In an exclusive interview with Blogcritics, New Zealand native and music icon Bic Runga discusses 20 years of music, her fifth LP, 'Close Your Eyes', and who she is today.

Here are my highlights in popular music from 2016. It includes records by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Bright Light Bright Light, David Bowie, Melanie C, Hikaru Utada, Beyoncé, and many more!

One could view 'In Winter' as a stylish stopgap between Melua's last recording 'Ketevan' and her next album. However, one should embrace it as an inspired seasonal concept album that ties 'The House' as her most ambitious undertaking yet.

Nineteen years removed from Theaudience, Bextor's catalog runs six solo albums deep with this year's 'Familia' as proof of her power. Bextor's grasp of pop music shows an awareness that the genre isn't solely beholden to four-on-the-floor ideas; this knowledge has led her to outfox predecessors and lap contemporaries. This overview acts as an introduction to one of the brightest voices in contemporary pop.

A decade removed from its release, '20 Y.O.' stands as a confident display of Jackson’s sharpened skills worth rediscovering.

With 'Stripped', Macy Gray marries her songwriting and interpretive skills in one place. The new album acts as proof that Gray's style has become its own blueprint on making, and playing, by one's own set of artistic rules to achieve longevity.

Between 1982 and 2016, Nu Shooz recorded six LPs and an EP. Their most recent effort, 'Bagtown' (2016, NSO Music), is the culmination of much musical study in understanding the distance and intimacy between pop and R&B. Both Valerie Day and John Smith discuss the birth of Nu Shooz, their biggest hit "I Can't Wait" and more in this exclusive interview with Blogcritics!

Between 1982 and 2016, Nu Shooz recorded six LPs and an EP. Their most recent effort, 'Bagtown' (2016, NSO Music), is the culmination of much musical study in understanding the distance and intimacy between pop and R&B. Both Valerie Day and John Smith discuss the birth of Nu Shooz, their biggest hit "I Can't Wait" and more in this exclusive interview with Blogcritics!

Hindsight, as it tends to, shows that the Spice Girls' catalog of music (18 albums total, group and solo) is quite potent ― especially when compared to the lack of ambition exhibited by today's crop of girl groups.

'The Lexicon of Love II' bridges two audiences: those with a flash frozen sound of ABC stuck in their ears and stalwarts who’ve journeyed with ABC along their evolutionary track. The real coup of 'The Lexicon of Love II' is that it wins new listeners due to its self-awareness and ability to avoid stagnation―like previous ABC recordings before it.