Europop – Page 35

Maja Francis – Stressed

“It’s like a discount CHVRCHES!”

Tim: If you’re like me, you might get annoyed by the lyrics video, which has that font previously found on camcorders but now exclusively and overly used to signify that we are officially Back In The Eighties. You might then also start wondering which is more annoying: using that font and applying a home camcorder effect to the video, making it look crap, or using that font and not applying a camcorder effect to the video, making it out of place and somewhat half-arsed.

Tom: I… I will be honest, Tim, I didn’t wonder any of that.

Tim: WELL THEN, I guess you’re just not like me. Chorus, though, made me forgive and almost forget all that.

Tom: It’s like a discount CHVRCHES! I’ll admit that chorus has a couple of lovely moments in it: the whistle-register bits and the percussion in the back both hit home for me. But it’s not stuck in my head afterwards, and it didn’t really grab much of my interest beyond that. Why did it make you forgive and forget?

Tim: Because that’s a very enjoyable chorus, which as far as I’m concerned makes the whole thing worth it. Stylistically I’m not sure the gentle plinky guitar strumming quite fits with all the synth beats that dominate, and I’d rather it didn’t take until we got to chorus until a melody as good as that arrived, but since it does: I’m sold.

Bishat – Dream About Me

“That chorus isn’t typically one I’d go for, but it was done well enough that I kept listening.”

Tim: Bishat’s off Sweden, bringing us this as her new one; I was ambivalent about it until the chorus came along, and then my views changed.

Tom: I was really startled by that chorus, and not in a good way.

Tim: Well, quite, as the first time I heard this I wasn’t so keen – that chorus isn’t typically one I’d go for, but it was done well enough that I kept listening, and I’m very glad I did. The closing section was unexpected: I thought “huh, this middle eight is going on a long time” before I realised what was actually happening, and – who’d have thought it – that actually help me come round to enjoying the chorus.

Tom: Yes, I can see this one being a grower. Not for me, I think, but I can at least appreciate what they were trying to do.

Tim: It’s unusual, it’s inventive, and, like yesterday, here that helps it. Nice one.

The Vanjas – My Girls

“Nothing wrong with that, but it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity.”

Tim: Lots of 1980s inspired sound around at the moment; not so much from the 60s or 70s, though. Here’s a Swedish remedy, and the blurb says that it’s “about a girl who’s waiting and wishing to be with her friends” and is “a soundtrack to hanging with your crew”. Sound good?

Tom: Yep, that is clearly inspired by Motown.

Tim: I pressed play, I think “ooh, it’s like Hairspray all over again”, and although I’m appalled to discover the film of it is now 11 years old, it’s still a great musical. At other times we’ve got elements of Blondie in there, and all in all I am a big fan of this, not least just because it’s different.

Tom: It is, but what hasn’t happened here is any sort of updating for the modern era — yes, the production is a bit cleaner, but this could pretty much have come directly from the 1960s. Nothing wrong with that, but it feels a little bit like a missed opportunity. But you’re right, it is different.

Tim: I don’t want to say ‘new’, because obviously it takes so many cues from half a century ago, but it feels new because it’s unusual. And unusual doesn’t always mean ‘good’, but here…here it does. It turns out they’ve been going a while, so if you’ll excuse I’ll just head off for a rummage around their back catalogue.

Tom: Ooh, matron.

Donkeyboy – It’ll Be Alright

“Sort of, warm and snuggly, really.”

Tim: The follow up to Kaleidoscope, and unlike that one we’ve a lyric video now that doesn’t chop out the audio randomly. Hooray!

Tim: There’s room for improvement, we’re told, and we might be feeling down, but it’ll be good, because we’ve got Donkeyboy to look after us. And I think that’s a lovely sentiment for a song.

Tom: You’re not wrong. A lovely sentiment, three minutes long, and a generally nice song. Can Britain send this to Eurovision instead? It wouldn’t win, but at least it wouldn’t be an embarrassment.

Tim: Well, they’re Norwegian, so they probably wouldn’t be up for it. Fairly brief, with an abrupt start and ending, but that does at least stop it being too repetitive – it’s on its way there as it is, although I think that’s the one criticism I’ve got of it. Other than that, I think this is really rather nice.

Tom: Yes — it’s not going to light up a playlist or storm the charts, I suspect, but you picked the right word there. Nice.

Tim: Sort of, warm and snuggly, really.

Nik P. – Im Fieber der Nacht

“A kind of dancepop uncanny valley“

Tim: We’ve featured Nik P. a few times before, more often than not when he’s collaborated with DJ Ötzi.

Tom: Two days of German dancepop! You spoil me.

Tim: What can I say, I’m feeling generous. Here’s his new one, and I have thoughts.

Tom: I’m not entirely convinced by this, because — although it’s buried in the mix — all I can hear in the chorus is the constant “buhh buhh buhh buhh” one-note synth in the background. Unlike yesterday’s glorious track, which accepted the inherent cheesiness (of both itself, and its genre), this isn’t quite respectable, and it isn’t quite schlager. It lands in a kind of dancepop uncanny valley, where “it’s a grooving crowd” just doesn’t sound right.

Tim: You know, ‘buried in the mix’ kind of leads me to my issue. See, I will never turn down a track like this – I love the genre, and even if it’s only a 5/10 I’ll stick it in a playlist and listen to it happily. Except – and this is going to sound horrible – I’m not sure the voice works here. It’s – and again, I hate saying this – too old. Too croaky, it’s seen too much through the years. By all means, Nik P., please do keep making the music; just maybe get a featured singer instead?

Tom: Nope, I’d say completely the other way round. I have no problem with this voice: I just think the production could use being… well, either less modern or more modern. Pick one.

Matthias Reim – Himmel voller Geigen

“When we started a blog called Europlop, Tim, THIS is exactly what I wanted us to cover.”

Tim: Matthias, known largely in Germany for his 1990 hit “Verdammt, ich lieb’ dich” and more recently his 2013 track “Unendlich“. He’s had many other tracks, before and since, though, and here’s his latest, which translates as “Sky Full of Violins”.

Tom: I just listened to the 1990 hit there, and I am ON BOARD with this. That is PROPER 90s German dancepop, and I want to see how that style translates into this century.

Tom: I actually said “oh yes” out loud on those opening notes. The chorus did EXACTLY what I want it to. When we started a blog called Europlop, Tim, THIS is exactly what I wanted us to cover.

Tim: Chorus: “Just because of you, my sky is full of violins, and they play my favourite song every day; just because you’re here I can live my life again, it’s just great that you’re here.” Isn’t that nice? I say nice, it’s actually a bit of a sad song: it’s sung about his new housemate he’s got a massive thing for (hur) but just can’t bring himself to speak to, in case she laughs in his face.

Tom: Agh, well it can’t be perfect. (And, musically, the post-chorus is the one thing here that really doesn’t work for me, but I can live with it.)

Tim: The feelings are nice, though, so GO ON, MATTHIAS. If you don’t ask, you’ll never get.

Additional: top marks to whoever made the lyric video for advertising his album during the instrumental – now I’ve seen it, I’m actually surprised I’ve never seen it before.

Tom: POWER BALLAD GUITAR SOLO. I LOVE THIS SONG.

Miriam Bryant – Black Car

“Is she bathing in Bovril? I think she’s bathing in Bovril.”

Tim: You might have heard this before, as it was first released a couple of years ago, when it was very successful in Sweden, and won an award and everything. Bored of just being popular in Sweden, though, Miriam wants to go international and has chosen this to launch herself, bringing a fancy video along for the ride.

Tom: Is she bathing in Bovril? I think she’s bathing in Bovril.

Tim: Blimey, you must like your Bovril thick. Anyway, the titular black car is meant to represent “the place we met – the club we always go back to and where we had our first kiss”; I don’t quite get that myself, particularly not the way she’s smashing it up and burning it in the video, but I guess it’s her song so she gets to decide.

Tom: Anyway, that sounds like a lot of modern indie music. Switch the vocalist for someone with a northern British accent and you’ve basically got half the line-up for Glastonbury.

Tim: Yes, and I guess that might be why I like it – it seems immediately familiar, but not in a sense of “they’ve nicked this from…” but more in an “oh, yeah, this is right” sense. It’s gentle, it’s flowing, it’s almost reassuring, and I’m really quite enjoying it.

Next To Neon – Looking At You

“I hate what I’m about to do.”

Tim: Otherwise know as Rasmus Viberg, formerly a member of various bands but finally branching out with a solo career, and this here’s his debut. Clear?

Tom: That’s surprisingly catchy. I mean, it fails both my Good Pop Tests (I can’t remember the chorus after one listen, and I didn’t want to replay it) but there’s nothing actually wrong with it. It’s well-produced, and the vocal work’s great — pulling off falsetto like that isn’t easy.

Tim: It isn’t, and you’re right that it is a pretty good track, which is why I hate what I’m about to do: point out the lyrics. I don’t really want to spoil the song for people who, like me, just thought they were quite nice on first hearing, but after a couple of listens the repeated line “I’m only looking at you” does seem a bit…well, just creepy, really.

Tom: Huh. You’re not wrong.

Tim: I’m sure they were meant pleasantly, because they are until you overthink them, and to be honest I really wish I hadn’t done that, because otherwise it’s a lovely track – great synth work, good vocal, top melody. It’s just…aargh, I mean you’re basically inviting a restraining order with this.

Esther Vallée – Hardcore

“A chorus that sounds like someone’s trying unsuccessfully to light a gas hob.”

Tom: In a world where “Clubland Extreme Hardcore 5” is a valid title for a compilation CD, and where Scooter are “Always Hardcore“, it’s a bold choice to use that one word as your song title.

Tim: It is, but Esther say that “for me, to be hardcore means to be unbeatable and let yourself be driven by what you want the most. To not escape the hard things in life, but instead dare to be hardcore on home turf.” Interested?

Tom: So, not Scooter, then?

Tim: Sorry, but no.

Tim: Behinds the scenes FUN FACT for our reader: I’m writing this just a couple of minutes after writing about Friday’s track, and man alive did that get me in the mood for this, because what a chorus this is.

Tom: I was going to comment about that. Same sort of thing — a strandard pop-song verse, and then into a chorus that sounds like someone’s trying unsuccessfully to light a gas hob.

Tim: Well I guess if nothing else I have to give you points for creativity with that line. The song reminds me, to an extent, of Norway’s 2016 Eurovision entry, which at the time we said (justly) that it sounded like the chorus and verse were from two completely separate songs, with the verse being good pop and the chorus being heavy two step. This isn’t quite as segregated, but there’s certainly a fair change between the two parts of the song; I’m fairly sure it works, though. Well, certainly does for me, as I’m very happy listening to it.

Tom: I’m just worried about how much gas’ll go up when someone finally gets the burner to catch.

Hanne Leland – Carry On

“Huh. I think bikinis flying off would have been better.“

Tim: “Carry On is about finding strength to move on in the midst of chaos,” says the email, and how with a world that’s running down we can find a way to keep living, by finding strength and unity with each other. Ain’t that nice?

Tom: I thought it was about bikinis flying off.

Tim: Well, that as well.

Tom: Huh. I think bikinis flying off would have been better.

Tim: That chorus is…weird. Not necessarily bad weird, mind, because there’s a lot there, it’s loud and vibrant would describe it nicely. Just, weird because I can’t quite work out what’s going on. Her voice is rising, and it dips – and then does it come back, or is it just synths, or copy and paste, or what?

Tom: You mean that irritating klaxon-esque sound in the background? It knackered the song for me, but it’s is also a sample from her voice. At this point, the line’s so blurred that I’m not sure it matters any more: synths, copy and paste, or both.

Tim: Perhaps true. I’m guessing it’s the last, because that same section is repeated several times without the buildup, but hearing it all at once makes it sound a bit like she’s harmonising with herself, which doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Tom: I’m more startled that this is under four minutes long. I felt the song had overstayed its welcome even before that last chorus.

Tim: I don’t know, the rest’s nice, powerful and stuff. I think. I don’t know, I was a bit distracted.