Saturday Flashback: Robin Stjernberg – One Down Two To Go

“This is a proper Big Shoutalong Track.”

Tim: This came up on a recommended tracks playlist, and I thought it was great, looked it up, and was surprised to discover it was left as an album track.

Tom: For the second time this week, I said “bloody hell!” after the introduction. That’s a strong start.

Tim: It is, and what makes the album track status particularly surprising is that a lot of the ones that were officially released were damp in comparison and performed abysmally; this one, though, is brilliant.

Tom: It’s weird, isn’t it? My memory of his singles was… well, I’ll be honest, I don’t have any memory of his singles. But this is a proper Big Shoutalong Track.

Tim: The shouted intro, that repeated 1-2-3-off beat in the verses, the a cappella lead in to the chorus (and if you’re wondering where you’ve heard that muffled effect before, it’s in the six-months-later Melodifestivalen entry by State of Drama). We also have a good chorus, with that yeahhh-eahh staying strong throughout, and a good rhythm to hold it up.

Tom: Strange lyrics, though: I’m not sure that “knocked up father on the ground” got translated correctly.

Tim: Yeah, I looked up the lyrics, and to be honest they’re basically a load of nothing. But you know what? I don’t even care that the title is never explained. What are we beating down? Not a clue. But the music and general theme is good enough that I just don’t care. Opportunity missed, record label.

Naughty Boy feat. Kyla & Popcaan – Should’ve Been Me

“There is a good melody line in there, I’m just not sure it’s enough.”

Tim: It caught my attention with the brass, it held my attention with the chorus. Take a listen.

Tom: That is a good chorus, isn’t it?

Tim: It is indeed – unlike almost all of Naughty Boy’s back catalogue, this one kept me listening, and pressing play again once it had ended. The two highlights are the ones I’ve already mentioned – chorus line and brass – which takes care of everything except the two verses, which are acceptable enough to make this an enjoyable listen for me.

Tom: The verses really aren’t great, though — and that chorus is, I suspect, more of a grower than is for the best. There is a good melody line in there, I’m just not sure it’s enough.

Tim: Then here we’ll disagree, as I’ll give a thumbs up for the music. The video, on the other hand, is a separate entity, as it doesn’t remotely go with the song.

Tom: A full-on sponsor-logoed music video. Well, I guess that was always going to happen.

Tim: Well it’s actually kind of a charity one, albeit one of the weirder charities out there, the Uganda Skateboard Union. Keeps kids busy by getting them skateboarding, presumably as an alternative to crime and stuff, and spreads awareness about HIV and sanitation while it’s at it. Unusual methods, but fair play to them if it works, I guess.

Isle of You – Mindcrime

“Yeah, this is fun.”

Tim: We both enjoyed Isle of You’s debut, so I had decent expectations; those expectations weren’t enough to stop an audible gasp of joy a second after pressing play.

Tom: I actually said “bloody hell!” out loud when I heard that.

Tim: And I’m not remotely surprised, because you know what that is? That there is S Club 7 right at the top of their game, and I’m not just saying that because the instrumental under the chorus reminds me very much of another song that I can’t place right now, but that similarly flows into Bring It All Back.

Tom: I’m not quite sure at ‘top of their game’ — come on, this is no Reach — but it’s certainly up there.

Tim: The mood is fun, even a tad silly with some of the lyrics (walking into a door, LOL!).

Tom: Mm, the lyrics do actually take it down a notch for me. (“Finger dan- finger dance”?) And quite what they mean by Mindcrime I’ve no idea, despite them trying to explain it in the video description — and that talky bit in the middle bit is just cringeworthy.

Tim: Well yes, there are faults but really, I haven’t just enjoyed a song so much in a while – there have been great songs, but not like this just to sit back and think “yeah, this is fun”. Really, really fun, and I can’t think of a better word to describe it.

VÉRITÉ – Phase Me Out

“Both soulful and loud.”

Tim: You might assume, given the name, that Vérité is French; you would be wrong (I think – SoundCloud bio has her based in New York, and none of her tweets are French, so probably not). In any case, here’s something that is both soulful and LOUD.

Tom: That’s a heck of a voice, and that slow start shows it off properly.

Tim: Indeed, and along with that the rest gives a track I’m very much in favour of. Took a while to get going properly, as do many, but then built throughout and became very worth it come the end of the first chorus, and very much more so throughout.

Tom: You know, I think if we were starting this site all over again, Tim, I’d actually have some sort of rating system based on “how much of a banger it is”. Because to me, this just isn’t one: I thought it had actually finished when it did that fake ending at 2:39, and I was mildly disappointed when it started up again.

Tim: Well, there’s always the skip button, but like I promised it’s soulful and loud (and you’re right, I’m not sure this qualifies as a true banger), with her vocal that’s exactly where it should be.

Tom: It is soulful, it is loud… I’m just not enjoying listening to it.

Tim: Oh, shame, because I’d say it’s quite the banger, and very much worth having in this world.

Lila feat. Rat City – Don’t Let Go

“Oh, it really is the four years later dubstep, isn’t it?”

Tom: “Rat City”?

Tim: Yes indeed – he’s the Norwegian producer, Lila’s also off Norway and is the vocalist, and the song has been written by, among several others, them off the still Norwegian Donkeyboy. And the lyrics? They’re English.

Tim: And I was taken by that pretty much as soon as she started singing, and entirely drawn in by that pre-chorus.

Tom: That fake-out at the end of the first verse didn’t encourage me, but once I figured out what it was doing: that’s one of the best builds I’ve heard in a while.

Tim: Then the main chorus hit, and it was still good, and then the post-chorus distorted vocal, and oh, it really is the four years later dubstep, isn’t it?

Tom: Or the 15-years-later Missy Elliot. Unsingable choruses have been around for a while, although they’re not this popular.

Tim: Started out fairly niche, and now it’s absolutely flipping everywhere, and I’m still not sure I like it.

Tom: I’m surprised how quickly I’ve got on board with this: I’m much more interested in the melody, composition and — frankly — how much of a banger it is. (And this is at least somewhere on the banger-scale, even if it’s not that high up.) If the synth patch they’re using also happens to be extracted from the vocals, apparently I don’t mind at all.

Tim: The rest of this is great, mind, no issues at all – stick some brass under it and it could go right back to 2008, or some more drums and head to 2003, or steel drums, or country guitars – but eeesh, just as I thought I was on board, it’s really gonna take a while for me to enjoy it. DARN IT.

The Chainsmokers – Paris

“Interesting use of what appears to be a 90s vocoder effect there.”

Tim: With their song Closer, The Chainsmokers were responsible for a large quantity of the most awful lyrics in 2016; how will they start 2017?

Tim: Well, parents/terrace doesn’t get stuff off to a great start, but compared to closer/Rover/Boulder/older, it’s award-winning stuff, so I’ll forgive it.

Tom: “If we go down, then we go down together.” Hurr. Anyway, interesting use of what appears to be a 90s vocoder effect there.

Tim: Yes, interesting is the right word, because as for the rest of it, my feelings are very much as they were with their first, although much faster. I could understand why people liked it, it took me a few months, but eventually I started getting with it.

Tom: Strangely, I actually took a liking to this, which given that my default reaction to any new song lately is “meh”, I’d consider quite an achievement.

Tim: Oh, I’m pleased for you. I wasn’t keen at all at the start, partly because of that vocoder, but mostly because of what seemed to be a complete lack of chorus. Once the female vocal hit, though, it started making a bit more sense, and the further along the song got, the more I liked it, and I’m even willing to forgive their rhyming ‘clever’ with ‘together’ and ‘better’.

Tom: And they’ve gone for a traditional melody and harmony line in those vocals, too, which — and I hadn’t realised this — is something I actually miss a bit. And those wonderfully retro drums out of the middle eight don’t go amiss either.

Tim: Guess it’s got to be good, then.

Saturday Flashback: Niila – Restless Heart

“Hook.”

Tim: This got sent in to us recently by our reader Christian, and came out last March. Niila (surname Arajuuri) is from Finland, but as yet has had most success in Germany – so much so, in fact, that German Wikipedia is the only one he’s featured on, which I think speaks for itself.

Tom: Really not sure about that Comic-Relief-without-the-charity video, but as for the music: not entirely certain about what appears to be a kazoo hidden in the mix during that hook, but even so.

Tim: Doesn’t waste any time brining us that hook, a sensible move because it’s a good one to get listeners going – it is, in fact, by some distance the highlight of the song, particularly when they bring out the brass to accompany it.

Tom: It really is: it’s easily the strongest part of the track, and deploying it at the start is a good decision.

Tim: As for the rest of it: well, the verses aren’t that memorable, and it take until the final repeats until that really becomes notable. Which, now I think about it, coincides with the time it’s sung on top of that hook. Hmm. May need to try a bit harder in future with the vocal lines then, but it’s certainly a good hook.

Lady Gaga – Million Reasons

“I have a point to make.”

Tim: I know everyone’s probably heard this already, but I’ve been listening to it a lot lately and I have a point to make. For those that don’t know it, it’s the second release off her latest album, and the music starts about a minute in.

Tom: Believe it or not, I haven’t heard this, or at least I haven’t noticed it. It’s really rather good, isn’t it? Even if it did keep reminding me of Jason Donovan with those “reasons” lyrics.

Tim: Oh, I almost want to give you a prize for the obscurity of that reference, very good. But here’s the thing: Lady Gaga is very good at making music. Perfect Illusion probably wasn’t the best track to kickstart an album, but this is great: soulful music, emotions carried across perfectly in the flawless vocals, with a beautifully doleful backing line underneath it all. And yet the most impressive thing about all of it is this: it’s not remotely what her fans want.

Tom: Yes! This feels like a completely different artist, just one with a similar voice. There’s “managing audience expectations”, and then there’s “not giving a damn about what the audience want”.

Tim: Ever since that largely reviled jazz album, she has, in the eyes of many, been a massive let down. Hand this song to Adele or Sia, people would love it. With Gaga, though, it’s all “yes well it’s no The Edge of Glory is it so get back to the studio and do better stuff.”

Tom: To be fair, she did produce a lot of full-on bangers. And I liked them. More, to be fair, than I liked this. She’s a good Adele. But we already have a good Adele.

Tim: As for me? Well, like I said, it’s a good track. But it really is no The Edge of Glory, is it? So go on, back to the studio please.

TRXD feat. Emilie Adams – Our City

“It’s a decent enough style, but I haven’t seen anyone yet turn it into a song that immediately makes me want to hit replay.”

Tim: Middle of winter, subzero temperatures all over the shop, but why should that stop three Norwegians going tropical?

Tom: Steel drums in the intro. Bold late-2015 style, there.

Tim: Brave indeed. I think your enjoyment of this will be massively determined by your liking, or otherwise, of those noise that we’ve focussed on these past couple of days but still don’t have a name for. I’m on board with them, and very much on board with this song.

Tom: I guess what we’ve learned is that… I’m not. It’s a decent enough style, but I haven’t seen anyone yet turn it into a song that immediately makes me want to hit replay.

Tim: There is an enormous amount of vocal fiddling, and indeed fiddling all over the pace, I doubt there’s a single note there that is actually as it would sound on a instrument – but I really like it. It’s slightly Galantis-y, and right now I can’t get enough of it.

Tom: But the trouble is: it’s not Galantis. For me, all the ingredients are there — it’s just that no-one’s found the right recipe yet.

TooManyLeftHands – Cold Heart

“You’re OK with that?”

Tim: Again, not entirely sure if there’s any justification for the name, but anyway: Monday we had a return to piano dance, yesterday we had current squeals and stuff, so today, shall we have a blend and see if this Danish pair can pull it off?

Tim: Yes, yes it seems they can. So much so, in fact, that I think this might be my favourite track of the three – the two bits all work well together, without any jarring switching from the one in the verse to the second for the chorus.

Tom: You are kidding me, right?

Tim: Ermmm, no?

Tom: That’s one of the worst transitions-into-chorus I’ve ever heard. I realise that, yes, it stays in 4/4 time all through, but I had to double-check that by counting along. After a pink-noise-build like that, they’re going to eschew the idea of a drop entirely and just… flow into it? And you’re OK with that?

Tim: Yes, but (and I’m fully prepared for a ‘how can you possibly compare the two” response to this) there’s no real difference between this and Hey Brother. Genre switch up, from one to another both working very well. Sure, the chorus could have a extra level of drumbeat or something, but I’ve no problem with the genre shift.

I also like it most because it’s the most exciting of the bunch – it starts off with a gentle line, but gets to levels that are at least acceptable for a first verse, though it should perhaps have been kicked up a notch for verse two. We’ve a decent chorus, then in due course a brief middle eight and a decent repeat to close.

Tom: And I agree with all of that: it’s just ruined for me by that bizarre transition. Pernickety, I know, and perhaps it’s just because it’s new, but that’s the way it is.

Tim: Hm, shame. But I do still have one last question: how is it still a thing to mess up the music so people don’t rip YouTube videos?

Tom: Because people still rip YouTube videos.