“At some point, we should probably stop covering every Westlife single.”
Tom: At some point, we should probably stop covering every Westlife single.
Tim: Oh, I don’t know, I think it’s nice that someone’s doing it.
Tom: Well, this is not that point. Particularly as the album came out on Friday.
Tom: I had the usual ‘modern Westlife track’ reaction to this: got distracted and forgot it was playing during the first verse, then perked up at the chorus. And then — which is a departure from normal — actually started listening properly at the second bit of the chorus.
Tim: See, I was deliberately paying attention, but still had the same “ooh!” reaction to the chorus coming, when the first cymbal hit.
Tom: I’m sure I’ve heard that piano counterpoint melody in the chorus somewhere before — between that and the guitar behind the middle eight, it really sounds like they’ve taken some style tips from Coldplay. That’s not a bad thing at all.
Tim: No, no even slightly. I wouldn’t say no to a key change, mind, but aside from that this is fine.
Tom: Frankly, this sounds like a big emotional number from a soundtrack, and I think it’s probably the best one off the album.
“As heather and grass plants become older, they become less palatable and less nutritious. The process of burning small areas removes the older growth and allows the plants to regenerate after the burn.”
Tom: You know it’s going to be a Deep, Artistic Album when bands start playing about with the capitalisation of their tracks.
Tim: Very true, and for the agriculturally challenged amongst us, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust provides a lengthy explainer. Key sentences: “As heather and grass plants become older, they become less palatable and less nutritious. The process of burning small areas removes the older growth and allows the plants to regenerate after the burn.” Now you know that, here’s the new Pet Shop Boys track.
Tim: Now, I don’t want to be accused of taking anything to seriously or anything, but according to that link heather burning typically happens October to April, with the vast majority of it happening in the spring – any earlier, you see, and the ground is dry and it’s harder to control, so the line ‘autumn is here and they’re burning the heather’ is, well, if not entirely incorrect then certainly dubitable, with its implication that we’re round about late August, early September. I just find it difficult to take seriously, really. Though, seriously, what are those lyrics about?
Tom: I’m not entirely sure, and that “hell for leather” lyric lands like a brick through a window. I’ve said here before that Tennant and Lowe are much better producers and remixers than they are pop songwriters. I don’t mean that as an insult: they’ve written some absolute bangers: It’s A Sin, Left To My Own Devices, New York City Boy, Rent, and, yes, more. Those are all good songs. They have a heck of a Greatest Hits album.
But the big, breakthrough, mainstream, radio-play pop hits, the ones they end the concerts with, are covers: Always On My Mind and Go West.
Tim: Huh, I’d never thought of that before, but you’re right. I’d also add The Pop Kids to that list, though.
Tom: So new Pet Shop Boys music needs to be seen in that light: it’s probably not going to be a Big Radio Smash Hit. But it is probably going to be a good song.
Tim: Fair, and it’s worth noting the music’s not bad. Certainly wasn’t what I expected to hear when I pressed play, mind, but then as soon as Neil’s vocals came along I was very “ah, yep there it is” and it sounded okay.
Tom: Yep. Once you manage your expectations of both music and instruments, this is a decent Pet Shop Boys track.
Tom: We talked yesterday about how terrible lyrics can ruin a song. In this case, it’s not necessarily the lyrics: it’s specifically the lyric video.
Tom: Repeating half of the syllables of a word is an old trick, and there’s nothing actually wrong with it. But somehow, seeing “milli” it written out like that, with emoji flying by because some designer thought “sure, that’s what kids like, that’ll do”? It highlights what is, when I think about it, actually a pretty bad bit of songwriting: there has to be a better, more clever way of fitting that sentiment into that rhythm, and they didn’t.
Tim: Hmm, I don’t know – I don’t really have a problem with that. Sure, it’s not the best lyrical format, not by a long way, but it is standard enough that it doesn’t annoy me. What does get me (and probably wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t pointed out there was something annoying for me to find, so thanks) is the “I’m a call ya”. Now, I don’t know how that’s meant to be spelt – to be honest, I’m not sure there is an official spelling, but I’m almost certain it’s definitely not as two words implying that HRVY is himself an actual verb.
Tom: I mean, the rest of the song’s good enough, the kids’ll probably like it anyway.
Tim: Hell, I even quite like it, which isn’t something I ever thought I’d say about a HRVY song. Still a stupid name, mind.
“Solid Middle Of The Road Adult Man Serious Artist Who Attracts Women”
Tom: We’re about a month late to this one — enough to flag it up, not quite enough to make it a Flashback, particularly as it’s the lead single off the still-upcoming second album.
Tim: Good, let’s do it. Care to provide an intro?
Tom: Ladies and gentlemen (but, from the marketing, mostly ladies): please welcome Olly Murs Junior. Or possibly Jeremy Renner Junior, depending on whether you go by sound or look. This is someone whose publicist is emphasising: Solid Middle Of The Road Adult Man Serious Artist Who Attracts Women.
Tom: First of all, full marks to the video director for keeping that eyeline in at 2:48.
Tim: Good video throughout, really.
Tom: But aside from that: who’s this song aimed at? The old teenage 1D fans, moving to a sound that’s more mature? Their mums? The people that downloaded the Jeremy Renner app? Or — and I suspect this is a well-paying demographic — people looking for soundtracks to expensive commercials?
Tim: My guess is the first one (and, sure, the last one) – artists have varied their sounds throughout their career way back to the dawn of time, it’s up to the fans to keep up with it, and ideally the radio stations to keep playing it, which, yep, seems to be happening.
Tom: I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it. It is, literally, easy listening. It also just seems an odd choice, given that he’s in his mid-twenties and not his mid-forties.
Tom: There I was, thinking there was no interesting music to send you: and then I realise we’ve missed Sigrid’s new track. A quick warning: it’s not what you’d expect. There’s a harp.
Tim: Hmm, gosh.
Tom: Once you adjust to the fact that Sigrid — not exactly known for writing love songs — has done a full, proper ballad: well, this is good, isn’t it? There are very few vocalists who have a recognisable vocal quality that lifts them up above session singers. This is both surprisingly traditional and still recognisably Sigrid.
Tim: Can’t disagree with a word of that. I prefer her usual stuff – certainly can’t say I’d like an album of this – but yeah, it’s good ballad.
Tom: Now, I reckon a couple of lines of that beautiful, soaring chorus do owe at least a tip of the hat to the chorus of Lionel Richie’s Hello, but that’s by the by. I still hit ‘play’ a second time.
Tim: Blimey, high praise from you there. And yeah, deserved.
“Brilliant chorus. Shame about the rest of it, really.”
Tom: Bastille and Marshmallo’s Happier is still getting regular airplay, more than a year after release. So it makes sense to do it all over again with someone else.
Tim: Sure, why not.
Tom: Brilliant chorus. Shame about the rest of it, really.
Tim: Yeah – it’s telling that every time I think “oh, this is actually pretty, I’ll ignore what Tom’s just said”, it turns out that it’s just because the chorus has started up.
Tom: I think the difference this time is that, while Alessia Cara has a great voice, that’s all she can bring: she doesn’t have an entire sound and style that can be mashed in with the recognisable vocals. Happier worked before it was, unexpectedly, a good mashup of two sounds, but this: sadly, it’s not enough of an Anthem, and it’s not enough of a Ballad.
Tim: Can’t disagree with any of that, really. Shame.
Tom: Parts of this sound like a Tiësto track, and parts of this sound like a Rita Ora track. And astonishingly, I think they both work together.
Tim: They do, as this is a good track.
Tom: I… I don’t think I could pick a Jonas Blue track out of a lineup, though.
Tim: Yeah, you remember – did that Fast Car cover that kickstarted 2016’s brief trend of tropical covers of old songs.
Tom: I’m sure he had some input.
Tom: There’s nothing that particularly stands out here for me, but somehow the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts. It’s catchy, I want to hear it again. And honestly, that’s the only reason I’m sending it over to you: I enjoyed it, and that’s that.
Tom: Most of Britain would know her as “Louise off Strictly” or “Jamie Redknapp’s ex-wife”, but here, those are descriptions that’d prompt lowered expectations. If I introduce her as that, you’ll assume I’m setting you up for another terrible celebrity ego/cash-in single.
Tim: Well, yes, but people who know her only as that are absolutely not the sort of people who we want reading this website. Let’s have a better introduction, please.
Tom: Okay: Louise, formerly of Eternal.
Tim: Thank you.
Tom: This is actually the third single off the new album. No, I had no idea either. It’s a mystery to me why that album will be released in January, in the doldrums after Christmas: surely it would have been better pitched as a perfect present for kids to buy their Strictly-watching mums? Or maybe I’m still stuck in the pre-streaming era of marketing.
Tim: Quite possibly, as times do change. But to the music: I was aware of the comeback, though I’d never actually got round to listening to the tracks. I’m now thinking that was a mistake, because this is really good!
Tom: I’m sure I’ve heard some of the various components of this before, although that’s more that it’s been inspired by the same gospel music that hundreds of other tracks have.
Tim: Probably. Pop is pop, genre is genre, inspirations are worldwide.
Tom: For some reason, though, this actually made me a little bit happier. Mark it down, Tim: I actually had some sort of an emotional reaction to a track that we’re talking about here. That’s basically a small miracle.
Tim: As promised a few days back, one of the highlights of his largely pretty good new album, and indeed the newest single from it.
Tom: Listen to that intro! There’s some New Order in that, crossed with… well, in my head, a 1999 bit of pop-rock so obscure that our post about it is the third result on Google when you search for it.
Tim: Hmm – the problem with having done nearly 3,000 posts (blimey) here is that I’ve completely forgotten most of them, including that one, even though it’s a pretty nice one. This is also nice: sonically good, lyrically it’s fun, and as far as the narrative goes: hell yeah, I’m on board. We broke up for a reason, we shouldn’t be doing this, but sod it let’s have fun right now.
Tom: I think that swearing in the chorus is the wrong choice here, and it took me a while to work out why. It’s the same reason that “why’d you put a smiley in your message then” grates for me. This sounds like a great pop song from the past that I’ve never heard, and somehow the profanity and tech-reference both place it Here And Now And Dealing With Today’s Problems.
Tim: Hmm, kind of maybe see where you’re coming from, but I don’t have the same issue. To be honest, with all the crap that’s going down here, there and everywhere right now, I like the fun, and combined with everything else in the song: yep, I’ll take it.
Tom: To get the obvious question out of the way: yes, they’re still going. Albeit without Fergie.
Tim: Sure, of course they are, why not.
Tom: Which leaves the obvious second question: is this one of their greats? Is everyone going to be singing it? Years later, will people still get hyped up when they hear it? Is this a “Where Is The Love”, an “I Gotta Feeling”, a “Let’s Get It Started”? Or is this going to be… well, one of the others?
Tom: Oh no.
Tim: Or, as I thought a mere forty seconds in, and then even more so another twenty seconds later: holy shit.
Tom: It’s a four-minute track, and it overstays its welcome by minute one. Why is will.i.am suddenly putting on an accent? Why is, uh, that other guy’s rap so embarrassingly bad? Why is there a badly green-screened Rio in it?
Tim: And why, why why why, have they sampled Tombo really really slowly and without the melody?
