We review this week's biggest music releases | 24/03/2017

Calvin Harris (feat. Young Thug, Pharrell Williams & Ariana Grande) - Heatstroke

Summer is rearing it's head and it rarely seems to come along with a fresh slice of Calvin Harris - 2017 is no different. With 'Slide' dominating the airwaves the past month, the track has become one of our songs of the year, so with Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande in tow for 'Heatstroke', it's fair to say that expectations are pretty high. Does it live up to them? Just about, but not convincingly.

Calvin appears to have ditched his usual sound, which admittedly had started to get tired by the time 'My Way' was released, for a side of him that takes a dip into RnB and disco. It wouldn't be a push to imagine Mark Ronson producing 'Heatstroke' in fact. It definitely succeeds in being the sort of track you can imagine listening to whilst sipping on a Cosmopolitan by the side of a pool but the lack of real hook, aside from a couple of Ariana Grande lines, leaves the track hanging slightly, failing to hit you around the head with any particular grit. We're enjoying Harris's travels into a new genre and we're enjoying this new track but we think he's capable of an even bigger summer anthem in the near future.

Cheat Codes (feat. Demi Lovato) - No Promises

Cheat Codes burst onto the scene properly last year when their re-working of 'Let's Talk About Sex' was one of the biggest dance hits of the summer. They then tried to emulate the success of this track by taking on Kevin Lyttle's iconic "Turn Me On" later in the year, though less successfully. However, this time round, not only have they decided to create a song which doesn't largely sample a previous classic, they've managed to enlist a big name in Demi Lovato. Consider the expectations significantly highered.

Perhaps foolishly however. While they haven't directly sampled any track this time around, they may aswell have called the track "Let Me Love You" as there is absolutely no doubting the inspiration they've ripped straight from DJ Snake & Justin Bieber's monster smash. From the "oh na na, just be careful" to the squeaky breakdown, the track hardly helps Cheat Codes stand out as a fresh and exciting group. We can't help feeling Demi Lovato could do better as well but all things said, the track is pretty good, we wouldn't skip it if it came out but we're a little bit underwhelmed, to say the least.

Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

Kendrick is officially back and everyone is properly excited. 'The Heart Part 4' was a nice warm up to what was to come for the forthcoming era but it was most definitely the calm before a not so humble storm. You never know quite what you're going to get from Lamar, whether it be dark and brooding or super anthemic. This one definitely falls into the box of the latter, forcing itself into your conscience with a sharp, stabbing piano beat the recurs throughout the entire track, managing to juggle being both menacing and exciting in the same breath.

There's absolutely no doubting this will be a staple for any RnB and hip hop club for the next few months, appealing to the precise crowd that will have been hollering "bitch don't kill my vibe" on repeat for the past same chorus. A similarly repetitive chorus over a strong instrumentation makes for a song that really never escapes your interest and commands your attention. Lyrically, it puts him on a pedestal from all of his competitors and it even looks like this could become his biggest hit to date. It's definitely an exciting turn for Kendrick, while it's not his best track to date and it definitely takes more than one listen to properly get to grips with, it certainly cements him as one of the biggest names in hip hop right now.

Anton Powers & Pixie Lott - Baby

With big new releases from Calvin, Demi and Kendrick, it'd be quite easy for you to just scroll past a collaboration with Anton Powers (behind 2016 dance smash 'Alone No More') and pop princess of the early 2010s Pixie Lott, after all, neither are exactly a huge name in the current climate. However, they might just have thrown up our favourite track of the week with this strings-laden dance jam which has had us hooked from listen one, sounding so refreshing amongst many recent hits of this genre.

Powers takes the orchestral-dance flare that has worked so well for Clean Bandit and adapted it to his own Clubland ready sound with ease, while Pixie's unique vocals make for an extra layer of strength in a track that is jam-packed with oomph. It follows in the footsteps of tracks such as 'Someone Who Needs Me' by Bob Sinclair, which merged these high pitched vocals with sweeping strings which create such a fantastic sense of euphoria. Now THIS is what summer should sound like and it'll no doubt be on repeat whenever we get a blast of sunshine this year.