Bruno Mars - Locked Out of Heaven

This month has proven to be a major turning point for 2012 in music.  We already had Christina Aguilera, Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Ke$ha making big moves.  And just this week we've got new Adele and of course, Bruno Mars.

Bruno is taking a step in the right direction with "Locked Out of Heaven."   He's picking up the pace with his song and turning it into something that could be really easy to dance around to.  Yet he's still keeping it true to himself; he's still got signs of his signature style that makes it unique.  In the end it's the best of the best; we've got Bruno's smooth and bouncy vocals, put into a tracks that builds into something intense, all backed by a recurring, "Ah yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Lyrically the song uses biblical allusions in reference to sex.  I suppose I wouldn't be against that, but the problem I find is that it seems indecisive of whether the song is subtle or explicit.  On the one hand, lyrics like "Open up your gates," could be taken innocently or with a sexual reference in mind.  On the other hand, "Your sex takes me to paradise," doesn't really leave a lot to the imagination.  If you're going to fill a song with metaphors, I find that it's better to keep at least some ambiguity just to keep the effect alive.

All in all, I'm finding the song to be pretty enjoyable.  It's catchy, it's fresh, and it proves that Bruno Mars has what it takes to survive right now.  I think it's going to be another hit, but he seriously has a lot of competition, so who knows how well he'll fare against them.

In other news, I've been watching season 2 of X Factor.  Last season I was very devoted to it and spent a lot of time talking about my favorite moments.  With X Factor it's really easy to pick a favorite and cling onto them; you bite your nails when they could leave, and you cheer when they survive.  This season, my favorite girl is CeCe Frey.  I just love her obnoxious confidence, it's a really refreshing break from all the sob stories and under-confident contestants.  And she's got a really strong voice too, so she proves that just because you're cocky, doesn't automatically mean you're a terrible singer.   It also doesn't hurt that her leopard facepaint looks very sexy.  She survived the first episode of Boot Camp, now I'll be praying that she keeps on surviving.