Bark + Bite

The Spirit Indestructible: How did it all go so wrong for Nelly Furtado?

The news of the sales count for Nelly Furtado's latest album The Spirit Indestructible must have hit Nelly fans like a ton of bricks. Then again, there obviously aren't that many Nelly fans left to begin with, because according to SoundScan sales, she only sold 5,731 copies of her new album.

This is heartbreaking. Nelly's last English-language album, 2006's Loose, was a blockbuster. It sold 219,000 copies the first week and went on to sell roughly 2 million copies in the U.S. alone. The gap between the first-week sales of Loose and The Spirit Indestructible is not just a drop in record sales, it's an evaporation of a fan base.

Yes, record sales have been on the decline in the industry for some time, but there's no sales climate in which it's acceptable for a major-label artist to post numbers like that during the first week. Not after the label has dropped serious cash and resources pushing three singles ("Big Hoops," "The Spirit Indestructible" and "Parking Lot") that were basically declared dead on arrival.

Some might try to argue that Nelly would've been better off if she had paired up with Timbaland. Their chemistry in 2006 was undeniable, but given Timbaland's recent struggles with landing hits of his own, that's probably not necessarily the case in 2012.

Others might point out that Nelly's disappearance from the English-language pop scene for 6 years essentially made her irrelevant to today's crowd. Perhaps, but Nelly has always taken roughly 4-year breaks between albums. Alicia Keys also takes lengthy breaks between her albums and she just scored a hit with her comeback single "Girl on Fire". So, no, Nelly's absence alone doesn't explain the drop-off.

Leona Lewis bubbles and brews with Childish Gambino on "Trouble"

After her last single, "Collide," a blatant attempt at the dance-pop trend, Leona Lewis has decided to return to what she does best: moody, heartbreak music.

"Trouble," her new single even references "bleeding," you know, just like her breakout hit "Bleeding Love." It also sports a feature from hipster rapper/actor Donald Glover, who brings his angry nerd rap/shouting-at-you-so-you-can-take-me-seriously thing to Leona's track.

But hats off to Leona, the gloomy track is totally in her wheelhouse and it works. Her voice goes from angelic to wounded without effort and the lyrics, penned by Emeli Sande, speak eloquently about a complicated relationship that is fraught with the emotional thorns of a dozen roses.

"I told you never to get used to me / I still wake when you fall asleep / I'm a whole lot of trouble / We're in a whole lot of trouble," Leona sings.

Listen to Leona's new single below

Colin Munroe claws his way back in "Fight of My Life"

You might not remember him, but Colin Munroe was big on MySpace. Back in 2008, his cover of Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" caught on like wildfire on the then-massively popular social network.

And now, in 2012, he still seems to be in goodstanding with Kanye's camp as G.O.O.D. Music's Pusha T has blessed his major-label single "Fight of My Life" with two guest verses.

The introspective "Fight of My Life" finds Munroe examining his own mortality and deciding that even if he's been beaten down at times, he's never out for good.

"Think of my voice, think of my vow / Never let go, never back down / Take a deep breath, take it too far / Make a wish with your eye on the last star," Colin sings. He alternates his dense, dark and robotic verses with his an uplifting, light chorus, full of inspired soul claps taking you to church.

Check out Colin Munroe's new jam below

Ed Sheeran covers Nina Simone's "Be My Husband"

It takes a real man to step into a woman's shoes. Ed Sheeran tries on Nina Simone's heels in this bitter, poignant cover of Nina Simone's "Be My Husband."

"Oh daddy, now, now love me good / Oh, daddy, now, now love me good," Sheeran croons. Yeah, it definitely takes a secure man to take on such a blatantly feminine song. But Ed brings all of the usualness Edness that he brings to all of his work and makes it his own.

Check out Ed Sheeran's Nina Simone cover below

Justin Bieber is a sucker for physical abuse

Justin Bieber is a full-on masochist.

He has to be, because how else do you explain his penchant for getting bloodied and bruised so often in his work?

Daley digs deep for beautiful cover of Usher's "Climax"

One of our On the Verge artists, Daley, is so talented it hurts. While he's not made his mark in the U.S. yet, Daley is hard at work building a fan base back home in the UK.

That doesn't mean he's not paying attention to what American artists like Usher are doing though. Showing his appreciation for the Diplo/Usher masterpiece, Daley covered the emotional track while in concert in London recently.

Listen to Daley's perfectly spellbinding cover below

Kimbra performs "Settle Down" on Jay Leno

Hot off of the success of her duet with Gotye, Kimbra is taking the U.S. by storm. And late-night TV is getting a much needed dose of Kimbra fever.

The New Zealand star performed a rearranged, quirky version of her breakout single "Settle Down." She mixed her beat live in front of the audience, as her belts, grunts and hiccups were transformed into the pleasant background noise of her single.

Watch Kimbra's performance on Jay Leno below

Waiting on new music from Justin Timberlake? Just be patient

It's been 6 long years since Justin Timberlake put out his last album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. If pop music fandoms were assigned a climate, Justin Timberlake fans would most certainly be stuck in the middle of an arid desert.

As you can imagine, fans have been clamoring for new material from Justin for years, and they pester him with questions of his return to music on Twitter. JT fans, you're going to have to hold on a little while longer. Justin's sabbatical appears set to march on indefinitely.

Here's how he responded to a fan recently on Twitter:

"@BeckyKHolland: @jtimberlake why you left music for acting, i will NEV..." I didn't leave, Becky... I'm just patient. #Imakeartfromtheheart

— Justin Timberlake(@jtimberlake) July 2, 2012

You know, 6 years between albums is beyond patient. By the time we get a new Timberlake album, Justin Bieber will be a grandfather at this rate.

How did Justin go from the dude who churned out back-to-back albums in NSYNC to someone who needs 6-plus years to put out a pop album? Bob Dylan was more prolific than that and he was nobody's pop star. Whoever came up with the myth that great art takes years should be run out of town. The "waiting for inspiration" excuse has run its course at this point. Either you're in or you're out, JT.

And if his heart isn't in music anymore, why won't he tell his fans why?

Justin Timberlake is on track to being pop music's biggest unsolved mystery.