Europop – Page 80

Sharks – Wait

“Definitely worth the wait.”

Tim: I thought of a great introduction to this, then realised that if I wrote it you probably wouldn’t want to listen to it. So I won’t write that, and instead I’ll say try not to be put off by the verses.

Tim: Okay so what I was going to say was along the lines of ‘If you’d only heard I Love It and not liked it, you’d probably describe this as “Icona Pop, but even worse”.’

Tom: That’s true, but I’d say this is better than I Love It.

Tim: Really? Because as I see it, it’s largely tuneless, the stuff in the background is primarily noise…

Tom: Wait, really? It’s more tuneful than shouty, that’s for sure, and the production’s pretty damn melodic. They’re using loud and square-sounding synths, sure, but it’s certainly got a melody in there.

Tim: Oh, the production, sure, but so was Icona Pop’s. It’s the vocals in the verses that really get me – almost irritating to listen to.

Tom: That first line did grate a bit, but for some reason the fact that they really committed to it rescued in my head: perhaps it reminded me a bit of old J-Pop or something similar.

Tim: HOWEVER, I will say that if you can get past the intro and the verse and the pre-chorus, there’s a very good chorus in there. It’s a big if, and like the songs says you have to wait (even if you don’t want to), but it’s definitely there, and possibly worth the wait.

Tom: Definitely worth the wait.

Hannah Schneider – Dreaming Kind

“A battle cry for sensitive dreamers”

Tim: E-mailed to us as “a catchy floating airy electro-pop track with a video full of images of freedom and magic”. Pretty much lives up to that, so have a gander.

Tom: YouTube’s age-gated this video, so those at work may want to take appropriate precautions.

Tim: The PR that followed in the rest of the e-mail is roughly thesis-length, starting with ‘colourful family history’; quite frankly I’d got bored by the third paragraph, which focused on her granddad’s romantic exploits in America (seriously), so I skipped to the end and found that Dreaming Kind “was conceived as a battle cry for sensitive dreamers”.

Tom: That’s… well, I’m not sure that’s possible.

Tim: Yeah – I’m fairly sure there’s some sort of oxymoron in there but never mind, because the original ‘floating airy’ bit is good enough for me – describes it well, with all the “oh-oh-oh-oh-etc”s, and it’s a lovely track.

Tom: You seem to like this sort of thing much more than I do. I get that all the component parts are good, but it just seems…

Tim: Mostly forgettable?

Tom: Yep. That.

Tim: Maybe, but her new album’s out next week and I’ll be giving it a listen.

King Shaolin – Friend

“That’s just not hygienic.”

Tom: An anonymous reader sends this in, with the not-particularly-helpful note “Slovakia music”.

Tim: Hmm, let’s see…four piece ‘new-age pop’ banded formed in Bratislava, with a Wikipedia section that’s definitely not been written by their record label.

Tim: Well as a cookery instructional video that’s just not hygienic.

Tom: I think the best advice for this song is: “mate, you don’t need that autotune”.

At about 1:39, in case you’re wondering.

Tim: Oh. Oh, yes.

Tom: That moment makes me wonder how much more of it’s been applied to the track: and while I’ve got no real problem with use of autotune itself, it’s a bit like breaking the fourth wall in a play. As a stylistic choice, it makes sense: just doing it once seems a bit sloppy.

Tim: Either that, or they slightly overapplied it and hoped no-one would notice, which’d be my bet here.

Tom: Anyway, the song. I’ll be honest: I didn’t expect that pre-chorus. Once I got used to what the song was actually trying to do, it started to work for me: but the whistling got repetitive, the melody got a little dull, and not even the middle eight could stop me moving off to another tab and getting distracted.

Tim: Yeah: it’s an enjoyable track, but I was ready for it to finish after two and a half minutes.

Tom: Shame: there’s a good song in here somewhere, but it’s just not quite made it.

Tim: I’d say made it, and then made some more and more and never really knew when to stop.

Zara Larsson – Rooftop

“She rhymed ‘crazy’ with ‘crazy’.”

Tom: Our regular correspondent, CB, sends this in with the note that it’s got “somewhat cringeworthy lyrics”. CB’s not wrong.

Tim: Oh, SO WRONG – those lyrics are perfect.

Tom: She rhymed “crazy” with “crazy”. Fairly sure these lyrics were actually written by a ten-year-old.

Tim: EXACTLY. Glad we brought this up, because remember Carry You Home? Lyrics included “I’ve been through the days when bright love turns into hate” and “You lose the way and you hit the wall, I’ll be the one to carry you home”, and I’ve got to say, as I meant to say then: bullshit. THOSE are the cringeworthy lyrics, because she’s 16. SIXTEEN. She has not been through those days, and she is not remotely in a position to carry someone emotionally when they’ve been through shit. She is ENTIRELY in a position, though, to dream up a perfect future life based on getting off with one guy at a party.

Tom: I should really dislike this song — not just for the lyrics, for the fact it outstays its welcome, and that it basically epitomises my regular complaints about ‘monotony’. But I can’t, and it’s because of the production. The synth lines in the background are brilliant, the melody works well, and it manages — and this is a hell of a compliment — to sound almost like it’s off Beyoncé’s new album.

Tim: Hmm. I’d say a Jessie J album, and it would sit in the same position in my iTunes library – just about made its way there off a Now compilation, and probably skipped over whenever it came up.

Tom: Apart from those lyrics. If they’d used a different lyricist, this could have been a brilliant track. As it is: well, I’ll hope for an instrumental.

Tim: And I’d take an a capella version. Shall we split it?

Diandra – Onni On

“It’s about as schlagery as modern pop gets these days”

Tim: You may or may not remember Diandra’s previous occurrence on these pages, Paha Poika, involving some really not very nice lyrics.

Tom: I also remember ‘Out Of My Head‘, which is still one of the best tunes we reviewed that year.

Tim: You’re not wrong there. ‘Onni on’, in contrast to Paha Poika, translates to ‘Happiness Is’, and that’s got to be a good indicator, right?

Tim: RIGHT. Great indeed. As ever with Finnish, it seems, Google Translate’s not the best, but the main thrust is that happiness is so unpredictable that it can come from anywhere.

Tom: I didn’t predict that key change, that’s for sure.

Tim: I would agree with this, and put forth examples such as hands-swaying-in-the-air choruses, big drumbeats on pretty much every single second and fourth beat and, of course, unexpected key changes, which in this case seems nothing short of divine.

Tom: It’s about as schlagery as modern pop gets these days, and I mean that as a compliment. That outro is gorgeous, too.

Tim: With the exception of the slightly not great introduction (which is such a minor niggle it’s barely worth mentioning), I cannot think of an immediate way to improve this song. It’s wonderful, and a perfect example of its own message.

Gabriel Alares – Dårarna

“That’s a cracking start.”

Tim: FOOLS, we all are, according to Gabriel, Eurovision songwriter and Swedish Idol-contestant, now branching out into singing.

Tim: BOOM, that’s a cracking start, and it’s a little disappointing it drops down straight after the intro, but I won’t complain too much because while it would be nice for some change, that is basically standard fare for verses.

Tom: And somehow, that Swedish sounds filthy.

Tim: Still, the choruses are very nice with their mesh of traditional pop/rock instruments and synths, combined with an enthusiastic vocal line and a shouty oh-oh-oh-etc line – all combining to give actually one of the best choruses I’ve heard in a while.

Tom: The vocals, for some reason, sound a bit 80s to me: perhaps they’re resonating with a memory of a particular song. Top marks for that middle eight, though.

Tim: The closing section I also like, because while the choruses are good, it’s that production in the background that really shines, so it’s nice that that’s been alllowed to take centre stage. All in all, good track.

Oh Land – Head Up High

“It took a while to get going, but yes.”

Tim: To Denmark, for some electropop!

Tim: And happy electropop, and to be honest I don’t have much to say about it because really I just want to listen to it – that chorus, repetitive as it may be, is very chirpy indeed.

Tom: It took a while to get going, but yes. Oddly, I found that offbeat middle-eight to be the best part of the whole thing, but I still enjoyed it.

Tim: Is she singing “higher”? Well, yes, but also “HIYA!” in a nice fun greeting, with a “come join in with me having fun” sense to it.

Tom: Or in the stereotypical sense of delivering a vicious karate chop to someone’s neck.

Tim: Which could also be fun, I suppose. And I want to have fun with someone who’s all about keeping their head held high, whatever may happen, because that’s the best way to live life. And it really is, like this is somewhat the best way to make music: happy electropop. LOVE IT.

Saturday Flashback: Herreys – Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley

Contains SPOILERS for Eurovision 1984

Tim: I got listening to my Melodifestivalen Best Of album again earlier.

Tom: Of course you have a Melodifestivalen Best Of album.

Tim: Of course I do – it’s brilliant. This is the winner from 1984, and I challenge you to listen to it without wanting to click your fingers in the chorus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-RRXHG00GY

Tom: Oh heavens, that’s astonishingly 80s right there. Matching white trousers.

Tim: SPOILER if you’ve got Eurovision 1984 on Sky+ and haven’t got round to watching it yet: this came first, as you can probably judge from the crowd’s reaction there, and why wouldn’t it? These guys are up there singing about the glories of being laughed at for their choice of shoes.

Tom: Ha! Somehow that elevates the song from ‘kitsch’ to ‘brilliance’ in my head, but I’ve no idea why.

Tim: Well good, because it should. Of course, since the vast majority of Europe didn’t know that, the lesson we can take is that the best tactic for victory is jumble a few singable syllables that don’t make sense to anyone and trust that they’re catchy enough to be remembered. And here: oh yes.

Tom: Plus a key change. Always a key change.

Tim: Always. This is catchy, nonsensical, and entirely JOYOUS, because that comes across even if the details don’t. LOVELY LOVELY TRACK.

Benjamin – Underdogs

“Formulaic, by the numbers, cheap, almost lazy, just no.”

Tim: Another Scandinavian kid with an aversion to surnames, this is Benjamin, and in an attempt to trigger your “get off my lawn” reflex, I’ll tell you that he rose to fame via Instagram.

Tom: Oh, for crying out loud.

Tim: Not really sure how that works, but anyway, here’s his first track.

Tom: UNNECESSARY SHIRTLESS SHOT. And heaven knows why they decided to film a video for a Scandinavian pop star in the east end of London.

Tim: Now, call me a cynical bastard if you like, but a tiny part of me has the feeling that someone at Warner got bored of listening to music demos one day and just thought “hang on, that guy’s getting famous, let’s have him.” Find a songwriter who can give you something that doesn’t require a huge amount of singing ability, stick a microphone in front of the photogenic one, film him jumping around a bit and bingo, you’ve got a hit, right?

Tom: Quite possibly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the song’s any good.

Tim: No, it certainly doesn’t, and let’s be honest it’s not the greatest. I’d like to think that’s not the case. I really would. But I can’t quite shake the feeling that it is. I don’t know. Maybe his album, out next year, will convince me otherwise. But otherwise: formulaic, by the numbers, cheap, almost lazy, just no.

Summer Heart – Sleep

“A pleasant if slightly uninspiring track”

Tim: Okay, how about something a bit relaxing for you?

Tom: Hmm. “Relaxing” usually means “I’ll fall asleep at some point”. The title doesn’t help. Who’s behind it?

Tim: New Swedish bloke, known to his mum as David Alexander but to the rest of the world as Summer Heart.

Tim: And there you go. Pleasant enough, I think you’ll agree?

Tom: I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. Just one catch: I don’t like the chorus. And that’s weird for me; normally the choruses stand out for me in any song, but here I think they let the side down a bit.

The verses are bloody lovely, though.

Tim: Nothing loud, nothing intense, just a nice track to sit back and relax to, maybe in a park on a sunny May afternoon. Which makes it slightly odd that it’s being released in November, but maybe he’s got an Australian audience in mind, or maybe he’s banking on recalling happy memories. Either way, it’s a pleasant if slightly uninspiring track, nicely suited to lying back and doing nothing. I’ll take it.