Listen UP!: Flor, Misterwives, Amanda Fondell, Dirty Dancing

New York City band MisterWives release their sophomore album this month, a collection of 11 tunes. The alt-synth band flor has released their debut album, 10 tracks of electronic-tinged dance-pop hits with glossy production values. Swedish pop singer Amanda Fondell drops her second album, and the "Dirty Dancing" live action remake has aired, and ABC has a 17-track collection of songs for your listening pleasure.

ABC's "Dirty Dancing" Soundtrack

The "Dirty Dancing" live action remake has aired, and ABC has a 17-track collection of songs for your listening pleasure. The collection features cast members and artists including Bea Miller, Karim, American Authors feat. Lindsey Stirling, Greyson Chance, Lady Antebellum, Seal and Calum Scott. Miller kicks things off with "Be My Baby," by The Ronettes. You all know how it goes: if she had the chance, she'd never let you go. In fact, for every kiss you give, she'll give you three. It's a catchy start to a time-honored favorite. Karmin sings on "Big Girls Don't Cry," written by Bob Gaudio and originally recorded by The Four Seasons. Think "Jersey Boys." J. Quinton Johnson channels Otis Redding for "Love Man" and returns later for the excellent cover of "When I'm Alone." He teams up with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls fame for the show's most beloved cut, "Do You Love Me." Colt Prattes lends a hand, then sticks around to deliver a sultry version of "Fever" that Peggy Lee herself would approve of. He returns later for the excellent "Love Is Strange," the song that Baby learns how to dance (and flirt) to in Johnny's mirror-lined dance studio. Scherzinger teams up later with actress Abigail Breslin for a sexy, slowed-down version of the timeless Jerry Lee Lewis song "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." The summer classic "Wipe Out" gets its due thanks to Lindsey Stirling, and the original "Hungry Eyes" is respectfully covered by Greyson Chance. Lady Antebellum lend their country twang to Bruce Channel's saucy "Hey Baby" and Seal turns his melancholy eye to the metered dance track "Cry To Me." Actress Debra Messing sings Frank Sinatra's "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and later, actor Bruce Greenwood reprises it. Given that the rest of the songs in this lineup are doo-wop numbers, its inclusion is a bit startling. The much-mocked but still-beloved Patrick Swayze (Rest in Peace, Johnny Castle) track "She's Like the Wind" gets a modern, updated electronica treatment from Calum Scott. Sarah Hyland and J. Quinton Johnson team up for "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and the entire ensemble chimes in for the final cut, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." Get ready, it's time for the lift! Cause no one puts Baby in the corner.
(Lions Gate Television/Virgin Records)

"Connect the Dots" (MisterWives)

New York City band MisterWives release their sophomore album this month, a collection of 11 tunes written and recorded by MisterWives vocalist Mandy Lee. The lineup includes drummer Etienne Bowler, bassist William Hehir, guitarist Marc Campbell, and Jesse Blum on keys, trumpet, and accordion and Mike Murphy on sax, with production by�Butch Walker. They kick things off with their first single, "Machine," with its plinky, Middle Eastern influence and the refrain that, "we're not part of the machine!" Particularly excellent is Lee's rapid-fire break. Their upbeat "Chasing This" has that bouncy '80s beat, with Lee name-dropping a wild evening in New York City, walking from Bleecker Street to Ditmars, seeing the sunrise over the Queensborough Bridge. She sings affably that we're all "Only Human," and "like a moth to a flame, we can't resist love's game." She promises to "love you even when my body turns to dust" in the percussion-heavy "Drummer Boy," and "Revolution" cedes a lo-fi opening to a dark tune about "all these acts of violence ripping this world to shreds while I'm trying to sleep." The saxophone is excellent over Lee's call to "make a change." She sings sweetly to "My Brother" about a deep familial love that "will never face a drought." All the keys are there but they don't sound right in the poppy "Out of Tune Piano" but they pound it out in the catchy "Coloring Outside the Lines." Their cut "Band Camp" has the lilting repetition of a Cranberries hit. They go for military precision with their studied track "Oh Love," and end the album strong with "Let the Light In," searching for a place to "undo all the knots that have been tied, free our bodies and our mind, oh we'd leave this world behind." MisterWives may be relatively new to the scene, but they've done an exceptional job finding their sound and nailing it down in their long-anticipated second album. MisterWives sets out this summer for their Band Camp Tour, kicking off mid-June in St. Louis, MO and hitting select cities�with stops at Summerfest, Firefly and Mamby on the Beach.
(Republic Records/Photo Finish!)

"come out. you're hiding" (flor)

The alt-synth band flor has released their debut album, 10 tracks of electronic-tinged dance-pop hits with glossy production values. The band is comprised of Zachary Grace, Dylan William, McKinley Kitts, and Kyle Hill. They kick things off with "Guarded," their lead single, Grace singing the chorus, "Shuffling your hold, crippling me/ silence in this room, the death of me./ I'll keep close to home what's pulled from it, guarded in me." They follow it with "Warm Blood," singing "you're fire, but sweet, hot coals beneath my feet." Their cut "Heart" plays with the idea of changing feelings and not wanting to waste love. The bridge is a declaration that you can't take his heart, because, "I've lived my life listening to the wolves, looking for scraps to tear from me." He asks her to let him inside in the bouncy "Where Do You Go," a radio-ready track. "Back Again" is a slowed-down, ambient-heavy promise to a lonely lover that "we'll lay down again, once more, when I get back again." The drums are the thing on "Hold On," an excellent love song with a chorus all about being "in your skin, in your hair, I'm tangled up." Their "Restless Soul" is a toe-tapping, catchy cut that begins with the question, "When you're alone, do you feel the sadness?" She's been looking for the truth in a sea of foreign faces. They dig deep in the moody track "Unsaid," wondering if "are these feelings I long for best left unsaid?" The sexy "Spoiled" is an excellent cut with very metered electronic flourishes. She knows she won't get "everything that I want," and wonders, "what is it that's keeping me spoiled?" They end the album with "Overbehind," a cautionary tale not to stay in the past, that "you can't live over your shoulder." Flor will perform at this year's Lollapalooza festival, August 3-6 in Chicago, as well as Cincinatti's Bunbury Music Festival in June, and Seattle's Capitol Hill Block Party in July.
(Fueled By Ramen)

"In A Talk With Nature" (Amanda Fondell)

Swedish pop singer Amanda Fondell parlays her early success as the youngest contestant to ever win "Swedish Idol" into a promising songwriting career. By the time she was 16, she'd released "All This Way," which went to number one. Now she's back with her new EP, four tracks that show how she's taken the time to find her own sound and a new, focused perspective in her music. Her lead single, "Naked" has already made a big splash, as she sings the chorus, "I just wanna see you naked, just the way you were created." It seems salacious, but Fondell says the track is about a friend who has built up a phony persona based on lies -- and the realization that she doesn't want to end up like that. Her earnest, high soprano vocals are well-suited for the anthem where Fondell says, "I promise everything's better when you just let it out." She sings about being disappointed artistically by those around her in the track "Count On You," laying it out how she, "Give up enough for two, Why can't I count on you?" By the end, she's hanging it up, saying there's "no more white blank paper/ you don't get to write a thing." Her tune "Permission" deals with Fondell giving herself permission to live her life the way she wants, regardless of society's rules. "Rub salt into the wound," sneers Fondell as she opens the rapid-fire cut. The juxtaposition of the breathy chorus creates an interesting hard and soft dichotomy for the listener. She finishes up the EP with the creepy "Shadows" singing "I wasn't ready." She could have stayed on the safe road, but she didn't. All of her life, she's loved the shadows on her skin. Fondell's new EP benefits from her taking her time to mature her sound a bit, and reassess the direction she wants her career to go.
(Kick Kick Snare)