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: Mohamed Ali – Unbreakable

“A not-quite-as-amazing Amazing.”

Tom: I realise that this comes from someone with one of the most generic names possible, but: Mohamed Ali? Really?

Tim: ‘Fraid so. But, remember Niko, whose entry to Latvia’s Eurovision selection contest Here I Am Again was very similar to a Swedish contestant from the year before? Well I heard this recently, which was Denmark’s runner-up last year. Before you listen to it, though, remind yourself of Danny Saucedo’s amazing Amazing, from Melodifestivalen 2012.

Tim: This is, basically, a not-quite-as-amazing Amazing.

Tom: I thought, initially, that you meant it’d be the same song — and it’s not, but I see where the comparison comes from.

Tim: Right – the above comparison is a little unfair, because the melody is its own, but still: male vocalist, toned-down piano, strings and drum instrumentation behind the verses, a hopefully anthemic line to a suddenly EDM chorus, and genre-shifting breakdown with fancy staging. Hell, even the monochrome outfits pretty much match.

Tom: Yep, you’re right there. It’s certainly a different song, but drawn along the same lines.

Tim: I said not quite as amazing, because it isn’t: partly because it’s missing the incredible clothing lights (though I suppose the flames sort of make up for it) but what’s it’s really missing is the big “oh-oh-ohhhh” line that the other had.

Tom: It’s missing a Big Anthemic Moment. Which is a shame.

Tim: On its own, it’s not a bad song; it’s just, well, when it struck me, I can’t avoid that comparison, which, yeah, is a shame.

Nause – Another You

“They don’t do ballads. Except apparently they do.”

Tim: I heard this last week, and was a tad confused. You see, Nause, as you may recall, are a Swedish house production team. They don’t do ballads.

Tim: Except apparently they do. A lovely ballad, in fact, although very short and entirely out of character.

Tom: Good grief, their fans’ll be up in arms about this one. I keep waiting for the drop, and there isn’t one.

Tim: But then that one you brought yesterday made me think ooh, hang on, this could easily be half a dance track, couldn’t it?

Tom: Right! It’s only 2:40 — it’s as if they released the raw audio that they were about to remix.

Tim: Slop some great beats and synths and that sort of stuff underneath, and you’ll have a brilliant dance track, just like yesterday. So I really hope it’s forthcoming, because that’d be great.

Tube & Miller feat. Szen – Winding Road

“How about some full-on summer trance?”

Tom: How about some full-on summer trance, Tim?

Tim: BRING IT.

Tim: Oh, you BROUGHT IT. That’s glorious.

Tom: The middle two minutes of this track, as far as I’m concerned, are wonderful. Full-on CHOON, albeit based mostly on the melody rather than the production.

Tim: I disagree – I think the production has just as much to do with it, because yes, the melody and singing is lovely, but the second half of that main section is has a total focus on the production, and that’s great.

Tom: It’s just the strange intro and outro section that let it go for me. I know that trance needs a stedy in and out to let DJs mix it, but it’s unrepresentative and lacklustre compared to that lovely middle bit.

Tim: Yeah – it’s curious, because typically the intro and outro bits would be substantially trimmed in a mix, so we’ve only really got a two, two and a half minute song here. Which is a shame, because I’d love more of that.

Tom: Long story short: keep the songwriter, change the production team, and maybe get a video that isn’t just timelapses of traffic.

DJ MuscleBoy – Louder

“If you are not shaving your balls regularly you’re never gonna reach your full potential.”

Tom: Martin writes in with this one, which he describes as “Eurotrance combined with a bizarre video. Then again, that’s what you expect from Iceland.”

Tim: I won’t dispute that.

Tom: This is number one in Iceland. It’s been number one there for weeks. And I’m reasonably sure that it’s actually a parody — Martin also sent us a Vice interview with DJ MuscleBoy in which he simultaneously says he’s a comedian, and then rather earnestly describes his body-fat percentage.

Tim: “If you are not shaving your balls regularly you’re never gonna reach your full potential.” Clearly, a lifestyle guru to be reckoned with.

Tim: Hmm. He could do with working on his abs a bit.

Tom: I… I’m fairly sure he shouts “let me see your cracks” at 1:28 there. Which given the number of them in the video, seems more reasonable than it otherwise might.

Tim: He does have a very nice bottom, that’s worth pointing out. Musically, erm, I’m not sure – those screams we hear throughout seem very familiar.

Tom: I’m filing this in with Moped as a Scooter-esque parody, particularly with that strangled scream near the end. He just needs to shout “more tea vicar” at one point.

Tim: Yeah – much as with Moped, though, I have no problem listening to it at all, even as proper music. One of my proudest moments at uni was getting our favourite DJ to give Clocks a spin. It’s a good track. Fairly ridiculous, but a decent track nonetheless.

Sophie Elise – Lionheart

“You know the word ‘Brilliant’? Yeah.”

Tim: You know the word ‘Brilliant’? Yeah.

Tim: There aren’t many songs when I could honestly say ‘I don’t know how you could make this better.’ This, though, may well be one of them.

Tom: This is going to sound like a backhanded compliment, and I don’t mean it that way: this is incredibly well produced.

Tim: Sophie is a Norwegian fashion blogger turned singer, and I’d say that’s a good move based on this – the verses are great, the chorus is fantastic, the lyrics are of the great ‘I’m incredible’ variety, the instrumentation underneath just never lets up, and there’s really nothing I can find fault with here.

Tom: The YouTube comments constantly complain about autotune — it turns out the Norwegian word for that is “autotune” — and I think they’re rather missing the point. Whoever did the instrumentation and production for this should get as much credit as Sophie, because that’s astonishing: her voice is just one more instrument in an incredibly deep mix.

Tim: Top work, it really is.

Danny Rossing – Remember

“What a summer track it is.”

Tim: As I’m writing this, I’m lying by a swimming pool with the sun blazing down on me and my skin’s in danger of turning bright red. This is an excellent accompaniment.

Tom: It’s cloudy here and I’m sneezing thanks to hay fever. I get the feeling I won’t be so optimistic.

Tom: Oh, I take it back. That’s lovely.

Tim: Isn’t it? What a summer track it is. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely appreciating them until now, when it’s actually summery.

Tom: Even without the sun, this is really good: even that clicky, stuttery break works for me, and that’s odd: normally, I’d find it gimmicky. The combination of ballad-type vocals and staccato synth and percussion complement each other far better than I’d have thought.

Tim: There’s also that middle eight that sticks out in either a ‘wait what’s going on’ way or an ‘ooh, this is great’ way, and for me it’s the latter. Yes, it kind of breaks the track, but I think it’s in a good way. Basically, I think this is a great tune, and his decent vocals on top only help that.

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.

Galavant feat. Mary Jane Smith – World of Dreams

“CHOON.”

Tim: Galavant, a Swedish pair; Mary Jame Smith, of Swedish singing duo Smith & Thell who we’ve covered a couple of times. This here’s new track, suitably BANGING for a Friday, and it’s the extended mix so you won’t miss much of note if you skip the first minute.

Tom: Oh man, that is a hell of a one-minute build, though, even if it’s a bit disappointing when it ends.

Tim: Much as with yesterday’s track, I’m a little stuck about what to write here. Not because I find it generic, because I really don’t, but because I’m not really sure where to start. Or if I can sit down still long enough to actually type about it.

Tom: How about: YES. That is how you do full-on dance music, people.

Tim: Because this a proper banger of a CHOON, needing to be spelt that way because it really is. Lyrically there’s basically nothing to it, aside from the dreamy promise of another where everything’s amazing, and really with all that’s going on here I have no trouble believing that.

Tom: Agreed. I was full-on chair-dancing by the second minute.

Tim: It’s one of the best dance tracks we’ve had, at least so far this year, and as I write this I’m about to start packing to go on holiday, and I’m not sure I can think of a better accompaniment. BRILLIANT.

Hector Lopez – Love

“That… that goes a bit Jedward at the start.”

Tim: Last weeks we had a Stockholm Pride song; here’s a full on Europride song, which is a thing I didn’t know existed but apparently does. So there.

Tom: That… that goes a bit Jedward at the start. “Heart is jumping” sounds a bit like the intro to Lipstick, surely?

Tim: Spectacular? No. Groundbreaking? No.

Tom: Much like that video: the editor really needs to buck their ideas up a bit. Slow crossfades, white flashes and odd cuts? Must try harder.

Tim: Enjoyable and on-message, though? Absolutely. With decent vocals, good production, and above all a very danceable tune, I will accept this as a tune.

Tom: Yes. It is certainly a tune. It is not, however, a CHOON — although it gets a bit close during that final reprise.

Tim: Only problem is that it’s so generic there’s not much more to be said about it. Erm. Yeah, that’s it.