MPFREES
Black Light Burns, “Lie”
Proving that there’s life after Limp Bizkit, guitarist Wes Borland is fronting a new band, with help from ex-Nine Inch Nails collaborator Danny Lohner and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese. The first single off “Cruel Melody” is a driving, head-banging, industrial and Gothic-tinged smorgasbord that’s much heavier than what you’d expect from a guy who used to jump around the stage, painted up like a creepy monkey.
Mandy Moore, “Extraordinary”
Pop’s film princess Mandy Moore returns to recording with a very introspective album, but Moore is more when she shakes the rainy-day melodies for bouncy girl power tunes such as “Extraordinary.” Her voice here is warm and very inviting on this confident, self-penned number off her album “Wild Hope,” out June 19.
Paula Cole, “Safe in Your Arms”
It’s been a decade since “Dawson’s Creek” used her hit single “I Don’t Want To Wait” as its theme song, turning Paula Cole into a household name. Since then, she’s matured, replacing confrontational lyrics with sincerity, all without losing her signature breezy sound, especially on this piano-driven track with a reggae-lite back beat off her fourth studio album, “Courage.”
theSTART, “Blood on My Hands”
They may be popular on the pop-punk-heavy Warped Tour circuit, but theSTART’s gone back to its new new-wave roots for its latest effort, “Ciao, Baby.” On tunes such as “Blood on My Hands,” the female-fronted Los Angeles band has ditched the punk guitars and spunky garage-band attitude for slick, electro pop that could only have been crafted with the dance floor in mind.
Sullivan, “Great for My Collection”
At first listen, this heart-on-our-sleeves song off Sullivan’s debut record, “Cover Your Eyes,” seems like it’s just another song about an emo standard topic: bad things happening to a good guy. Actually, it’s a statement from a hostage taker to his victim. That dark situation suits the Chapel Hill, N.C., band’s semi-screamed lyrical delivery, guitar riffs aplenty and dramatic drumming to a T.
