Oscar Zia – Without U

The chorus is brilliant, but the niggles crept in.

Tim: We mentioned Oscar the other day, when we were talking about hashtags; this is his #Followup, and now we’re out with the hashtags, in with the replacing words with letters.

Tom: Are you…

Tim: Don’t worry, I won’t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPfyaDMPG6E

Tim: This is…hmm. Well. The thing is, the first time I heard this I really liked it – by and large it’s a great track. The chorus in particular is brilliant, with its bog standard message put in a very upbeat manner, quickly and incessantly with decent dance undertones.

Tom: Agreed: that chorus startled me into paying attention to the song. I’m not sure about those verses – it is, as you say, a bog-standard pop track, but not one that turns me off.

Tim: But then…well, I heard it a few more times and the niggles crept in. The realisation that it was called Without U instead of Without You. The lyric that talks about how “my love was set return to sender” that doesn’t actually mean anything at all.

Tom: I think that’s “was then returned to sender”, but that’s not particularly meaningful either.

Tim: The most half-arsed attempt ever at a dubstep breakdown.

Tom: I read that sentence before actually listening to the middle-eight, and you’re right: that is indeed Half-Arsed Dubstep.

Tim: All those just combine, annoyingly, to put me off it slightly. I still like it – just, not unconditionally. Oh well.

Saturday Flashback: Osvaldo Supino – I Have A Name

I put my head up in surprise.

Tim: There’s a new Poptronik album out, a reliably decent electropop compilation that last year introduced us to, amongst others, Bright Light Bight Light. And now this, from an Italian bloke who brought it out in April.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFnBoVTXpg8

Tom: After living in London for four years, I reckon I can name every place used as a background in that video. It seems strange to film in so many iconic locations and reduce them to depth-of-field blur – but never mind. The music.

Tim: The music indeed, and what a lovely track it is, don’t you think? Things I like include: the occasional dropping of the American singing accent so we hear his normal voice, the strings, the bass note before the key change, the extra vocals after the key change, and the key change itself.

Tom: Especially that key change. I wasn’t convinced by that track before it came along.

Tim: Right, and it’s weird how suddenly hearing the key change made me pay attention to it – I was sat at work with this on in the background, not paying a huge amount of attention to it, and then when the key change came along I put my head up in surprise, thought “wow”, and definitely didn’t scrape a screwdriver along a replacement display I’d just fitted to a customer’s laptop.

Tom: Definitely?

Tim: Oh, definitely. Probably. Maybe. ANYWAY, it’s not that it necessarily makes it a better song, it just draws your attention to how good it already is. Admittedly it’s not perfect – the first chorus could perhaps be livened up slightly, just to give the impression of actually being the chorus – but by and large this is a lovely track.

Jenni Vartiainen – Junat Ja Maiset

This is what happens if an artist relies on the music rather than a dramatic outburst on Twitter.

Tim: Last time we met Jenni was a little over two years ago, and we were very impressed. Since then, there’s been nothing until this, just out as the lead single from her upcoming third album.

Tim: And what a comeback track that is, and something that Gaga could really take lessons from.

Tom: Oh, you’re so right. There’s so much going on, and all of it’s good.

Tim: Strings and drums all over the place, very much demanding of attention, rather than a song that could easily come from a five year old album. A smoke-filled atmospheric video on mountains and in caves, rather than some crappy backstage footage-laced lyric one.

Tom: To be fair, there’s a proper, suitably arty Gaga video out now – but that doesn’t change the comparison about the track. Crikey, change the lyrics to English, add a bit of electric guitar and you’ve got yourself something close to a Gaga track here.

Tim: This is what happens if an artist relies on the music to get attention, rather than a dramatic outburst on Twitter, and it’s vastly better for it. It’s brilliant.

Gabrielle – #SitterHer

“I don’t think anyone likes hashtags in song titles.”

Tim: I’ll be honest: I don’t think anyone likes hashtags in song titles except marketing suits (and perhaps Oscar Zia, who took a strange amount of pleasure singing them). Still, they seem to be a thing now, so let’s try not to let it get #InTheWay.

Tom: I don’t like the way this is going.

Tim: So, #SitterHer is a nice song. The title translates to #SittingHere, and I think that fits with the song very well.

Tom: Stop it.

Tim: Stop what? This is a #JauntyNumber – gives a nice #Impression of sitting around, #EnjoyingYourself, not worrying about anything really. Singing a little bit, with a #SmileOnYourFace, maybe even swaying gently #FromSideToSide.

Tom: Just stop it.

Tim: Seriously, stop what? Lyrics, well, I have #NoIdea what they’re about as I #DontSpeakNorwegian, but I’m #StrugglingToImagine that they’re particularly negative. All in all, #Listening to this song is a really #RatherEnjoyable #Experience. Though actually, #NotAsEnjoyable as I’ve found #WritingAboutIt. #AnythingToAdd?

Tom: There should be a way to punch people in the face through the internet.

Veronica Maggio – Sergels Torg

“So this is a Swedish version of Duffy’s ‘Warwick Avenue’, then?”

Tim: Tom! Correct me if I’m wrong, but you don’t speak any Swedish and you’ve never heard of Sergels torg. So tell me what you think of this.

Tom: Ooh, I quite like that.

Tim: Nice, isn’t it? Happy, and pleasant sounding, though a bit of melancholic tinge. Lovely vocals, and you’re probably imagining something along the lines of a “sorry but we have to break up” message to it.

Tom: I was thinking more “I’ll get on fine without you”, but yes, something along those lines.

Tim: Well, actually, no. See, Sergels torg (Sergel’s Square) is a bit of a horrible place in Stockholm – it looks quite nice at night, because there’s a big lit-up monument there, but otherwise it’s a bit dreary, is a big traffic roundabout masquerading as a public square, and doesn’t really live up to its original imaginings as a piece of art.

Tom: So this is a Swedish version of Duffy’s “Warwick Avenue”, then?

Tim: Oh, and then some. The lyrics, you see, are also a bit awful – chorus includes lines like “when everything is over, what does it matter”, “what does it fucking matter”, “what is there to care about”; the middle eight brings us up to heights of “there’s nothing to see…there’s nothing you can do about it”.

So, hmm. Lovely music, really lovely. Just, um, don’t listen to the lyrics, or you’ll want to kill yourself.

Mutya Keisha Siobhan – Flatline

“All the way through, I was hoping for more.”

Tom: So the three ex-Sugababes — the three with the most awkward names to spell — have their first single. This ought to be an absolute cracker, right? I mean, there’s no way that they’d start out with anything other than a bit of pop genius, right?

…right?

Tim: Right. This is, by the way, a track I’ve heard a lot about but never actually cared enough to listen to. But I suppose I should really give it a go. Like you say – it ought to be great.

Tom: …oh, man, is that ever an album track.

Tim: Oh, now that’s quite harsh.

Tom: All the way through, I was hoping for more: that the lacklustre first verse would turn into a brilliant chorus, that the second chorus would be greater than the first, that the building middle eight would resolve into a glorious finale… and each time, I was disappointed.

Tim: I know what you mean about wanting more – I felt a tad let down when the chorus hit following that first build to it, and the close isn’t really as strong as I’d like it to be – but dismissing it as album track material is harsh. Mind you, it’s not what it should be as a “LOOK AT US, WE’RE HERE” track.

Tom: The ending is… nice, I suppose? But “nice” really isn’t what I was looking for here.

“A flatline that ought to be a wave.” That pretty much just sums up the song, doesn’t it?

Tim: I’m not sure – looking at it objectively, beat-heavy dance pop is what we want and what they did as the Sugababes. People hearing from them, such as us, will probably want that same stuff, and be disappointed; on the other hand, they presumably want to say “actually, we’re MKS, not the Origibabes”, and this is the right way of doing it. Will it work? I don’t know – Origibabes fans won’t like it immediately, but others might.

VV Brown – The Apple

“Well, alright. Sort of.”

Tom: “If some one told me that V.V. Brown would be my favorite thing about 2013 a year ago,” says reader Najinx, “I would have laughed it off as a joke.”

Tim: And if someone said that to me a year ago, I’d have said “Who?” But I’ve heard of her now.

Tom: Alas, I can’t back up Najinx’s enthusiasm – and I don’t think it’s the overly-arty video that’s turned me off, either.

Tim: The video did turn me off a tad; song is… well, alright. Sort of. I can certainly get the enthusiasm, though.

Tom: There are bursts of genius in here – that “don’t patronise me” bit in the chorus is just genius – but the rest of it leaves me somewhat cold.

Is it just not mainstream-pop enough for me, perhaps?

Tim: Could be – like I say, I know several people who might go crazy for this, though I can’t say I’m among them.

Saturday Flashback: N-Force – All My Life

Tom: The track and video are from All Around The World Records. Tim, you know exactly what to expect here.

Tim: Certainly do – SteveAATW is often my go-to YouTube channel if I’m getting ready for a night out.

Tom: I reckon this track’s a cut above the normal generic-dance music, although I can’t really work out why.

Tim: Familiarity, perhaps? It took me a while to realise what it was a cover of, but then I placed it and realised that this is vastly superior to that R&B balls.

Tom: And I’ve got no reason for putting it here other than “well, this sounds good”. Because it does. Deal with it.

Tim: It so does.

The Wanted – We Own The Night

“This song is pretty awful.”

Tim: Tom, there’s a problem.

Tom: Not again. Fine, I’ll get the mop, you deal with the witnesses.

Tim: What? Oh, no, not that. And I think you’ll find we agreed never to mention it. No, this is a musical problem.

Tim: You see, this song is pretty awful. Just look at the lyrics: the ‘hold your jars’ lines is appalling, the second verse about wanting to be famous after you’ve died because you know how to do a party is risible, and no song with a message should ever come with the line, ‘Hey, I’m a little drunk, but I got something to say’.

Tom: Nothing should ever come with that line.

Tim: The video is also terrible, even managing to outdo the Walks Like Rihanna one: Nathan’s behaviour in particular, with a ‘hey, I’m pointing at you because I’m pretending to know you!’ and an ‘oh, look at you sexy lady distracting my piano playing’, and then there’s all of then pretending to be friends with the old people because that’s what cool people do.

Tom: It sounds like a pub singalong song, so they’ve probably picked the right tone for it. But 37 seconds into the video, have a look at — er — whoever that guy on the end of the line is. What on earth has he just noticed?

Tim: Blimey, that’s a good spot (and that’s Nathan. Come on Tom, know your boybands). Guessing: the cameraman getting bored and falling off his stool?

But anyway, despite all that, I really like this. I don’t particularly want to, but I love it. The melody really get s me going, the lazy nanana-ing in the chorus just makes me want to join in and the whole ‘we own the night’ just makes me feel great. And that annoys me. But you know what? I don’t actually care.

Ola – Maybe

A builder, but well worth it.

Tim: A builder, but well worth it.

Tim: I put that warning at the top because occasionally if I’m feeling rushed I’ll just give a song a minute or so before giving up with it; I’m very glad I didn’t here, though, because that chorus is great.

Tom: Given the brief appearance of those MGMT-like synths, I was happy to wait.

Tim: Well, that’s good. Melodically there’s not a whole lot there, but this is quite literally a BANGER. And from the first chorus on it never really puts a foot wrong – the vocal is more energised and considerably less suicidal (how can you make ‘today was as perfect as they come’ sound like a line you’d jump off a bridge to?)

Tom: Well, Lou Reed managed it. But yes, given that the chorus doesn’t stray too much from one single note, it’s surprising just how well it held my attention.

Tim: And there’s a constant drum beat to remind you that the chorus will soon be back doing everything it does so wonderfully even if you’re not happy with what’s going on in the meantime. This comes on in a club, any decent patron will be on the floor as soon as that one minute twenty hits. It’s just a shame about that first minute, really.

Tom: Don’t knock it: I think it’d be a much worse song without that introduction.