Tom: Alas, they haven’t finally remixed the British national anthem. But this may be the most Scooter-y Scooter track in a long while.
Tim: I look forward to hearing it, but first: ‘Harris & Ford’ is a fantastic act name.
Tim: Oh, boy is that good.
Tom: Sure, they’re not pitching-up samples of famous songs any more. (Presumably they prefer getting all the money for songwriting.)
Tim: Fine by me – the pattern’s still the same, after all, and the melody for this one is just fantastic.
Tom: This is the closest we’re going to get, and you know what? I can’t reasonably mock anyone with the self-confidence to shout, apparently seriously, the lyric “I AM THE CAPTAIN. MY NAME IS DAVE.”
Tim: Strong lyric, and indeed a strong rave. I love this, it’s great.
Tom: From Tove Lo, that’s not incredibly surprising.
Tim: You might want headphones.
Tim: To be honest, those lyrics were almost enough to put me off the first I heard them – specifically, the ‘did you let him leave a necklace’ line, which gave me quite the ‘eww, really?’ feeling. I’m very glad I didn’t switch it off, though, because the sound that turned up a bit later, the ‘no tears for that sucker’ section, sounds absolutely lovely.
Tom: And “I’m glad you finally dumped that terrible boyfriend” is a pretty good — and unusual — theme for a song. Yes, the lyrics are pretty dreadful throughout, but it’s catchy as hell.
Tim: In fact, most parts of this sound pretty lovely, in one way or another – I’ve even got to like that high pitched part that opens the song. Just, need to not pay too much attention to certain lyrics, because they’re still icky.
“It’s not bad! The bar is set low but they cleared it!”
Tim: Have I mentioned on here I went to a Jedward gig a few weeks back? I don’t think so, but us featuring Samir & Viktor here on Monday reminded me of it, and I have NEWS: there’s a new album out soon! Basically, since being binned off by the label in 2014, most of the stuff’s been self-written, and here’s one from a couple of years back.
Tom: I actually tried to look up the songwriting credits in the music industry’s database, but this song’s not in there and the copyright is just listed as “℗ 2016 Jedward”. So, while I don’t know how much help they’ve got, I guess this counts as self-written. That… sounds like it’s a bad idea?
Tim: Well…
Tim: It’s actually alright!
Tom: It is! It’s not bad! The bar is set low but they cleared it!
Tim: Admittedly, some of the stuff isn’t quite as good – the last one of theirs we looked at was evidence of that – but here’s a decent, if somewhat middle-of-the-compilation-playlist, dance track. It was also a good decade too late for its sound, even then, but I’ve no problem with it because hell, it’s a damn good sound, made into an actually fairly good tune. I like this. Genuinely, unashamedly, like it.
Tom: That’s an entirely fair response.
Tim: Other stuff from the gig, in case you’re interested: it was surprisingly great, despite being a “yeah, that’s just within my ‘might be shit but good for a laugh’ budget” decision; they somehow kept going from over two and a half hours, doing new stuff, old stuff and covers; and, biggest of all, they’ve actually become able to sing!
Tom: No kidding.
Tim: None at all: they did half an hour or so of acoustic stuff with John playing a guitar and them both singing, and it actually sounded good. Guess ten years in the business can get you quite a bit of vocal coaching, who knew?
Tim: Remember 2016’s theme of Tropical Fridays? Well, it’s obviously too early to suggest they might be making a comeback, but for now, let’s BREAK OUT THE PINEAPPLES.
Tim: It’d be a good start, no?
Tom: It’s not bad! That “loyalities, insecurities and priorities” line stands out as being a really well crafted lyric: I don’t know the rhythm terms to explain what’s going on there, but it’s certainly catchy. As is most of the song, unexpectedly.
Tim: Admittedly I’ll always have a slightly rose-tinted view of Sigala, partly because he’s from Norwich, much like me, and also because his name is Bruce, which is an astounding name for a 27 year old Brit to have. Even so, I think this is a very good track to come out with.
Tom: You’re not wrong there. I am properly surprised by this: I expected this to be another regression-to-the-mean standard dance track, but there’s something in there that really stands out.
Tim: It’s his first new track since he put out his album last year, and that post-chorus breakdown, whilst being entirely devoid of coconuts, is astonishingly good. It is, in fact, entirely reminiscent of early ’00s dance tracks, and I absolutely love that.
Perhaps it’s a little lazy to immediately assign a ‘yes please’ to a track just because it brings back good feelings of times gone past, but I don’t care. Those are memories of music I loved, and never stopped loving, and it’s fantastic to hear it all over again. Especially when it sounds this damn good.
Tim: To allay your inevitable initial fear: she doesn’t actually sing OMG as letters in the song, so I’m not entirely sure why it’s like that in the title. Anyway, try to sing along to the chorus, it’s fun!
Tim: Wait, I don’t hear that at…oh, yes there it is. Dammit, Tom.
Tom: Apologies for ruining the song for you. Anyway, yes, it’s certainly a tricky chorus for karaoke.
Tim: That chorus annoyed me the first time I heard it, because this is the sort of song I like to be able to sing along to, and this really does present a challenge. But, turns out it’s a fun challenge and once I’m done with that and actually singing along, ish, it’s a pretty good piece of pop. Production, vocal, melody, all good, like we’ve come to expect from Wiktoria, really. All I can really say is, isn’t it time she came over here?
Tim: Second single from the upcoming album (which, I’ve since found out, is getting the profits donated to a mental health organisation, so it’s not icky after all).
Tom: They didn’t really get off to a flying start with the first single, so I’ve not got high hopes.
Tim: Piano dance is so ten years ago, country guitar so five years ago, so right now we’ve got, well, this.
Tom: Ah, a Eurovision entrant. Specifically, the type that uses some traditional instrument and scale for one bit while otherwise adhering to European pop norms.
Tim: It is a bit odd, isn’t it? Well, to most Western European ears at least. Took me a few listens to enjoy this, for that and also the same reason Wake Me Up took a bit of getting used to: it’s just so different, and so initially janky from one style to the next, that it seems almost irritating. After a couple of times, though, it kind of works a bit, in the way that I at least appreciate both bits individually, and am more or less okay with them being mixed up, I guess?
Tom: There are some really inspired parts in here. Okay, there’s one really inspired part in here, and it’s one chord progression in the middle eight. Maybe I would learn to love it, but I just don’t think I’m going to give it that chance.
Tim: Reading that back it comes across quite harsh, but I do enjoy it. Kind of.
“YEP, the mouth starts smiling, the head starts nodding, the shoulders start bouncing.”
Tim: Unperturbed by their crashing out of Melodifestivalen this year, here’s one for anybody who needs a smile on their face.
Tim: And that’s early Katy Perry, there, isn’t it? Stylistically, that is, as well as the fact that the very first three opening notes lead me into the chorus of Hot N Cold.
Tom: You’re not wrong. Even the vocal quality’s a match in that first verse. It’s like someone gave a machine-learning algorithm “One of the Boys” — more than a decade old, that album — and someone cleaned up the result. There’s a little bit of early Ke$ha in there, too, back when she had the dollar sign.
Tim: It’s Teenage Dream, it’s I Kissed A Girl, it’s lovely lovely pop music being very well produced. The initial muted chorus and first verse got me thinking “yeah, yeah, standard”, but then when the chorus came in properly, YEP, the mouth starts smiling, the head starts nodding, the shoulders start bouncing.
Tom: Or, if you’re me, your foot starts tapping slightly.
Tim: Nah, you need to let yourself go a bit, mate. Second time round, I’m using the TV remote as a microphone and isn’t pop music just GREAT sometimes? Yes, yes it is, and the haters can jog right on.
Tim: Bring out the BRASS, because Samir & Viktor have gone ‘Immortal’.
Tom: In the comments, there are quite a few people accusing them of ripping off Daniel Adams-Ray’s Dum av Dig, a song I’ve not heard of. My brain immediately tried to place that three-note chorus as well, and ended up on Phil Collins’ One More Night, although I’m fairly sure I’ve heard a brass version of it somewhere.
None of those are even particularly close: it’s just that when you’ve got a three-word chorus, that’s a natural rhythm to use.
Tim: Summer’s here, last summer was great, and now we’re feeling bloody brilliant and ready to do it all over again, is the basic message of this, and. well, why not really? Energetic, as we’d expect. Triumphant, as we’d expect. A mostly shouty chorus, as we’d expect, though there is a pleasing amount of melody in there.
Tom: I’m always glad when you send me the studio track from these two. Like Jedward, the enthusiasm’s there when they’re performing live, but the vocals might not always be. Shouty choruses fit this pair.
Tim: All in all, a fun track, heralding the arrival of summer. JOYFUL, he writes, as he stares out of his window at a largely grey sky. Ehh, can’t have everything.
“Remind me: what, exactly, was the point of A*Teens?”
Tim: I do love love a good anniversary, so let’s have this: A*Teens’s debut, twenty years old this month. WARNING: excessive use of hair gel coming up.
Tim: Remind me: what, exactly, was the point of A*Teens? Was it just bringing the music of ABBA to a new generation of kids, who didn’t have Spotify or even Napster yet? Redoing it in a mildly unpleasant format to hear by adding on a load of autotune?
Tom: Money. It was money.
Tim: It’s not exactly bad, really, but it does just seem, looking back, really and entirely unnecessary. Particularly that blonde guy’s hair, and arguably the yo-yo as well.
Tom: Well, A1’s cover of Take On Me was unnecessary too, as was that video, but they still got to number 1 in the UK and A-Ha didn’t.
“t feels like it’d be more at home in a movie trailer than in a pop playlist.”
Tom: CAPS LOCK BAND NAME
Tim: APPARENTLY IT’S NECESSARY. “This is how it sounds when a burning nostalgia is mixed with a summer evening, when you lose yourself in dance and spirits and love, and in that moment everything is okay.”
Tom: Oh blimey. The copyeditor’s been working overtime, then?
Tim: Spoiler alert: that does actually come across, and it’s not just meaningless PR garbage!
Tom: Damn it, you’re not wrong, and I’m actually slightly grumpy about that. It’s those harmonies in the second verse, isn’t it?
Tim: Amongst many other things, yes. I don’t understand the lyrics in real time, but it doesn’t matter, because the emotion flows perfectly. Starts out a bit downbeat, but picks up the pace to show that things aren’t so bad. Then we’ve got that brilliant instrumental bit, which although is technically a post-chorus, almost feels better suited to being a lengthy intro to a fresh part of the song. And the fresh part is still great, a bit heftier until we drop back down for a final look back at the times that have gone.
Tom: Like I said: second-verse harmonies!
Tim: But finally everything comes together, with a repeat of the chorus and then a reprise of that glorious earlier instrumental break, with upbeat and triumphant brass all over it, and it all just sounds so, so wonderful. Everything is conveyed perfectly, the message comes across, and the song just works.
Tom: Is it actually something I want to listen to, though? With something like this, it feels like it’d be more at home in a movie trailer than in a pop playlist.
Tim: You say that, it brings me nicely to my final point: as a pop song it’s pretty good; as a piece of music, it’s outstanding.
