By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio
Secret Friend’s new record, The Divorce Album, may well be the ultimate breakup long player, but it sounds like a happy, peppy pop album, and I predict it will be a favorite of many pop fans this year.
Falling somewhere sound-wise between the expansive second Secret Friend album, Sleeper, and the Linus of Hollywood-produced pure pop debut, Time Machine, The Divorce Album serves up six Secret Friend songs, written and produced by Steven Fox, and six reinventions of those songs produced by other artists. It’s a fascinating approach, heady lyrically but effervescent musically. It’s a clear winner by an artist not afraid to stretch and keep things interesting.
During this lively edition of In Conversation, you’ll learn about the origins of this album and hear all about the writing and production of the songs. Direct from Thailand, meet Secret Friend’s Steven Fox as you listen to this in-depth podcast, originally broadcast on April 4.
Secret Friend’s The Divorce Album is available from a variety of e-tailers at the album’s website.
Listen to my interview with Secret Friend’s Steven Fox from the April 4 edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation by clicking the play button on the following player, or click on the Pure Pop Radio button to the left to download (then right click and choose “Save audio as” to save the file to your computer). (This interview is presented in scoped format; the songs have been removed due to copyright concerns.)
Listen to a wide selection of previously-aired Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation interviews by clicking here.
Listen to the Pop Tunes Deejay Show on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 pm ET (two different shows every week); In Conversation airs every Wednesday night at 9 pm ET. Don’t miss a minute!
Kyle Vincent sat in front of the Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation microphones on March 21 to talk with me about his new album Miles and an Ocean. We discussed a variety of topics, including the wonder of Barry Manilow and working with the Rubinoos’ Tommy Dunbar. We also played, and talked about, songs from Miles and an Ocean and 2016’s Kyle Vincent Sings the Great Manilow Songbook. Soft-pop, and Kyle Vincent, fans will not want to miss this show.
By Alan Haber – Pure Pop Radio
This Wednesday, April 18, at 9 pm ET, Anton Barbeau guests on an all-new edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation to talk about his latest album, the fantastic Natural Causes. You’ll hear Anton wax poetic about three of the songs on the album: the wild and woolly “It’s the Coffee that Makes the Man Go Mad,” “Down Around the Radio,” and a remake of “Creepy Tray,” which first appeared as an upbeat bubblegum track on Anton’s 1999 release, Splendid Tray, and is recast in a new version as…well, you’ll have to listen to find out. It’s a truly heartfelt story.
The first of two all-new Alan Haber’s Pop Tunes Deejay Shows rolls tomorrow night at 8 pm ET with new spins from Wilson, the Ice Cream Conspiracists, Secret Friend, the Connection, Lannie Flowers, and Scot Sax, whose new album, Drawing from Memory, is one of the highlights of this year’s crop of melodic pop releases.
The Playlist:
Michael Simmons, long-standing member of the west coast melodic pop community, crafted his smash, just-released solo album, First Days of Summer, at home, recording in sparkling Kitchen-o-Phonic sound (guess where the studio resides). The results are no less than magical.
Michael joined me in a spirited conversation about First Days of Summer on the April 11 edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation. We talked about how he wrote and recorded his new songs, and played three of them: “Fuzzy Green Hat,” the roots of which were in a dream; “Let’s Fall in Love,” a song that would rightly be thought of as Prince Pop; and “Bucket List,” a song that happily circles a mix of NRBQ, Nick Lowe and Rockpile vibes.
Linus of Hollywood’s fifth album, Cabin Life, is yet another fine offering from an artist whose mastery of the melodic pop form continues to dazzle. Linus visited with me on the March 28 edition of Pure Pop Radio: In Conversation to talk about his new songs and revisit some of his musical history, charting a course from his Florida roots to his time in Los Angeles and a life spent luxuriating in the many-tiered world of music.
