The Neptunes have certainly been making their mark in the music industry. Whether some of your favourite songs over the years have been hip hop, pop, rock or funk, there’s a good chance the The Neptunes, Grammy Award-winning producers and songwriters Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, have been at the helm. Together with their long-time friend and creative wunderkind Shae Haley, they make up one of music’s most innovative groups: N*E*R*D.

N.E.R.D’s third album ‘Seeing Sounds’ is released on June 9th, 2008 through Star Trak/Interscope Records. The album’s first single “Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)” is out in the UK July 7th.

‘Seeing Sounds’ is the follow-up to the group’s 2004 platinum-selling album ‘Fly Or Die’, which peaked at #4 and featured the smash-hit single “She Likes To Move” which charted at #5 in the UK charts.

“Everybody Nose”, the first single from the new album, is a prime example of N.E.R.D’s genre-defying music, with its mad refrain “All the ladies standing in the line for the bathroom!”. The track is driven by a thundering bass that gives way to a deep, drum-heavy rhythm track; the song careers between the head-nodding bravado of hip-hop and the body-moving energy of dance or punk music.

The new album ‘Seeing Sounds’ is a blistering mash-up of booming hip-hop beats, rollercoaster rock riffs, rumbling crunk rhythms and scintillating soul music. A song like “Killjoy” moves at a quick clip, with a fierce percussive breakdown serving at its emotional centre.

“Anti-Matter” moves through several different tempos, flirting with psychedelic guitar funk and a dirty south bounce. “Spaz” has the complex rhythms of Indian music before eventually giving way to noisy breaks. “Sooner or Later” evokes the elegance of ’60s UK pop, while “Yeah You” is a first-person account of having a female stalker and flirts with smooth, ’70s soul-jazz.

“We don’t care about genres. Why would we?” says Pharrell of the group’s third album. “For us, it was just about being what we are. We aren’t limited by anything other than our imaginations and what we feel, so why would we make music packaged into a little box?”

Watch N.E.R.D “Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In Line For The Bathroom)” video:

N.E.R.D are currently wowing fans on Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark tour in the US.

The band will be bringing their energetic live shows to the UK in June 2008:

Isle Of Wight Festival – June 13th
London Brixton Academy – June 14th

N.E.R.D. on amazon.co.uk

N.E.R.D Myspace
N.E.R.D Official Website

When Ashlee Simpson went back in to the studio to make her third album, ‘Bittersweet World’, she wanted to make a party record. And when an artist wants to get the party started, who better to call than Timbaland? So that’s what she did. And then she called The Neptunes and they called their friend synth-hop savant Kenna. And that’s when the fun started.

The first single from the album; “Outta My Head (Ay Ay Ay)” is set for UK release on Interscope through Polydor Records May 12th, 2008 and was the result of some one on one time in the studio with hitmaker Timbaland. It showcases Ashlee’s new direction – mashing beats with guitars to create a unique feel on this track and the album as a whole. Other standout tracks include the pop rock anthem “Little Miss Obsessive” as well as “Murder, What I’ve Become” and her personal favourite, the slow jam “Never Dream Alone”.

‘Bittersweet World’ UK release is May 19th, 2008 (US – April 22).

Ashlee Simpson has already had two multi-platinum albums (‘Autobiography’ and ‘I Am Me’) that debuted back to back at the top of the charts, and collectively sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone. She has won a Billboard Award, 2 Teen Choice Awards and has two sold-out tours under her belt.

She also has a loving boyfriend, a tight-knit family, a loyal fan base, and a burgeoning second career as an actress (which resulted in her calling London home for four months last year while she starred in Chicago). So when it came time to create her third album, she wanted the music to represent where she was at in life.

“Life is really good right now. I’m young. I love my life and I enjoy my time off too. I wanted to celebrate all that.”

Ashlee Simpson – Bittersweet World on amazon.com

Ashlee Simpson on amazon.co.uk

Ashlee Simpson Myspace
Ashlee Simpson

I must admit I’ve been singing and dancing along with Gwen Stefani since her early days in No Doubt when my ex-boyfriend and bass player at the time bought me a video of one of No Doubt’s live concerts as a gift. It’s great to see that she’s still going strong and also keeping a friendship going with her ex even though she’s now moved on not only musically but also romantically as she’s married to former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale.

“Wind It Up” has a whole lot of yodeling going on with a Sound of Music type theme, but it’s a cool mix and no surprise that The Neptunes have done brilliant work as the producers of the track.

Watch the video for “Wind It Up”

By: Jenny May

Gwen Stefani products and music for sale on eBay: