“So far out of the blue that you’re ending up with a musical concussion.”
Tom: A bit of context for you here: We Love Disney is a series of cover albums. I thought it was dead, but apparently not — although I can’t find any context for this. Anyway: this seems like the right people to cover a song like this.
Tim: The original of this song has a decent key change. It’s pleasant, standard, and adds a bit to the song. In addition, it’s telegraphed a good few seconds in advance, and so you’ve got time to prepare for it.
Tim: Dolly Style, on the other hand, bring it so far out of the blue that you’re ending up with a musical concussion, and HOT DAMN it’s wonderful. Aside from that there’s not much new here, although it’s a bit heavier on the dance bits and lighter on the marimbas; for me, though, that key change makes the whole recording worthwhile.
Tom: I can see why you’d say that: but there’s a different and more subtle change that means the whole song doesn’t work for me. The original chorus of How Far I’ll Go has a really nice bit of musicianship in it that sells the whole thing.
From the sheet music, “see the line / where the sky / meets the sea” sounds like the syllables should land on the 1, 2 and 3, with the emphasis on the 3. That’s what Dolly Style is doing here, and it’s common for this genre, but it sounds staccato and metronomic when compared. That’s because in the original, the timing is softened and subtly changed so the words aren’t exactly on the beat, and as a result it sounds emotional.
Tim: Hmm, yeah, I can hear that, I guess.
Tom: Yes, that’s music-nerdy. But honestly, it makes all the difference.
Tom: Alas, they haven’t finally remixed the British national anthem. But this may be the most Scooter-y Scooter track in a long while.
Tim: I look forward to hearing it, but first: ‘Harris & Ford’ is a fantastic act name.
Tim: Oh, boy is that good.
Tom: Sure, they’re not pitching-up samples of famous songs any more. (Presumably they prefer getting all the money for songwriting.)
Tim: Fine by me – the pattern’s still the same, after all, and the melody for this one is just fantastic.
Tom: This is the closest we’re going to get, and you know what? I can’t reasonably mock anyone with the self-confidence to shout, apparently seriously, the lyric “I AM THE CAPTAIN. MY NAME IS DAVE.”
Tim: Strong lyric, and indeed a strong rave. I love this, it’s great.
“It’s not bad! The bar is set low but they cleared it!”
Tim: Have I mentioned on here I went to a Jedward gig a few weeks back? I don’t think so, but us featuring Samir & Viktor here on Monday reminded me of it, and I have NEWS: there’s a new album out soon! Basically, since being binned off by the label in 2014, most of the stuff’s been self-written, and here’s one from a couple of years back.
Tom: I actually tried to look up the songwriting credits in the music industry’s database, but this song’s not in there and the copyright is just listed as “℗ 2016 Jedward”. So, while I don’t know how much help they’ve got, I guess this counts as self-written. That… sounds like it’s a bad idea?
Tim: Well…
Tim: It’s actually alright!
Tom: It is! It’s not bad! The bar is set low but they cleared it!
Tim: Admittedly, some of the stuff isn’t quite as good – the last one of theirs we looked at was evidence of that – but here’s a decent, if somewhat middle-of-the-compilation-playlist, dance track. It was also a good decade too late for its sound, even then, but I’ve no problem with it because hell, it’s a damn good sound, made into an actually fairly good tune. I like this. Genuinely, unashamedly, like it.
Tom: That’s an entirely fair response.
Tim: Other stuff from the gig, in case you’re interested: it was surprisingly great, despite being a “yeah, that’s just within my ‘might be shit but good for a laugh’ budget” decision; they somehow kept going from over two and a half hours, doing new stuff, old stuff and covers; and, biggest of all, they’ve actually become able to sing!
Tom: No kidding.
Tim: None at all: they did half an hour or so of acoustic stuff with John playing a guitar and them both singing, and it actually sounded good. Guess ten years in the business can get you quite a bit of vocal coaching, who knew?
Tim: Second single from the upcoming album (which, I’ve since found out, is getting the profits donated to a mental health organisation, so it’s not icky after all).
Tom: They didn’t really get off to a flying start with the first single, so I’ve not got high hopes.
Tim: Piano dance is so ten years ago, country guitar so five years ago, so right now we’ve got, well, this.
Tom: Ah, a Eurovision entrant. Specifically, the type that uses some traditional instrument and scale for one bit while otherwise adhering to European pop norms.
Tim: It is a bit odd, isn’t it? Well, to most Western European ears at least. Took me a few listens to enjoy this, for that and also the same reason Wake Me Up took a bit of getting used to: it’s just so different, and so initially janky from one style to the next, that it seems almost irritating. After a couple of times, though, it kind of works a bit, in the way that I at least appreciate both bits individually, and am more or less okay with them being mixed up, I guess?
Tom: There are some really inspired parts in here. Okay, there’s one really inspired part in here, and it’s one chord progression in the middle eight. Maybe I would learn to love it, but I just don’t think I’m going to give it that chance.
Tim: Reading that back it comes across quite harsh, but I do enjoy it. Kind of.
“YEP, the mouth starts smiling, the head starts nodding, the shoulders start bouncing.”
Tim: Unperturbed by their crashing out of Melodifestivalen this year, here’s one for anybody who needs a smile on their face.
Tim: And that’s early Katy Perry, there, isn’t it? Stylistically, that is, as well as the fact that the very first three opening notes lead me into the chorus of Hot N Cold.
Tom: You’re not wrong. Even the vocal quality’s a match in that first verse. It’s like someone gave a machine-learning algorithm “One of the Boys” — more than a decade old, that album — and someone cleaned up the result. There’s a little bit of early Ke$ha in there, too, back when she had the dollar sign.
Tim: It’s Teenage Dream, it’s I Kissed A Girl, it’s lovely lovely pop music being very well produced. The initial muted chorus and first verse got me thinking “yeah, yeah, standard”, but then when the chorus came in properly, YEP, the mouth starts smiling, the head starts nodding, the shoulders start bouncing.
Tom: Or, if you’re me, your foot starts tapping slightly.
Tim: Nah, you need to let yourself go a bit, mate. Second time round, I’m using the TV remote as a microphone and isn’t pop music just GREAT sometimes? Yes, yes it is, and the haters can jog right on.
“t feels like it’d be more at home in a movie trailer than in a pop playlist.”
Tom: CAPS LOCK BAND NAME
Tim: APPARENTLY IT’S NECESSARY. “This is how it sounds when a burning nostalgia is mixed with a summer evening, when you lose yourself in dance and spirits and love, and in that moment everything is okay.”
Tom: Oh blimey. The copyeditor’s been working overtime, then?
Tim: Spoiler alert: that does actually come across, and it’s not just meaningless PR garbage!
Tom: Damn it, you’re not wrong, and I’m actually slightly grumpy about that. It’s those harmonies in the second verse, isn’t it?
Tim: Amongst many other things, yes. I don’t understand the lyrics in real time, but it doesn’t matter, because the emotion flows perfectly. Starts out a bit downbeat, but picks up the pace to show that things aren’t so bad. Then we’ve got that brilliant instrumental bit, which although is technically a post-chorus, almost feels better suited to being a lengthy intro to a fresh part of the song. And the fresh part is still great, a bit heftier until we drop back down for a final look back at the times that have gone.
Tom: Like I said: second-verse harmonies!
Tim: But finally everything comes together, with a repeat of the chorus and then a reprise of that glorious earlier instrumental break, with upbeat and triumphant brass all over it, and it all just sounds so, so wonderful. Everything is conveyed perfectly, the message comes across, and the song just works.
Tom: Is it actually something I want to listen to, though? With something like this, it feels like it’d be more at home in a movie trailer than in a pop playlist.
Tim: You say that, it brings me nicely to my final point: as a pop song it’s pretty good; as a piece of music, it’s outstanding.
Tim: LIAMOO, a Swedish singer we’ve not properly featured before as I’ve never really liked any of previous tracks – bit too heavy on the deep twisted vocals, a bit light on any pleasant melody.
Tom: In which case, thank you for not sending them over to me.
Tim: You’re very welcome. Finally, though, he’s up with a couple of producers, Swedish and Danish respectively, and provided something altogether more listenable.
Tim: I don’t know, I’d say the fact that the melody, tone, timing, mood and everything else allow it – for starters, I’d not even clocked the resemblance. But anyway: occasionally the single two word combination ‘guitar pop’ can be enough to put me right off a song without hearing a single note, but I think this is a right cracker of a track. Admittedly towards the end of it, and in the dance post-chorus breakdowns, there’s a whole lot more to it than that, with it arguably verging off into a different genre altogether.
Tom: This does risk falling into an uncanny valley between two genres: but, hey, it worked for Avicii.
Tim: But even before all that comes along it’s a strong sounding number, with a good melody and enough going on in the background to keep it interesting.
Tom: I don’t think it’s going to light up the charts anywhere, but sure, it’s listenable. It’s going to sit in the middle of an ‘upbeat guitar pop’ Spotify playlist. I’m damning with faint praise again, aren’t I?
Tim: Yes, but at least there’s still deserved praise there – when that massive drum build comes along after the verse and, yes, it’s dance banger time. Enjoyable throughout, I like it.
Tim: OKAY THEN let’s have a debrief. ITEM ONE: the winner was tedious garbage which won because every country found it basically okay (perhaps the lowest proportion of 12 points for a winner ever, just 8 out of a possible 80).
Tom: It’s an awful compromise victor, the Eurovision equivalent of a shrug. I’ll be honest, I think this is the first time I’ve been genuinely annoyed by a Eurovision result. I think part of that is John Lundvik’s face when he hears the final numbers: that was such a good track, my favourite of the night, and to end up sixth with less than half of the televote points he needed is absolutely brutal.
Tim: It really is, because it’s great, though your mention of John Lundvik leads us on to ITEM TWO: my favourite, a.k.a. ours, did appallingly, coming last overall but technically not coming last with either the jury (sorry, Spain) or the televote (suck it, Germany, with your NO POINTS), so I’m viewing that as not a complete loss.
Tom: Mm. Part of that is surely the Brexit effect, but I’m still baffled as to why that’s your favourite. Moving on.
Tim: ITEM THREE: Finland, with their dance champion Darude, finished dead last in their semi-final, and by no small margin.
Tom: I previously predicted middle of the table for that, so I was completely wrong. Given some of the other dreck in there, I’m surprised it did that badly.
Tim: It does, mind, conclusively prove my point from a few weeks back that star power is absolutely not a thing – hell, it’s arguable that the worst performance of the night was Madonna’s. ITEM FOUR: as with last year, we’ve the occasional significant disparity between the initial juries and the later televotes (looking at you with smug satisfaction North Macedonia, looking at you with slight sympathy Sweden, and looking at you with delight Spain).
Tom: If they go full jury vote, it feels wrong. If they go full televote, diaspora votes take over. There’s no good answer.
Tim: True, and I guess we just have to trust that most of the time it more or less works. Other times, though, it causes an issue, such as ITEM FIVE, being this from Norway. Won the televote, and had a severe technical cockup on the jury viewing but weren’t allowed to redo it. SCANDAL, cried NRK, and most pop fans across Europe, because, well, watch and listen.
Tim: Isn’t it great?
Tom: It’s certainly nice to know what René from Aqua’s up to these days. (I joke, but that guy’s actually called Fred-René, which is a pleasant coincidence.)
Tim: Oh, that is fun. Thing is, I didn’t appreciate it hugely during my initial run through, but having watched it in its semi-final and then again on Saturday, it was the winner of the ‘stuck in your head the next morning’ test, which isn’t surprising when we break it down bit by bit. It’s a good melody, it’s a strong message, a hefty beat, and with its joik it includes a bit of regional music, such as I was lamenting the loss of just a few days ago.
Tom: And it’s regional music that still works for a regular European audience. They’ve done well to integrate it. It’s a good song, and it would have been a deserved winner. And yet, we’re stuck with the Netherlands. Which means Eurovision 2020 will probably be a year of soppy piano ballads. Ugh.
“I think there’s a lesson to be learned for future set designers.”
Tim: Slightly different take on the Reject format today: Moldova’s entry, that failed to qualify from Thursday’s semi-final, and I think there’s a lesson to be learned for future set designers.
Tim: Basically: don’t make you scenery so utterly captivating that no-one’s going to pay attention to the song.
Tom: You’re not wrong there. What you’ve got is a video of sand drawing with some stock music — at least while you’re watching it.
Tim: I watched that three times before writing this, and still had barely any idea whatsoever what the song sounded like. Unlike almost every other time I say something like that, though, that is absolutely not a slight against the song – I pressed play again, put it in the background, and it’s a lovely song. It’s heartfelt, it’s melodious, it’s got a good chorus and there’s even a decent key change in there. But watching it on TV, I’m just not taking it in. At all. When there’s close up shot of her face, I want it to cut away, and see that sand drawing, because that’s the MVP here.
Tom: Two separate sand drawings as well: that’s a prerecorded video on the back wall and a separate live drawing. It’s brilliant, but…
Tim: But background drawing and her wafting away like a victim of Thanos isn’t going to win you a song contest.
“Bright colours, a terrible jacket and two of the most bizarre backing performers I’ve ever seen.”
Tim: Australia’s fifth year entering, and their first with a public selection. Their actual entry’s a bit disappointing, their runner up was garbage, but I think you’ll enjoy this third placer, from a fairly successful Australian band.
Tom: I’ve been driving through Australia recently: I heard Sheppard’s “Coming Home” on the radio and it’s stuck with me. If it’s in that style, I reckon I’ll like it.
Tim: Bright colours, a terrible jacket and two of the most bizarre backing performers I’ve ever seen. The main three on stage are siblings, with the surname of Sheppard (cunning, that), and the other three are the other band members. Why is one sister singing and one wielding a guitar? Why does one have a crown? Why are the other band members largely shrouded in darkness? No idea, but at least the performance looks a whole lot of fun, and has a cracker of a song to go alongside it.
Tom: I think this could have done well: probably not a winner, but it’s positive and catchy with a memorable set of performers who genuinely seem to be having a good time. Certainly through to the final, maybe even left hand side of the table.
