Category: Europop

Gravitonas – Incredible

“Reminds me a lot of BWO, and that’s a very good thing.”

Tim: A song that takes the same theme as Amazing, Amazing and Amazing: choose a word and use it to describe the target. (We should note that Amazing doesn’t do that.)

Tom: Next up: “Slightly Dull”, “Irritating”, and “Broken Up With”.

Tim: This, much like many others that I’ve heard from Gravitonas, reminds me a lot of BWO (the bearded bloke’s previous band, if you need reminding), and that’s a very good thing – their album Big Science is still one of my favourites, and this could come straight off it.

Tom: That’s exactly what I thought when it kicked into full-on DANCE CHOON territory. There’s even some melodies in there that seem to be cribbed rather closely from tracks on Big Science – although that’s not a bad thing.

Tim: The vast majority is great: the intro, the first verse with a calm backing, the first chorus with a bit more underneath it, a cracking dancey post-chorus, a fantastic middle eight and a great closing part. The singing throughout is great, and like I said, the dance part is cracking. But you’ll notice I did miss one bit of the song out: the second verse/chorus. It’s just a minor thing, but basically, I want more.

Tom: Are you Oliver Twist?

Tim: No, but I am musically-demanding. The backing just falls from so high down to pretty much where we were at the beginning, and it doesn’t sit right with me. I know that’s not much of a complaint, because it still works brilliantly, but DAMMIT I WANT MORE.

Eric Amarillo – Sambofet

“Leave the airhorn out of it.”

Tim: Mr Scott, I have two versions of this song for you. There is the radio edit, which comes comes with some lovely strings and a triumphant fanfare, or the club edit, which has an airhorn and wonderful chiming bells. Which would you like?

Tom: Well, I’ll put the radio edit in – it’s got the chiming bells too – but the club edit is here, if our reader prefers.

Tim: Music: lovely, because it’s all about that chorus, with the one word repeated heavily so that we all know what the song’s about (sort of – see below), but it’s the music behind it that really plays a blinder here, and it works well in both versions. Whether it’s the bells, or the strings and the fanfare, it always sounds wonderful (though I could happily leave the airhorn out of it).

Tom: Why does this sound like a discount version of the Killers to me?

Tim: I don’t know, because it doesn’t at all to me.

Tom: I’m not sure why – I think it’s the choice of instrumentation and the vaguely anthemic sound. I don’t mean that to seem like an insult: it’s just that the Killers do this thing so well that it’s hard not to sound a bit like an own-brand knockoff. It’s still a pretty damn good track.

Tim: As for the words and meaning, since you were a bit snarky last week about my not doing lyric research, I checked these out with Google Translate and everything, although there’s a slight issue (just slight) in that Google doesn’t know what ‘sambofet’ itself means.

Tom: Ah, now that I can translate myself. “Sambo” is a term that means simply ‘living together but not married’ – there’s no simpler direct translation in English that doesn’t have some subtext attached to it. And “fet” is, well, “fat”. Translated literally, it’s the weight you put on when you’re in a relationship.

Tim: Well, that sounds about right, because the rest of it is along those lines – “sure, he’s fit and exercising and doing Thai boxing at the moment, but that’s because he’s young and single – just you wait until he’s older when he’ll be drinking beer, playing on his PlayStation and piling on the relationship fat”.

Tom: It’s basically a pledge from Eric to continue keeping fit until he has a heart attack, which is lovely. Not sure whether you could insert it into a pre-nup, though.

Tim: I’m sure someone in California has tried.

Tom: In short: music that’s wonderful and lyrics that are fun but not legally binding.

First Aid Kit – Wolf

I can see why it’s a live favourite.

Tim: The newest single off their album, The Lion’s Roar, likely chosen because people are appreciating it on their tour and it’s the best-selling song off the album on iTunes.

Tom: Which is interesting, given it wasn’t even on the original printing of the album. Not that such things count for much nowadays.

Tim: Isn’t that lovely? I can see why it’s a live favourite – the enthusiastic instrumentation, the excited pre-chorus and then the hey, hey chorus that the entire crowd can sing along with. The vocals are like those in the last single of theirs we reviewed, Emmylou (although we’ve since missed a couple out), and are just as lovely and soulful as they were back then.

Tom: The singer’s really rather good at the “cry break”: that vocal trick where, in songs about longing or sorrow, the note seems to crack, only to switch to a different note instead. It’s not heard much outside country and western – which this almost sounds like – but it fits very well.

Tim: I’m not really sure what the lyrics are all about, but whatever they are I’m sure everything matches together well enough.

Tom: I was about to call you out on not doing the research, but then I looked up the lyrics and realised I couldn’t work them out either.

Tim: The voices and the instruments certainly work well together, and so I’m happy with this. So happy with it that I decided to get the album, and was delighted to find out it’s only a fiver. Lovely.

Saturday Flashback: The Baseballs – Hot N Cold

“It’s better than that.”

Tom: The Baseballs, along with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, are one of the few exceptions to the rule that “all novelty cover bands are crap”.

Tom: This should be a by-the-numbers cover. Yes, well done, you made a Katy Perry song sound like it was from the fifties, now move on. But… it’s better than that. My question is this: is it because these guys are particularly good, because Hot N Cold is a terrific pop song, or both?

Tim: Both. Them, because they’ve managed to infuse it with exactly the right level of speed and excitement from the piano that it needs to match the original and not disappoint. Also the song because I was disappointed when they missed out the extra ‘no’s from the “you don’t really wanna stay…” line, indicating that it was forefront in my mind and there helping this along.

It’s a perfect combination, really, and a belter.

PRIVATE feat. Genasis – Everywhere

“Staccato drumbeats and 80s synths. I was not expecting that.”

Tim: This Danish group had a brilliant album about five years ago, My Secret Lover, and this is the lead single from their new album. And it too is great.

Tom: Crikey! Staccato drumbeats and 80s synths. I was not expecting that.

Tim: Good, aren’t they? Weirdly, I think I’ve subconsciously started blocking out rap bits from songs when I’m listening to them, because the first few times I listened to this I always thought afterwards “well sure, that’s a great chorus and that, but are there not any verses somewhere?”

Tom: The trouble with rap bits in songs like this is that my brain immediately goes “Peter Andre” and “Mysterious Girl”. It’s not a good connection.

Tim: So the seventh time I listened to it I paid proper attention to the rapping, and then realised I needn’t have bothered, because there isn’t much of it, and what there is is just a load of nonsense describing various rude things which just aren’t necessary in a lovely pop song which has not one but two brilliant hooks. That is to say, this one.

Tom: I know swearing’s pretty much standard in pop songs, but somehow it still caught my attention here. The hooks seem so, well, innocent that having the odd f-bomb in there stands out.

Tim: It really does. But then on the other hand even I would have to say that nearly four minutes of just “I’m in love” and “G-girl I’ll take you anywhere” might just get tiresome*, so I suppose it’s a necessary evil, and it doesn’t actually sound all that bad when it’s in there. But couldn’t he have talked about ponies or something?

* Three minutes would probably be okay, but not four.

Tom: I think it’s probably best not to talk about ponies in a love song. There are some unfortunate implications.

Tim: Not necessarily.

Tom: I know what that is, and I’m not bloody clicking it.

Agnes – All Want Is You

“There doesn’t seem to be that much to it.”

Tim: It’s another lyrics video! And this time, they’ve worked so hard that you can’t actually see some of it. Yay.

Tom: Let it go, Tim.

Tim: Oh, fine.

Tim: Tune, though, is good, though to be honest I’m not sure what there is to say about it, because there doesn’t seem to be that much to it. I like the you-oo-oo-oo-ou bits, and can imagine waving my hands around to them, and those occasional big beats that come in serve to give the tune some proper life, whenever it occasionally feels like it’s drying up.

Tom: There is a bit too much “drying up” in there for me, which is strange given how much I enjoyed Leona Lewis’ track yesterday. They’re very similar in tone, and yet this one doesn’t seem to work as well. This just seems less raw, less emotional, less… honest. It’s a generic dance-y track.

Tim: It is. And it’s a lot dancier than the first track off her album was; I’d normally put that as a good thing for me, I’m not so sure here, because it’s not got the same emotional pull. Admittedly, it’s not meant to have, what with it being a completely different type of tune with a different message entirely, but that last one was so definite in wanted it wanted to be (as a song) that this almost seems a bit half-baked.

Tom: Agreed. It’s stuck in some kind of odd between-genres dead-space, and I’m not sure it’s a good spot for it to be.

Tim: I almost feel there’s potential here that just isn’t reached – it should be (and probably can be) a much stronger track. It’s not even giving me enough energy to write a decent review about it, and that’s a proper shame.

Michael Feiner & Caisa – I Do

“It’s a corker of a dance tune.” (With bonus ‘your mum’ joke.)

Tim: It’s an introduction vaguely reminiscent of the cast of Glee’s Don’t Stop Believing, which is always good to get me going. BUT DOES IT CONTINUE?????

Tim: With the tune and genre, not remotely.

Tom: Yep, I figured if it was an a capella version of a Journey track, you probably wouldn’t be sending it to me.

Tim: Well, let’s not rule anything out just yet. But as to whether this tune will get me going, absolutely. It’s a corker of a dance tune – massive synth with a great melody and heavy drum beats just enough so that they’re a main part of it but not so much that they get in the way of everything else.

Tom: It manages the proper balance between pounding CHOON beats and calm, hands-in-the-air moments.

Tim: Then also, much as you pointed out with Sash! recently, there’s some proper emotion in the vocals. Not only does that make for a more satisfying experience all round, but also it means that drunken dancers like me have a proper excuse for yelling our heads off: “it DOESN’T WORK if you don’t SHOUT ABOUT IT!!! COME ON!!!”

Tom: Note to readers: I’m informed that’s also what Tim’s been known to yell in bed.

Tim: Oh, that’s nice – your mum told me you’d fallen out with each other, but I’m glad you’re on speaking terms again.

Tom: Ouch. Well played.

Tim: And I like the video for this, as well – live performances are generally a bit dodgy because they scream out “we don’t have a budget”, but this one is saved by a few particular dancers – most notably the two guys at 1:14 and 2:27, who both have a confidence that we see tragically little of on most dancefloors today.

Tom: Apart from when someone plays Aqua and we’re on the dancefloor.

Tim: A good night. Still don’t understand the look of fear that was on everyone else’s face, though.

Anna Bergendahl – Live and Let Go

She sounds a bit like a lost member of the Corrs.

Tom: Not a kids’ cover of “Live and Let Die”, I’m guessing?

Tim: You guess correctly, and because last week you didn’t remember Greta from this year’s Eurovision, I’ll assume you don’t remember Anna, who represented Sweden in 2010 but (for the first time for Sweden), didn’t qualify for the final.

Tom: I remember thinking she sounds a bit like a lost member of the Corrs.

Tim: Two and a half years later, she’s hoping the Swedes will have forgiven her and has a new track out.

Tim: And it’s…well, it’s even less interesting than the Eurovision one was, disappointingly. It would have been nice if it had been a properly exciting “Hey! Look at me here! Go on, I won Idol in 2008 and Melodifestivalen in 2010! Look, remember how amazing I am?” but it seems it’s not to be.

Tom: She’s basically the Joe McElderry of Sweden, then?

Tim: Erm…yes, that just about stands up as a comparison.

It’s alright, I suppose – it’s a decent ballad, but it never goes anywhere. It’s starts quiet and soulful, and it finishes quiet and soulful. Which is fine if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s pleasant enough, and I do like that chorus melody.

Finally (and somehow I’ve only just noticed this), “I’d rather just go” is hardly an appropriate chorus line for a comeback track, is it?

PULS – Platin

“I think the video made me dislike the music.”

Tim: The first thirty seconds of this video will irritate you; the remainder of it will freak the hell out of you.

Tom: Yep. Anyone who’s got issues with kidnapping and violence – played for bloodless brutality, but not for laughs – shouldn’t watch this.

Tim: Blimey. Not sure how often the whole psycho-stalker thing has been tackled in music videos previously, but it certainly works to distract attention from the music.

Tom: I think the video made me dislike the music. It’s just unpleasant. There’s no real story there, no rhyme or reason behind it, it’s just nasty throughout for the sake of it.

Tim: It is, really. I don’t know if distraction was the point, but I can’t quite think why it would be because the tune is, quite frankly, a BANGER. It is loud, it is jump-around-able, it has excellent vocal parts to begin with and calm down to.

Tom: I listened again, keeping away from the video, and I’m still not convinced. It’s a BANGER, that’s for sure, but it seems to fall more into ‘noise’ territory than ‘music’ for me – the rap bits in particular leave me cold.

Tim: It’s also nice to hear the return of the snare drum build-up, which I haven’t heard in a while despite them being obligatory up until quite recently. So great song, shame about the video (although if you put it in a background tab, the five seconds from 2:55 do sound quite fun when you’re not expecting them).

Tom: This is one where I’m going to disagree: it’s an unpleasant video for an unpleasant song.

Greta Salóme – Everywhere Around Me

What a voice. Oh, what a voice. And what a chorus.

Tim: You may remember Greta as half of Greta Salóme & Jónsi, who teamed up to represent Iceland in Baku with the genre-splicing Never Forget.

Tom: Or you may not. I, er, don’t.

Tim: Well, in that case give it another listen. Not bad by a long way, and it definitely deserved to do better than 20th. But anyway, this here is somewhat less metallic, but still something of a belter.

Tom: Ooh, that’s lovely. Almost menacing strings to start with, and… well, then it just keeps building.

Tim: What a voice. Oh, what a voice. And what a chorus, with the melody of that one line outshining quite a few other songs in their entirety. The lyrics and the message of the song, because this, Tom (and Danny O’Whatsisface—

Tom: O’… nope, I can’t remember his name either.

Tim: —well, whatever.) This can be an inspirational song: “I’m gonna tell the world I found the thing that turned my life around…It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere around me.” Then there’s the instrumentation throughout – this is a four minute song with fewer lyrics than most three minute ones, but what’s beneath them and between them is just huge where it needs to be and quiet where it needs to be.

Tom: It’s the first time, as far as I can remember, that I’ve thought adding a sound effects of a crowd rhythmically clapping has worked. It’s a dark song that soars – that’s difficult to pull off. And, oh my word, the quiet piano middle eight is just gorgeous.

Tim: Well, yes. And then after that there’s the key change, which is something special – it’s so slight you might think it’s not worth having, but once you notice it, it just seems so right and perfect.

In fact, everything about this seems so right and perfect.