In the last hour, the lead single from the new movie A Star Is Born has been released. Shallow features both Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and gives listeners a first proper glimpse (aside from the trailers) at what the film will be like.

Shallow is the first time fans have heard a new Gaga track in over a year, so the hype around the song has been particularly high. Luckily, fans have no reason to be disappointed. Gaga's vocals are once again incredibly strong and she proves herself to be  arguably the best vocalist of this generation . Shallow is unlike anything Gaga has released previously, therefore showing her versatility as an artist. 
A massive surprise on this song though is Bradley Cooper. This is the first time Cooper has shown his musical side, yet his voice is gorgeous! In the past no one would have paired Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in a musical way, however just by listening to Shallow you can tell they were destined to work together.

Overall, Shallow is a beautiful song full of unbelievable vocals. The whole soundtrack is out on October 5th and judging by Shallow, it should be a great album. 

A Star Is Born is out on October 3rd for many European countries and October 5th ​for the rest of the world.

Up-and-coming singer Ella Poletti has recently released her new single, Bones. Bones is a really strong single that I can imagine being constantly played on the radio, as the catchy lyrics and brilliant production make for a potential big hit. Ella has already managed to achieve getting over 1.5 million streams on her covers in less than a year and with Bones being a really great song, I can see Ella having a massive career. 
I was lucky enough to catch up with Ella about her new single and find out what the future has in store for her!

Hi Ella! Welcome to Pop Affairs! Congratulations on your debut single Bones! What’s the meaning behind the song?
Thanks! The song is about a love which isn’t entirely… fulfilling! It’s based on a mixture of experiences that I’ve had and also things that I’ve witnessed.

You’ve had a really amazing journey so far with the success of your covers, can you tell the Pop Affairs readers how you got to where you are today?
It’s a lot of hard work and patience and just pure determination. And a ton of patience. It can be easy to feel like things aren’t moving along when in the big picture they are - and that’s just about having a good team around you.

How did it feel getting over 1.5 million streams in less than a year?
When I found out it felt amazing honestly! Feeling that all my hard work from the past year really paid off.

What would you ideally like to have accomplished in five years time?
Within the next year I’d love to have over 1.5 million streams on a single song! But really just making sure that my music can reach as many people as possible and it can help people through whatever they are going through… that’s most important.

What’s next for you? Is an album in the works?
There are definitely many more songs on the way… I won’t say any more!

What is your ultimate career goal? 
My ultimate goal is to have as many people hear my music as possible. I want that music to be relatable to my audience and help them through their problems. I would also love to be well known in the industry as a role model to others.

Having already appeared on the hit TV show Glee and the theatre productions of Once and Dear Evan Hansen (to name a few successes!), Laura Dreyfuss is making her solo debut under the stage name Loladre. 

Her debut single Be Great is exactly that, great! Loladre's voice is truly stunning and definitely something I could listen to all day. The lyrics are also great, as you can't help but listen to what she's singing throughout the whole song. I love how the style of the song is current, yet Loladre has managed to make it unique to her own style at the same time.
Having Jeremy Pope as a feature on this track was a really good decision, as his voice beautifully compliments Loladre's, making the whole song a really gorgeous listen.

Although Be Great seems to be a slower song, the chorus being a bit more uptempo makes the whole track interesting and worth listening to from start to finish.
​As a debut single this is really impressive. A song this good is usually a lead single of a second or third album, therefore the fact this is a debut means Loladre's solo career can only go from strength to strength. 
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I would highly recommend listening to Be Great and I can't wait to hear what Loladre releases in the future!

​This weekend Halsey brought her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour to London's Eventim Apollo. I attended the show on Saturday night and as this was my first Halsey tour, I was very excited. 

Before the concert started I had an idea in my head about what the concert would be like. I've seen pictures of Halsey's performances before and seen the incredible visuals that she puts on the big screens, so this was something I was expecting to see. What I wasn't expecting though, was a show. I was under the impression that Halsey would stand on stage, sing the songs, have great visuals and that would be that. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

The show started with a curtain covering the stage and a spotlight with Halsey's silhouette.  Halsey then started the concert with Eyes Closed (a song from her latest album, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom) and with the beat drop at the chorus, the curtain dropped to reveal Halsey. By this point the show had only been on for a few minutes, but I was already shocked. I didn't expect an opening like this and I soon realised the concert would be a lot better than I thought.

The next song on the setlist was Gasoline from Halsey's first album, Badlands. Something that was really great about this show was how both new and old songs were played. Most of Hopeless Fountain Kingdom was performed, as well as seven fan favourites from Badlands and Is There Somewhere from Halsey's first EP, ​Room 93. I love it when artists don't just perform their new material, because most of the time the old songs are what made people become a fan and it's so lovely to pay tribute to that.  

As previously mentioned, I was expecting incredible visuals on the screens and I wasn't disappointed. Having the big screen behind Halsey really added to the songs, as it was as though the images were telling the story along with the track. This makes you feel as though you are watching a proper show with lots of love and thought going into it, rather than a plain stage with nothing much going on. 

Halsey's vocals are also worth mentioning! Again, I was really surprised that Halsey sounded pretty much exactly the same to recordings (if not, better!).
​I really like Halsey and her music, but after the show on Saturday I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. Not only is Halsey a great singer/songwriter, she also knows how to put on a show and how to interact with her fans, yet she definitely doesn't get enough credit. When I told people I was going to see Halsey at her sold out show, most people replied with "who?". Therefore, I really hope that over the next few months more and more people will pay attention to Halsey, giving her much more recognition that she deserves.

The second to last song was Is There Somewhere from the Room 93 EP. During the performance, Halsey had around ten fans come up on stage and sit on the steps to be with her while she performs. I love seeing things like this happen because you can see how happy it makes the fans, and also how happy it makes the performer. During the whole set I felt such a strong connection between Halsey and her fans in the crowd, which felt truly beautiful to be part of. 

The concert concluded with my personal favourite, Bad At Love. At which point confetti was released into the crowd (completely covering us, but I LOVE it). The energy was just as strong at the end as it was at the start, and at no point during the performance did Halsey lose her energy or make the crowd lose interest. 

​​The ​Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour was brilliant from start to finish, and I know that I will definitely be attending all of Halsey's future concerts too!

Lucy Whittaker has recently released her latest single, Who's Gonna Know featuring Yizzy. The whole song is brilliant from start to finish, full of pop vibes and effortlessly great vocals.
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After listening to the track a few times, I realised that it doesn't actually need a feature. The lyrics, vocals and production are very strong on their own and therefore a feature isn't needed to try and boost it. However, Yizzy's voice along with Lucy's, work really well together. Although the song didn't need another artist to give it substance, Yizzy's verse makes for a really solid track.
I really love songs that are brilliant in their own right, with a feature just adding to the greatness. There is really nothing worse than a weak song with a random artist thrown in out of desperation to make it a hit.

Overall, Whittaker appears to be going from strength to strength with her music, and I believe with her voice and style, she has the potential to become massive in the charts.  

Watch the video for 'Who's Gonna Know' on YouTube here: