New Music Spotlight with Madonna, Alexisonfire, Atlas : Empire, and More

New Music from Madonna, Alexisonfire, Atlas : Empire, Ellie Goulding, and Danny Darko with Julien Kelland

With so much great new music kicking around, we’ve got another New Music Spotlight for you.

This time around we’ve got artists from the U.S., Colombia, Canada, Scotland and England!

Have a listen and let us know if you’ll be adding any of these to your playlist. And while you’re at it, let us know in the comments if you’ve heard something new that we should be listening to.

Let’s do this!

Artist: Madonna & Maluma
Hometown: Bay City, Michigan (now lives in Lisbon, Portugal)/Medellín, Colombia
Genre: Pop / Reggaeton
Related: Cher, Kylie Minogue, Rekykon
Song: Medellin
Notes: Medellin is a fresh tune from the Queen of Pop and Colombia’s reggaeton music maker Maluma. It’s the first track off the upcoming album, Madame X, which includes 13 tracks with guest appearances from Rae Sremmurd’s Swae Lee, Migos’ Quavo and more. The release is set for June 14th.

Click play on the Apple Music Link to hear how this track came to be.

Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple

Artist: Alexisonfire
Hometown: St. Catharines, ON
Genre: Hardcore / Rock / Indie
Related: Thrice, Funeral for a Friend, Underoath
Song: Familiar Drugs
Notes: A couple of months ago Alexisonfire released the surprise single, Familiar Drugs. This week they’ve added a video into the mix, and we love the simple treatment. Picture a plain white room, the band and what appears to be a random woman hanging out. Directed by Michael Maxxis, and filmed with an old-school VHS video camera and cell phones, it’s the video we didn’t know we needed.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple

Artist: Atlas : Empire
Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland
Genre: Progressive Rock
Related: Thrice, InAeona, Coheed and Cambria
Song: Hostess
Notes: From the first note I had goosebumps. The opening guitar sequence is beautiful and it’s just the beginning. The guitar on this track is unforgettable and the drums are super intense. From the band’s first full length album, The Stratosphere Beneath Our Feet, Hostess blends guitars, programming, keys, and vocals and ends up with a winning combination. Give it a chance to win you over too.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple

Artist: Ellie Goulding
Hometown: London, England
Genre: Folktronica
Related: Jessie J, Leona Lewis, Carly Rae Jepsen
Song: Sixteen
Notes: The video for Sixteen takes a look back at Ellie’s youth, complete with hydro tower climbing, joint smoking, liquor store shenanigans and ditching classes. Her voice is so pretty and so strong, and the story is one many of us can relate to.  This video is fun to watch. Director Tim Mattia has done a fantastic job of capturing the nostalgia of the situation. Two thumbs up for this one.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple

Artist: Danny Darko with Julien Kelland
Hometown: n/a, Italy
Genre: Deep/House/Chill/Indie Dance/Progressive/Electro House/Dubstep
Related: DJ Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk
Song: Paint It Black 
Notes: The DJ/filmmaker gives us a haunting cover of The Rolling Stones classic, and it ticks all the checkboxes for me. The song starts off slow and builds and when Julien starts singing, it’s perfection.
Links: Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple

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Trish Cassling

Writer/Photographer/Editor

Toronto Music Blogger