Tom: “I don’t quite know what I expected from Albanian pop music,” writes our reader, Sam, “but this defied any expectations I might have had.”
Tim: Hmm. My main memory of Albanian pop is being at Eurovision 2013 and suddenly remembering that Albania was where Voldemort went into hiding, but I’ll keep an open mind.
Tom: Sam adds what I can only describe as a cleavage warning.
Tim: Hmm.
Tom: Maybe there’s some context here I’m missing, but… I can’t say there’s much about this that I like. The melody and backing is by-the-numbers, but they’re pretty terrible numbers. The autotune is applied with a trowel.
Tim: Yeah – it’s not quite Death Eater territory, but it’s sure as hell not really something I want to here again. All your criticisms stand up – I find it just unpleasant.
Tom: And while it’s possible to pull off a video like this with either irony or enthusiasm, this seems to dither between the two and end up with neither.
Tim: I think they’re going for genuine; just, not enthusiastically enough for it to work properly.
Tom: That said, seven million views. Clearly it works for someone.
Tim: Especially impressive given that Albania has a population of less than 3 million.