Avicii – Addicted To You

“How on earth Audra Mae doesn’t get joint credit on that song, I don’t know.”

Tim: More of the farmhouse music, you’re probably expecting; take a listen.

Tom: Ha. “Farm-house”. Well done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6xokv_0cyQ

Tom: Oh my stars that’s amazing. That’s just wonderful. How on earth Audra Mae doesn’t get joint credit on that song, I don’t know, because that’s just her song. I’ve thought beforethat it’s unfair that producers get very little credit compared to singers, but surely this is too far in the other direction.

Tim: Regarding the singer, I agree with you fully. Because, well, it’s a big yes to the farm, but weirdly, pretty much no house at all. I say weirdly because, well, Avicii’s pretty much the biggest dance producer out there right now and this has none of his trademarks – there’s no big dance post-chorus like there should be in, well, not just his music but in any dance track.

Tom: Don’t care. It’s wonderful. This style is something I didn’t realise I was looking for. Save the full-on dance versions for the clubs: this is just great to listen to.

Tim: See, I disagree – to be honest (and admittedly probably because it so contrasted with my expectations, as I do quite like that remix), I find it kind of just dull – just somewhat bland country-infused pop. Also a bit odd with the bit at the start where the singer sounds like she’s going in to Skyfall. Shame.

Tom: Get out. She pretty much does Skyfall, and it’s exactly what the song needs.

Tone Damli – Heartkill

Tim: We’ve featured Tone Damli quite a bit up until now, and generally been impressed. BUT CAN SHE KEEP IT UP?

Tim: Pretty much, yes. Good things in particular include the lead in to the chorus from the verses, the instrumental melody underneath the chorus and the “just another hea-a-a-a-artkill” at the end of the chorus.

Tom: I agree with everything apart from that digital stuttering: it was so incongruous that it completely took me out of the song. Maybe it’d get better over time, but I’m not convinced.

Tim: Huh. Fair enough, see where you’re coming from. Those two bits aside for me, it’s, well, actually just about above average, but I really do like the end of the chorus bit. So well done for that.

NONONO – Hungry Eyes

“That chorus made me a lot happier than I thought it would.”

Tim: Not a cover of the Eric Carmen classic (though there’s an astounding one here if you want it).

Tom: That is exactly the cover I was hoping it was. But I’ve never seen that video before. That… that is quite something.

Tim: Isn’t it just? Almost make’s Zlata Ognevich’s one (always worth a watch) look tame. But no, this is a follow-up to last year’s nice and whistly Pumpin Blood.

https://soundcloud.com/shewentpop/nonono-hungry-eyes

Tim: Pleasant enough, I think you’ll agree?

Tom: Agreed, and that chorus made me a lot happier than I thought it would.

Tim: I’m glad. Chirpy would be an appropriate word, I think, because it is – all happiness and smiling, at least certainly once the chorus hits. Verses could perhaps be a bit more exciting, but the chorus has a lovely hook to it and the instrumental has just the right amount of tinkliness that makes an already quite happy song very happy. So I like it. Two out of two, good stuff.

Tegan & Sara feat. The Lonely Island – Everything Is Awesome

What… what the hell is that?

Tim: Against all the odds, from the trailers and suchlike it seems like The Lego Movie is actually going to be quite good; nowhere is this more apparent than in this song here, a slightly unlikely collaboration given Tegan and Sara’s previous work, but damn fine nonetheless.

Tom: What… what the hell is that?

Tim: Duhh, AWESOME. Some songwriters, you see, spend time ensuring they stick to some sort of structure or genre, with well-timed verses and choruses, a consistent beat, time signature and the like. Others, including soundtrack composer Mark Mothersbaugh, just seem more focussed on thinking of things that are awesome, such as job losses, mud on your shoes, string, trees, clocks and figs; in fact EVERYTHING.

Tom: I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here. There’s no intro. It changes up everything, repeatedly. There’s a dubstep breakdown with a Lonely Island cameo, which is quite an odd choice for a kids’ movie given their normal style. I… I mean, it gets the message across, I guess?

Tim: I think so – I’m not sure, but I’ve got a hunch that the message they want us to take from this is that EVERYTHING is awesome. And that’s a GREAT message, so I’m happy with that. I’m happy with a lot of things right now, so this just BRILLIANT. Or, in fact, AWESOME.

Laleh – Stars Align

“It departs from the pop formula just enough to be new and interesting.”

Tim: We haven’t featured Laleh for a while, which is a bit of a shame because her last single, Colors, was really very good. But here’s the second single off her album of that name, and fortunately it too is really very good.

Tom: I wouldn’t go as far as “very good” — that wha-hoo in the chorus doesn’t work for me, and the transition back to the verse really grates — but it’s certainly putting a decent effort in. It departs from the pop formula just enough to be new and interesting.

Tim: Hmm. I actually have no problem with either of the issues you mentioned, although I will say that I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the lyrics, what with “walking in the town like a ghost” being significantly different from “the world that I’m so much a part of”; on the other hand I suppose stars aligning is a good thing? Sounds a bit like horoscopey guff, but using it is fine by me if you’re going to produce a tune like this from it. It’s brilliant – almost a cross between the drums of Emmelie de Forest and heading towards the vocals of Icona Pop, combined to form wonderful results.

Tom: That’s a good analogy, particularly in that middle eight.

Tim: Video’s good, too, especially the blend thing when she talks about walking like a wolf, although that does bring back the heavy disappointment that arrives whenever I realise I’ll probably never be a werewolf. Oh well.

Saturday Flashback: Håkan Hellström – Det kommer aldrig va över för mig

Just hope that none of the lawyers notice.

Tim: There is something about this, from early last year, that utterly ruins it for me; I don’t want to say what it is, in case it’s not as blindingly obvious to you as it is to me.

Tim: Just me?

Tom: No. Not just you. That’s astonishing.

Tim: Yep, figured. So, you want to be a successful Swedish pop-rock singer, you decide to take basically the chorus of one of the biggest hits of one of the biggest pop-rock bands of all time, sing basically the melody of a highly successful pop-rock track from the biggest pop-rock band of all time and hope that none of the lawyers notice.

Tom: To translate his comments from an article: “These chords are used by so very many groups; I can name at least five songs that sound the same way. ‘Heaven’ by Bryan Adams is of course much closer!”

Tim: Erm…

Tom: Uh-huh. Sure it is. You didn’t just use the chords, you used the same instrumentation and timing — it’s not just the same chords as the Killers, it sounds exactly the same as them. Another Swedish source simply calls it “blatant plagiarism“.

Tim: It was disappointing more than anything, really – I heard it on the radio when I woke up and thought, oh, I like this song, and a bit later thought, wait, what? Later, and more cogently, I looked it up on YouTube and realised it wasn’t some weird re-sung mashup but actually an ‘original’ song (and boy, do I use that term loosely). So now my question’s basically: why would anyone choose to play this when there are two better songs out there?

Kylie Minogue – Into The Blue

Leaks are brilliant, aren’t they?

Tim: Leaks are brilliant, aren’t they?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7cv0jaFyw

Tim: Admittedly they don’t always come with the best sound quality, but BLIMEY what about the rest of it? Fresh from making herself relevant again by being on The Voice…

Tom: Bold claim there. Still, the blind auditions get the ratings in.

Tim: …Kylie has granted us a fantastic new track, which sounds entirely 2014. Well done there, because it also sounds unmistakably Kylie, with an utterly BRILLIANT singalong chorus and glorious backing behind it.

Tom: Yep. This is that rare moment when a long-time pop star pulls off an up-to-date track while keeping true to their old style. It doesn’t happen often.

Tim: Twice in a week now, though, which is good going. On top of that as well: the lyrics with their wonderful self-empowerment vibe and oh, that chorus line again because it really should count at least twice, and this is a track that I’m not sure how to describe without repeating any of the superlatives I’ve already used. Oh, AMAZING. That’ll do.

Lili & Susie – Would You Be Mine

“Could be said to descend into a bit of a mess, but I rather like it.”

Tim: Pop greats of yesteryear arriving and sounding entirely 2014; not Kylie’s new single, which we’ll get to when I can find a link that hangs around long enough, but Lili & Susie. Have a listen to this.

Tom: Crikey, that comes in hard.

Tim: HA – JUST LIKE YOactually let’s keep this grown up. Yeah, it certainly gets going quickly, and at times, particularly the middle eight, it could be said to descend into a bit of a mess, but to be perfectly honest I rather like this, for a floor-thumping heavy beat electro tune.

Tom: Agreed: I think I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic if it hadn’t been for that opening — it was enough to get me through the first verse and into that chorus. And in particular, that odd down note before the chorus, and that first line, both of which are just glorious.

Tim: Right – it isn’t just floor thumping and beat heavy, it’s got melodic and emotive vocals, a nice instrumental line every now and again and, well, actually those are the two good things that stop it being just a bit tedious. But those are there, and the chorus in particular combines those and is properly great.

Tom: I can only agree.

Tim: Good. Well done everyone.

Mariette – If Only I Can

“A piano, some lovely ahh-ing and is that an accordion in the background?”

Tim: Mariette’s been through several names in her time; originally as Maryjet, then Mariette Hansson in Swedish Idol 2009, and now plain Mariette, a name which bring with it a lovely piano ballad.

Tim: As we all know too well, piano ballads especially have a potency to be entirely dull and dreary. This, fortunately, stays well away from that, because that chorus is very big, given that we only have a piano, some lovely ahh-ing and is that an accordion in the background?

Tom: I think so? It’s certainly accordion-esque. I wouldn’t put the chorus as “very big”, but it’s certainly emotive, and in a ballad like that, this is what counts.

Tim: It’s rather slow, even for a ballad, but that strangely doesn’t work against it – while there’s no time for a middle eight or closing section, it still feels like a fully fleshed out song. Which is good, because that’s exactly what it is – a lovely tune that’s gentle yet still full of emotion and feeling. Not an easy thing to do.

Julie Bergan – Younger

“You’re going to die soon.”

Tim: Tom, I hope you’re not feeling particularly old today, because if you are this probably isn’t the song for you.

Tim: No, Julie, we’re not getting any younger. Thank you for pointing that out so vividly.

Tom: And repeatedly.

Tim: Quite. It’s weird, really, because while that can often be put to good use as a ‘get out and do stuff’ lyrical vibe, here (and I’m not sure why) it just seems to be ‘you’re going to die soon’, which I’m not really sure is something I want blasted in my face at however many decibels (regardless of how pretty brilliant it is musically).

Tom: And I’m not sure it’s brilliant musically either: it’s certainly a powerful chorus — and I’m a sucker for a well-used “heeyyyy” sample — but it does go on a bit.

Tim: I don’t know, I don’t get that. Back to the age thing (which apparently I don’t seem to be able to let go of), it might be the surrounding lyrics – aside from ‘scream, shout, fire up this show’ there’s no real incitement, and let’s be honest screaming, shouting, and setting fire to things is exactly what someone’s who’s only got ten minutes to live may well do.

So, you know, lovely music in the chorus, but I’d rather have a happy message next time, if that’s okay?