Ms Trez – Sweet Liar

It’s a lot better than Girls Aloud’s.

Tim: A couple of days ago we had Girls Aloud’s most recent slightly-banging ballad; now let’s have one from Ms Trez, Sweden’s current notable girlband.

Tim: It’s hard not to compare them, really, but fortunately for them this comes off very well indeed.

Tom: It does, although I’m automatically a bit biased against it: generally, girl-band ballads don’t tend to grab my attention. I’ll admit that it’s a lot better than Girls Aloud’s offering though.

Tim: For it, we have more of a beat, its not waiting until the second chorus to get going, and a lack of slightly irritating ba-baby.

Tom: I know it didn’t annoy you quite as much as it did me, but bloody hell I’m glad there’s nothing similar here.

Tim: Against it, well, there’s a more downbeat tone to the lyrics, and then there’s the fact that, well, they’re just not Girls Aloud. Still, I think these things all balance out, and this tracks gets a decent seal of approval from me. And that’s what really matters in today’s music industry.

Tom: (Don’t correct him, readers. It keeps him going.)

Whigfield – Jeg Kommer Hjem

For someone who started with “Saturday Night”, she’s come a long way.

Tim: I’m giving nothing away.

Tom: For someone who started with “Saturday Night”, she’s come a long way.

Tim: Yes – this is dubstep-inspired Whigfield, and I for one think it works. Unexpected, yes, but not too out of place, and I like it.

Tom: I agree, but it’s the kind of track where the vocalist is mostly interchangable: Whigfield could be happily replaced by any session vocalist or guest star here, and it’d sound much the same. This kind of track is normally credited to the producer rather than the singer, so it’s a bit strange to see something this, er, “dubsteppy” credited to Whigfield.

Tim: It couldn’t really be more different from her last track, 4Ever, which was all sweet and happy which rolling harpsichords, whereas this carries the standard harsh tones that can kind of grate a bit (and are expressed vividly so in that video).

Tom: As I’ve said before: I’ve grown to like them as they’ve become more and more influenced by pop.

Tim: Me too: I really like this, and it’s a sound that brings Whigfield up to date and playable on a modern dancefloor, unlike any other recent track of hers. This is good stuff. Very good indeed.

Girls Aloud – Beautiful ’Cause You Love Me

“What’s with that bizarre high-pitched ‘ba-baby’?”

Tom: “Basin”, “Face in”, “Racing”, and “Taste it”. We start with a quadruple rhyme that feels like the musical equivalent of smashing your funnybone against a door. It doesn’t bode well.

Tim: When it’s like that, who cares what it bodes?

Tom: The production’s good, the vocals are competent, and that final chorus is just beautiful. But the lyrics are clunky and childish, and what’s with that bizarre high-pitched “ba-baby”?

Tim: No. NO. You don’t get to write it like that. Because you’re making it seem that those lyrics and the (admittedly potentially irritating) “ba-baby” knock out the wonderfulness of the chorus and the lovely vocals, when they really don’t. The singing, the tune is brilliant, and dodgy lyrics aren’t anywhere near enough to spoil them.

Tom: It plods. It plods in a very gentle and graceful manner… but it still plods.

Tim: It absolutely does not. It’s lovely.

Anton Leuba – My Heart Blows Up (Explosions)

“I think they got that beat from an early-90s Casio keyboard.”

Tim: The last time we met Anton Leuba, it came with a slightly over the top e-mail and a track that was a bit uninspiring. The PR e-mail for this track, though, blows that one out of the water, because here, “the cute love story is matched against a heavy beat and a harsh and almost hostile soundscape”.

Tom: Man, I hope someone got paid properly to write that.

Tim: Presumably – you wouldn’t write that it’s “a song about repressing your emotion and putting work first. Until your heart blows up,” unless you were getting properly remunerated would you?

Still, with that description it’s got to be worth a listen, no?

Tom: I’m not sure, but I think they got that beat from an early-90s Casio keyboard.

Tim: So it still doesn’t live up to the e-mail, but never mind, because if it had done it would have been “dressed in grimy drums and angry synthesizers” and I probably wouldn’t have liked it. This, though, I do like.

Tom: It’s not bad, but it doesn’t really get me going. The melody’s a bit monotone – although how you make a song about explosions dull I have no idea.

Tim: I wouldn’t say dull – it’s not hugely exciting, but it’s got a decent drop into the chorus, which is loud and energetic enough to dance to in a club. A nice gentle middle eight for everyone to have a quick break to, and then we’re back for a final section that’s ALL IN and PROPER.

Tom: It’s not going to light up the charts (or the YouTube hit counter, judging by its success so far) but it’s… well, it’s competent. I’ll give it that.

Saturday Flashback: East 17 – Stay Another Day

This song is very, very Christmassy

Tim: Yes, we’re doing this. Because you’ll recall that last Friday we were at a pop night and you expressed doubts that this was a particularly festive song. So now we’ll probe further.

Tom: Christmas 1994. I was ten years old. You know, I think this was just after the point when I figured out that pop music existed. There’s still a copy of Now 30, on double cassette, somewhere in my parents’ house.

Tim: I will accept that this song has flaws: it has an excessive number of chorus repeats at the end, the video is utterly ludicrous and “I touch your face while you are sleeping” is one of the creepiest lyrics that’s ever been written.

Tom: It does just keep going, doesn’t it? But at the same time: that timpani roll at the start sets the scene for what’s to come so well: it’s a very, very, good pop track. I don’t think it deserves quite such an outro, but at least it doesn’t repeat-until-fade.

Tim: This is true. But you may still say that as a Christmas record, it’s flawed: the bells at the end, after all, were only added at the last minute when the cynical producer realised it would be released in December, the snowy video was made after this when they realised it had become a Christmas hit, and if you think this is a typical romantic “please don’t leave me” song, please don’t look it up on Wikipedia, because it may well ruin Christmas forever.

Tom: You know, I’ve never seen that video before, and one thing strikes me: what on earth is going on with Brian Harvey’s earrings? I know it was the 90s, but… blimey.

Tim: Strange, yes. But regardless of any of these issues, this song is, undeniably, very, very Christmassy. Why? Those bells. That’s all it is – just the bells. Because those chiming bells are more than enough to get absolutely everyone at the Christmas work do, without exception, to put down their drinks and head to the dancefloor, either with a loved one to hold onto, or as a group, arms round each other, shouting along merrily. This happened last Friday when it was the last song of the night, and it will happen at every single Christmas party from now until the end of time. And that is what makes it a festive song.

Tom: I’d forgotten about those bells. And I can’t help but agree with you.

Röyksopp feat. Susanne Sundfør – Running To The Sea

“Not what I expected from a Röyksopp single.”

Tim: I’m not going to introduce this, save to say there’s a studio version here if you’d prefer.

Tim: Doesn’t really need an introduction, you see, because it’s incredible.

Tom: It’s not what I expected from a Röyksopp single, that’s for sure. Or at least, the first part wasn’t.

Tim: No, nor what I expected, but that’s no bad thing. It starts like a quiet piano ballad and holds it for a while, another layer comes in, and then– actually, I could go through it like that but it wouldn’t explain what’s great about it because it’s just not that sort of song. It’s the way it feels that really gets you, the way it surrounds you and gets underneath you, with the vocal that’s both soaring but slightly haunting as well.

Tom: I’m not sure it quite got into me in the same way – it’s a builder, certainly, but it didn’t send shivers up my spine like it seems to have yours. Good track, though.

Tim: Really? Because I think it’s just…well, incredible.

Scooter – 4AM

You’re probably thinking, “Hang on, I’ve heard this a lot.”

Tim: Their newest one, Army of Hardcore, is a bit crap, so we won’t talk about it. This previous one’s still only two months old, though, so let’s have a listen. (Couple of gratuitous F-words up ahead, if you care.)

Tim: Let’s get the small things out of the way. First: his yelling. Heard it all before, standard fare, but to be honest it’s a bit distracting.

Tom: The yelling is part and parcel of Scooter – you couldn’t have them without HP Baxxter BRINGING THE NOISE.

Tim: Second: female vocalist. Not sure we’ve had one before (at least not on a single release), but I like it – works well.

Tom: Not without it being extensively reprocessed, certainly. But then, Scooter went jumpstyle for a while, and they seem to change direction every now and then: having actual vocals is fine by me.

Tim: Now let’s talk about the big thing. The massive thing. Which that you’re probably thinking, “Hang on, I’ve heard this a lot. How is a new Scooter track so big in 2012?” Well, sorry to disappoint you, but it isn’t. The lovely Million Voices by Otto Knows, though, is. Was. Whatever. The point is, theft.

Tom: Well, let’s not be so hasty. Scooter has always sampled or re-made tracks: I’m Raving was Walking in Memphis, Rebel Yell was Rebel Yell, and Ramp! was The Logical Song.

Tim: Sort of, but those were all direct covers (although I’m Raving has a slightly convoluted legal history – they covered “Raving I’m Raving” by Shut Up And Dance, although not before that track had been banned and proceeds been directed to charity following intervention by Marc Cohn’s people).

Here, though, it’s different – they’ve just tweaked it enough not to get sued, and now I’ve got a dilemma. We’ve established before that I’m happy to take the ‘probably a coincidence’ view, but this is such a blatant rip-off that anyone with an ounce of moral conviction can’t help but feel a little queasy.

Tom: I’d find it difficult to believe that there hasn’t been some kind of agreement about sampling or remixing here.

Tim: Well, this tweet from Otto Knows would suggest otherwise.

Tom: Ouch. It’s up to the lawyers, then.

Tim: But yet. BUT YET. Much as I love it, I always felt that Million Voices could do with a bit more – three minutes of “ey ey ey ey ey, ah ah ah ah ah” is fine, but after a few plays it gets a bit, well, samey, and I’ve occasionally wondered what an added vocal layer would sound like. And dammit, it turns out it sounds great. So, I shouldn’t like this because it’s evil stealing and all that, but I do like it because it sounds really good. Oh, God.

Tom: It’s an improvement. That’s not even an ironic statement, which is saying something for Scooter. But you’re right: it’s a ripoff.

Within Temptation – Skyfall

“Perhaps better than Adele’s?”

Tim: I was going to throw in a track from these guys as a Saturday Flashback at some point, because I quite like them and I found out recently that my mum had become a fan thanks to my leaving a CD at her place, which I thought might be vaguely enough of an anecdote to satisfy our not-remotely-strict guidelines. But no need! This Dutch metal band have released a cover of Skyfall, which is current. So let’s have a listen!

Tom: They’re brave to try and cover something like that: Skyfall’s theme tune is one of the strongest tracks of the year.

Tim: Brace yourself for something I’m about to say, because I’m aware it’ll be contentious, but: I think this is, possibly, better than Adele’s?

Tom: No. It’s not better than Adele’s. I can categorically say that. Adele’s is a classic Bond theme – an astonishing, diva voice belting out over a full orchestral backing. This is good, don’t get me wrong, but the original is better.

Tim: Or if not, then at least more fit for purpose. Because having seen the film, and while I didn’t think it at the time, it kind of deserves a heavier opening theme than it was given.

Tom: Are you stark raving mad? This wouldn’t fit the mood at all. This is way too harsh, too powerful: it never lets up. It’s not a bad metal track, by any means, but it’s not a Bond theme.

Tim: Actually, that’s true – it wouldn’t have fitted that opening scene very well. But while I know we said that Adele’s one was a return to proper Bond theme, brass and strings and all that, I think the explosions in the film, the destruction, the emphasis of everything that happens just seems to sound, well, better when accompanied by the electric guitar and the heavy drums. I really think this works.

Tom: As a metal track, it works. As a Bond theme? Not a chance.

Sally Shapiro – What Can I Do

I’m not sure I can support anything with pan pipes.

Tim: You may recall Watch The World Go By from about 18 months ago; Johan, who did that, got in touch again to alert us to this. Sally does the vocals, he does the music, and it’s rather good music at that.

Tom: Are… are those pan pipes? I’m not sure I can support anything with pan pipes.

Tim: It’s gentle, it’s harmless, it’s sweet – if you’re offended or not happy with it, there’s got to be something wrong with you.

Tom: It is pleasant enough, but then it’s a generic, gentle four-chord song – I helped pass the time during it by singing the lyrics to “Forever Young” over the top of it. And I did have to pass the time during it, sadly; it’s nice, I agree, but it just seems a bit half-hearted.

Tim: It’s the soundtrack to a nice morning, probably spring or summer, lazing around in a field not doing much. Not a particularly wintery track, then, but it’s still got a nice air about it and that’s just about enough for me right now.

Tegan & Sara – Closer

This is genuinely lovely synthpop

Tom: Our resident Radio Insider, Matt, sent this the other day. He said we’d like it. I think he’s right.

Tim: Ah – a lyric video made with effort. And, apparently, by a designer who’s recently been given access to an unlimited supply of stock images. “Ooh, an airplane interior, that’ll be fun. And that fox looks nice – I’ll put him as well. Oh, and I do like those escalators – they’ll go so well after the empty classroom.”

Tom: It is weird, isn’t it? But that doesn’t change the fact that this is genuinely lovely synthpop – a bit poppier than the Sound of Arrows stuff you like, but nevertheless lovely synthpop. Which, considering Tegan and Sara are known for indie rock, is no small achievement.

Tim: No – it really sounds like a track by an experienced act. It’s got an air of a slightly withdrawn Icona Pop about it, and I like it a lot.

Tom: Maybe it’s just the glorious sunset that I can see out my window as I write this, but this is putting me in a really lovely mood. I played it again straight after it ended – which is pretty much the highest accolade I can give a song.

Tim: Ah, well I do that with a lot of tracks, but here it’s not so I can find something to be snarky about (well, except those pictures).

Tom: The track’s been out since September, but the album’s not released until next month – and if this is any sign of what’s to come, then I think it’s going to be a blinder.