Author: Tim

Medina – Jalousi

“Despite being quite acousticy it doesn’t actually ever really get dull”

Tim: Danish for you now, with a title that translates as, believe it or not…

Tom: “Yes, lousy”?

Tim: Jealousy.

Tim: It’s very much not standard Medina, who typically does either big dance numbers or big downer tracks.

Tom: Huh. This is almost exactly in the middle of those two.

Tim: It is, yes – considerably middle of the road, and despite the other two options possibly being more enjoyable for us, this is still enjoyable enough. Certainly stands up to multiple plays, which is generally what matters. A good pop track, which despite being quite acousticy doesn’t actually ever really get dull, so well done there.

Tom: There’s some lovely moments in that chorus, enough to keep the song going — and that middle eight’s an interesting choice that works really well.

Tim: Indeed. Though if you want to bring back the big dance numbers, do feel free at any time.

Naomi Pilgrim – Rainmakers

“I have a lot of time for the chorus on this.”

Tim: So here’s some typically melancholy electropop for you, from Sweden, and it’s the title track of Naomi’s debut EP.

Tom: Strong, almost MGMT-like beat on there. That’s pretty good.

Tim: I have a lot of time for the chorus on this, which is nice because to be honest the rest leaves me feeling a bit cold.

Tom: I can see how you have that reaction, but it worked fairly well — perhaps, again, because it sounded like MGMT at first glance.

Tim: In fact, I was all ready to give up on it by the time we got halfway through the first verse, but then the lovely chorus came along and suddenly made things alright again. It’s arguably a bit too long, with the primary culprit being that middle eight, somewhat tedious as it is. On the other hand, when that lovely chorus comes back in and gets swaying all over the place I can’t help but somewhat forgive it.

Krista Siegfrids – Cinderella

“I couldn’t criticise her for not giving it everything”

Tim: Tom’s off again today, but he will no doubt remember Krista, the bride-to-be who’s been haunting his dreams for the past twelve months. Over the weekend, she appeared once again on Finland’s Eurovision selection program, but this time just to show off her new single. (Performance here.)

Tim: There’s not a massive amount to it, or at least there doesn’t seem to be, and that’s kind of a problem. There’s no way I could criticise her for not giving it everything she’s got with those big notes, but I think the song almost needs someone with a voice to handle those better. Compare this to, say, Unconditionally, and I can’t help feeling that her vocal hasn’t quite got the capability this song deserves – the big drawn out bits stop too quickly, really, when I’ve got a feeling they’d sound better if they were held out for a few more seconds. I don’t know. It’s decent enough, but may have had a little more potential.

Jannika B – Jääkausi

Those must be some very impressive lyrics.

Tom: Jacuzzi?

Tim: Not quite, no – if you can’t guess from the dots in the title (and you apparently can’t), this is Finnish pop, somewhat on the melancholy side but rather enjoyable.

Tom: Now, see, I’m in the US right now, and that appears to be pretty comprehensively geoblocked for me. Care to sum up?

Tim: Well, if you’d heard it you’d probably be thinking, what the hell happened there to make that key change happen, and those must be some very impressive lyrics. Well, I was, and fortunately there’s a rather competent Finnish lyric website and online translating tool available. Well, sort of – it choked a bit and is somewhat incomprehensible, but I did get that Jääkausi means Ice Age, and she’s singing to someone who she’s just realised isn’t going to change, and because of him she’s the goddess of persuasion.

I don’t really know, but basically, DRAMA. In case you didn’t get that from the music, and OH WHAT MUSIC. Nothing really happens until the first chorus (as is standard), but then it KICKS OFF. We all know I’m not generally one for an extended outro, but here I could listen to that last minute for at least another five.

Tone Damli – Heartkill

Tim: We’ve featured Tone Damli quite a bit up until now, and generally been impressed. BUT CAN SHE KEEP IT UP?

Tim: Pretty much, yes. Good things in particular include the lead in to the chorus from the verses, the instrumental melody underneath the chorus and the “just another hea-a-a-a-artkill” at the end of the chorus.

Tom: I agree with everything apart from that digital stuttering: it was so incongruous that it completely took me out of the song. Maybe it’d get better over time, but I’m not convinced.

Tim: Huh. Fair enough, see where you’re coming from. Those two bits aside for me, it’s, well, actually just about above average, but I really do like the end of the chorus bit. So well done for that.

NONONO – Hungry Eyes

“That chorus made me a lot happier than I thought it would.”

Tim: Not a cover of the Eric Carmen classic (though there’s an astounding one here if you want it).

Tom: That is exactly the cover I was hoping it was. But I’ve never seen that video before. That… that is quite something.

Tim: Isn’t it just? Almost make’s Zlata Ognevich’s one (always worth a watch) look tame. But no, this is a follow-up to last year’s nice and whistly Pumpin Blood.

https://soundcloud.com/shewentpop/nonono-hungry-eyes

Tim: Pleasant enough, I think you’ll agree?

Tom: Agreed, and that chorus made me a lot happier than I thought it would.

Tim: I’m glad. Chirpy would be an appropriate word, I think, because it is – all happiness and smiling, at least certainly once the chorus hits. Verses could perhaps be a bit more exciting, but the chorus has a lovely hook to it and the instrumental has just the right amount of tinkliness that makes an already quite happy song very happy. So I like it. Two out of two, good stuff.

Tegan & Sara feat. The Lonely Island – Everything Is Awesome

What… what the hell is that?

Tim: Against all the odds, from the trailers and suchlike it seems like The Lego Movie is actually going to be quite good; nowhere is this more apparent than in this song here, a slightly unlikely collaboration given Tegan and Sara’s previous work, but damn fine nonetheless.

Tom: What… what the hell is that?

Tim: Duhh, AWESOME. Some songwriters, you see, spend time ensuring they stick to some sort of structure or genre, with well-timed verses and choruses, a consistent beat, time signature and the like. Others, including soundtrack composer Mark Mothersbaugh, just seem more focussed on thinking of things that are awesome, such as job losses, mud on your shoes, string, trees, clocks and figs; in fact EVERYTHING.

Tom: I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here. There’s no intro. It changes up everything, repeatedly. There’s a dubstep breakdown with a Lonely Island cameo, which is quite an odd choice for a kids’ movie given their normal style. I… I mean, it gets the message across, I guess?

Tim: I think so – I’m not sure, but I’ve got a hunch that the message they want us to take from this is that EVERYTHING is awesome. And that’s a GREAT message, so I’m happy with that. I’m happy with a lot of things right now, so this just BRILLIANT. Or, in fact, AWESOME.

Laleh – Stars Align

“It departs from the pop formula just enough to be new and interesting.”

Tim: We haven’t featured Laleh for a while, which is a bit of a shame because her last single, Colors, was really very good. But here’s the second single off her album of that name, and fortunately it too is really very good.

Tom: I wouldn’t go as far as “very good” — that wha-hoo in the chorus doesn’t work for me, and the transition back to the verse really grates — but it’s certainly putting a decent effort in. It departs from the pop formula just enough to be new and interesting.

Tim: Hmm. I actually have no problem with either of the issues you mentioned, although I will say that I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the lyrics, what with “walking in the town like a ghost” being significantly different from “the world that I’m so much a part of”; on the other hand I suppose stars aligning is a good thing? Sounds a bit like horoscopey guff, but using it is fine by me if you’re going to produce a tune like this from it. It’s brilliant – almost a cross between the drums of Emmelie de Forest and heading towards the vocals of Icona Pop, combined to form wonderful results.

Tom: That’s a good analogy, particularly in that middle eight.

Tim: Video’s good, too, especially the blend thing when she talks about walking like a wolf, although that does bring back the heavy disappointment that arrives whenever I realise I’ll probably never be a werewolf. Oh well.

Saturday Flashback: Håkan Hellström – Det kommer aldrig va över för mig

Just hope that none of the lawyers notice.

Tim: There is something about this, from early last year, that utterly ruins it for me; I don’t want to say what it is, in case it’s not as blindingly obvious to you as it is to me.

Tim: Just me?

Tom: No. Not just you. That’s astonishing.

Tim: Yep, figured. So, you want to be a successful Swedish pop-rock singer, you decide to take basically the chorus of one of the biggest hits of one of the biggest pop-rock bands of all time, sing basically the melody of a highly successful pop-rock track from the biggest pop-rock band of all time and hope that none of the lawyers notice.

Tom: To translate his comments from an article: “These chords are used by so very many groups; I can name at least five songs that sound the same way. ‘Heaven’ by Bryan Adams is of course much closer!”

Tim: Erm…

Tom: Uh-huh. Sure it is. You didn’t just use the chords, you used the same instrumentation and timing — it’s not just the same chords as the Killers, it sounds exactly the same as them. Another Swedish source simply calls it “blatant plagiarism“.

Tim: It was disappointing more than anything, really – I heard it on the radio when I woke up and thought, oh, I like this song, and a bit later thought, wait, what? Later, and more cogently, I looked it up on YouTube and realised it wasn’t some weird re-sung mashup but actually an ‘original’ song (and boy, do I use that term loosely). So now my question’s basically: why would anyone choose to play this when there are two better songs out there?

Kylie Minogue – Into The Blue

Leaks are brilliant, aren’t they?

Tim: Leaks are brilliant, aren’t they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7cv0jaFyw

Tim: Admittedly they don’t always come with the best sound quality, but BLIMEY what about the rest of it? Fresh from making herself relevant again by being on The Voice…

Tom: Bold claim there. Still, the blind auditions get the ratings in.

Tim: …Kylie has granted us a fantastic new track, which sounds entirely 2014. Well done there, because it also sounds unmistakably Kylie, with an utterly BRILLIANT singalong chorus and glorious backing behind it.

Tom: Yep. This is that rare moment when a long-time pop star pulls off an up-to-date track while keeping true to their old style. It doesn’t happen often.

Tim: Twice in a week now, though, which is good going. On top of that as well: the lyrics with their wonderful self-empowerment vibe and oh, that chorus line again because it really should count at least twice, and this is a track that I’m not sure how to describe without repeating any of the superlatives I’ve already used. Oh, AMAZING. That’ll do.