QUEEN OF HEARTS - WARRIOR (video)

I've already talked about how brilliant this song is right here.  And now there's a video to go along with it.  Now you can take a break from looking at Tumblr while listening to music.  The video features the Queen looking perfect and amazing in lots of different great outfits.  That shirt with the forest on it is really good, right?

Oh, and Popjustice made a joke about Skyfall being the movie she is standing in front of.  That got me thinking that Queen of Hearts should definitely do the next Bond theme.  Unless Daniel Craig and decent directors are done with Bond after this one and the movies go back to being terrible.  Although Madonna did a song for one of the terrible ones and the song was still really good so maybe it doesn't matter.

Anyway, here's the video.  Enjoy!  Or else.

QUEEN OF HEARTS - WARRIOR

Behold! It's the latest popstorm of brilliance from Queen of Hearts! "Warrior" sees her reunited with previous collaborator, Diamond Cut, who produced the stunning, "Where Are You Now?" from last year's The Arrival EP.  Diamond Cut opens the track with the literal sounds of heaven and then some AMAZING afro-funkish percussion drops and then the Queen's voice comes in and you think, "Oh, do you know what?  This is actually better than heaven.  I think I'll drop dead now."  It's an incredibly powerful tune and like all of her songs, worthy of aproximately one million repeat plays.

It's actually mind boggling to me how great this artist is.  I don't even imagine her making these tracks in a studio.   That's too domestic.  Being the enchantress that she is, she's probably reciting some sort of spells from an ancient tome while sprinkling some magic dust into an open flame.  And then voila!  Pop masterpiece!

It seems like only two months ago I was writing about the last amazing Queen of Hearts song.  Oh, it was only two months ago.  It has become quite clear that this woman can do no wrong and goes around doing no wrong quite often.  I think I'm going to have to put a limit on how many times the same artist can be on my year-end list because otherwise, it's just going to be a bunch of Queen of Hearts tracks with a few other people scattered throughout.  Dear Liz, what's it like to make one of the best songs of the year every time you make a song?

The only Queen that matters is gracing us mere mortals in America with her presence starting this week.  She is playing her first show on American soil this Friday at DC9 in Washington DC and is doing another gig in New York on October 16th at Santos Party House.  And as British people apparently love to say (according to X Factor), I am absolutely "gutted" that I'm missing the show in DC.  So, if you're in the area, make up for my absence by swooning like a teenage girl in the front row. 

Warrior will be released on December 2nd via NightMoves.

QUEEN OF HEARTS - ONLY LOVE

My blog needs some sort of function that automatically posts a glowing review every time Queen of Hearts releases a new song since that's obviously what's going to happen anyway.  She has done a cover of Ben Howard's "Only Love".  I had no idea who this man was, but after some wikipedia-ing and youtubing, I discovered that he is a guitar-wielder.  And makes folk music, or something.

What's interesting about this is that it's sort of the reverse of the usual "authenticizing" of pop music by men with guitars.  It's been done to "...Baby One More Time", "Beautiful", and even Ben Howard and co. are responsible for a cover of "Call Me Maybe" while they were on Radio 1's Live Lounge.  I had actually seen that video before, but I had forgotten who Ben Howard was by the time of this review.  In the comments section, there is a comment that reads, "Only Ben Howard could turn such a crap, generic pop song into something as beautiful as this."  I wonder how she would feel about Queen of Hearts covering "Only Love".

I also wonder what it is, in general, about synthesized instruments that seems to drive some "real music" fans up a wall.  They used to be accused of sounding cold and emotionless, but come on, that was the early 90s.  When I listen to this song, the first descriptor that comes to mind is 'warm'.  Followed by 'sensual', 'gorgeous', and 'absolutely fucking brilliant'.  It's the sort of ridiculously beautiful song that makes you dance around with your eyes closed making you look like a moron.  Thanks, Queenie!

It's important to remember that I'm not criticizing Ben Howard or folk music or indie rock.  Only the idea that it's any more real than something as stunning as this.  Or even something as brilliantly catchy as "...Baby One More Time" or "Call Me Maybe".

Now that that rant is over and done with, let's all rejoice in the news that Queen of Hearts has another new EP coming out in September!  Huzzah!

QUEEN OF HEARTS - NEON / TEARS IN THE RAIN OUT TODAY

There's a lot of artists out there actively trying to sound just like the classic Italo disco/Italo house bands of the late 70s and 80s.  Some of them are great and some of them not so great.  But most of them don't really give me the same feeling as listening to masterpieces of the era like Valerie Dore's "The Night".  Maybe they're not trying hard enough or maybe they're trying too hard.  Or maybe they just don't get what made the genre so great in the first place.

Queen of Hearts gets it.  She is the second coming of Valerie Dore.  And not knowing what her influences are, I'm not even sure if it's something she was aiming for.  She's certainly not as focused on emulating the style as some others.  But it's the spirit of her songs.  The feelings they inspire.  The sheer heavenliness of her voice and every other sound you hear on each of her songs.

The Neon/Tears in the Rain double a-side single is out today.  You've already seen me rambling about how much I love the two a-sides, but if you buy the digital version you get the bonus tracks, "Forgive Me" (produced by Ercola) and "No More" (produced by John Myers).  And they are both incredible.  This thing could have been a quadruple a-side.

I'm going to make a bold statement.  For my particular tastes, no one will make better music in 2012 than Queen of Hearts.  Her music is so good that it makes my writing about ten times sappier.

You can buy the 7" here at ATG
and the digital version (with the bonus tracks) on iTunes or 7digital

QUEEN OF HEARTS - NEON (video)

I hope there's not a long amount of time between the release of "Neon/Tears in the Rain" and whatever she has planned for after that.  It would be kind of depressing not to have a reason to talk about her all the time on this blog.

Anyway, this video is her best one yet.  "Neon/Tears in the Rain" comes out via ATG Records as a 7" and digitally with bonus tracks on May 14th.  Buy it, buy it, buy it!

QUEEN OF HEARTS - TEARS IN THE RAIN

I'm starting to think that I should just turn this blog into a Queen of Hearts fansite.  I had actually wanted to post some reviews of more artists before she released anything else, but I was really busy the past couple of days.  And then this came out.  And I couldn't not review it.

I seriously wonder if Queen of Hearts can even make mistakes.  This song is absolutely gorgeous.  It's at once sad and triumphant.  It's awe-inspiring.  It's flawless.  The "oh oh, oh oh, oh oh" part just absolutely slays me.  I feel crushed under the weight of it and uplifted simultaneously.  It's delicate and invincible.  This track positively soars.  I can't wait to drive around in my car at night listening to this song over and over again.  This isn't hyperbole.  This song is perfect.  I'm on my fifth listen already and I just downloaded it.  She is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists and the day that she comes out with a full length album will be one of the best days of whichever year that happens.  I'm really hoping it's this one.  Following her career promises to be extremely rewarding.

The song was produced by also incredible person, Stefan Storm of Sound of Arrows.  You can download it for free for a limited time from http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2012/05/free-mp3-queen-of-hearts-tears-in-the-rain-exclusive-premiere.html

Thank you, Queen.  You're the best.

QUEEN OF HEARTS - NEON

This song has already been making the rounds on the bloggernet for a bit so you may be getting sick of hearing about it.  But I don't see how that's possible considering how absolutely INCREDIBLE it is.

As if The Arrival EP and her guest appearance on Johan Agebjörn's album, Casablanca Nights, wasn't enough to make one profess inordinate amounts of love for this brilliant woman's music, Queen of Hearts had to go and drop this gem on us (Did I just accidentally reference Mobb Deep?).  It is one of those rare songs that is a total banger, but you could probably cry to it if you were in the right (wrong?) mood.  It has huge, fist-pumping, steering wheel pounding moments, but those moments are more visceral than purely physical.

If this song doesn't end up on my best of 2012 list, then it will mean one of two things.  Either the rest of the year was absolutely out of this world incredible or the much more likely scenario being that the Apocalypse has actually occurred and I am too busy trying to survive zombie attacks or something to make music lists.

But the amazingness doesn't stop there.  After two great remixes by Lightwaves and Ghost Beach, legendary electronic musician and producer, Mark Reeder, decided to have a go at the track.  And of course, it's also quite impressive.

Personally, I still prefer the original, but all of them are genuinely worth listening to...a lot.


The Neon/Tears in the Rain double A-side 7" is available for preorder now at http://atgrecords.com/2012/04/atg-records-003-queen-of-hearts-neontears-in-the-rain/

Official website:  http://iamqueenofhearts.com/