Category: Mainstream

5 Seconds of Summer feat. Scott Mills – Hearts Upon Our Sleeve

“He’s very much The Third Wheel here.”

Tim: It has been noted in many, many places, including here and many radio stations, that the Pitbull/J-Lo official world cup song is, to be blunt, utter cack. So, went the idea, let’s rope in one of the biggest not-a-boyband boybands around and get them to write a decent one.

Tom: Let me guess: half-decent track ruined by the need to fit Scott Mills into it?

Tim: Well…

Tim: But a very decent track overall, with all the necessary woah-ohing, commentary(ish), crowd noises and rap that’d probably be better brushed under the carpet.

Tom: I always think that these Scott Mills songs, while decently produced, don’t quite overcome the inherent awkwardness involved in them. Let’s make sure Scott’s in the song somewhere even though he objectively makes the track worse. Let’s rope in anyone we can, even if they don’t know what’s going on.

Tim: Oi, what you saying about Tinie Tempah standing around gormlessly?

Tom: Scott’s certainly a competent DJ and radio host. It’s just that he’s very much The Third Wheel here.

Tim: Perhaps, but by and large it is a genuinely good track – not very ‘Brazil’, but definitely one that I’d rather listen to than, to be honest, any of the other football tracks we’ve had. And, with the cheeky self-referencing final chorus, the various goings on in the video and the number of times ‘shirts’ sounds like some other word–

Tom: Oh, damn it.

Tim: –I think we can safely describe this one as fun, much like yesterday. What a pleasant couple of days these have been.

Celine Dion feat. Ne-Yo – Incredible

“A lot better than I was worried it might be.”

Tom: Who featuring who?!

Tim: Yes featuring yes. You may remember back in November, when we looked at Loved Me Back To Life, the first single off Celine’s most recent album, I briefly mentioned the Ne-Yo collaboration on it. Well, now that has a video.

Tim: And that there is a heck of a lot better than I was worried it might be. Ne-Yo typically comes with bucketloads of autotune, rapping & hip-hop stuff and naughty words, none of which should be visited upon a Celine song.

Tom: Agreed. Crikey, they’ve both got good voices, haven’t they — even if Celine’s is a lot more instantly recognisable.

Tim: Right – what we end up with is a lovely duet between two lovers, which to be honest I initially thought would be a little icky but then I checked Wikipedia and the ages are a lot closer than you’d probably imagine.

Tom: Half age plus seven… huh. All right, carry on.

Tim: So in the end my worries proved to be all unfounded, because this is a great track, right from the first time we hear that soaring oh-oh-oh-o-oh right through until the final ‘amazing’. Love it.

The Righteous Young – Everything Burns

“That’s an absolutely amazing middle eight.”

Tom: CB, our Brazilian fan — their words, not mine — writes in with this, describing it as “a great tune with a beautiful shouty chorus”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmT6wHw6qso

Tom: This isn’t the kind of song we normally handle, and I’m not sure what to think of it. After listening through it twice, all I’m left with is this rather odd thought: that’s an absolutely amazing middle eight.

Tim: It is very good, yes – the standout part of the song, actually, which I otherwise don’t finish particularly exciting. That build in there, though, is excellent.

Tom: I mean, yes, it’s a pretty good chorus, the stripped-down instrumentation’s good, and the melody’s got a great, simplistic quality to it. But I wish that powerful, striving middle eight bled out to the rest of the song.

Saturday Flashback: Fall Out Boy feat. Elton John – Save Rock and Roll

“Barnstormer.”

Tom: We’ve covered a couple of tracks from their latest album before, but not this one — it’s the title track, and it’s a barnstormer.

(There’s also the full music video here, with two warnings: one, that it’s part of a concept video, and two, that’s it’s rather splatter-gory.)

Tim: ​Hmm. You say spatter-heavy, I say typical episode of Hannibal or The Following. Though has Elton ever done a video where he doesn’t play the piano?

Tom: Some critics derided this track as ‘cheesy’, which is probably fair when compared to other tracks from a punkish-rock band like Fall Out Boy.

Tim: Yes, but every heavy band typically puts a couple of more radio-friendly tracks in each album – we’ve featured a couple before. Keeps them accessible to everyone; an excellent idea, I reckon.

Tom: I mean, that’s a glorious key change, and Elton John’s happily singing along with it — yep, it’s pretty cheesy. But you know what? It’s also pretty damn good.

Tim: It really is. And that video’s pretty special too.

Resistor – Narcissist

“Like someone trying to do the Divine Comedy and Frank Sidebottom at the same time”

Tim: Here’s one that got e-mailed to us, by an American synthpop guy; the video was described in the e-mail as “LOL-tastic” so there you go.

Tom: Wow, that’s pretty high on the list of “words that’ll turn me against something before I’ve seen it”.

Tim: Me too, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway.

Tim: And that’s that. Not sure I’d go with entirely “LOL-tastic”, but I do get the idea and more importantly I like the music.

Tom: Really? Because I don’t. It’s like someone trying to do the Divine Comedy and Frank Sidebottom at the same time and missing terribly.

Tim: Oh. See, the way I see it, it’s got a good chorus hook to it, and one that, by the end of the song has almost got me swaying as I’m typing this; a decent enough sign, I reckon. The verses aren’t hugely interesting, and occasionally seem a tad dreary, but the middle eight I do like, with the interesting musical base underneath the singing and the extended plain instrumental. Basically, I’ll take it.

Tom: The middle eight’s the only bit that stuck out for me, but other than that: I’d class it as “a good effort, but not a pop song yet”.

Tim: His debut album, First World Problems, is out now and is “concerned with fame and the artistic process, born of frustration, delivered as a joke, but with the truth lurking underneath”, so that sounds fun doesn’t it.

Tom: It sounds like something.

Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake – Love Never Felt So Good

“Blatant cash-in, right?”

Tom: New Michael Jackson album. Blatant cash-in, right? Rip out some old unreleased material, the fans’ll lap it up. Well, not quite. See, the thing about Michael Jackson is that even his unreleased tracks are pretty damn good.

Tom: Particularly when they’re given a modern production boost that still, somehow, sounds like it came out of Motown — and backing vocals from the only still-credible member of ‘N Sync.

Tim: Hmm. I’m always nervous when this sort of thing comes out because I almost feel pressured to like it, a bit like Get Lucky. It’s alright, and perfectly serviceable, but I can’t say it does much for me. Though I can’t see it ever being as annoying as I now find Get Lucky.

Tom: Sure, it’s not a Thriller, it’s not a Black or White. But it’s still better than a heck of a lot of the tracks that come our way; even when the King of Pop went by-the-numbers, they were pretty damn good numbers.

Tim: Yes, I definitely can’t deny that.

Tom: And if it’s not modern enough for you, I reckon this remix will do you nicely. It certainly worked for me.

Tim: Oh well actually yes that’ll do very nicely indeed. Cheers.

Ella Henderson – Ghost

‘It says quite clearly “listen to what I can do”.’

Tim: What would you say if I offered you one of the best tracks to come out a X Factor finalist in recent years?

Tom: I’d say it was probably “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. Why, what’ve you got?

Tim: I’ve got this.

Tim: This is a great debut, in that it says quite clearly “listen to what I can do”. It demonstrates a nice variety of singing styles – a deep, rich and almost soulful voice in the verses, slightly more lightweight and haunting in the middle eight, and a gentle, more ‘standard’, if that’s the right way to describe it, voice throughout the chorus.

Tom: It’s no small feat, being able to convincingly pull off those styles. You’re right: it shows off a heck of a range.

Tim: Not only that, but the backing instrumentation also changes in style quite significantly between the verse and chorus to match those voices, which goes well, as long as you don’t find it slightly jarring which a tiny part of me does.

Tom: Yep. I didn’t expect that to have quite as much… funk.

Tim: Mainly in the “listen to what I can do”, though, is that chorus. Because what a chorus it is – one I really could listen to over and over again. And, in fact, did, on the bus home from work the other night – who’d have thought looping a YouTube video would drain a phone battery?

Avril Lavigne – Hello Kitty

“Absolutely bloody awful.”

Tim: Oh no. No, please don’t…

Tom: Sometimes we cover tracks because they’re good. Sometimes because they’re remarkable. And sometimes…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVHEPwS8lYc

Tom: …they’re absolutely bloody awful.

Tim: Yep. I pretty much never delete songs from my iTunes library. Here, I made an exception.

Tom: I mean, it’s like gawping at a trainwreck. The product placement.

Tim: Actually, there I’ll interrupt you – product placement based on kids toys is definitely not always a bad thing. Though admittedly it is most of the time, so do continue.

Tom: Well, that was hardly product placement: Mattel sued and lost over that. But yes: there’s more awful yet. The dubstep breakdown. The lyrics. The melody, or the lack of it. The video. Oh, the video.

Tim: Regarding the video, I think it’s the first video I’ve ever seen by a major artist to have more thumbs down than up. It doesn’t remotely surprise me. It’s utterly horrific.

Tom: Bieber managed it, but that was riding on a wave of dislike for him rather than his music. This… it’s terrible.

Tim: Just terrible.

Ricky Martin – Vida

“Strumming guitars! Summery drums! Actual foreign!”

Tim: Football!

Tom: Really?

Tim: I know, sorry. But you’ll forgive me once you hear this, a track off the official album of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Tom: I think my first reaction is “crikey, Ricky Martin’s still going”.

Tim: Oh yes – 42 and he’s still got all of it. Strumming guitars! Summery drums! Actual foreign!

Tom: “Actual foreign”? Let’s not forget that Livin’ La Vida Loca came in two versions, complete with near-identical videos.

Tim: What a partying, beachy, summery track this is, and the video makes it abundantly clear that that is precisely what it’s meant to be.

Tom: Yep. It’s basically the last World Cup song, “This Time For Africa“, only filtered through a Latin American lens.

Tim: What with it being his second turn at doing an official World Cup song, it’s hard not to compare it to The Cup of Life, and I think it stands up very well indeed. A great track, for a competition I would otherwise do my best to avoid.

Tom: It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s good to know that they’re following the true meaning of modern sport: product placement.

Tim: Right – who’d have thought that Sony makes a phone that’s waterproof?

Cher Lloyd – Sirens

“Light years away from the dodgy pseudo-rap she’s tried on the past.”

Tim: God only knows why, but Cher Lloyd has actually become somewhat successful over in America – if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because they didn’t see her personality on The X Factor (bit harsh, sorry).

Tom: I had to apologise for Cher Lloyd to an American friend of mine recently. What’s she got this time?

Tim: This, the lead track from her new album.

Tim: And actually, that’s why she’s successful. Isn’t it very Demi Lovato-esque indeed?

Tom: Good grief, yes. And it’s light years away from the dodgy pseudo-rap she’s tried on the past.

Tim: So much so that I do often think it’s going to splurge off into Skyscraper at one point in the chorus. It’s not all that surprising – if you’re going to model yourself after a young female pop star, Demi’s a very good choice, and Cher was a featured artist on a track on Demi’s most recent album.

Tom: Oh! That’s some very good management work indeed.

Tim: What we have here is a vastly more mature track than the previous crap we’ve heard, and much as I’m surprising myself by saying this, I really like it. It’s not quite amazing, but there’s certainly a lot of potential, and it’s actually making me want to listen to her second album when it arrives in a month. I’m surprised, but I’m definitely not disappointed.