Three women with three amazing voices; Feist, Florence + The Machine and Bjork have all released new albums which we have on high rotate at GayNZ.com. Why do we love these women so much? Well, we'll tell you why! Feist – Metals The revelation Feist was headlining Laneway Festival was among the most exciting music news we have heard all year! If you haven't opened your ears to this songbird yet, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. She is the sweetest thing out of Canada since maple syrup - and also goes perfectly with Sunday morning French toast and coffee! Feist has four previous albums, with the beautiful Let It Die and the fun The Reminder proving the most commercially and critically acclaimed, (but the remix and collaboration Open Season forever a personal favourite of this reviewer). The first thing you need to know about her third album Metals is that it's not remotely even close to being like the fun pop-filled, catchy last effort The Reminder, and is a bit more in the vein of Let It Die, in that it's initially beautifully maudlin, challenging, and mushy, but ultimately as catchy as anything else she has released. Pitchfork describes it the best with: "Metals is invested in subtle, textural detail and shifting dynamics; it sometimes stays so quiet that a whole flock of birds would feel compelled perch on it, and then in the next breath it does something surprising enough to send them scattering in a flurry." It's downcast and lo-fi and perfect for a spring-summer day, especially if you're feeling a little mellow. But we sure hope she perks up a little and busts out a bit of 1,2,3,4 and some dance routines at Laneway! Our Favourite Track: The Circle Married the Line Did you know? Feist was once Peaches' flatmate and did a sock puppet routine in her early shows, and the pair has collaborated. Florence + The Machine- Ceremonials How can you not love Florence and the Machine? I mean really. If you heard her at Laneway or when she was on tour here last year you will know just how amazing lead Florence Welch's voice is, never mind its power. She exploded onto the scene with Lungs, drawing fans from everywhere - music nerds and pop radio listeners of the world united, helping the album become a bestseller and the group pick up endless plaudits and awards. With her voice and success, Florence could have easily followed the simple pop route with her second album (and had American producers wanting her to do just that), but she found she couldn't and Ceremonials is evidence of that. It's intelligent, and each song is still as catchy as any hit or impersonation on pop radio. It's pop as it should be – e.g. not a bastardised copycat version of something that was once successful. It's big and it's loud and it's heavy enough on sounds that Arcade Fire fans will revel in delight. Turn it up loud and let the drums, harps and choruses of voices lift you up! Our Favourite Track: What The Water Gave Me Did you know? Florence is planning to tour for two years now, surely that means another visit to New Zealand?! Bjork - Biophillia There is one thing that is clear about Bjork – you already either love her or hate her. I will never forget a friend's story about being forced to listen to an entire Bjork album by a fan-girl girlfriend, which only served to make her despise the Icelandic songstress even more. Yes she is an angry little oddity and yes she has a peculiar and distinctive voice, but for her fans, that's why we love her even more! There is nothing like closing your eyes and letting your mind get carried away shivering over some far-flung Icelandic fjord and getting lost in her sound. But if she already makes you tear your hair out there is certainly nothing in her eighth album Biophillia that will change that, we're sorry. But now for fans – keep reading: Biophillia is a bewitching mixture of lullabies and nightmares that only Bjork could create. It joins all the magic of modern technology with pure earthiness, lulling you then shocking you into consciousness with sounds from far beyond left field, and then lulls you into rest again. We think it's her most enduring and endearing full-album effort in a good long while. It will challenge the ears, and make you determined to come back for more. Our Favourite Track: Cosmogony Did you know? Bjork thinks everyone's bisexual to some degree or another. "I think choosing between men and women is like choosing between cake and ice cream. You'd be daft not to try both when there are so many different flavours," she once told Diva magazine. Thanks to Universal Music, we have three copies of EACH of these albums to give away! So if you would like to win a special three-way pack, keep an eye on our competition page! Jacqui Stanford - 8th November 2011