Benjamin – Young & Restless

“It’s like they’ve glommed together a load of ideas and nearly got a song out of it”

Tim: Here, Tom, is a track to properly start your week off.

Tom: Oh, for crying out loud, there’s no point censoring an f-bomb if it’s a rhyming word. Leaving that aside… actually, hang on, I’ve got a problem with the “It’s going down” as well, in a post-Timber world you can’t get away with that. Anyway, leaving both those aside…

Tim: A fair ask, but let’s try anyway. It’s a couple of years now since Avicii first unleashed the farmhouse genre, and it really isn’t going away any time soon, is it?

Tom: No, but there are at least some attempts at reinvention going on: there’s vocals throughout this, and it’s merged a lot more with a traditional pop song structure.

Tim: Structure’s an interesting word to use – it’s strange, because sometimes it works really well, and other times it sort of just about fits, like this. To be honest, I kind of get the feeling that it’s just been shoehorned in here underneath the, yes, structured verses to make it sound current, rather than because that’s what the song needs.

Tom: Right: although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not sure about using an odd vocal sample rather than an actual instrument though. It’s like they’ve just glommed together a load of ideas and nearly, nearly got a song out of it — that last chorus is really good, apart from that bizarre sample.

Tim: It is, as it most of the rest of it, working absolutely fine with no real trace of any country presumptions – it’s big, it’s brash, and aside from that slightly harsh bit of autotune at the start, I’ve got no complaints about it. I just wish it didn’t sound so disjointed.

Saturday Flashback: Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On (Tony Moran Mix)

“WHAT AN UTTER TUNE.”

Tim: For those that haven’t heard, the noted film composer James Horner died this week; normally I wouldn’t bother mentioning this sort of thing, but he did the score for Titanic, which means he’s indirectly responsible for this ABSOLUTE BANGER.

Tim: Because WHAT AN UTTER TUNE.

Tom: So that’s who remixed it! Tony Moran! I’ll tell you what, teenage me downloaded this over Napster many, many years ago, and it was tagged just as “Dance Mix”. Haven’t heard it in years, but that brought back some memories.

Tim: Well, I first heard this on the compilation CD Fresh Hits 98, and I thought “this doesn’t sound quite right” and then quickly thought “this sounds GREAT.” I mean some might argue it goes somewhat against the grain of the original song, much like some borings sods complain about the Metro Mix of Enrique Iglesias’s Hero, but seriously are you kidding me? When it sounds like this, who cares?

Tom: Agreed. And it’s not like Almighty, where they got someone to re-record it: it’s the original vocals.

Tim: It has EVERYTHING the already lovely original version has, along with a whole SHEDLOAD of other stuff, such as that impossible to write three beat noise that comes halfway through each chorus, or that drumming build up to the final YOOOOOOOU’RE HEEEEEERE. Basically, it takes a great ballad and turns it into a fantastic banger, and what more can you ask for? Answer: NOTHING.

Daybehavior – Change

“I haven’t heard that name in years.”

Tim: Daybehavior, a Swedish trio about to release their fourth album.

Tom: Good heavens: I haven’t heard that name in years. It turned up on a Eurodance station I used to listen to, a decade ago, some trance remix of one of their obscure songs. I never even looked up what else they did. And they’re still going!

Tim: With this as the lead single (also available, slightly reworked, in Italian, should you wish).

Tom: Well, they’ve clearly kept the same vocalist.

Tim: The e-mail says that for this album they’re “still keeping eyes on the sound of today, with one or two nods to the past”, though to be honest I’d switch those two round – music and video are both very much 80s-styled, with the synth and video contents and effects.

Tom: Yep, even down to the clothing. There’s some more modern synth work in there, but produce this a bit differently and it could be thirty years old.

Tim: I don’t dislike it by any means, though – I strongly suspect it will fall into the the 90% of tracks that you forget, as there’s not much to stand out here.

Tom: There are a few things I really like: the chord progression and melody in the chorus, and the still-ethereal vocals. I want the rest of the track to be that good.

Tim: But it’s very enjoyable and I’ll probably be looking out for the album when it’s released in due course. That’s positive, right?

Hurts – Some Kind Of Heaven

“They’ve learned their lesson from last time”

Tim: Disappointingly, Hurts’s second album never quite matched up to the performance of their first, largely because for a significant part of it, it was a complete racket. Hopefully, though, they’ll turn things around for their third album, Surrender, of which this is the lead single.

Tim: And that’s very much in the style we always liked – subdued and brooding pop with a touch of electro, with a big chorus.

Tom: And of course, a moody, slightly off-kilter video.

Tim: Well, naturally. This time we’re low on the crashing drums and electric guitars – basically they’ve learned their lesson from last time and are making music that their fans (and hopefully they) like all over again, and of that I can be very grateful indeed.

Tom: I agree: this is brilliant from start to finish.

Tim: It’s certainly got a lot to recommend itself, there’s not doubting that – it does feel very familiar, though, but I’m not sure why.

Tom: It does; that first line of the middle eight reminds me of something specific, but I can’t remember what. But then, you’ve got a standard break-beat and “yeah, yeah”s — there’s only so many variations on that. Everything around it, particularly that staccato string section, is great.

Tim: We’re agreed, then – ALL GOOD, bring on the album.

Donkeyboy – Downtown

“GOD, what’s that?”

Tim: Donkeyboy – consistently unusual and frequently enjoyable, but DAMMIT what is this chorus?

Tim: Because it sounds so familiar that I almost think it must be a sample of something, but right now it’s just not coming to me.

Tom: I’ve got no idea, but it’s bloody dreadful. “Oo-aa-eh”? Really? You’re not the bloody Teletubbies. If they’ve ripped it off someone, they chose poorly.

Tim: Annoyingly, that’s actively harming my enjoyment of this track, because I disagree with you, and really like it – standard vocals for them (any sort of good/great/comparison to normal ones just wouldn’t really work), great production underneath, but all throughout it I’m just thinking “GOD, what’s that?”

Nova Miller – Supernova

“SHINE, Thomas, SHINE like a freakin’ SUPERNOVA.”

Tim: In a transparent attempt to have you yelling “get off my lawn”, I’m going to open by telling you that Nova is 13, and, if we take the title with no context, has quite a high opinion of herself.

Tim: On the other hand, listening with the rest of the lyrics, then…well, actually it could be either – the standard interpretation, or a “shine like me because I’m awesome.”

Tom: I’m not going to “get off my lawn” here, but I am going to astronomy-pedant: a supernova’s the last explosion of a dying star, a suicidal blast that destroys the star itself and takes out anything around it. If you’re going to analogise astronomy, make sure you haven’t got unfortunate implications in there.

Tim: Oh, do shut up. Whatever interpretations or problems we may have with the lyrics, it’s a cracking tune – let’s face it, this is uplifting and power-gifting enough to be a Kelly Clarkson song turned the other way round, and it would be up there with her best.

Tom: Yep, to be fair, I wasn’t convinced until that high note at the end of “supernova”. Didn’t expect it, it works well.

Tim: Even better, everyone involved has resisted the inevitable temptation to turn this into a romantic song – in the chorus, it would have been so easy to rhyme “you see” with a “to me” at the end, but nope. Instead, it’s addressed to EVERYBODY, so SHINE, Thomas, SHINE like a freakin’ SUPERNOVA, dammit!

Tom: Be careful what you wish for, Tim.

Tim: Oh, I know exactly what I’m wishing for, Tom.

Kelly Clarkson – Invincible

“There seems to be about five of her.”

Tim: Next up from the Piece by Piece album, this, and with tracks like Heartbeat Song, Stronger and now this I can’t help feeling Kelly’s got a bit of an “I AM AWESOME” vibe going on.

Tom: And it’s the second single from the album? Well, that still might be the case: but it’s got a lot to live up to.

Tim: Let’s have a listen to see if we’re convinced.

Tim: Well, bloody hell, yes I am, because flipping heck, that track really is quite something.

Tom: I had to readjust my expectations, because I had Heartbeat Song still in my head — and this isn’t that kind of fast-paced pop. It’s not quite to my tastes, and if it wasn’t for that quiet string line in the background I suspect I’d have gotten a bit bored half way through.

Tim: Oh, please. I mean, how LOUD does a pop track need to be? Answer: exactly this loud, with those drums and the strings and the quite frankly utterly ridiculous top vocal line in the final chorus when there seems to be about five of her.

Tom: There is that: what it’s lost in engagement it’s made up for in sheer… size? Is that a word?

Tim: Yes…yes, I’m fairly sure ‘size’ is a word, Tom. Do you need a lie down? Anyway, I’d put this closer to enormity, because with music like this, Kelly, you really do seem to be invincible, and damn, I’m glad that that’s the case.

Saturday Flashback: Fall Out Boy – Immortals

“A very very good chorus line.”

Tim: From last October, this by Fall Out Boy, which is entirely not ‘us’, but I’ve just seen Big Hero 6 and it’s BRILLIANT.

Tom: Isn’t it, though?

Tim: I mean to be honest I don’t have much to say about the song itself – it’s got a very very good chorus line, even if the lyrics don’t really make much sense, but the rest is a bit of a racket, and not really up there with Fall Out Boy’s best.

Tom: Whoa, really? Because this (along with Save Rock and Roll) is one of their stand-out tracks for me.

Tim: I don’t know – it’s certainly very good, but as far as rock tracks go I generally prefer something with a bit more melody; in Fall Out Boy’s case I’d have Sugar We’re Going Down, or maybe Dance, Dance – though that might be just remembering them from university when I would have put up with that. I will restate, though, that the chorus here is utterly brilliant.

HOWEVER, regardless of Fall Out Boy’s back catalogue, Big Hero 6 is absolutely wonderful, and everybody should see it, and it’s on Netflix and all the usual places so watch it because it’s very funny and lovely as well. Done.

Dragonette – Let The Night Fall

“ALL THE INSTRUMENTS”

Tim: I don’t know why, but I always thought these guys were French; they’re not, they’re from Canada (and not the French bit), but anyway, they’ve just put this new track out.

Tom: There aren’t many pop vocalists who sound distinctive at the moment: Dragonette’s got a great, and individual, voice that means that all the band’s tracks “sound like them”. It’s more obvious in the verses, but that’s because there isn’t ALL THE INSTRUMENTS from the chorus.

Tim: And what a wonder of an ALL THE INSTRUMENTS chorus that is. “We’ll step it up when the sun goes down, let the light fall/No matter what, we’re not stopping now, let the night fall.” This is, without question, a PARTY TRACK, and it is utterly fantastic at being that, right from the instrumentation to the vocals to the smiley face on the artwork.

Tom: Oh, that’s what that is! I genuinely didn’t work it out.

Tim: My one criticism is that middle eight, because, well, in complete contrast to what the chorus states, it pretty much does stop now, and doesn’t really start again properly for another forty seconds or so. On the other hand, everything else is brilliant, and it’s a fantastic return after a couple of years away. Welcome back, guys.

Evelina Olsén – Dö För Mig

“That’s a lovely poppy thing, isn’t it?”

Tim: Or, to translate it from the Swedish, “Die for me”, with that being preceded in the chorus by a “Would you.”

Tom: I’m going to answer that question right away: no.

Tom: So, that’s a lovely poppy thing, isn’t it? Yes, yes it is.

Tim: Once it kicked in: it’s… it’s not bad. It is lovely, and it’s poppy, and it’s certainly a thing, but I don’t feel all those words can quite go together, if that makes sense.

Tom: I’ve listened to it a good number of times now, and I think the highest compliment I can pay it is that it basically ticks all the necessary boxes to get everybody on their feet at a big pop night in a club – drum beat, strong female singer, very big chorus with vocals that, with a translation if necessary, could be very easily shouted along to.

Tim: Are we listening to the same song? It’s pleasant enough, I suppose, but far too low-key for something like that: it just doesn’t hold my interest.

Tom: Were I a DJ, this would easily be on my standard setlist, so basically LET’S HAVE MORE.