Europop – Page 92

Julie Bergan – Younger

“You’re going to die soon.”

Tim: Tom, I hope you’re not feeling particularly old today, because if you are this probably isn’t the song for you.

Tim: No, Julie, we’re not getting any younger. Thank you for pointing that out so vividly.

Tom: And repeatedly.

Tim: Quite. It’s weird, really, because while that can often be put to good use as a ‘get out and do stuff’ lyrical vibe, here (and I’m not sure why) it just seems to be ‘you’re going to die soon’, which I’m not really sure is something I want blasted in my face at however many decibels (regardless of how pretty brilliant it is musically).

Tom: And I’m not sure it’s brilliant musically either: it’s certainly a powerful chorus — and I’m a sucker for a well-used “heeyyyy” sample — but it does go on a bit.

Tim: I don’t know, I don’t get that. Back to the age thing (which apparently I don’t seem to be able to let go of), it might be the surrounding lyrics – aside from ‘scream, shout, fire up this show’ there’s no real incitement, and let’s be honest screaming, shouting, and setting fire to things is exactly what someone’s who’s only got ten minutes to live may well do.

So, you know, lovely music in the chorus, but I’d rather have a happy message next time, if that’s okay?

Ida LaFontaine – YOLO

“That Title is a big thing to get past.”

Tom: Really?

Tim: Yes, I know. But have a listen anyway.

Tim: So despite That Title, it’s a pretty good track.

Tom: Agreed, but That Title is a big thing to get past.

Tim: Well, fair play to them, they’ve resisted outright saying it a lot more than they could have – yes, the middle eight is full of it, to an horrific extent, but all the rest is somewhat tame. After all, the ONCE shout at the end of the chorus could easily be replaced by a YO, with the first (and probably many more) of the following ‘oh’s replaced by a LO. So I suppose well done to whoever had the final say there.

Tom: Mmf. If I tune out the lyrics and just let it sit in the background, I guess I can’t deny that it’s a pretty good track.

Tim: Pretty great, in fact; whatever your thoughts are to the particular ‘word’ it’s a decent piece of pop. Big chorus, big verses, a decent voice – the only problem is that middle eight which is basically just shoutiness. So basically the song is fine except for that middle eight. Oh well.

Tom: The Lonely Island did it better.

Tim: Cannot deny: that is true.

Matilda Thompson – What We Do

“How We Do”.

Tim: Prediction: you’ll find the opening couple of lines a bit harsh, and like the rest of it.

Tim: Well, that’s what I did.

Tom: Yep, that introduction is worryingly Cher Lloyd-like. Fortunately, it swung away from that quickly.

Tim: This is Matilda, a Dane who musically first appeared in public in 2002; she was 12 and part of a group competing to represent Denmark at Eurovision that year. They didn’t, but they kept going anyway, and oh, there’s a whole load of tedious biography on her slightly outdated website if you want it. According to that, she is “primed for global exposure in 2012”, and is “about to be unleashed.” So that’s good.

Tom: I know how difficult it is to keep a web site up to date, but two years? That’s impressive.

Tim: Like I said earlier, I wasn’t entirely sold on the first few lines, as there wasn’t much of a melody and only a hard repetitive synth in the backing; come the second half of the verse when the singing picks up a bit, and then the chorus where everything kicks off, it’s all sorts of brilliant, really.

Tom: Yes. But I think that’s mainly because it’s Rita Ora’s How We Do.

Tim: Oh. Ohh…

Tom: I mean, the instrumentation’s about the same, the melody’s close, the vocal style is remarkably similar, and there’s that “cos when” and “we do, do, do” echoing. Granted, it doesn’t have the “party and bullshit” chant, but it’s pretty much the same track aside from that.

Tim: Yes, it is a bit similar isn’t it. Oh well, let’s ignore that. We’ve a hugely upbeat chorus, a decent hook and a song nicely targeted at people who just want to have fun, party all night, and stay, well, forever young, as the lyrics say. And who doesn’t?

Belle – Attraction

“Outstays its welcome”

Tim: Fancy a nicely compiled lyric video with a trick up its sleeve?

Tom: Nicely compiled, possibly, but far too much textspeak for my taste.

Tom: But you’re right, I wasn’t expecting it to suddenly crank up a key or two.

Tim: Yes, it’s a heavy electro track with a key change, which isn’t something I ever thought might exist; I had to flip back a couple of times just to check I’d not made it up.

Tom: It’s really not to my taste, though: I’ll admit the key change livens it up, but only for a little while: that chorus outstays its welcome very quickly.

Tim: Do I like this track a lot? Well, maybe on a dance floor with a good number of run and cokes inside me, I could jump around to it and throw my hands up in delight when the key change makes its appearance. On the other hand, typing this at my desk it’s a bit of a racket, albeit a racket I never really thought I’d hear, which is something I suppose.

Eagle-Eye Cherry & Darin – Dream Away

“Start simple, end big.”

Tom: Now that’s an interesting combination of names.

Tim: Not a collaboration that most people would instinctively jump to, but let’s have a charity single. (Oh, and fact that turned up during research: ‘Eagle-Eye Cherry’ is his actual name.)

Tim: So, it starts off all Save Tonight-ish, graduates into a Lovekiller/Save Tonight blend and then goes full on Lovekiller for the chorus. And if you’ve had the idea of merging the two styles together, that’s a cracking way of doing it.

Tom: Agreed: start simple, end big.

Tim: And, having heard this, the resulting question is why wouldn’t you have the idea? Well, actually because they sound completely different and don’t really play all that nicely, as indicated by the necessary pauses before each chorus.

Tom: True: I don’t think you could blend them easily without doing that, but it’s not like the song goes completely silent.

Tim: Darin’s vocal carries over them nicely so they don’t jar, though, and what we’re left with in the end is, against all the odds, an absolute triumph. A TRIUMPH, you hear me?

Tom: It is, but I think there’s a better Eagle-Eye Cherry mashup out there.

Tim: Huh. Fun.

Maria Sejer – Jeg Er

“Wellbeing and happiness,” possibly.

Tim: This is, I think, probably the gentlest electropop we’ve ever featured here. Have a listen, and inevitably relax.

Tom: Ooh, I’m not sure about that: I’d put some of the Sound of Arrows stuff as being gentler than this. It’s certainly on the calm end of the scale, though.

Tim: If you don’t know your basic Danish, the title just means ‘I Am’, and while I don’t know the other lyrics so could be getting this entirely wrong, the video and musical tone kind of indicate a general message of wellbeing and happiness with the current state of affairs.

Tom: It’s quite pleasant, really, although I can’t say it’s something I’d put on my regular playlist. It’s like a… I don’t know, like a sugary drink that’s been watered down a bit: pleasant enough, seems vaguely sweet, but ultimately just gets forgotten about.

Tim: Erm, what?

Tom: I think that analogy got away from me. Anyway, yes, wellbeing and happiness?

Tim: Indeed. I hope I’m not wrong, because that’s a lovely message for a track, with very gentle (twice I’ve used that word, but it’s true) music and calm yet delicate vocals. So if I’m right, I like this track a lot; if I’m wrong, I don’t want to know. Sound good?

Tom: I won’t translate it if you won’t.

Crash feat. Pixy J – I’m Alive

“That sounds like a proper track at last.”

Tim: If I say ‘stop me if you’ve heard this before’, you’ll stop me, so I won’t. We first wrote about this last July, when it came out initially mostly as a demo, with a horrific rap from a bloke calling himself ‘Sunshine Gillz’. Fortunately, that version’s been taken off YouTube, it’s been rerecorded with a slightly different line up, given a production makeover and now it’s much much better. So let’s go again, shall we?

Tom: Well, that sounds like a proper track at last.

Tim: Doesn’t it just? I pointed out last time it could have come straight from 2003; you rightly pointed out that that’s not necessarily a compliment given that that was now a decade ago. However, as part of aforementioned overhaul they’ve stuck a bit of extra bass and stuff on there and actually now it seems, well, mostly 2003 and slightly 2014.

Tom: Yep, those synth pads are 2003, but at least it sounds modern now. YouTube’s overcompressed it a bit, as it sometimes does — this is the kind of track that needs a full-on club speaker system to be heard properly.

Tim: Best thing, though, is that it doesn’t have a rapper over the middle eight. Or, in fact, any middle eight at all, being as it is just two verses and a lot of choruses. That’s no problem that I see, though, because when I’m jumping around on the dance floor I’m not generally appreciating musical structure.

Tom: Fair point, and it doesn’t seem to lose anything from missing it.

Tim: No. Well, unless you look at it as a missed opportunity to do something potentially awesome. But here it’s a deliberately skipped opportunity to do something horrific, so it’s actually okay. ALL MENDED WELL DONE.

Majestee of Sweden – Supergirl

I wasn’t massively sold on it — until that guitar solo in the middle eight.

Tim: Chapter two in our story of ‘young girls being slightly crap superheroes’ here, after chapter one last October.

Tim: Here’s a thing: I heard the intro line, but almost immediately got entirely immersed in the video and kind of let the music get relegated to the backing.

Tom: See, I opened it in a background tab and wasn’t massively sold on it — until that guitar solo in the middle eight.

Tim: It wasn’t until the very last line, “I’m gonna save the world if that’s okay,” that the song came back and it all matched up together. So then I listened again, and what a lovely track. Slightly melancholy vocals to start with, but damn, that chorus is something special. As is the instrumental buildup back to the final choruses.

Tom: Yep. It could start to be a minute or so shorter, I reckon, but you’re right: it all came together at the end.

Tim: All great, really, and nicely boosted by a few Superman references potted throughout the lyrics. Good work everybody.

Kevin Walker – Belong

You’re probably thinking that this sounds a lot like Wake Me Up

Tim: Last Friday X Factor, today Swedish Idol, and this year’s winner, Kevin, a (still active) professional footballer.

Tom: That’s a multi-talented person right there. Just like Gazza.

Tim: You’re probably thinking that this sounds a lot like Avicii’s Wake Me Up, with it’s country-esque verse, lone vocal and than big dance chorus, and you’d be right – it would seem the Idol producers thought that since they’re always accused of being cynical and manipulative of the music industry they might as well go all in, so let’s have something very similar to the biggest hit of year.

Tom: It’s similar in style, but the vocals and production are different enough that it didn’t immediately remind me. It’s not a complete ripoff, but yes, they’re certainly just grabbing onto the coattails of whoever’s currently popular.

Tim: However awful that sort of attitude may be, damn, it does seem to work. Farmhouse music —

Tom: Is… is that like house and garage, only with country? ‘Cos that’s a cracking term, if so.

Tim: Pretty much, yeah and it seem it’s here to stay; whether it’ll become as universal as piano dance was eighteen months back remains to be seen, but I like this. Entirely derivative, and unashamedly so, but it’s a decent enough track to dance to. Of course, it’ll be nowhere near as successful as Avicii what with being six months too late for dancing to, but it’s the thought that counts.

The United – So Wicked

“Crikey. Let’s have it, indeed.”

Tim: Right then, that’s Christmas done. But let’s stay vaguely merry for the time being with a nice tale of worldwide co-operation. Remember these guys from back in March? Without going into all the details again, we’ve a Brit, a German, an Italian, a Swede and a, um, Netherlandian.

Tom: Turns out there isn’t a decent singular demonym for Dutch folks. Who knew?

Tim: Boyband dance pop, let’s have it.

Tom: Crikey. Let’s have it, indeed. That’s really good.

Tim: This is a band with money behind it, and that shows. This is a track with good backing from a producer who knows what he’s doing, the video’s got comic book panels and lens flare and all that, and they can do the singing they need to. The same criticisms from last time still apply, mind: it’s a tad generic, could easily be solo material, and it’s not particularly memorable, but while it’s on it’s very enjoyable, and one big hit could well bring these lot to the front.

Tom: I found myself tapping my feet along on the first listen through, which is rare for me: and I think that was due to the production, not the band. “So wicked” is actually a terrible lyric — and that odd sample of it in the middle eight doesn’t matter — but the rest of it is so good I didn’t really mind.

Tim: Inevitable ‘up and coming boyband’ comparison: The Fooo, who somehow don’t have quite the same level of, well, I’m not sure really, but something anyway. Basically, these guys seems like a proper boyband just waiting for one track to become huge, whereas The Fooo just seem content wandering around, putting tracks out there every now and again until they find something that works. If you want to go on about artistic integrity and stuff, The United probably wouldn’t come out on top; if you want to go on about tracks that are properly produced and very enjoyable to listen to, though, then this is where it’s at.