Europop – Page 52

Volbeat feat. Johan Olsen – For Evigt

“This song just confuses me no end.”

Tim: Unusual for a number of reasons, this, not least that it’s metal and we’re normally some form of pop, but then what’s life without a bit of variety every now and again?

Adam: Oh how exciting!

Tim: Volbeat are Danish, been going about 15 years, while Johan is the lead singer of another Danish metal band, Magtens Korridorer (or, in English, The Corridors of Power). So with the intros done, here’s the song, and please don’t read ahead until it’s all played out – you’ll see why.

Tim: Two languages in a track – different, but no biggie. A weird “pre-chorus/wait this instrumental sounds like a post-chorus was that the chorus?/oh no wait this Danish bit is the chorus” structure format – a bit more unusual and a tad unsettling, but we’ve heard stranger.

Adam: Now that description would really pique my interest but having heard the track I’m afraid heavy metal and rockabilly fused together isn’t really doing it for me.

Tim: No. A banjo in a hefty rock song? That just doesn’t sit right with me at all, particularly because yet again we’re losing half the beats.

Adam: I actually quite like the banjo breakdown. I think this is another example of two ideas being squashed together needlessly. I think a shorter but full on heavy song would’ve worked better or have the whole track stripped back like in the breakdown.

Tim: Then the song drops dead and fades back in, the banjo’s nowhere to be seen and we’re back in full on thrashing around mode.

Adam: Yeah the whole track does feel to me like it’s stopping and starting throughout. There were certainly some strange choices made in the writing process.

Tim: In essence, this song just confuses me no end, it really does.

Adam: I feel a bit let down. Although it may proclaim to be another genre, I would still call this pop at the end of the day.

Tim: Oh, mate, just no.

Röyksopp feat. Susanne Sundfør – Never Ever

“Where have I heard that backing synth sample before?”

Tim: ‘Poor Leno’ hitmakers Röyksopp have teamed up with the also-Norwegian Susanne for the lead single of their upcoming album; it’s not half bad.

Adam: This seems like a bit of a departure for Röyksopp which, judging by the YouTube comments, is not appreciated by all their fans.

Tim: Yeah – it’s quite a lot more mainstream dance-pop than previous outings. In fact, it’s a perfectly decent track to launch a dance-pop album off.

Adam: Röyksopp have stated in a recent press release that they no longer wish to work within the confines of the traditional album format. So probably no dance-pop album coming for you. Maybe you’ll get some singles of a similar nature though?

Tim: Maybe. But Adam. Adam, Adam, Adam. I need your help, because where have I heard that backing synth sample before?

Adam: I’m getting a very distinct disco and funk vibe from the whole track…

Tim: It’s not completely recognisable until that first beat at 0:12 kicks in, and then AAAARGH. It was a dance track, and I’m fairly sure it was successful in Britain, so please tell me you can place it.

Adam: It reminds me a lot of Get Lucky by Daft Punk. Is that what you’re thinking of?

Tim: No, it’s no a stylistic one, just that single two-bard loop. But really, Get Lucky?

Adam: Perhaps similarities between that track and this one is what is turning some fans off. This whole ditching the album for a purely single based approach is something I’ve seen many bands discuss in the past but never fully follow through with. The beauty of it is that nowadays you such quick feedback from fans on what works and what doesn’t.

Tim: I guess so. Though you could also take that as not having the confidence to set out exactly what you want to do in advance.

Adam: I guess we’ll have to see if new musical and creative approaches for Röyksopp pays off.

I Grow Paper Wings – Run

“I’ve been having such a great time listening to it.”

Tim: As September drags on and Tesco begins to run out of pineapples, it seems that tropical house may be drying up, for the time being at least. Given this, and the fact that this track is more than worthy of kicking any special feature out of its way, let’s skip a tropical Friday this week, and have this.

Adam: Wow, that might be my favourite track I’ve listened to so far while helping out around here.

Tim: Hooray! Because I too think it’s one of the best tracks. Beautiful dreamy synthy pop from an act who’s otherwise known as Jenny Gustafsson.

Adam: I had a little listen through the other songs on her Soundcloud profile and it’s all rather euphoric.

Tim: The best type of music, really. I think one of the things I like most of it is the lack of your standard structure to it. I know I complained not long ago when a song messed around with it, but here it’s done so…playfully is the word that springs to mind, that here I’m not bothered by it.

Adam: You just can’t make your mind up can you? It also features a half time breakdown that you didn’t like when it was utilised in another track we listened to recently.

Tim: Yeah, but there it was back and forth in the chorus, while here it’s in the middle eight, or what passes for one, where everything’s expected to be stirred around, and it works so well as part of that, and with everything else that’s happening it just seems to fit. That carries over to the lyrics – it is just one batch repeated a few times, but the production underneath is so lovely and enjoyable that I have no problems forgiving it.

Adam: I’ve been having such a great time listening to the track that I haven’t really payed that much attention to the lyrics. Perhaps her lyrics are something that she can work on. If you have a read through her website you can see she aspires to make music with meaning. Actually I think she thinks she is accomplishing that already, at least for herself.

Tim: Then good for her. And good for us as well, when it sounds this excellent.

Eight Bit Tiger – Forever

“It kinda reminded me of a TV intro?”

Tim: So here’s a tale for the digital age: two Swedish brothers, Erik and Kent Widman, grew up in Stockholm then moved to Chicago as teenagers. A few years on, Erik’s back in Stockholm and they’re showing that “making a great album is no longer constrained to physical proximity, but can be accomplished in the cloud.”

Tim: So, synth bits get sent back and forth, vocals are recorded, and eventually something worth listening to comes out of it. The aural equivalent of this blog, really.

Adam: It worked in a similar fashion back in 2003 for The Postal Service and resulted in the release of one of, in my opinion, the greatest albums of the 21st century!

Tim: Huh, did not know that. So is this as good, and is it anything more than just a gimmick?

Adam: Nowadays it’s so easy to collaborate via the internet that I’d say this isn’t even that big a deal.

Tim: You’re probably right, and not even I’m enough of a cynic to think they’re wanging on about it purely done to grab attention. It’s nice that they want to keep making music, although, well. Let’s face it: this is a bit dull.

Adam: It left me wanting more. It kinda reminded me of a TV intro? It’s catchy but it doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere.

Tim: More or less my thoughts – for the first minute or so it’s fine, but damn, does that four bar loop get old very, very quickly. I don’t know what the thinking was behind making this four and a half minutes long, but this could have been chopped at the three minute mark and would have lost nothing at all.

Adam: It does get a tad repetitive. I zoned out the first time I was listening to it and thought I had the track on repeat.

Tim: Basic message, then: sounds good, but know when to stop.

Isak Danielson – Remember

“Bit like New Labour and Iraq, really.”

Tim: A young Swede here with beautiful (but quite girly) hair, who seems to be channelling Morrissey, but please don’t let that put you off.

Tim: Standard story: wonderful relationship, A does something stupid, B gets upset, A stands there looking gormless, B runs away, A begs B to remember the good times, hoping for forgiveness. Bit like New Labour and Iraq, really. A miserable tune, it’s true, and yes, there’s quite a bit of work required to get through it – to be honest, if I wasn’t paying attention to the video I’d probably have got bored halfway through and given up. On the other hand, if I had given up, I’d have missed out on that lovely build that bubbles up through the middle eight – miserable it might be, but that’s a stunner of an ending.

Måns Zelmerlöw – Hanging On To Nothing

“It’s good enough, but that’s about all.”

Tim: The latest offering from Eurovision victor Måns, and to be honest I didn’t think all that much of it when I first heard it a week or so ago; however, reader Sam sent it in, with plenty of praise for it, so let’s have another go. (One moment of strong language, by the way.)

Tim: And, sure, it’s okay. It’s decent enough. I think the problem here is similar to the issue I had with his last one, which is: I don’t think it’s good enough. Or rather, it’s good enough, but that’s about all. There’s no massive memorable chorus, nor beautiful emotional vocal, nor amazing instrumental moment, and most importantly I don’t really really want to hear it again as soon as it’s finished, which I do with all those others. It’s not what I want from Måns, who has such great and catchy hits in his back catalogue that this just seems subpar.

Sam compared it favourably to the recent Olly Murs track we looked at and very much enjoyed, and actually that’s a very decent comparison. The only problem is that a good Olly Murs track is an average Måns track. DAMMIT, Zelmerlöw, why must you have been so impressive earlier on in your career?

Saturday Flashback: The Ark – The Worrying Kind

“Reminds me of Austin Powers”

Tim: So, I had Zara Larsson’s Rooftop all lined up for today as it mentions today’s date in the lyrics, but it turns out we covered it back when it was new, so that’s off the table. Instead, let’s pick a track at random from the ever-reliable Best of Melodifestivalen 1958-2013 album (and that’s not even sarcasm, it’s great). The 2007 victor, which thus went on to represent Sweden at Eurovision, and I hope we’re all in the mood for some glam rock.

Tim: Setting the scene, recall that Finland had won the previous year with Lordi—

Adam: What happened to Lordi? I want them back in my life.

Tim: Oh, no, and anyway now we’re heading into Alice Deejay territory – brilliant, but possibly drifting too far from 2007. Novelty was high on the list: we had Scooch, Ukraine had Verka Seduchka, the winner was…unusual, to say the least.

Adam: Wow that is like the opposite of Lordi. Lordi, Lordi, Lordi. I just like saying Lordi.

Tim: And Sweden had this. What a track, and oh, what a performance – talk about “don’t bore us, get to the chorus”, this is ALL IN right from the start.

Adam: When it comes to 3 minute pop songs it’s best to just jump straight in.

Tim: Structurally it’s unusual – mini-chorus, verse, chorus, repeated verse, chorus – but for me at least that doesn’t harm it at all.

Adam: The rotating stage reminds me of Austin Powers. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Tim: Well, I can’t help feeling it might not have helped – it fit fine with the look they were going for, and yet on the night it disgracefully (and well against the bookies’ odds) only came 18th out of 24. DAMMIT Europe, what’s the matter with you?

Adam: Yeah screw you Europe! (Please take us back…)

Tim: This song is EXCELLENT, and really should have done so well. Bloody Serbia.

Bacall & Malo – Africa

“Everything Never Gonna Give You Up wanted to be, and everything that it wasn’t.”

Tim: Four weeks ago, I wrote, “I genuinely can’t imagine any situation where anybody would ever think ‘I want to listen to a tropical house version of Never Gonna Give You Up’.”

Adam: There’s a joke in there somewhere about giving up tropical house versions of Never Gonna Give You Up but I’m having a hard time piecing it together.

Tim: I’ve only come across the one, and to be frank that’s more than enough. The question on our lips today, though, is whether anybody would ever think ‘I want to listen to a tropical house version of Africa’.

Tim: And you know what? I really do think they would, and not least because that’s what I’m thinking right now and have done on many occasions since first hearing this. Unlike previously, this genuinely works. The song fits.

Adam: The original did have a tropical vibe to begin with, although maybe Never Gonna Give You Up does too.

Tim: Oh, the latter really doesn’t, which is one of the reasons I hated it – it sounded horribly shoehorned in, trying to mix internet memes and musical zeitgeists. Africa, on the other hand, is a great original track, it’s been reworked excellently, and I like that it gets stuck in my head.

Adam: That’s the thing: the original is so great. I reckon it’s the original that’s getting stuck in your head not anything about this cover. Covers can be great but I just don’t feel this is bringing anything new to the table.

Tim: You could be right about the stuck in my head bit; the main thing though is that this is, in short, everything Never Gonna Give You Up wanted to be, and everything that it wasn’t. And I’m very glad of that.

Adam: This tropical house cover is definitely better than the other tropical house cover but I would listen to the original every time. I think the question we should really be asking ourselves is ‘do we really need tropical house covers of already great songs’?

Tim: Depends – are there enough people willing to press the play button? And for this, I know I am.

Nea Nelson – Danger Love

“Just as weird as when Norway tried it.”

Tim: Remember four years ago when drum ‘n’ bass was everywhere, and then people moved on, and I didn’t need to wear my “wake me up when dubstep is over” t-shirt? Well, apparently not everybody got the memo, or at least if they did they’ve since forgotten. BRING ON THE TWO-STEP, sort of, it’s weird.

Tim: And oh, that time signature jump here is just as weird and disorientating as it was when Norway tried it at Eurovision.

Adam: Oh wow, that track by Agnete is interesting! It has quite a drastic tempo change going in to the chorus though whereas in this it’s just dropping to half time.

Tim: It’s so bizarre, because the verses and chorus are like two completely separate tracks, split up stylistically as well as mathematically.

Adam: Which can actually work out pretty well. Bohemian Rhapsody does it and is one of the greatest songs of all time.

Tim: Well, that’s a debate for another time, and in any case there everything’s up in the air. Here, it’s more organised, and possibly the worse for it. Her voice goes from melodic to shouty, the instrumental from light pop to heavy drum ‘n’ bass, and it just doesn’t make sense.

Adam: I guess I can see where you’re coming from. It does feel like she’s come up with two separate ideas that might be good and has tried to stick them together.

Tim: Maybe – maaaybe – going into the chorus isn’t too bad, because you at least get an instrumental cut off for a bar, but that moment coming direct from two-step chorus to your standard 4/4 second verse at 1:19 is just AAARGH.

Adam: If you’re having a hard time with the meter changes in this song you should stay away from Pyramid Song by Radiohead because it might melt your brain!

Tim: Annoyingly, both parts are quite listenable – I’d easily take a whole song of that chorus, and probably a song based around the verse, though the chorus’d need to be beefed up. But WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Adam: Woah buddy cool your jets. It’s just pop music!

Tim: ‘Just’ pop music? JUST??? Mate, we need to have words.

Maia – Tordenkys

“Prepare for emotions.”

Tim: Or, for those that don’t know their Danish, ‘Thunder Kiss’, so prepare for emotions.

Tim: Now, my Danish isn’t quite at the level that I can tell you what the words mean, and I can’t find the lyrics online, so I’m unable to help there–

Adam: Wow Tim, you really went above and beyond with your journalism to enrich our readers lives.

Tim: Bloody hell, only here a week and already passive aggressive criticism. What I do know is that with the title, the enthusiasm, the uplifting major key melody–

Adam: Major key equals happy, minor key equals sad. What more do you need to know about music?

Tim: –I think we can pretty much guess that she’s happy with her relationship, and isn’t that really what we all want? I’d like it, that’d be nice, but anyway I’m not here for counselling.

Adam: Oh I thought we could get back to my issues surrounding my relationship with my mother from yesterday’s review?

Tim: No, because we’re here to enjoy music, and today I do. HOORAY.

Adam: Imagine if the song was actually about kissing thunder. Perhaps Maia suffered some bizarre and horrific injury leaving her lyrics a jumble of nonsensical words that defy translation?

Tim: Yeah, it’s still a no on the psychotherapy.