NORTHERN Ireland rock royalty Ricky Warwick is all set for a busy 2016 with the release of not one but two solo records. One is brilliantly titled When Patsy Cline Was Crazy and Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues while the other is more delicately named Hearts On Trees.
Ricky who continues to be one the most hardworking performers in the industry (from The Almighty to Thin Lizzy to Black Star Riders) has found himself in extra prolific form of late, managing to write a wealth of material that simply couldn't be restrained within the confines of a standard album release.
The 'Patsy Cline' record boasts Warwick's trademark rock 'n roll swagger (he likes naming icons in his work – one of my favourites being Johnny Or Elvis from his Love Many Trust Few record) while Hearts on Trees reflects his more subtle and acoustic leanings. This artist is both highly capable and hugely comfortable wearing both hats.
The two albums will appear as a double release in February and will feature some of the Newtownards man's impressive mate list – Joe Elliot from Def Leppard contributes, as does Snow Patrol's Nathan Connolly, Andy Cairns from Therapy?, Stiff Little Fingers' Jake Burns and Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders' Damon Johnson.
Currently on pre-sale on iTunes, if you need to give Santa any pointers.
SWEET SUCCESS
LISTEN out for a track by Robin Schulz called Sugar. The song is doing the rounds again having been released firstly in Germany back in July but is now starting to gather momentum again.
It's a perfect groove-based pop track that continues Schultz's variation on a theme and you will feel you have heard it a thousand times already. That's because you probably have – such is its disciplined format structure, it is a record that paints by numbers.
However, the numbers are impressive and the colours are vivid, resulting in a highly addictive club tune which, thanks to the vocals by Canadian up and comer Francesco Yates, also has a strong soulful feel. The song contains the delectable lyric “Suga, how you get so high?” Surely worth a download for that alone.
STAR SPANGLED
IT SEEMS America is leading the way in terms of the artists we play most these days. In the top 10 of the most streamed artists of 2015, 8/10 are from the States with stars like Drake, Beyonce, Rihanna and The Weeknd popping out of computer speakers the most.
Justin Bieber has been breaking chart records left, right and centre while Rihanna's tour is set to dominate 2016. If not for U2 , Adele and Ed Sheeran it seems we would already be saying words like 'sidewalk' and 'faucet'!
