It’s September!

Where is 2013 going? To the music – in a neck-and-neck battle between Pop and Country. This year has been great, and the last few weeks have proven that this is going to be a milestone year for the music industry – this week is no exception!  Topping the chart? One of music’s greatest and most recognizable female voices!  Call it a comeback! Here are this week’s Top 5 New Music Releases:

1.  “Loved Me Back to Life” by Céline Dion  [tie] (pop) She’s back! Céline Dion is back! Her new single “Love Me Back to Life” reminds me very much of her 1993 album The Colour of My Love in that it’s a lively, young, up-tempo sound we’re not used to from the usual power ballad singer!  To deepen that image, Dion released a series of vivacious, “free” living-type photographs – including this song’s cover art.  One of her last great up-tempo tracks was “That’s the Way It Is” from over a decade ago.  Welcome back Céline! I think we may have a hit on our hands.

1.  “Long Night Moon” by Reckless Kelly  [tie] (country) You would think an icon like Céline would stand alone atop the mountain the week she releases a new single – I thought so too, then I heard Reckless Kelly’s “Long Night Moon.” In a year that country music keeps surprising me – this (along with Chuck Wicks’ song “Fix Me”) is one of the best country songs I’ve ever heard.  It’s instrumental heavy, but listen to it underneath the stars on a cool summer night and you’ll understand.  This song creates ambiance and subsequently, emotion.

2.  “Berlin” by RY X (alternative) If you appreciate a great male vocal, try this.  It’s a short, primarily instrumental song, but it has some really magical vocal moments.

3.  “A Love Like War” by All Time Low f. Vic Fuentes (alternative)

4. “Trouble” by Natalia Kills (pop) – Natalia Kills returns to the Radio Bobby Top 5 nearly two months after her last appearance with “Trouble,” her new album’s title track.  It’s catchy that’s for sure, but not quite on the same level as the previously No. 1 ranked “Saturday Night.”

5. “Blue Ridge Song” by Alan Jackson (country) – It’ll probably be a “classic” Alan Jackson song.  This bluegrass driven track is the lead single from Jackson’s upcoming “The Bluegrass Album,” due out September 27.

I know I haven’t given you a MUSIC VIDEO of the WEEK recently either – so here’s Christina Aguilera’s new video for her latest single “Let There Be Love” from her 2012 album LOTUS (fun fact:  “Let There Be Love” ranked No. 5 on my 2012 Top 50 Songs list).