Ester Fox – Golden Rush

Tom: A title that sounds like a euphemism for being caught short. This bodes well.

Tim: Debut track off Ester, hailing from Uppsala in Sweden, and it gave me an “ooh” on it’s first note, and then an “ohh” 54 seconds later.

Tim: Because eesh, that autotune isn’t pleasant.

Tom: Are you sure? I don’t hear it! Which is weird, because normally I’m the one bitterly complaining about it. This sounds pretty natural to me.

Tim: Seriously? I don’t know, maybe it’s not that, then, but those extended notes really do sound a bit unpleasant. The rest of it? Lovely, great. The music’s excellent, never going down from that first “ooh”, and it’ll be some time before I hear a better instrumental middle eight.

Tom: And that pre-chorus is just fantastic: one of the best I’ve heard this year so far.

Tim: The melody, the verses – all fine. But damn, those vocals in the chorus – whatever the reason for it is, there’s something about it that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Tom: I still don’t notice it. But I did notice those bloody awful “I’m a Swede” lyrics, which… no. Just no.

Tim: OHHH, this is so nearly a great great track, and yet the bulk of what I’m writing about it is negative, and I don’t like it. DAMN YOU ESTER.

Pet Shop Boys – The Pop Kids

“They have never stopped being brilliant. Not once.”

Tim: You want to know the best thing of all about Pet Shop Boys?

Tom: The unexpected guitar riff that pervades their Live 8 performance of “Go West”, which completely redefines the song without overwriting the original.

Tim: That is very good, but nope. I’ll tell you in a bit.

Tim: Right: basically, they have never stopped being brilliant. Not once.

Tom: Wait, hang on. They must have. They’ve got a hell of a lot of hits, sure, but they’ve got a few misses too.

Tim: I’m not so sure – three and a half decades, they’ve been going, and every single album they’ve released has made the top ten and their latest here is up there with the best. Off the top of my head, the only comparable band I can think of would be U2, and their lead singer is widely regarded as a bellend, so I think it’s obvious who wins there.

But anyway, this track, and of course it’s obvious that I, and basically every pop fan, is going to love it purely because they can identify with it.

Tom: Then I must be the exception.

Tim: Oh come now, don’t be silly. I myself certainly remember telling (and indeed still do tell) pretty much anyone who will listen that rock music’s overrated, and only this morning I quoted Shania Twain at someone. Even if I were coming at it from another angle, though, it’d still be brilliant – the lyrics tell a wonderful heart-warming love story about people and music, and the music behind it sounds great fits that perfectly.

Tom: Which is all well and good if that works for you: but without that, I’m not sure this is actually all that good a track? The early-90s synth patch is a decent choice, sure, but the melody’s sort of okay; the lyrics are terrible — he’s literally rhyming “pop kids” with “pop kids”; and it ain’t all that catchy. And let’s face it, that talking part’s pretty cringeworthy.

Tim: Thing with the lyrics is that they’re there to tell a story, and what you think of the lyrics will most likely be largely influenced by that story. I love it, and so love the lyrics. Melody and instrumental – hmm, well, maybe I wouldn’t choose to listen to an instrumental, sure, but it all works together for me. (And technically he’s rhyming “kids” with “hit” and “bits”, though I’m not sure that’s much better.)

Tom: This is, oddly, roughly what we thought of the last big Pet Shop Boys single: maybe it’s just that I have a higher bar, or — shockingly — different taste. But I’ll listen to Inner Sanctum over this, every time.

Tim: Well at least we’re agreed that Super will have at least one great track on there, and probably many more. And for me at least, their brilliance seems immortal – let’s truly hope it is.

GOLF – All In All

“I think that’s a compliment. It was meant to be.”

Tom: Our reader, Joe, sends this in. He says it’s “some French house that I found on Soundcloud while looking for something completely unrelated. I quite liked it.”

Tim: Sure, I’m up for that.

Tom: You know Justice? This is some other French people trying to be Justice.

Tim: I don’t know them, but okay.

Tom: Because this does sound startlingly like Justice: it’s like they’ve directly ripped off their synth patches for some of it. But if you’re going to copy a band, that’s a good one to pick: † is one of my favourite albums right now, and this song could sit quite happily… well, maybe not on it, but certainly as one of the bonus tracks for an overseas market.

I think that’s a compliment. It was meant to be.

Tim: Yeah, just about comes across as one. Not for me, personally – I like my synths less harsh, a bit fuzzier – but sure, sounds decent enough, and I’m always happy for suggestions. CHEERS JOE.

Kassandra – Delete

“Screw you guys, I’m fine on my own”

Tim: A Swede here on her third track, which is “a celebration of individualism”, which sounds nice until the rest of the (lengthy) accompanying blah can basically be summed up as “screw you guys, I’m fine on my own”. So please, do enjoy.

Tim: And that, I believe, is really rather pleasant, despite the message.

Tom: Hmm. I’m not sure I enjoyed that. I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s unpleasant, but I can’t say I came away wanting to hear it again.

Tim: Yes, about 50% of the lyrics are either “push delete” or “don’t need you”, and to be honest that does get a bit tiring after a while once you notice it…

Tom: I noticed that unfortunately early.

Tim: …but the music’s pretty lovely to listen to, her vocal has a sultry quality to it that invites more listens, and that first big drum beat when the chorus hit took me quite by surprise, which is often nice. All in all: better than might have originally been thought.