Tom: Parts of this sound like a Tiësto track, and parts of this sound like a Rita Ora track. And astonishingly, I think they both work together.
Tim: They do, as this is a good track.
Tom: I… I don’t think I could pick a Jonas Blue track out of a lineup, though.
Tim: Yeah, you remember – did that Fast Car cover that kickstarted 2016’s brief trend of tropical covers of old songs.
Tom: I’m sure he had some input.
Tom: There’s nothing that particularly stands out here for me, but somehow the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts. It’s catchy, I want to hear it again. And honestly, that’s the only reason I’m sending it over to you: I enjoyed it, and that’s that.
Tom: This was on Dutch radio when I was driving through the Netherlands, and it sounded like something out of the early 2000s. Nope: released last month.
Tim: Hmm. Quite nice.
Tom: I’m not saying it’s a great song. It’s not terrible, either; I quite like it.
Tim: Yeah, there’s plenty of things to enjoy about it.
Tom: I’m just surprised that, somehow, something that sounds like it came from the Dutch equivalent of a two-decade-old Barenaked Ladies album is getting airplay on middle-of-the-road Dutch radio stations.
Tim: I don’t know, genres vary, popularity changes by country – hell, over here we’ve still got Westlife coming out with new stuff that doesn’t sound particularly different from their old music. Here’s to the old ones, long may they continue.
Tom: Wow, I misread the first vowel in that title. No idea what my brain’s doing.
Tim: Here’s Etta off Sweden, being yet another songwriter turned singer, presumably hoping to be more like EEVA than Nea. Have a listen, see what you think.
Tim: As I see it, as the decider of a best of three competition, this entirely fails because it’s neither particularly great nor particularly awful.
Tom: Oh, hey, it’s what I think of nearly every song! Welcome to my world. That said, there are a couple of notable things in here: there’s a really interesting chord progression during both verse and chorus. I can’t think when I’ve heard someone use that particular trick before. Plus, that vocoder-only chorus is really, really good: somehow I don’t see it as a gimmick.
And that middle eight! And that voice! Wait, I think I’ve convinced myself that this is really good. I think it’s good!
Tim: Catchy, sure. Decent vocal and production, also yep. Chorus is nice enough, and in fact to be honest there’s not a lot to complain about. Except: it doesn’t get me, grab me, do much for me at all really. It’s…it’s basically fine. Just, fine.
Tom: THE TABLES HAVE TURNED, TIM. I THINK THIS IS GOOD. I ACTUALLY THINK THIS IS GOOD.
“I’ve just realised a Thing, and I’ve a feeling I’m about to go off on one.”
Tim: You might think that this’d be a fairly decent act name for a duo, particularly if one was called Archie, say.
Tom: No, actually, I think it’s the very first time that I’ve said “oh, piss off” to a song here before even listening to it.
Tim: Oh, well, okay, but let’s say you did think that, then you might be right, but we’ll never know, because this band is a threesome made up of Joakim, Magnus and Oskar, and they’ve written a song that seems to be targeted at their landlord, maybe?
Tim: I’ve a slight feeling I know which way you’ll go, Tom, because I’m on the fence as to whether it’s fun or cheesy. The style I definitely like, because even at almost four minutes it doesn’t get boring, and I think that’s what saves it from being tedious.
Tom: There’s a lot to dislike here: the lyrics, in particular, and the way that the lead singer claps into the microphone during the first verse, despite there not being a single clap in the song. It’s a shame, because there’s also a lot to like: the melody’s catchy, the sound manages to be interesting while still familiar.
Tim: Right. Now, it’s the lyrics I want to discuss, because I’ve just realised a Thing, and I’ve a feeling I’m about to go off on one, so strap in. See, the lyrics could work absolutely fine as, say, a song in a musical, or as a song in a musical standup set.
Tom: I’m not sure it’s funny enough for standup, but yes, you’re absolutely right. This is a song from a musical. Which is… not great here.
Tim: But why not? Pop music, apparently, just doesn’t have time for that: very roughly, we’re split maybe 75% falling in (or out of) love, 20% feeling good (or shit), and the rest being, well, this sort of stuff which almost always ends up being lumped in as ‘novelty’. So I’m wondering: why? At what point was it decided that romanticism and happiness were the only two subjects able to be discussed in pop music? And who by, and why? Because now I’ve consciously realised that, I’m almost annoyed.
Tom: Most of Britain would know her as “Louise off Strictly” or “Jamie Redknapp’s ex-wife”, but here, those are descriptions that’d prompt lowered expectations. If I introduce her as that, you’ll assume I’m setting you up for another terrible celebrity ego/cash-in single.
Tim: Well, yes, but people who know her only as that are absolutely not the sort of people who we want reading this website. Let’s have a better introduction, please.
Tom: Okay: Louise, formerly of Eternal.
Tim: Thank you.
Tom: This is actually the third single off the new album. No, I had no idea either. It’s a mystery to me why that album will be released in January, in the doldrums after Christmas: surely it would have been better pitched as a perfect present for kids to buy their Strictly-watching mums? Or maybe I’m still stuck in the pre-streaming era of marketing.
Tim: Quite possibly, as times do change. But to the music: I was aware of the comeback, though I’d never actually got round to listening to the tracks. I’m now thinking that was a mistake, because this is really good!
Tom: I’m sure I’ve heard some of the various components of this before, although that’s more that it’s been inspired by the same gospel music that hundreds of other tracks have.
Tim: Probably. Pop is pop, genre is genre, inspirations are worldwide.
Tom: For some reason, though, this actually made me a little bit happier. Mark it down, Tim: I actually had some sort of an emotional reaction to a track that we’re talking about here. That’s basically a small miracle.
Tim: That’s a plural that really doesn’t look right, even though it technically is. The song more or less makes up for it, though.
Tim: True, Monday is not the typical day to bring along a strong ‘dance end of the dance-pop scale’ track, but you work for yourself and I do shift work, so who really cares? I’ve no idea what the video’s about, beyond ‘gosh, drugs are fun, aren’t they?’.
Tom: And the Nordic coast is beautiful.
Tim: But hey, it’s the music we’re here for, and it’s the music that I’m a big fan of. Yes, it is indeed strongly towards the dance end of the dance-pop scale, and that, as I think we all know, is a genre I’m entirely happy with, and this track here is a great example of why.
Tom: Dance-pop like this has a tendency to feel a bit “middle of a Spotify playlist” to me: it’s difficult to distinguish one from another. I’ll admit, though, that I could remember the chorus of this one afterwards, which is practically a ringing endorsement.
Tim: There’s a good energy, a lovely vocal, tight production, decent melody, heck, basically everything we need really. I’ve no problems with it – you?
“I was about to say ‘that’s completely outside what we usually cover’ but, no, after a moment’s thought, this is entirely what we usually cover.”
Tim: Here’s a fun one for you: ’80s Danish glam rock?
Tom: I was about to say “that’s completely outside what we usually cover” but, no, after a moment’s thought, this is entirely what we usually cover.
Tim: Bit of fun, isn’t it? I had completely and entirely never heard of this band until a Danish person at work played this track the other day (and by all accounts neither had most English-speaking people, given that their only Wikipedia entry is Danish), but, oh, it’s fun.
Tom: It sounds like… I’ll be honest, it sounds like any other generic 80s glam rock track to me. Except for the first half of the middle eight, that basically gives every instrument a tiny little solo before going into the big electric-guitar number.
Tim: Basically: entirely typical of the genre. Guitar, drums, vocal style, all exactly as they should be. Chorus, absolutely as we’re expecting. A lovely, lovely song, with, if you’re in agreement, a whole discography on your streaming platform of choice.
Tom: Really? I mean, heaven knows I’ve gone down some weird musical rabbit holes before, but I can’t see why this has had quite such an effect on you.
Tom: Pegboard Nerds! I’ve heard of them! Back in 2014, when one of their sorta-chiptune-sorta-dubstep tracks was featured on this video. 2014 was before drones became mainstream, and that video — and its soundtrack — absolutely blew me away.
Tim: Fabulous! I had not heard of them, but part of me wanted to feature this based purely on the artwork; some more of me wanted to because of their name (Danish/Norwegian, if you weren’t aware, and NERVO are Australian); then I heard the verse and then the chorus, and by the time we got to the post-chorus there was no option whatsoever.
Tom: See! Sorta-chiptune, sorta-dubstep. I mean, they’ve moved on, and I’m sure there’s a different and more formal genre title for it, but yes, this is definitely their style.
Tim: So, I’m not going to excitedly yell ‘HAPPY HARDCORE’ because it isn’t, but that build certainly promises something special and I’m fairly sure it delivers.
Tom: It’s probably the closest you can reasonably get to happy hardcore in this century.
This song starts out fairly sensible, admittedly, but turns to slight ridiculousness after not too short a time. As ever, back to normal, ish, for the second verse, then we build up throughout the second chorus, a middle eight which brings us a euphoric section out of absolutely nowhere, and from then on we’ve a triumphant mess of everything, and it sounds glorious. Am I wrong?
Tim: As promised a few days back, one of the highlights of his largely pretty good new album, and indeed the newest single from it.
Tom: Listen to that intro! There’s some New Order in that, crossed with… well, in my head, a 1999 bit of pop-rock so obscure that our post about it is the third result on Google when you search for it.
Tim: Hmm – the problem with having done nearly 3,000 posts (blimey) here is that I’ve completely forgotten most of them, including that one, even though it’s a pretty nice one. This is also nice: sonically good, lyrically it’s fun, and as far as the narrative goes: hell yeah, I’m on board. We broke up for a reason, we shouldn’t be doing this, but sod it let’s have fun right now.
Tom: I think that swearing in the chorus is the wrong choice here, and it took me a while to work out why. It’s the same reason that “why’d you put a smiley in your message then” grates for me. This sounds like a great pop song from the past that I’ve never heard, and somehow the profanity and tech-reference both place it Here And Now And Dealing With Today’s Problems.
Tim: Hmm, kind of maybe see where you’re coming from, but I don’t have the same issue. To be honest, with all the crap that’s going down here, there and everywhere right now, I like the fun, and combined with everything else in the song: yep, I’ll take it.
“Don’t be put off if you’re not keen on the first minute or so – you might end up having a change of heart.”
Tim: This song here goes on a bit of a journey, so don’t be put off if you’re not keen on the first minute or so – you might end up having a change of heart.
Tom: You’re not wrong about that journey. However, I did like what is basically the two-minute long introduction.
Tim: Part of the reason I stuck that warning at the top was that I wasn’t entirely keen on the first part of the track – skipped away from it to another tab and got distracted, and then became entirely surprised when it became a really good dance track. Too little too late? Maybe.
Tom: I can see why you’d think that: I was disappointed at 0:57, when I was expecting that big dramatic change and just got a few extra instruments. But honestly, I still enjoyed it all: I’m not sure what genre something like this fits into other than “builder”, but I’ll take it.
Tim: Though I would say that it is nice to have a little bit of the sound we were promised when Robyn came back last summer, gave us Missing U, but then went away without giving us an album. So for that I’ll take it, but I’d happily do without the first two minutes or so.
