Category: Europop

Robin feat. Mikael Gabriel & Uniikki – Boom Kah

That rap middle eight is awful.

Tim: Cast your mind back to the beginning of last year, you might remember this kid singing a not particularly bad song about skateboarding. Fifteen per cent of his life later, he’s back with a freshly broken voice and ready to show off more of his after-school activities.

Tom: Has he done a Miley Cyrus? He’s a bit too young to have done a Miley Cyrus, surely?

Tom: Nope. He’s done a Bieber.

Tim: There are a lot of things I like about this: the chorus, the instrumental post-chorus, the verses, even the video to some extent. I specifically don’t like the rap middle eight (which now I think about it seems to be slightly going out of fashion, which is nice).

Tom: That rap middle eight is awful. It’s like the Blackout Crew suddenly burst in.

Tim: Mostly, though, I’m just not sure about the titular BOOM KAH – it works well enough as a HERE’S THE CHORUS bit, but at other times, especially towards the end, it just seems to get in the way a bit. Obviously it needs to be there, as otherwise we wouldn’t know about the martial art lessons his parents have been paying for, but does it need to be quite so intrusive?

Tom: I don’t know, I reckon it works; it gets away with having that shout-along quality without seeming too cheesy.

Tim: You’re probably right. Finally of note, though, are the lyrics: as previously, we’ve not yet got to the romance so this is all about having fun (“Where will we go, what will be be today? BOOM KAH, BOOM BOOM KAH”), and even the rappers are joining in, encouraging him to be Batman, tracking gangs and building a hide-out.

Tom: Wait, what? Are you making that up, or is that an actual translation?

Tim: Really wish I was joking there, but no. Their last line is “Don’t worry about tomorrow, it’s important that today is cool.” Which I suppose is true.

Saturday Flashback: Dina Garipova – What If

I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE OF HAPPINESS.

Tim: This, Jenny Red, is how you do a proper key change.

Tim: When those wristbands turned out throughout the arena, I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE OF HAPPINESS.

Tom: Ah, what more can I say? It’s textbook Eurovision heavy ballad. It actually did better than I thought it would: fifth is pretty damn respectful.

Tim: This was originally my fourth favourite of this year’s Eurovision, though with repeated listenings it’s actually crept up to joint first, with Iceland’s Ég á Lif (currently my favourite ‘shout out loud in the shower’ song).

Tom: I feel a little bit sorry for your neighbours.

Tim: It’s a great track – it’s joyous, it’s uplifting, it’s remarkably different from what’s actually going on in Russia at the moment, and it’s just wonderful.

Tom: And that outro. That is an old-school, glorious outro.

Tim: This key change just makes it that much better.

Jenny Red – Star In The Night

“By the numbers, I assume?” “Keep listening.”

Tim: You’ll push play, you’ll hear a nice gentle schlager track.

Tom: Just over three minutes. Keyboards and dark synths. Calm, accented English. By the numbers, I assume?

Tim: Keep listening.

Tim: So, Eurovision ballad verses, choruses which occasionally hit Nightwish levels…

Tom: You know, Nightwish were exactly what came to mind, and it’s mainly because of that guitar sound. I don’t think it’s actually anywhere near their level, but it’s certainly trying.

Tim: …and no damn key change.

Tom: …er, yes there is. Compare the final chorus with the one before, it’s shifted up an entire register.

Tim: Oh. Yes, you’re right. Erm…

Tom: Care to rephrase…?

Tim: Okay, so seemingly I didn’t really notice it, which as far as I’m concerned means it didn’t happen properly. Because at 2:32 I had an idea of exactly what was going to happen: in true The Girl style, we’d have “follow your dreams and get into the light. FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS AND GET INTO THE LIGHT”, which would have been incredible. Except it didn’t happen, and it sounded a bit disappointing.

On the other hand, as I’ve already said, the rest is really, really good. So it’s not so bad. BUT I WANT THAT AMAZING KEY CHANGE.

Cars & Calories – Runner Up

If this doesn’t lift you out of your ‘funk’ I don’t know what will.

Tim: Monday was a sort of rock/electropop blend that you weren’t keen on, despite that chorus. This from a new Norwegian group is similar, but more so, and if this doesn’t lift you out of your ‘funk’ I don’t know what will.

Tom: Oh, that’ll do nicely.

Tim: The duo apparently grew up on rock and punk music, and now want to do their own variant and, according to one interview, ‘expand the horizons of commercial pop music’, which I think is an entirely noble quest, because this is just wonderful.

Tom: I was all ready to be disappointed in it until that wall of sound hit — possibly needs a bit less compression on it, but hell, I’m not going to complain.

Tim: Lovely intro, Donkeyboy-esque vocals, good verses building up to that blinder of a chorus.

Tom: Let’s not forget that middle eight: he’s got the vocal skills to make it work unaccompanied. That’s not to be sniffed at either.

Tim: Oh, absolutely. Lyrics are good as well: they’re of the “are you sure he’s just your friend?” variety, but in a nice way that doesn’t get angry about it, but just keeps singing instead with more a sense of desperation and giving up. Not exactly alpha male stuff, but then again if you’ve got that chorus and everything else going for you you shouldn’t need to be begging. She’s a fool.

Måns Zelmerlöw – Beautiful Life

“Another day, another Beautiful Life.”

Tim: Another day, another Beautiful Life.

Tom: And none of them will ever beat Ace of Base, of course. Anyway, it was Union J last time: what’ve we got now?

Tim: We’re replacing a British boyband with a Swedish singer and an initially gentle guitar backing with an initially gentle piano backing.

Tim: But isn’t that just wonderful? Such a fantastic soaring vocal, such a brilliant crash of instrumentation in the chorus, and such uplifting vocals. Gosh, I’m feeling enthusiastic for this song – I keep trying to find better things to say about it, and there aren’t so many songs that’ll make me do that. Make a list, sure, but keep trying to extend that list, not so much.

Tom: Oh, man, have I just been in a funk for this last week or something?

Tim: I don’t know, have you?

Tom: You keep getting all enthusiastic about tracks, and I keep going “well, that’s quite nice, but it’s not really going to bring the house down”. Everything seems to be stuck in a vague sense of ‘that’s generic’.

Perhaps I just want something startling, something that doesn’t seem like it’s by-the-numbers pop: C2C, the Pet Shop Boys’ new album, anything that doesn’t just fade into the background. I mean, this is nice, it’s soaring, but it’s… it’s just a bit generic.

Tim: Hmm. I’ll have a rummage, see what I can find that might excite you. But back to this song, there’s a lot of emotion in here, and it’s all very positive. Very positive indeed.

Tom: It is. I just wish some of it would rub off on me.

Saturday Flashback: Boys Like Girls – The Great Escape

Tim: I’ve no idea why, but this 2007 track has been getting a bit of airplay on Radio 1 recently; I can’t find any reference to a re-release or new marketing, but anyway, let’s have a listen because it’s good.

Tim: Yep. Good. As mentioned on Monday, I’m a bit of sucker for a rock track with a big drawn-out chorus hook, and this fits that nicely.

Tom: Ha. Now, you say that, but I don’t like this nearly as much as Monday’s track — which you didn’t think much of. I reckon the hook, and the verses, and both a bit dull. It’s generic pop-rock, and while there’s nothing wrong with it, there’s nothing really right with it either.

Tim: You think? Well, please yourself. We’ve mentioned this band before, back when they had a new track out last year, and if this is the start of a new push I do hope it succeeds. I doubt it is, if for no other reason than that the line-up’s changed since then, but anyway. Still worth a listen.

Tone Damli – Perfect World

This a is track with a BIG CHORUS.

Tim: This a is track with a BIG CHORUS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CantenToGpk

Tim: You see? This is actually the kind of track I’d hoped Katy Perry would be doing when she said she was done with the bubblegum-flavoured pop, rather than actually just doing more bubblegum-flavoured pop. Loud, brash and wonderful.

Tom: Agreed. I know you liked ‘Roar’ better than I did, but even so – I’m glad you agree this would have been a better direction. Mind you, just comparing her to Perry isn’t fair — she’s clearly not, she’s clearly going her own way, and it’s a damn good way to go.

Tim: To be honest, it almost seems like there’s too much in there – not that they should lose anything, but perhaps just turn down one or two bits? I don’t know, I’m probably just being picky, but it’s a bit odd that she’s shouting her head off and it’s still a bit difficult to make her out.

Tom: That’s probably down to YouTube compression – the song’s been mastered for high-bitrate MP3s and proper speakers, and it’s not doing well being crushed down. Either that, or they’ve just turned everything up too loud.

Tim: In terms of pure pop noise, though, it’s great.

Satin Circus – If You Love Me

It’s difficult for a boyband to pitch a chorus like that without comparison.

Tim: Satin Circus (known to their parents as Krippe, Axel, Paul and Olli), you’ll recall, are a Finnish “we’re really not a boyband” boy band, who gave us quite the One Direction-esque debut single Emma. That was about five months ago; probably time for a follow-up.

Tim: So, good news for them: it’s not quite as One Direction as previously. It’s remarkably close to The Wanted, but at least it’s not One Direction.

Tom: You say that, but it’s difficult for a boyband to pitch a chorus like that these days without comparison to 1D. The rest of the song doesn’t match, but man, that chorus.

Tim: Actually, this isn’t quite fair. Well, it is fair, because it is like that, but it’d be rude to judge them just based on their similarities to varying boybands. (You’ll note that I did not say “other boybands”, because that would imply that Satin Circus are a ‘boyband’. They are not. Boyband members would not be manly enough to chop wood or handle fireworks.)

Tom: I propose a new term, Tim: MANBAND.

Tim: Debatable. For the moment, let’s judge them on the music.

Tom: Probably for the best.

Tim: Full marks to them for not putting out a crappy acoustic guitar-led ballad to encompass all bases, because this as it is is very good. I like it a lot, and fine, I will grudgingly admit that I appreciate that they combine the talents of singing, writing and playing.

Tom: Yep. The verses go on a bit for me, but the middle eight and final chorus make up for it so much that I don’t really mind.

Tim: Well done everyone.

Margaret Berger – Human Race

“I quite like that.”

Tim: You may remember Margaret from her performance of the somewhat aggressive I Feed You My Love for Norway at Eurovision this year, which placed fourth and was generally well-received around Europe sales-wise; this here is her first single since then.

Tim: And I quite like that.

Tom: Yep. It sounds a bit like a discount Robyn track to me: it’s not bad, but the vocals don’t quite soar in the same way, and it’s not quite as catchy.

Tim: Certainly until Robyn gets round to recording some new stuff, this’ll fill the gap very nicely indeed. It’s slightly more restrained than that was – can’t quite see this being performed with seizure-inducing lights – and I prefer it for that, as I was never hugely keen on that element of it.

Tom: Ooh, that’s where I disagree. I’m in favour of less restraint for songs like this: they just seem to plod a bit for me.

Tim: Oh, but this really doesn’t plod: there’s still a hefty beat to it, which I love, and the slightly strained raw vocal of it pushes it up another notch. This great, I love it.

The Fooo – Build A Girl

“There are some really poor implications to those lyrics.”

Tim: A few things before we start:

  • The Fooo (yes, three ‘o’s) are a Swedish boyband who’ve made a bit of a name for themselves by making songs and dancing to them in public places, as evidenced here, here and here.
  • This is from their first EP, and is better than those other ones.
  • Whatever you do, don’t get an image of a human variant of the Build-a-Bear Workshops in your head. That would be very disturbing, so don’t think of that.

Tom: Damn it, Tim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K77XeMuJgAk

Tom: That said, they just asked for her DNA. It’s not exactly the least disturbing song in existence. In fact, there are some really poor implications to those lyrics.

Tim: There are. I mean, obviously, it’s just a turn of phrase, but what a very strange phrase. And weirdest thing isn’t the main “I’d build her just like you” line – that’s fine, and complimentary. The strange thing is that it’s followed by “I want to build a girl like you”. There’s no indication that she’s saying no, so it’s really just them turning her down in favour of a person just like her, but that they’ve made themselves. (Not sure I should have kept the plural pronoun thing going there, but never mind.)

Tom: By about verse two, I’d go so far to say that I actively hate those lyrics.

Tim: Other lyrical oddities involve the eight American females going round and round for no apparent reason whatsoever…

Tom: That’s a reference to a rather famous hip-hop track.

Tim: Oh, I’m well aware of that; I’m just not aware of any reason for it at all. There’s also the statement that “I’m a bit of a nerd”, which is somewhat redundant given that they’re already asked for a bit of her DNA and are about to launch into a Spanish rap about bits of her heart.

Tom: And yet, and yet, and yet.

Tim: Musically, though, it’s fine.

Tom: This is a really well-produced, well-composed track. I could see this coming from any of the big boybands — specifically, One Direction. It could use a big exit rather than the sudden stop, but it’s catchy. Catchy enough that I don’t want to listen to it again in case those damned lyrics get stuck in my head.

Tim: IF I COULD BUILD A GIRL, I’D BUILD HER JUST LIKE YOU, I’D STAY UP DAY AND NIGHT, etc.