These days we take it for granted that Jimi Hendrix is an iconic name in rock ‘n’ roll history. He’s still known to most people as one of if not the greatest guitarist of all time, and even casual music fans can probably name a couple of songs. But what a lot of younger fans may not realize is just how quickly Hendrix’s career was cut short. Hendrix was only 27 years old when he died, having left behind a handful of albums and an undying influence on music.

One reason that it seems like Hendrix had to have been around longer than that is that his music has survived not only through albums and occasional radio play, but also in pop culture. There’s just something about the way he sang and played guitar that seems to make his best tracks ideal for movie soundtracks, games, and more. Sometimes that can make it feel like he left behind as much material as other classic rockers who were alive for much longer.

Let’s take a look at which of his songs have been the most influential across pop culture.

“The Wind Cries Mary”

While not necessarily as famous as “Purple Haze” or some of his other hits, “The Wind Cries Mary” is often included as one of the top few songs ever performed by Jimi Hendrix. It’s maybe for this reason that it was one of only a couple of tracks included when Hendrix’s likeness and music were added to Guitar Hero. It actually hasn’t had much to do with movies or television, like some of his other hits, but interestingly enough the title was used in an episode of the FX animated comedy Archer, during its fourth season.

“Purple Haze”

This might be the best-known track by Hendrix. It’s been referenced in The Simpsons, it’s been used as the title of a film, and it’s featured in soundtracks on countless films and TV episodes, from White Men Can’t Jump to Minions. More recently, the song has popped up again as part of the foundation for an online Jimi Hendrix slot game. Casino sites have started to use characters and stories from pop culture to provide players with familiar favorites, and there’s a game solely devoted to Hendrix, with its own Purple Haze bonus included.

“Fire”

“Fire” is a unique track in that the bulk of its exposure has been through TV. It’s been in some movies like Stuck On You and Lords Of Dogtown, but it’s also appeared in shows including (but not limited to) Entourage, Survivor, Australian Idol The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and on several occasions Late Show with David Letterman. It may be the easiest of the Hendrix hits to toss into a soundtrack for just 20 seconds or so, and it’s been used in this manner time and again.

“All Along The Watchtower”

If “Purple Haze” isn’t the most iconic Hendrix track, it’s undoubtedly “All Along The Watchtower” (even if he didn’t originally write the song). It may be the one that’s heard most frequently in modern entertainment. One of the most recent examples was its inclusion on the soundtrack for the video game Mafia 3, which made a point of including a bunch of songs, including some all-time hits. It’s also found a place in a lot of particularly noteworthy shows and movies, including a 2009 Battlestar Galactica episode, The Simpsons, and Forrest Gump.

This list could go on to include a few more examples, but these four songs alone account for a lot of people’s general understanding of Hendrix’s greatness. As often as they pop up it’s no wonder it’s so easy to feel like he left behind a full career’s worth of work.

Before his name even leave my mind and are committed to digital copy, I know that assessing the work of Harry Styles will leave me open to attack from Directioners worshipping him like the messiah. However, with the release of his debut solo single Sign of the Times, Harry has presented something that may serve as a valuable lesson in pop reinvention.

For those who haven’t heard the song, Sign of the Times is a Glam-inspired pop ballad that ventures into territories most artists wouldn’t be permitted to go. It’s driven by a lumbering piano melody that gradually develops into what feels like a modern homage to the climax of Bowie’s Rock n Roll Suicide. Grandiose string arrangements and sizzling rock guitars mask what is otherwise a very ordinary pop ballad, while Styles’ vocalwork showcases his abilities without any pesky bandmates also vying for the spotlight.

So, why does this matter for new artists? Well, quite simply, it highlights two very important lessons that are worth heeding.

Modern pop still has a place for balladry
When you think of what makes a strong pop number, most people will draw up a list of the same principles:

• A catchy melody
• A clear and contagious hook
• A strong chorus
• An accessible sound, either through appropriating currently accepted styles or by using infectious rhythms
• A 3-4 minute runtime

However, Sign of the Times dismisses several of these rules. While the chorus is a strong singalong and the vocal melody is memorable, it doesn’t appropriate a current style – instead it looks three decades into the past – and it certainly exceeds the runtime. Real balladry doesn’t tend to fit into the runtime rule, which is why it is often scarce in the pop genre.

If Styles shows nothing else, it is that the current pop scene still has a place for long ballads. While it must be noted that Styles is able to take liberties that many artists cannot, such as being able to croon for almost six minutes armed only with insipid lyricism and repetition, any artist eager to craft a well-balanced ballad will be relieved to know that mainstream recognition is not impossible.

The path to change starts with a single step
This is a very important point but one that has been met with divided opinion over Styles’ debut. Musically, the artist has edged away from the sound of One Direction but he is still only within arm’s reach. Thinking back to Zayn’s debut album, the drastic departure proved divisive to fans but was one of his saving graces from a critical perspective. Styles has instead played it somewhat safe.

It should be noted that this is not a bad thing, nor does it set a bad precedent for the future. One of the main reasons for bandmembers going solo is to allow experimentation of expression, with the member free to try genres and musical styles that may not be right for the other members. While Sign of the Times is not a full departure from One Direction’s sound, it has enough of a musical distinction that it eases fans into a transition. Styles – or the team behind him – understand that a drastic shift might cause upset among audiences in a similar way to Zayn, so it is likely we will see a gradual adoption of a more Glam-rock style in future.

When the urge to change comes, artists might be quick to pursue it and express themselves differently. That is fine. But if they are conscious of audience perception and expectation, it is critical that musicians consider taking a slower approach and dripfeeding change to fans.

There is no doubt that Ed Sheeran is one of the fastest rising stars in modern music. Since really hitting his stride in 2012, the intervening years have seen Sheeran become one of the most widely known and recognised musicians in the Western world. So, in the run up to his third studio album, ÷, we look at the three lessons that new musicians can take from the three tracks Sheeran has dropped this year.

Variety is the spice of life

It’s fitting that a ginger singer is the one to best demonstrate that a bit of variety can spice up most musical offerings. In the run up to ÷, Sheeran dropped a total of three singles — Shape of You, Castle on the Hill and How Would You Feel (Paean).

Often, artists will stick to a consistent feel across at least two out of the three tracks that precede an album. The aim with that, of course, being that it gives listeners an accurate taster of the album’s flavour. However, this assumption is based upon the historical significance of the album as an important way of gaining a following. Since digital downloads and music streaming became the norm, there has been a subtle shift in consumption that means the standardised sound approach simply isn’t effective anymore.

Most people won’t listen to an album in its entirety anymore. While carving a consistent sound across all hype-building singles is good when it comes to the live sets, it simply serves to pigeonhole artists from a recording perspective. Sheeran tackles this with his three recent singles by offering three different and distinct sounds: acoustic balladry with How Would You Feel, indie-pop anthemia in Castle on the Hill and radio-friendly club pop with Shape of You. These share one coherent quality, but speak to three generally different audiences.

To truly maximise appeal and test the boundaries of personal creativity, artists should try to avoid any sense of status quo. By experimenting with how different they can make a new track from what they’ve done in the past, musicians can ensure they don’t get stale and reach the widest possible audience.

Get personal

“When I was six years old, I broke my leg. I was running from my brother and his friends.”

With that opening sentence, Sheeran sets the tone for the entirety of Castle on the Hill. It’s a song of personal reflection, nostalgia, homesickness and memories that almost everyone will have something similar to. It is that personal touch that makes Sheeran an artist who speaks to both the head and heart of thousands. It is easy for new artists to fall into the trap of tackling wide-reaching topics in a generalised way that, hypothetically, speaks to many and will therefore make those listeners become immediate fans. Yet while being able to stir an emotional reaction from listeners is a positive, there is more that artists can easily do to create a meaningful emotional connection with hundreds of people they’ve never met.

Human nature is to bond with others. It’s why love is a recurring theme in most displays of art, and why many people secretly love having heart-to-heart conversations with others. This is the very thing that Ed Sheeran’s experience-inspired art of songwriting is so effective — he shares his own story with his fans, who subsequently feel like they are forming a meaningful relationship with him. Artists who can tap into this “universally personal” style will find that people respond much more positively to their music.

Unplug the club

One of the big selling points of Ed Sheeran is that he effectively brings the club to the acoustic guitar. Take Shape of You, for example. That song is essentially your typical late night club song, redesigned for an acoustic set up. This unique way of taking on a genre of music is a key lesson for all musicians. Instead of simply following the formulaic and — often overdone to death — style that many other artists have done, it exhibits much more creativity to successfully splice two distinct styles together.

It doesn’t have to be especially difficult, either. Try being inspired by metal music and recreating it with synths, or vice versa. This cross-pollination of ideas is how creative genius is born.

One of the biggest complaints or concerns of newer artists is that they don’t have much of a budget to work with when it comes to their music videos. Yet there is a lot that artists can do with very little, and in some ways this is actually a major strength.

Slothrust (which we’re not sure is pronounced as ‘Sloth rust’ or ‘slo(w) thrust’) are the latest band proving that budgets do not matter for music videos. The post-grunge outfit’s latest, Like A Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone, is created on a shoestring budget, focusing solely on a rose held in front of the camera. That’s it. That is the hero of this story. Of course, vocalist Leah Wellbaum makes a brief cameo but the rose is truly the subject here.

Yet it doesn’t matter. The greatest strength that Slothrust possess is that the track itself is powerful, combining a powerful use of quiet-loud dynamics with a mix of melodic and monotone vocal deliveries and hints of a dark humour. It’s the formula for a great song and, with that, the video itself does not matter. Slothrust know this and, as a mere formality, produced a video so the eyes have something to do while the ears are in ecstasy.

If ever there was a lesson about music videos to be learned, Slothrust teach it very clearly and effectively here.

In this day and age, when we’re talking about discovering and developing new artists, one of the first things that come to mind are reality singing competitions, according to Fuse TV. These talent shows give anyone from ordinary Joes to struggling performers to experienced crooners the platform to showcase what they have in front of a massive audience. It gives us a peak into the lives of real people as they climb up the ladder of success one rung at a time. And one such show that truly represents this progress is Britain’s hit reality TV series The X Factor.

The X Factor series, in more ways, has been responsible for changing the lives of many up-and-coming international music artists – more than any television talent competition. Since the show debuted back in 2003, artists have sold close to 200 million records around the world. It’s enjoying successful franchises in Denmark and Australia, as well as the digital industry with the X Factor play-along app and an online gaming modification entitled The X Factor Games.

Although there’s still no word about the upcoming season 13 opening reports the Huffington Post, we’re at the tail end of summer, which only means we’re just a handful of sleeps away from its 2016 run. But before anything else, there’s no better way to get hyped for the looming premiere than to look back at some of the new stars from The X Factor UK that have made a significant impact on the international music world.

As the show’s history suggests, a contestant/s doesn’t necessarily have to win the whole thing to make it big. Most us already know – or at the very least have heard about – the stories of Olly Murs and, of course, One Direction, but there are also others who have made a name in their own right. Having said that, here are some of the most notable non-winners from The X Factor UK who are now savoring success outside the competition.

Ella Henderson

Back in 2012, during The X Factor UK’s 9th season, a then 16-year-old soul singer-songwriter, Gabriella Michelle Henderson, from Lincolnshire wowed the audition rounds by performing an original piece. Week after week, she gave fantastic, heartwarming acts – the most memorable of which is her rendition of Cher’s ‘Believe’. She was considered as a strong contender for the title, only to finish in sixth place. Her life post-The X Factor UK is considered a huge success, as upon the release of her debut single ‘Ghost’ in 2014, co-written with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder, Ella Henderson was Britain’s fastest-selling artist of the year.

Cher Lloyd

Way before her solid collaborations with Becky G, T.I., and Demi Lovato, Cher Lloyd was just a doe-eyed English girl with huge dreams. On paper, she had the looks of a cookie-cutter pop star; the only difference is her uncanny ability to rap. The 16-year-old from Worcestershire dropped jaws during her season 7 audition by singing – and rapping – a Keri Hilson version of Soulja Boy’s ‘Turn My Swag On’. From there, she consistently put on powerful performances en route to finishing a fourth in the competition. Today, Cher Lloyd finds real success outside The X Factor UK following a strong debut album ‘Sorry I’m Late’, as well as hits such as ‘Want U Back’ and ‘With Ur Love’.

JLS

JLS is an English boy band consisting of Aston Merrygold, Oritse Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill took The X Factor UK stage by storm with a mix of powerful RnB and lively pop performances. To a certain degree, they were the One Direction long before One Direction. As a matter of fact, they finished higher than the aforementioned group, having been runners-up to season 5’s eventual winner Alexandra Burke. This was their springboard to continental fame, as the group sold millions of records in the UK, highlighted by a couple of number one chart-toppers ‘Beat Again’ and ‘Everybody in Love’. After four hugely successful albums spanning 2009 and 2012, JLS called it quits in 2013.

This is a guest post from Edward Browne.

If you’ve never listened to Blossoms, you’re probably in the minority. The alt-pop band dropped their self-titled debut album early in August 2016 and, at the end of the first subsequent week, it has topped the UK charts. While everybody breaks into hysterics and begins to obsess about the band, new artists can take much more for Blossoms’ success – it’s not just a sign of changing tastes and times, it’s a signal of what is to come.

So what are the top three things bands can take away from Blossoms’ chart domination?

  Indulge fans, not yourself:

The first thing that most people will notice about Blossoms’ debut album is the short length of the majority of tracks. This isn’t because the band got lazy in the studio or because they’re punk-rockers at heart, but rather because the band understand the distinction between a studio format and a live arena.

While it might feel artistically liberating to crack out a five-minute slow-burner track that resonates with musical brilliance and emotional depth, fans don’t want too much of that. Blossoms get around this by making chillwave-leaning closing track Deep Grass the album’s longest, clocking in at 4:45 – a length that makes it roughly twice that of earlier tracks. This is the band’s moment to give a slow-burning moment to fans, while tracks like Charlemagne and Blown Rose stick closely to the three-minute mark. Songs are typically short, sweet, punchy and successful, with any self-indulgence reserved for an extended version in a live set.

Build on what you know:

It’s not just you who listened to Blown Rose and, when singing along, almost broke out into Do they know it’s Christmas. Both melodies are certainly only a season apart, and that’s just one example: At Most A Kiss definitely has shades of Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape locked in there.

Yet for the similarities, it’s not plagiarism – it’s just an influence that can be heard ringing through the music, or perhaps even a purposeful homage. The result of this is that, if listener’s feel something is familiar to them, they are more inclined to feel positively towards it – just look at Gotye’s shameless adoption of Ba Ba Black Sheep in that one inescapable hit song he had a few years ago. There’s a fine line between familiarity and adoption, as too between a nod and copyright infringement. Artists who tread the line carefully reap the rewards.

Drum up support:

There’s an endless amount of ways that bands can drum up loyal support for an album release, as well as incentivise fans into not just streaming it on Spotify.

The most straightforward way is to, very simply, tour rigourously. Blossoms embarked on three headline tours prior to the release of their album, with a further one planned for shortly after the album launch. While Blossoms’ situation is uniquely complicated – it’s not common for a band to publicly lose their support act in a horrific accident – the amount of touring definitely played a key role in connected with as many people as possible before the album dropped.

In another interesting twist, the band also released almost half of the album as singles over the course of two years. With so many tracks becoming crowd-favourites in that time, the inclusion of those tracks alone destined the album for success. Offering two pre-order tracks as opposed to just one only sweetened the deal. Any band looking to emulate the runaway success of the album should follow those steps – get the audience to love you, give them what they know and love on the album, and then make it as rewarding a purchase as possible.

We’ve been told for a long time that guitar music is dying. In fact, it’s a rumour that has been kicked around since the time of The Beatles. Every once in a while a false saviour of the genre crops up (much like The Vaccines were once touted to be), but overall we’ve reached an impass. There’s a sense of guitar-led stagnation. What is left for the instrument that we haven’t heard before?

Two Door Cinema Club were never indie-rock pioneers or guitar gods. In spite of this, they managed to briefly catch and carry the flame of guitar music – their first album was crammed with pristine guitars that were rich in echo and infectiously rhythmic in a way that was a throwback to indie-rock’s heyday.

Yet with their most recent single, Are You Ready? (Wreck), even this outfit have seemingly let their trademark guitar-driven sound take a step back to bring synths to the forefront. Combining festival-ready singalong hooks, funked up guitar rhythms and sweeping synths that propell the track and back the choral chants, it’s a sound that TDCC have never fully explored. It might have been touched on in the past, but not to this extent.

It’s not a massive surprise that it has come now. After two perfectly good albums elevated by guitar necks, their upcoming album Gameshow might be the one that sees the band take an approach that more and more new artists are embracing: electro-indie or electropop. It’s a trend that has become increasingly popular over the past decade and a high-profile uptake like this demonstrates that the growth is showing no sign of slowing down.

While on the emerging side we have acts such as FEiN who beautifully merge the two sounds, to have a band that has become synonymous with guitar music to slowly ease off on their trademark instrument is a completely different musical statement.

This means one of two things for new guitar-wielding bands: either you’re with the movement or against it. Those with it, who are consolidating guitar riffs with synth-driven hooks, will need to be on top form to stand out and against bigger names. Artists against it, however, have a different challenge: making their guitar music so tight, punchy and remarkable that they fill the void and prove – not once and for all, but for now at least – that guitar music isn’t dead.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are that you’ll be aware that The Stone Roses have returned with their first recorded output in over twenty years. It’s been a long four years since they first reunited, so this has been a long awaited and highly anticipated moment.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say that the wait was worth it. New single All For One catches a vibe from between the band’s first and second studio albums, combining the rave-inspired rhythms with a guitar tone that is much more rock-ready than dancefloor filler. This is fine, but the release is dire when you consider the lyrical content.

Ian Brown has been hailed as a “godlike genius” for his lyricism, and his solo career has demonstrated that he is capable of working together stunning sentences of meaningful sentiment. So when the majority of this track is an absurdly simplistic chant, you’ve got to question whether that time was better spent elsewhere. The new single would be acceptable as a break in a live show, rousing the crowds, but doesn’t deserve the honour of studio time.

So what should new musicians take from this? There is a balance between a good studio track and a track that works well live, and good songs come from striking that balance perfectly. This single embraces the live singalong scenario fully and, as a result, is arguably the worst comeback single of all time. The Stone Roses’ first album, however, shows how these balances can – and should – be done: well-formed lyrics delivered in a straightforward way, with a chorus that is simple enough to sing but that doesn’t occupy the bulk of the run time.

Likewise, don’t rest on your achievements. The Stone Roses were good in the 1980s and their touring success in recent years has been due to their absense and nostalgia of that time. Ian Brown was voted an excellent lyricist for his content. But you wouldn’t get any indication of either of those accomplishments from listening to this single.

Always innovate and never fall back into the comfort of your successes. And certainly never take a lazy approach to songwriting when you’ve been building expectations for two decades.

Love them or hate them, One Direction are massive. And love it or hate it, when Zayn Malik left everybody heard about it and knew about it. A year later, Malik (who has adopted the simple monikor of Zayn) has finally released his debut solo album. And, believe it or not, it’s a golden lesson for new musicians.

The art of Zayn’s debut album Mind of Mine comes from two core factors: change and maturity. The change is the most glaringly obvious: this is not, by any means, a one-man One Direction album. This is so far removed from the poppy reaches of 1D that it barely even qualifies as being pop, sounding much more at home in the RnB camp. You would never hear 1D knocking out tracks like PILLOWTALK, iT’s YoU or lUcOzAdE.

It’s a big change of direction, but Zayn pulls it off flawlessly — if anything, he pulls it off far better than anything he did with 1D. Zayn took a risk to make music that he enjoyed and would actually listen to, and the risk paid off. It’s a risk few artists dare to take for fear of alienating their audience — who know what would happen if more followed in the footsteps of Zayn?

Then there’s the maturity. Zayn dropped off the face of the planet after leaving 1D and has returned, apparently, a much more mature person (ignoring the really annoying way he titles the majority of his songs). That’s not to say that 1D wrote immature songs, but they weren’t on this kind of level. The maturity on Mind of Mine strafes to the darker side of topicality, presumably in a conscious effort to distinguish himself from his former band, but it doesn’t degrade itself by falling into immaturity. Zayn delivers lyrics about getting high and having sex in a very beautifully fragile and sophisticated way. In a sense, the vocal is at stark odds with the lyrics — and strangely that makes it even better.

So what can new artists learn from Zayn? Don’t be afraid to switch up your sound or to follow a musical path you are passionate about. It might end up being a process of trial and error, but in the end you could find a sound as good as this.

Also, probably worth bearing in mind that if you’re going to write a song about cheating on your (former) partner, you should probably do it a lot more subtly than SHE DON’T LOVE ME does…

Pop outfit The Heirs have dropped the video for their feelgood track of the year, Alright Goodnight. To celebrate the drop, we’re taking a look at what new artists can take from it.

It’s a deliciously upbeat outing that channels a strange mix of Foster The People (circa their second album) and Walk The Moon. Nothing unusual for pop, right? As true as that fundamentally may seem, The Heirs are smart enough to know that straightforward pop numbers are… well, kinda two-dimensional and boring.

Another spat out, shat out, thousand-dollar-a-dozen chart topper? Snore. But The Heirs decide to make the clean pop song stand out by adding some technical wizardry in the studio. It takes a lot of boldness and bravery to take a perfectly pop-ready and radio-friendly hook and apply an effect to it that makes it more of an acquired taste. But as the post-chorus hook proves here, it can work amazingly well.

Lesson learned: Sometimes, to make a track truly worth its value in airtime and artistry, you need to know when to be bold and experimental with it. Sure it might sound good already, but can it sound better?

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