weird has been a great era for them. We get to see them explore and venture out of their normal vocal roles. We also got to see just how soprano this entire group is (in terms of tone and range). Some things to be mindful of: Opinions, the quality of some clips are not the same. and while this is a very thorough video, it doesn't account for every night.
I'm going in oder of name

Jade
Easily at her best this tour. Lower register is as usual not her best. Compared to other girls (Leigh, and Jesy) she carries more tone down, but overall below G3, she still seems to struggle. although @ 1:28 her E3 was better than usual. Not necessarily supported, but carried tone so that's a positive! Her D3's were kind of a struggle, but once again, nothing out of the ordinary. In terms of mix I was the most impressed with Jade's. She didn't really do anything that out of the ordinary, support up to C#5, and resonance up to B4/C5, which is typical for her. Above that D5's sounded more open for her, but not consistent enough. After that she is pretty much at varying levels of straining. Her sound is the second most open only to Perrie, but I felt at times she maintained a far better (cleaner) sound than her group mate. In terms of her upper register: more use of her head voice. I think she went up to C6 in head voice, but obviously lacking support.

Jesy
Jesy surprised me with how far she was willing to go. Lower register is not her strong point. She was even a little quiet on her G#3 (timestamp). Like others, she really shined in terms of her mix. Consistent support up to B4, and surprising openness up to C#5. Above that, she strains all the way up to G5. Still it was cool to see Jesy expand her vocal range, even if the results were not the best (at least they weren't croaked or anything). Her upper register wasn't as highlighted here, and I think we mistaken Jade's high note as Jesy's (which is a testament to how similar their voices are).

Leigh-Anne
Vocally Leigh-Anne is the weakest. That doesn't make her bad, that just means that the talent pool is more refined compared to her. She prefers to try to do things. During this tour her general consistencies are made apparent. Her lower register isn't great. Her low notes reaching down to Eb3, with a lower larynx. Like with Jesy I was surprised Leigh Anne was going as high as she did in her mix. Her highest belt was an F#5 which I was shocked to see her go for. Still it was strained. Everything above C5 was strained (save for what I think were a couple of okay C#5). I think Leigh is pushing her voice way too much and if she backed off she would probably be more consistent in support. Unfortunately her upper register was the least highlighted amongst the group.

Perrie
There seems to be some things going on with Perrie vocally. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened really. Her lower register still stands as the strongest of the group (carrying more tone and support down). Her mix isn't as resonant as it once was. I think that's been acknowledged by many. However now, there seems to be a bit of a scratchy/throaty quality going on, even in her comfort zone. Normally I wouldn't think much about her C#5's, but here there was some closure going on. Still she has the highest support. Around her E5's it is a mix of throaty closed high notes, or high larynx. Her head voice wasn't up to her usually ability. She was even showing tension has high as B5, something she seemed to have improved upon this era.

Overall the Get Weird tour has been so much fun to watch progress. I think this is their best tour in terms of all four getting to strut their stuff, and seems to be fun. I do hope they take a break and come back with more entertainment and vocals.
So what do y'all think?

Fifth Harmony vs Little Mix

I think right now girl groups have been seeing a big miss in the West (if you are into girl groups, K Pop is possibly where you want to go right now), and it shows with the fact that there are only two relevant girl groups in the mainstream. Little Mix and Fifth Harmony have common traits that makes it hard to not compare them. Both were created on a competition show (ironically with two of the same judges at helm), both have strong pop R&B influences. Both have not truly crossed into superstar fame that was once available to girl groups of the past.
With this post I really just want to see what people think of them. Who do you think i the better group? Of course this can be controversial for some fans, but its like comparing Granny Smiths to Golden Delicious: both are apples and work well for certain things, but which does what they do the best.

Little Mix's Leigh-Anne

About Leigh-Anne

Leigh-Anne is a member of the vocal pop group Little Mix. She has a light girly voice making her an Light-Lyric Soprano. Leigh-Anne's style comes off very aggressive, with a preference for hard, slightly gruff vocals. She tends to growl, which can provoke a edge to her voice. She also seems to use a more chesty mix which makes her voice a little harder as well. Overall Leigh-Ann is a stylistic singer who puts emphasis on emotional delivery.

Vocal Range: D3-F#5-G#5
Supported Range: G#3/A3-A4/B4

Lows (D3-A3)

Despite being able to sing as far as D3, she tends to be iffy below A3-G3. Her voice loses presence, support, and becomes whispery, shallow and quiet. If not that, she will lower her larynx (most noticeable around E3) to be able to hit them. Still the group requires lower notes and she alternates with the rest of the group depending on the section.

Mid Chest (A4-Eb5)

Vocally Leigh-Anne is at her best here, having shown some improvements since her debut. Support can be heard up to around B4 and on occasion C5. Above that Leigh-Anne's voice is a mixture of shouty and strained, even to this day. That being said, she has seen some improvements. Prior to 2014, she was incapable of maintaining consistent neutral larynx even as low as B4. This is seen in her performance of Only Girl In The World. However now she has improved to be able to have rare moments of support as high as C5. Within range is she able to produce not only supported, but resonant A4's, something that has not been able to accomplish until recently (Get Weird tour). Above C5, Leigh-Anne is a mixture of shouty, overly chest dominant strained high notes.

Upper-Chest (E5-F#5)

Once we move into this range, Leigh-Anne strains almost all the time. Unfortunately there is much to be said up here. The only positive is that Leigh-Anne has now shown a more extensive catalog of notes. Also she seems to be less shout prone, showing a better placed voice with a more connected support.

Head Register (E5-G#5)

Leigh-Anne primarily uses falsetto. Because of that, she doesn't have a full and connected sound when she transitions. Still from what she has displayed, she maintains a relax sound and is capable of doing decent runs. Because of how little she displays this part of her voice, we do not know the full extent in terms of range, but it is unlikely that Leigh-Anne is capable of singing without strain.

Agility

Prior to 2016, Leigh-Anne's agility was mostly nonexistent. As of late though, she seems to be willing to try more melismatic singing. However she still has issues, often losing her sense of pitch while trying for more complex runs. She also doesn't have he best ability to move through her registers, something the others girl have. While she is improving in a sense, Leigh-Anne is definitely not the most skilled in this area vocally.

Weaknesses

Leigh-Anne's biggest flaw is her larynx. Even on lower mid chest range notes she will raise it. This seems to have a lot to do with her style, which is aggressive and requires a lot of...growling. Another issue is an underdeveloped voice throughout. Her lower register is weak, her mix is too chesty with an unstable larynx, and her upper register (head voice, falsetto) is disconnected. While Leigh-Anne is able to sing, she cannot accomplish things at the same level as the other members when pushed outside of her limits.

Overall/Recap

With time, Leigh-Anne has shown to have improved if only slightly. Pushing her support up to a more consistent B4, Leigh-Anne is in general less shouty and more open or at the very least better placed. While she still has a gruff nature to her singing, she has become more accepting of her smaller lighter nature in a sense trying for more runs, and switching into her upper register when needed. Leigh-Anne is still an overall average vocalist, but she is much better than she once was which is a step in the right direction.

Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall

About Jade

Jade is a vocalist from the group Little Mix. She is a light-lyric soprano with a vocal range spanning from Eb3 to D6. Vocally she is a standard pop vocalist, who uses R&B influences to move through her singing. In terms of the group, Jade is often regulated to taking over vocals in the background. Because of her style of singing, Jade is usually responsible for ad libs and high notes (that are not designated to Perrie). Because of that, Jade seems like the most likely to alter or play with the song's original melody. She tends to alter things for the fun of it and is much more playful vocally than the other girls in that respect.

Vocal Range: D3-A5-D6
Supported Range: G3-C#5-A5

Little Mix Perrie

About Perrie Edwards

Perrie Edward's is 1/4 of Brit Pop group Little Mix. Known for their harmonies and fun pop songs that express female empowerment. Perrie is regarded as the best vocalist in the group, bringing a deeper voice with belting prowess. That being said, it's kind of hard to figure out Perrie's voice, because it sounds like she is lowering her larynx to create a darker sound. When she does this, her sound becomes darker, slightly foggy, and in a simple way to phrase it, her singing can sound a little mushy. Perrie's style seems to be based around heavy hitting vocals, big powerful, and well phrased. While she can do runs, it is not integral to her style, so she keeps them light as possible.

Vocal range: D3-G#5-E6