Author: Tim

Ida Wiklund – Kom Tillbaka

“There’s something just beautiful.”

Tim: It’s songs like this that really make me wish I knew a good amount of Swedish.

Tim: Because my word, what a song. Right from the off we have cracking background instrumentation, and when the vocal kicks the quality shoots right up even higher.

Tom: Quite — although I wasn’t sold on it until that first chorus hit. There’s something just beautiful about the start of that chorus. It’s happy, it’s friendly, and it’s surprisingly summery in the middle of a cold snap.

Tim: But dammit, what is she singing? There’s clearly a lot of emotion in that energetic singing, and I just know my enjoyment would be heightened by understanding what it is she’s singing. On the other hand, my enjoyment is already pretty high up, and I still leant to listen to this track over and over again; I just wish I could get even more out of it.

Tom: So… learn Swedish?

Tim: Yes, I suppose I’ve no-one but myself to blame – my sister even got me a Teach Yourself Swedish thing for my birthday last summer and I’ve barely opened it, so damn me and my laziness, because I want more from this.

Scotts – Hurt

“Jolly, danceable and just generally fun”

Tim: Fancy some dansband?

Tom: Almost always.

Tim: What a fun track.

Tom: Unexpectedly, there’s a lot of dans and not a lot of band there. I like that, but are you sure this qualifies as dansband?

Tim: Yes – definable instruments in there, and that’s what they call it so it’s good enough for me, as is the track. Well, pretty much – the music’s good, and the lyrics are good if you (a) don’t listen to them at all or (b) listen to them carefully. If you just listen to the chorus, all you’ll hear is ‘yes it hurts’, ‘it will hurt’ and ‘it will hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt’, which let’s be honest isn’t all that fun. But, pay more attention and you’ll find it’s all about how things will finally come together despite occasional missteps, so it’s all fine.

Tom: And I’m all in favour of that as a message.

Tim: Good. The backing track, as with a whole lot of dansband stuff, is jolly, danceable and just generally fun (and I’ve now used the word ‘fun’ three times; not sure if that says more about the song or my vocabulary).

Tom: Probably your vocabulary. You’re right, though.

Tim: All in all, a solid, enjoyable track. Sod it, one more time: fun.

Hmm. You know how you use one word a load of times and it starts being weird?

Tom: “Semantic satiation“, which is a weird term in itself.

Saturday Flashback: Busted – Thunderbirds Are Go

“A very very very decent track to leave by.”

Tim: I’ve just got tickets to see McBusted next April, and I am VERY EXCITED.

Tom: I passed on it — but I’ll be honest, this song almost made me reconsider.

Tim: Well then, let’s have a flashback, shall we?

Tim: Now, whatever you may have though about the film (and let’s face it, anyone who saw it probably didn’t think much of it), it’s hard to deny that this was a cracking track to go with it, and, as it turned out, a very very very decent track to leave by. Number 1, Record of the Year, and all sorts like that.

Tom: Yep. It’s a terrible film, which is a shame because — given an actual decent script — it could have been really good. They’re rebooting the TV series for 2015, and I’m interested to see what they can do with modern CGI updating those old puppet effects.

Tim: Musically it’s pretty good, with the reworking of the original theme tune into the intro and backing, beneath what’s basically just a good Busted track. Lyrically, though, it’s genius – the ‘no strings to hold them down’ metaphor quite possibly unrivalled in, ooh, at least that week, and maybe even the month.

Tom: Damning with faint praise, but you’re right: I remember playing this, many years ago on university radio, and having the folks who were all ‘oh no, it’s Busted’ start harmonising on that glorious ‘island’ call-and-response. It’s catchy.

Tim: That bit in particular is indeed GREAT. Moving on to that video, two things spring to mind: first, even at the age of twenty I can kind of understand why Charlie felt it was time to grow up just a bit, and second, some of the expressions on their faces really do make them look like a early version of Jedward. That probably sounds like an insult; I don’t mean it that way. (Although admittedly now I’ve typed it it’s hard to see how it could have come across as a compliment. Oh well.) Anyway, crap film, fun video, great track, sorted.

Cars & Calories – Here

“It’s like Owl City grew up a bit.”

Tim: You may or may not remember the very very good Runner Up from about six weeks back; if you don’t, have a listen to it later. First, though, listen to this.

https://soundcloud.com/blingbling-5/cars-calories-here-1

Tom: Oh blimey, that’s excellent. It’s like Owl City grew up a bit.

Tim: Here, we’re getting more of the same punk/rock-influenced electropop that we heard last time – the vocals could come from any modern electro track, but then some of the instrumentation in the chorus could be a late-90s punk group.

Tom: Agreed: and it’s a brilliant tune as well.

Tim: It’s a combination that, once again, works brilliantly. Lyrics are happily pleasant as well, so all round I’ve got no reason at all to dislike it. Top work, folks.

One Louder – Fashionably Late

“I can’t help but think that we’re in the middle of a 90s ballad revival.”

Tim: This arrived in our inbox last week; it’s a new pop duo from Finland comprising Leah and Johanna. I’d like to tell you more, but the Facebook page is low on details. But have a listen, as the music’s what it’s all about really.

Tim: This is lovely stuff, and is sort of reminiscent of all sorts of things.

Tom: Between this and the duet on Tuesday, I can’t help but think that we’re suddenly in the middle of a 90s ballad revival. I mean, this could’ve been a B*Witched album track. What does it remind you of?

Tim: Nothing in particular, although I’m struck by a slight similarity to Minnie-Oh, of Step Up and You & I notability, at the beginning of the chorus; that’s definitely a compliment, because those were two of the best tracks we had in their respective years so good stuff there.

Tom: It is, but it’s good to the standards of fifteen years ago, and I can’t help but feel that it needs something… more. Can I work out what that is, though? Can I bollocks.

Tim: To be honest, I don’t think I can criticise this at all – the backing music’s lovely and relaxing during the verses, but entirely not in a boring way, and the vocals match up excellently for a nice tune that, when it comes down to it, is basically just good pop.

Jill Johnson & Helena Paparizou – Enough

“It’s like the 90s returned, and Shania Twain’s still at the top.”

Tom: “Jill Johnson and Papa Lazarou”?

Tim: Close, but no creepy-voiced cigar I’m afraid. Jill Johnson, if you don’t know, is a Swedish singer who’s been going for nigh on two decades, and who in true Rihanna style has released an album pretty much every autumn for the past ten years, as has invariably landed in the top 5. This time it’s all about duets, and the lead single is with Helena, who I’m sure you’ll remember from her 2005 Greek Eurovision entry we wrote about a couple of years back.

Tim: That’s a good ballad, isn’t it?

Tom: It’s like the 90s returned, and Shania Twain’s still at the top of the charts.

Tim: Great overtones of it, yes. Now I think about it, it’s been a good year for duets, or at least the ones we’ve had have all hit the mark – Cardle & C, Fältzkog & Barlow (and that’s a department store chain in waiting) and now this.

Tom: Complete with cracking key change and electric guitar outro. It really is about fifteen years too late.

Tim: It could easily be sung as a solo track, and it would still be impressive, but the two working together really work up the drama of what a twat this guy they’re both dating must be – I don’t know if it is the same guy, but it would certainly explain why he’s always ‘working late’.

Tom: Ha. That’s a brilliant idea.

Tim: Actually, playing with that idea as I am wont to do, I know exactly how I’d like the video for this to be – two of them walking separately along two streets, cutting between them as they sing with occasional shots of him waiting outside a restaurant for a date, and then, come the key change, they both arrive from opposite directions, we have the three of them in the same shot and IT ALL KICKS OFF. That’d be marvellous.

Tom: Ideally, with the music coming to a grinding stop, and the man trying to stumble through some sort of explanation.

Tim: Exactly. Can we do that, please?

Robin – Erilaiset

“That’s a decent enough charity track, isn’t it.”

Tim: You do, I presume, remember ‘BOOM KAH! BOOM BOOM KAH!” Here’s the follow-up, which is actually the Red Nose Day single in Finland, but they’ve chosen to make no mention whatsoever of that on the YouTube page.

Tom: Finnish Red Nose Day, of course, is whenever the temperature dips below -20°C in Oulu.

Tim: Nicely played, sir. Here’s the track.

Tim: That’s a decent enough charity track, isn’t it.

Tom: It is: it’s certainly better than some of the dreck we’ve had before. It’s certainly better than One Direction covering Teenage Kicks.

Tim: Well, duh. What I particularly like, and what may well not work if I spoke Finnish, is the way it almost goes into the chorus thirty seconds in, but then drops back out for the rest of the verse before the main chorus comes in bigger and better than what you originally thought it would be.

Tom: Yep, I was going to point that out too. It’s a good shtick, and I can see that becoming a Thing.

Tim: Aside from that, actually, it’s somewhat average as far as pop songs go, but it does have a slightly ‘urban’ edge to it in the intro and outro which is probably a good thing as far as his future intentions go so well done there. Also, half an hour on from writing everything previous to this, I’ve clicked replay on it every time it’s finished, so it’s clearly listenable. GOOD WORK CHARITY.

Saturday Flashback: Meja – All ‘Bout The Money

Tom: We talked about her new single yesterday, so it seems like we should evaluate her one big international hit. Because I could remember the chorus clearly… but none of the rest of it.
And off the top of my head, I still don’t remember any of it. So let’s listen.

Tim: RIGHT. Yeah, really don’t remember hearing it at all, so I’ll review it as a new track.

Tom: What? No. There’s no way you missed this. It was massive. It’s a cultural reference. How on earth did you miss this?

Tim: No idea. But I did.

Tom: Anyway: having listened to it again a couple of times now, I realise that I still can’t remember the verses.

Tim: Fair dos – they’re not hugely memorable, but it’s nonetheless a good track, chorus and forgettable verses alike.

Tom: This song really is just a setup for an incredibly good chorus — a few repetitive lines that made it everywhere fifteen years ago. Sometimes that’s all a song needs.

Tim: Yes, indeed – that chorus is a good one, and the verses have a decent enough melody to them that with or without the lyrics if I had heard them way back when I may well still now have had an idea of what the song was. I didn’t, so I’ll never know for certain, but it’s good fun to listen to. That much is true.

Midnight Boy – When You’re Strange

“Warning: full-frontal nudity ahead.”

Tim: Warning: full-frontal nudity on the streets of Stockholm ahead, of a very distracting nature. So have a listen, but if you’re in a public place, or of a slightly nervous disposition, you’ll want to be switching to another tab by 2:55.

Tom: It’s not a cover of the Doors, is it? I’m going to be properly disappointed if it’s not.

Tom: Oh. Well, I guess I was going to be disappointed either way.

Tim: So, yeah, that’s that. And despite the ridiculous video, which I’m buggered if I can understand the point of, aside from showing that Swedes are really very good at ignoring things they don’t want to see, it’s a very good number.

Tom: It is, but what a — forgive my phrasing — half-arsed video. Apparently shot on the wobbliest, dodigest camera available and fixed badly in post; and he’s not even bothering to sing the song. As for the music…

Tim: Sort of electro-rock, really, and performed to exactly the standard we like to hear. Melodic, vibrant, an appropriate vocal sound and a fair ‘throw everything in and see what doesn’t bounce out again’ production method. I like this a lot. As long as I don’t have to watch the video, anyway.

Eric Saade – Boomerang

“Two-step is meant to be a bit unpredictable.”

Tim: As noted the last time we checked in on him, genre-wise he’s still up in the air a bit, and back then he gave us a tedious Justin Timberlake sound-a-like. This time, though? Two-step pop. Yep, that’s right.

Tim: And actually that’s pretty good.

Tom: It is, but two-step is meant to be a bit unpredictable, and this just isn’t. Even that repetitive drum fill seems to have been lifted straight from Tinie Tempah’s “Pass Out”.

Tim: Indeed. It’s not fantastic – there’s little variation throughout, he seems to have missed the memo that that auto-tune-style ‘eh-eh’ went out of fashion three years ago, and I really don’t want to overthink the lyric “Bite in your lips, just right in your Victoria’s Secrets”.

Tom: “You’re like a drug, with a smile on your face.” Hmm. Perhaps more time has been spent on the production than any of the lyrics.

Tim: There’s that – at least it’s not tedious like previously. It was written with the same J-Son who featured in the sonically similar Hearts in the Air a couple of years back, and all in, it’s fairly good pop.