Lap Dance

If you've never heard anything by Right Said Fred apart from their worldwide mega-hit "I'm Too Sexy," then you are missing out on one of the best dance-pop bands of this generation. To base your opinion of the band on that one song is like judging the Beatles' entire catalog by repeated listenings to a song like "Yellow Submarine." Sure, it's fun and catchy, but there is so much more to the band than that one piece of pop fluff. This, their fourth album and first as a duo, is a huge step forward for the Freds and their best album yet by far. Richard Fairbrass went from being their vocalist to being a real force to be reckoned with. His voice is rich and full of self-assured power, and he can wrap it around a ballad ("I Know What Love Is," "Feel Like a Woman") or a dancefloor filler ("Love Song," "Bring Your Smile"). The normally cold electronic dance beats are transformed into human heartbeats by Fred Fairbrass' joyous acoustic guitar strums. Tracks like "Mojive," "You're My Mate," and "Lovers.com" leap out of the speakers with a renewed sense of confidence. "The Sun Changes Everything" is power pop with a dance beat and Beach Boys-esque harmonies.

It is so cool to find an album that was cut by professional musicians that sound like they are having a blast and doing what they were born to do, and a perfect example of this is Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Bnois King’s Fat Man’s Shine Parlor, a killer disc from their recent return to the venerable Blind Pig Records label!

Enigmatic dance-pop project Mono Mind created by Per Gessle is based in Sweden, but features input from collaborators based around the world. Initial single "Sugar Rush" was briefly made available in 2016, but the project made its formal debut with "Save a Place" in 2017. While the group was presented with collage-like portrait graphics and pseudonymous members, the song featured vocals by Helena Josefsson and Roxette's Per Gessle, and publishing information revealed that David Guetta co-wrote the song. Following its release in July of 2017, "Save Me a Place" began picking up airplay, and climbed up the Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.