Tim: At the risk of turning you overly cynical here, I’ll quote from Julie: “Recently I fell in love for the very first time, and I realised how that actually feels… I’ve always been a person that’s been in control of my feelings, but in this song I let go of that. It’s amazing and terrifying all at the same time. Just like being in love.”
Tom: CYNICAL MODE: ENGAGED
Tim: And I’ll be honest, I was all ready to dislike this from the drippy nature of the intro, but I really really like it.
Tom: Why on earth? It’s not just the intro that’s drippy, it’s the entire first v… hmm. There is something about that chorus, isn’t there?
Tim: Yes, but also the whole instrumentation, and how unusual it is. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of another strings and piano ballad that also includes distorted vocal samples and those synth patches, and yet now I hear it, they seem to work really well together.
And it’s nice, because the song would probably work perfectly fine without them – it wouldn’t be anything special, but it could have been released and as a love ballad would have been entirely adequate. Adding those in, though, and you’ve got a ballad style that’s been updated for the late ’10s, and it sounds great.
Tom: I’m not on board with it to that extent. If I say it’s all a bit too Fisher-Price, does that make sense? A lot of the composition feels like a kid just going plink-plink-plink on a piano. I recognise there’s actually a really talented pianist playing that — it’s not a slight on the talent, just on the melody itself.
But yes, I’ll grant you there’s something about the instrumentation. It’s got a string section, so yes, sure, I’ll agree that it sounds good.
Tim: However sickening you might find the message.