Dig These Discs :: Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Robyn Hitchcock, New Pornographers, Cherry Cherry Boom Boom

The New Pornographers are back with their first cut in four years, and it's an upbeat dozen. Robyn Hitchcock comes back with a collection of 10 songs -- some of which are covers of popular (or obscure) tracks, and several of which are his own fragile originals. Ariana Grande is all grown up and hanging with her pals Iggy Azalea, Jesse J and Nikki Minaj. Maroon 5 serves up "V," aka, their fifth release, and it's another crop of catchy tunes. And Martin Kierszenbaum, aka Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, drops his debut EP. It's getting steamy on this week's Dig These Discs!

"My Everything" (Ariana Grande)

From Boca Raton right to your boom box comes adorable twinkie Ariana Grande, a child star whose recent rash of alleged leaked nude selfies shows she's all grown up.

Her 2013 debut album "Yours Truly" nabbed her the title of Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and it looks like her sophomore release, "My Everything," is set to cement that rep. Hit singles abound, including "Problem," "Break Free" and the slamming "Bang Bang" with Jesse J and Nicki Minaj, currently on heavy video rotation in all the trashiest clubs.

Grande's high soprano is the perfect backdrop for singing or rapping cameos by other hard-hitting artists. Current 'it' girl Iggy Azalea lends her gravitas to cuts like "Problem," rapping, "I got 99 problems but you won't be one." Consider it the anti-Jay Z.

Grande is like Katy Perry with a better vocal range in "One Last Time" and "Break Free." "Best Mistake" is a coulda-shoulda love song featuring a rap interlude by Zedd that ends with, "if I'm not the one, then I'm the best mistake you ever had." They've been "living like angels and devils" in "Why Try." Cashmere Cat chimes in for "Be My Baby," a nice amalgam of pop and hip-hop. Childish Gambino, aka actor Donald Glover from "Community," lends a hand in "Break Your Heart Right Back," which sounds like it has a sample from an old Jackson 5 cut underlying the finger-snaps and drums.

"Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart" is a beautiful piano ballad, as is the title track, "My Everything." A$AP and Fergie chime in on the dance hall-influenced "Hands on Me," a song about cutting wild on your birthday. She finishes up with the tracks "Only 1" and "You Don't Know Me."

After growing up in the media spotlight, her audience knows her about as good as they ever will. At the least, they know enough to rush out and buy this talented young woman's newest release.

(Republic Records)

"V" (Maroon 5)

Pop stars Maroon 5 release their fifth album, i.e. "V."

Keyboardist Jesse Carmichael returns to the crew, adding his style to lead singer Adam Levine's commercial success machine. The album has already received good reviews from critics at Rolling Stone, who praise the albums' hooks and choruses, but others call the sound simply forgettable. Well, they can't all be a "Moves Like Jagger." But they start out of the gate strong, with "Maps," a place about heading for a better place when his girl cut out. Now, he's "following the map that leads to you." The song has a real early '90s vibe, when everyone was meshing rock with that island vibe.

They speed things up in the next track, a regrettably addictive "Animals," and slow it down for "Unkiss Me," the poppy ballad that finds Levine wishing they had never gotten together. Levine goes to the high points of his register, almost to falsetto, in "Sugar," as he sings, "Baby, show me good loving, make it all right, need a little sweetness in my life."

They're "Leaving California" for the East Coast in one song, and "Coming Back for You" in another. "Show me yours, I'll show you mine," he sings in "In Your Pocket," and says he "wanna show you my feelings are real," in "New Love." "Feelings" has a post-funk disco sound.

The album ends with the Maroon crew collaborating with Gwen Stefani in "My Heart is Open," which was co-written by Sia. The Deluxe Edition version includes three more B Side singles, "Shoot Love," "Sex and Candy" and "Lost Stars." Rush to your nearest 'payphone' and order it now.

(Interscope)

"Brill Bruisers" (The New Pornographers)

The New Pornographers release their first album in four years, and this power-power indie rock outfit gets out of the gate running.

Lead singer A.C. Newman says the album is a celebration of being at a point in his life where nothing is dragging him down. The rest of the gang includes Blaine Thurier, Dan Bejar, John Collins, Kathryn Calder, Kurt Dahle, Neko Case and Todd Fancey.

The 12 tracks of this fifth studio album were recorded mostly in Woodstock and Vancouver, and have a real upbeat feel. They kick off with the title track, and it's as catchy as if it came from those Tin Pan Alley days of yore.

The melding of Newman's voice with Neko Case and Kathryn Calder is the band's calling card, and it is showcased beautifully in songs like "Champions of Red Wine," with its soft vocals and beautiful electronic cascade. In "Fantasy Fools" Newman sings of "fortune seekers spinning wheels in the sand," with a quick guitar rhythm backing him.

"Last night I dreamt Victoria dreamt in the ocean," they sing creepily in "War on the East Coast," singing about the rites of spring and being true to the cause, with electronic samples overlaid on urgent guitar riffs. This first single has a great video, of which Newman says, "We were going for some mid nineties second tier Brit pop attitude."

The lo-fi sound of "Backstairs" is otherworldly at first, then old-school like a vintage Beatles track. The keyboards in "Marching Orders" are reminiscent of an old Irish tune, and they sound like an old calliope in "Another Drug Deal of the Heart." Newman's voice is showcased sweetly in "Born With a Sound," as he sings, "I wanted you quite often -- in that I wanted you all of the time."

The whole crew achieves a nice harmony in "Wide Eyes" and an equally pleasant discord in "Dancehall Domine." Newman gets all Morrissey with the sotto voce intro of "Spidyr." And he lets his voice run up and down the scales as he walks on a roof in a "Hi-Rise" in space. They finish with "You Tell Me Where," with some famous last words, singing, "You tell me where to be, I'll be there."

Their fall tour kicks off with stops in LA and New York, plus Toronto's Riot Fest and Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, and if you're a fan, this is right where you should be.

(Matador Records)

"The Man Upstairs" (Robyn Hitchcock)

English singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is getting nostalgic. How else to explain his new album, "The Man Upstairs," a collection of well-known tunes, idiosyncratic covers and original tracks?

The first track in this 20th studio recording is a fabulous cover of the Psychedelic Furs' classic tune "The Ghost in You," singing in his unmistakable English accent, "Angels fall like rain, and love love love -- you can't give it away."

Hitchcock also covers Roxy Music's cut, "To Turn You On," a teasing jazz tune with a restless underpinning guitar lick. He sings, "True love is wasted on you," in the bass guitar and harmonica lick, "Somebody to Break Your Heart." It's like folk music for the modern age. He also gets folksy, '70s style, with his cover of The Doors "The Crystal Ship," and his final track, "Recalling the Truth" is a slow, sad number.

Unusual covers come in the form of Grant-Lee Philips "Don't Look Down" a slow-moving, dreamlike song. The best of the bunch is I Was a King's "Ferries," with vocals and guitar from original Ferries member Anne Lise Fr�kedal.

His originals include the stark cuts "Trouble In Your Blood" and "Comme Toujours," slow-moving, acoustic tunes that penetrate your heart. This talented performer not only sings, but he also plays guitar, harmonica, bass guitar and piano. The acoustic guitar is heartbreaking in tracks like "San Francisco Patrol," as he sings simply, "I can't take my eyes off you."

Hitch will hit the road with a North American tour soon. If you like your new stuff to be old, don't miss it.

(Yep Roc Records)

"Cherry Cherry Boom Boom EP" (Cherry Cherry Boom Boom)

You can hardly blame the chairman of Cherrytree Records for adopting a moniker; if your name was Martin Kierszenbaum, you might choose to go by Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, too.

This songwriter and producer for artists from Lady Gaga to Tokio Hotel has seen his nom de guerre namedropped in no less than 10 songs by other artists, and if you just thought it was a catch-phrase, well, now you know.

His new four-cut, self-titled EP drops this month, and it's a rollicking mix of pop and electro. "A Little Bit of Love (Can Last For Life)" pairs Boom's booming voice with sharp electro beats that vacillate between dance club and dubstep. You're the "One and Only" and I'm just sad and lonely, he sings in the piano and bass drum pop ballad. Lyrics include the tender, "You're the sun and I'm the planets spinning round."

You can really see the Lady Gaga vibe he inspired in a track like the offbeat "Answering Machine," that sounds modern and old school at the same time. He finishes with "Come Back From San Francisco," promising his love, "You need me like the wind needs the trees." The electronica vibes in this tune bring the '90s back to life. Nice to see the wizard come out from behind the curtain.

(Royal Pop Records)