Tag: Margaret Berger

Margaret Berger – Scream

“It’s like a robotic ballet dancer”

Tim: Tom, upon discussing Human Race a few months back you expressed a slightly disdain for restraint in dance tracks of that ilk; have this.

https://soundcloud.com/margaret-berger/scream

Tim: And I reckon that’s very good indeed.

Tom: There’s certainly less restraint there, but I’m not sold. Maybe it’s just a mood I’m in — perhaps I’d be more charitable on a different day — but I’m finding that anything that isn’t Properly Uplifting is just kind of washing over me at the moment.

Tim: Exactly the sort of thing we’d expect, with a big beat in a wonderful upbeat and singalongable chorus. Calming down quite a bit for the middle eight, which almost serves to provide a brief respite, in case one was needed.

Tom: You reckon that’s upbeat and — I’m not sure this is a word — singalongable?

Tim: It’s definitely a word, and yes, certainly the chorus. I’ve got it in my head as a right earworm.

Tom: It’s certainly got a beat to it, but ‘upbeat’ to me implies happiness, and this song just doesn’t. It’s like a robotic ballet dancer: the performance may be perfect, but it just doesn’t seem to have soul.

Tim: Fair enough. I’m sure someone will be along soon enough to put a massive donk on it, so perhaps that’ll help you?

Tom: You know, that might actually work.

Tim: Great track, and let’s hope she’s not going anywhere, as this year’s Norwegian Eurovision entrant damn sure isn’t going to be able to replace her. There’s no need to link to it.

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.