Bright Light Bright Light – Moves

“The seventh (that’s seventh) and final single from the album.”

Tim: The seventh (that’s seventh) and final single from the album Make Me Believe In Hope also comes with its own EP launching in America and a nice video, featuring Rod (which is his name) being very sweaty and topless.

Tom: Seven singles off one album? What was it, a double-cassette compilation or something?

Tim: Nope – just a damn good album.

Tim: And what a lovely track that is to close the album’s output with.

Tom: The first verse lost me, and I found my attention wandering to other thing — until that chorus kicked in. I think the start of the chorus, and that waily-synthesiser middle-eight, are the only parts of the track I can really get behind… but they are really very good parts.

Tim: Absolutely – wonderful production underneath as ever, and brilliantly sung lyrics conveying exactly the right tone – “We can move apart, I guess, and I can move along, I guess, and I can do my best, I guess, but then what’s the use?” – a long, despondent realisation that a relationship’s over and there’s, well, nothing left.

Tom: Agreed that it’s brilliantly sung. Perhaps more of an album track than a single, but hell, after six previous ones I can forgive it not being a full-on attention-grabbing crowd-pleaser.

Tim: The video, cutting between him dancing around on his own, and lying on his bed looking somewhat less than happy is spot on as well, and I don’t think there’s anything else to ask for.

Utterly brilliant, top marks, and I cannot recommend the album highly enough. Get it.

Icona Pop – Girlfriend

“What band hasn’t succeeded in a new country by splitting sales across two tracks?”

Tim: About a decade after it was originally released, I Love It is finally getting a release and gradually building up airplay in the UK.

Tom: A year, to be fair – there have been longer gaps between release and international success. So what’s with the new single?

Tim: Well, it’s the obvious step: put out their follow-up international release. After all, what band hasn’t succeeded in a new country by splitting sales across two tracks?

Tim: And, why mess with a winning formula? Fairly aggressive vocals, excellent production underneath, a great enough tune to get any party going.

Tom: Plus occasional use of “shit”, which seems to be emerging as one of their trademarks.

Tim: To give them their due, it’s a great track, and one I actually prefer to I Love It.

Tom: I still reckon I Love It is the better track — I don’t think they’d have had success if they’d released this first — but it’s a competent followup.

Tim: You’re right – it’s not got the same “listen to us, we here and demand your attention” quality that I Love It has that you’d think would be first and foremost in their minds.

I say “them”, it’s probably more the label’s fault than theirs, as I Love It went down a storm in the US a few months back and so now’s a good time to release this for that market. But why delay the UK one so much (and, while you’re at it, entirely cancel the remix EP)? Such silliness.

Christophe Lallet – Långt Bort Härifrån

“Actual competent singing, for a start”

Tim: Hey, remember that time a British footballer released a single and it went well for them? No? Strange, I don’t either.

Tom: Thankfully, Wikipedia has a full list of “UK hit singles released by footballers“. The only one by a footballer, not a team, that could reasonably be classed as being well-received is, of course, Gazza’s “Fog on the Tyne”—

Tim: Of course.

Tom: –and I don’t think that could still be classed as “going well”.

Tim: Nevertheless, this mid-fielder for Hammarby IF (research, you’ll note) is hoping that the same rules don’t apply in Sweden.

Tom: So this is probably going to be awful?

Tom: Huh. It’s not awful.

Tim: It’s not, no. The title translates to Far Away From Here, though that aside I’ve no idea what it’s about, but since it’s actually quite a good song, he just might do alright. It’s actual competent singing, for a start, it’s got decent production underneath it, and there’s a nice melody to it. It is, in fact, exactly what you don’t expect a football song to sound like, largely because he’s actually trying out music as a secondary career, rather than just the odd novelty track for the fans to buy.

Tom: I still reckon the best football single is the first football single. For starters, it’s only two minutes long.

Tim: That’s one good thing you can say about it.

Nova Delai – Just Love

Folk-pop, perhaps?

Tim: Nova is a Swedish singer, and in my view somewhat underappreciated. Here, her third single.

Tom: I was half-expecting that to go into “Against All Odds” after the intro.

Tim: A question: what genre’s this? Beyond just pop, I mean, with the heavy drums in the background. There are a lot of tracks around right now in this vein, not least Emmelie de Forest’s Eurovision winner, and I don’t know what to call them.

Tom: Folk-pop, perhaps? The vocals and instruments would seem to give it that kind of air.

Tim: Hmm, sounds pretty good. But regardless of the name, it’s a good track. I find myself needing to struggle through the verses somewhat, as they’re a bit bland and a bit shouty, but the chorus has a lovely first part and a good in a different way second part, and the middle eight could almost be described as delightful.

Tom: See, I’m not much of a folk-pop fan if I’m honest; while I can appreciate that musically, this is quite a good song, the style of vocals leaves me a bit cold. That’s my personal taste, though: since you seem to like the genre, what d’you think?

Tim: Seven out of ten for now, but higher if it had a nicer verse.

Saturday Flashback: Bingo Players feat. Far East Movement – Get Up

“He should’ve ducked.”

Tom: Sometimes, Tim, I send you flashbacks for the music, or for the nostalgia value. Not this time. Today, I’m sending you this flashback just for the video. Heads up: it contains a bit bloody, if comic, violence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veM5tszB_KQ

Tim: Oh, well that’s the best example of animal justice we’ve had since Save The World. Full marks.

Tom: That last guy, with the hole in his chest? He should’ve ducked.

Tim: Get out.

Beatrice Egli – Mein Herz

“Oh my word, the orchestra hits.”

Tim: They say schlager’s on the way out – there was nothing to really represent it in either Eurovision or even Melodifestivalen this year, and a lot of people are saying it’s just not the done thing any more.

Tom: I really hope this is a leadup to a schlager song, and your punchline isn’t “so here’s some dubstep”.

Tim: So, here’s some…

Tom: Oh my word, the orchestra hits.

Tim: I propose that ‘they’ are wrong, though, as evidenced by this track, which is the first single by the winner of this year’s Deutschland sucht den Superstar (or what the rest of the world would call German Idol), and she actually made it her thing just to sing schlager, and then beat the runner-up with a convincing 70% of the vote.

That’s refreshing, isn’t it? That a young new artist can win a singing contest with this, and then be number one in the charts for two weeks running.

Tom: Blimey, number one with this? That’s not so much refreshing as just full-on startling. It’s good, but it’s extremely old-school and… well, it does go on a bit.

Tim: It does, yes, and it could probably do with a lazy key change – you know, the ones that get criticised for purely being there to give a bit of life to a song that’s reached its limit. That aside, it’s a perfectly standard example of the genre – a decent listenable track and worth mentioning, if only for the nice “cheese is alive” message it sends out.

Soluna Samay – L.O.V.E. (If Women Ruled the World)

“Repetitive? Yes. But great? Also yes.”

Tim: Cast your mind back twelve months to Baku and you may remember Soluna representing Denmark with the rather pleasant Should’ve Known Better; if you don’t, then, well, to be honest it doesn’t make a difference one way or the other regarding this track, which is new.

Tim: Repetitive? Yes. But great? Also yes.

Tom: That’s because rhythms like that have been used in pop music for a very long time – this is new, but it’s drawing on a lot of old sources to make something very nice indeed.

Tim: Hmm. Maybe the world is running out of music. Or maybe people just know what works. Either way, it’s very good.

The video reminds me of the stock photo library trawl that was Tegan and Sara’s Closer, but here it doesn’t seem weird, it just seems brilliant – while I watch it, I can’t stop myself smiling.

Tom: That’s because it’s got some proper art direction to it.

Tim: YES to the trainers and the crappy sunglasses and the pineapple, LOVE the catapult and the milkshake and all the other things that are just there. Why are they there? So we can play with them later. Why should we play with them later? Well, why the hell not? IT’S FUN. Like the song, really.

Tom: It is that. I was about to write that it could have been written any time in the last thirty years, but you know what? I think I’m wrong. This is still a modern song in its production and style, it just uses very traditional… well, everything.

Tim: As for what the title’s about, I’m not entirely this sort of frivolity is what people like Emily Davison and Emmeline Pankhurst had in mind when campaigning for women’s rights, but it’s fun so WHO CARES? I DON’T, because I’m smiling.

Vinsten – Luckiest Girl (Bassflow Remake)

MODERATELY THUMPING.

Tim: Last summer, a singer called Vinsten came out with this, which was alright – not bad Scandinavian electro stuff, but not hugely exciting. Recently, though, a producer with the somewhat silly name Bassflow but the somewhat excellent back catalogue of Euphoria played around with it and quite improved it, and now it’s getting a proper release.

Tom: It took me a while to parse that sentence, but when I worked it out: hmm. That’s promising.

Tim: Glad you think so.

Tim: BANGING.

Tom: Or at least MODERATELY THUMPING.

Tim: It is arms in the air, jump around, take some drugs, enjoy yourself type dance music that an upcoming summer season could do with just wonderfully. The verses still aren’t huge, but when the chorus hits and it goes off properly it is ALL IN and there’s nothing you do to stop it.

Tom: Hmm. Are your speakers a bit louder than mine? It’s playing its hand a bit more coyly than that: to continue your all-in poker analogy, it’s certainly at least checking until after the flop.

Tim: Well, except wait for the next verse when it goes away again but after that it is BACK and it is STAYING and it is VERY WELCOME. I’m SHOUTING at the moment and I DON’T KNOW WHY.

Tom: I’m trying to figure out a full house / house music poker pun, but it isn’t quite working.

Tim: Really? Because I can think of one slight one that might work. It is obscure, I’ll admit.

Tom: I don’t think poker and pop music go well toge…

Tim: Think, now – are you really sure you want to say that?

Tom: Hmm. Never mind.

Tim: And, there it is.

The Saturdays – Gentleman

“I don’t like this at all. It’s awful, it really is.”

Tim: Oh, no, really?

Tom: Disappointingly, this not a PSY cover. Even more disappointingly, I think they’re trying to rap?

Tim: I don’t like this at all. It’s awful, it really is. (Though to be honest I can’t imagine anything good coming from a PSY cover either.)

Tom: Tim, I think this might have to be one of those songs where we just list everything that’s wrong with it.

Tim: Hmm. Well, we’ll start and keep going until the internet runs out.

Tom: The overly-repeated, appallingly bad sort-of-rapped chorus.

Tim: The “let’s name actors! And rappers! And singers! And politicians! And other men!” game they’re playing in the middle eight.

Tom: The poorly-lit greenscreen and clunkingly product-placed video.

Tim: And dear God, that terrible acting. I don’t expect Oscar-winning levels in a music video, but still.

Tom: “So 1999.”

Tim: “I need a Ryan Gos-a-ling”

Tom: I mean, basically, everything about it. Mainstream pop can be so, so much better than this.

Union J – Carry You

“We’re getting the boy-band battles of the late 90s back, aren’t we?”

Tom: Union J’s motto should basically be “move over, One Direction”. Not in the sense that they’re any better, just because they’ll desperately want 1D to fade from the limelight so they’ve got a shot.

Tom: We’re getting the boy-band battles of the late 90s back, aren’t we? Westlife, Boyzone and Take That may have become groups for the mums, but that just meant all these upstarts came along. We might not have the dodgy sort-of-rap breakdowns any more, but all the trappings are there.

Tim: Hmm. And I’d often agree, and much as these guys are great, this debut single really isn’t what it should be. The verses are decent, and the middle eight’s got a bit of juice to it but the chorus just isn’t enough to, well, carry it. There’s three notes, and song can’t live on three notes.

Tom: This as a debut single? Man. They’re going darker than One Direction, for sure, and I just don’t think it works all that well. It’s well-produced, well-written, and well-sung; but this sounds more like an album track to me.