Hit me Hard And Soft

25 Japanese Anniversary Edition with 4 Bonus tracks.
In between albums, Billie Eilish won two Oscars, a pair of Golden Globes, and a handful of Grammy Awards. What would typically be huge feats for regular folks has become the norm for the dynamic duo of Eilish and her brother, Finneas, but could they extend that success for another album cycle? For that third effort, Hit Me Hard and Soft, she didn't offer an advance single or major promotion, a move that might have been construed as getting ahead of any negative critical evaluation. And yet, it simply signaled a quiet confidence in the project, which is another home run. This pair can really do anything. A brisk ten songs, this is a "no skips" gem that is ideal for leaving on repeat and getting lost in the hazy, yearning snapshots of lust, longing, and heartbreak…

In between albums, Billie Eilish won two Oscars, a pair of Golden Globes, and a handful of Grammy Awards. What would typically be huge feats for regular folks has become the norm for the dynamic duo of Eilish and her brother, Finneas, but could they extend that success for another album cycle? For that third effort, Hit Me Hard and Soft, she didn't offer an advance single or major promotion, a move that might have been construed as getting ahead of any negative critical evaluation. And yet, it simply signaled a quiet confidence in the project, which is another home run. This pair can really do anything. A brisk ten songs, this is a "no skips" gem that is ideal for leaving on repeat and getting lost in the hazy, yearning snapshots of lust, longing, and heartbreak.

It should come as no surprise to see us reimagine fifteen of 9-time Grammy Award winner Billie Eilish’s most intriguing tracks. Our string rendition of “bad guy” remains one of our most streamed tracks on Spotify and last year, we turned her latest single, “LUNCH,” into classical crossover magic for VSQ Performs The Hits of 2024. And while “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” was climbing to the most streamed song of 2024 on Spotify, we were busy celebrating the alt-pop superstar’s musical prowess, VSQ-style, in preparation for a full-length album. The result: VSQ Performs Billie Eilish, which features a diverse set of Eilish’s songs arranged for strings, from “ocean eyes”—the one that started it all—to three tracks off of her latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft.

The inimitable Graham Parker is back with a new album entitled “Cloud Symbols” released on 21st September on 100% Records. With his Rumour packed away, Graham enlists a new gang, The Goldtops, on this record (who, incidently feature former Rumour member Martin Belmont). Let’s hand over to Mr Parker himself to tell the story of how this all came to fruition…

One of the most dramatically accomplished of all the bands lumped into Britain's late-'60s prog explosion, Curved Air was formed in early 1970 by violinist Darryl Way, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, and two former members of Sisyphus, keyboard player Francis Monkman and drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa. Adding bassist Robert Martin, the band named itself from avant-garde composer Terry Riley's A Rainbow in Curved Air, a touchstone that would inform much of their early work…

Lou Gramm had been recording with Rochester, New York based band, Black Sheep, since the early 1970s. Releasing two LPs for Capitol, Lou Gramm met his future bandmate and songwriting partner Mick Jones in 1975 when Black Sheep opened for Spooky Tooth in Rochester. Mick Jones was looking for a singer for his new band in 1976, and Black Sheep having split at the end of 1975, Lou was free to audition for Mick’s new group, Foreigner. Releasing their self-titled album on Atlantic Records in 1977, and featuring solid gold rock classics as ‘Cold As Ice’ and ‘Feels Like The First Time’, Foreigner were an instant worldwide smash. Going from strength to strength, the band hit a commercial peak in 1984 with the “Agent Provocateur” album and the chart topping power ballad, ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’.