Steve Aoki feat. AJR & Lil Yachty – Pretender

“I’m a fan of about 80% of it. You’ll work out why.”

Tim: Dance track for you; I’m a fan of about 80% of it. You’ll work out why.

Tim: Seem about right?

Tom: Oh, yes! That’s lovely. I understand why there’s a 20% you don’t like, but — for once — it does still work for me.

Tim: Hmm, fair enough. You can probably guess most of what I’m going to say, though: the music’s good, the lyrics speak to many many people, and the second verse is…well, not for me. Though that bit’s unusual, really – normally, with a feat. like this, you’d put it in for just the middle eight, but instead he’s got a whole verse.

Obviously you can’t go for a middle eight placing if you haven’t got one (insert standard moan here), but it still seems weird that he’s been given almost the same same amount of prominence as the other guys.

Not a bad thing, of course – it was presumably done to increase the potential audience – but it still seems a bit weird. Just me?

Tom: Just you, I think. Because for me, the whole thing works, start to finish — and with a video that’s just beautifully filmed, designed and edited. This is the best track we’ve had here in a few weeks, I reckon.

Bellhouse – White Dress Black Dress

Tim: Ms House (technically Ms Andersson, but she chose the stage name so I’m going with that) says this is “a reminder that you never truly know the people around you”, and about how “none of us are one-sided, but we struggle to drop the facade and share all of our nuances”. That’s all pretty much true, I guess, if a little disappointing for fans of heart-warming, everlasting relationships where two hearts beat as one.

Tom: I might like this track.

Tim: Anyway, it wouldn’t be the first time a downbeat message has made for a good pop song, so have a listen.

Tim: And it’s also made for a fairly good song here, no?

Tom: No! It would be if it weren’t for that awful, awful post-chorus. “White dress black dress” repeating over a dirge of a beat: this song could be great if it weren’t for that. It’s just unnecessary.

Tim: The lyrics make it even grimmer than the introductory message, implying as is does that Bell will struggle to find any lengthy or meaningful relationship, but none of it really matters to me as long as she can put a chorus that’s as good as this one, right from when it first swooshes in after the heartbeat style ending to the verse.

Tom: It is a very good chorus, and it follows a lovely verse.

Tim: It brings in that lovely high rising countermelody, bouncing along with those snare drums underneath, and all just sounds fabulous, really. Sod the lyrics, I’ll take this on chorus alone.

Tom: Just not what comes after.

Alesso – Remedy

“Press play and move to a background tab.”

Tim: Tom, a warning for you: the video here features two kids dressed up as unconvincing aliens being rescued by Alesso’s logo; it annoyed even me, so God knows what it’ll stir up in you.

Tom: I was looking through a list of new music, and the thumbnail alone made me not click it. But, still, here we are.

Tim: Feel free to press play and move to a background tab.

Tim: Alesso is one of the DJs I always think was part of Swedish House Mafia, then I remember he came along a bit later and so is actually younger than me. I realise that, now I’m very much into my early thirties, that’s going to happen a lot, but it still kind of annoys me, you know?

Tom: “Very much into my early thirties” gives way to “mid-thirties” very quickly, Tim.

Tim: Before I get into GET OFF MY LAWN territory, though: it’s a decent track. As I write this, it’s top 5 trending on YouTube, which we can safely put down to not just the name but also the decent sound he’s got going on.

Tom: True, but the fact that the video is directed by one of those ex-Vine YouTube celebrities is going to help with that a lot.

Tim: Unusually for him, he doesn’t credit the vocalist, but to be honest the best vocal work as far as I’m concerned is actually the group “hmm-mmmm-mm-mmm-mm-mmmm” in the chorus, middle eight and then forward. Add that to the good melody and the top notch production, and you’ve really got yourself a winner here. Nice one.

Tom: I’m a bit more cynical, as ever; I think the best I can say is that it’s “not unpleasant”. But then, maybe I was still put off by the video.

Saturday Flashback: Brandsta City Släckers – Kom och ta mig

“That’s the first time I’ve seen someone singing while wearing oxygen tasks.”

Tim: Good news Tom! While I was building my BRILLIANT new Lego Hogwarts, I spent some of the 21 hours listening through the rest of my five hour Melodifestivalen compilation album, which means we’ve got a good few fabulous songs coming up.

Tom: That is the most on-brand sentence I have ever heard you say. Right. What are your picks, then?

Tim: Let’s start with this one.

Tom: They went all-out with the costumes. That’s the first time I’ve seen someone singing while wearing oxygen tanks.

Tim: Now, I was attracted to this based on the music alone, because that’s quite a chorus, but then I watched the performance. And…huh. You may be wondering why they’re dressed up as firefighters, and the answer to that is fairly simple: they are firemen in real life, with the band being something of a side project. It’s been going twenty-odd years (Facebook page is still active), and they always perform in uniform (not sure about the drummer, though).

Tom: That is… well, I was going to say it’s a fantastic gimmick, but it’s not even a gimmick. It’s just endearing. Although it looks like they got one extra singer in the back for Melodifestivalen, just to give them a bit more vocal power.

Tim: The song went straight through to the final from its televote-only heat, where it proceeded to get no points at all from the juries but came third with the punters, probably because it’s just five guys on stage having a laugh.

Tom: It is! It really is, and it shows. For the folks at home, this is the sort of dream-come-true “if me and my mates put a band together” story that lots of folks can relate to. And they’re really not bad.

Tim: I like it when that happens – particularly those high fives, which I’m fairly sure I’d keep missing. Well done everyone.

The Lovers of Valdaro – Walk Alone

“Oh, that was really nice!”

Tim: P4 Nästen, a talent competition run by what is roughly Sweden’s equivalent of Radio 6 Music; final was this weekend, won by a band called Spring City. We won’t bother with them, though, or at least not right now – what we will bother with is the fact that every year, one of the band gets chosen by a jury to enter Melodifestivalen; this year, that act was The Lovers of Valdaro. No idea why you’d name yourself after 6,000 year old skeletons, but there you go. Here’s their new track.

Tim: And isn’t that actually really quite good?

Tom: Oh, that was really nice! I’m not sure “really nice” is the way to win Melodifestivalen, or even the way to write a catchy song, but those were the words that came to mind.

Tim: The instrumentation and backing is lovely, both right from the off and particularly during the chorus, as you’d expect. The vocal sounds lovely, matching the melancholy of the lyrics with the optimism inherent in the music. The ending might be a tad too reminiscent of This Is Me for my liking, but aside from that this is just great.

Tom: This seems like the sort of song that I’d use Shazam on multiple times: I like it, but I’m never going to remember it.

Tim: Previous Melodifestivalen graduates from the competition have included SMILO, with their fairly good track Weight Of The World, who didn’t do quite as well as they’d have hoped, so let’s hope this group do better. I’m certainly looking forward to hearing their track.

Kolidescopes – All My Love

“I’m not even sure Daft Punk could get away with that.“

Tim: Last time we had a chilled house track you said you yelled out BORED after just a minute or so, and I’ll be honest with you, I’m not entirely certain this won’t provoke a similar reaction; on the other hand, I love it.

Tom: That sounds very much like someone listened to Sigala, went “I want to sound like them”, and then only put in about half of the effort required.

Tim: Hmm…not entirely unfair, I guess. Because yes, the lyrics are basically non-existent. And yes, there is perhaps twenty to thirty seconds of music in there, spread out over a full three and a half minutes.

Tom: Which the lyric video rubs in. With the exception of that one verse, it’s literally just the same words for three minutes. I’m not even sure Daft Punk could get away with that.

Tim: Thing is, though: for all that, I really, really like this. I’ve heard it several times, and each time I’ve made a mental note to check it out later. Is it the melody? Is it the vocal sounds? Is it the instrumentation? I don’t know.

Tom: It’s because it sounds like Sigala.

Tim: It just sounds great, however many times I hear it.

Cher – Gimme Gimme Gimme

“YES BITCH I’M CHER AND I’M DOING THIS.”

Tom: Right. There’s a dearth of new music. And I’ll admit that my eyes skipped over this when I saw it in the ‘new music’ lists: surely, it’s just a cash-in off Mamma Mia 2? Well, maybe it is: but it’s the lead single from an entire ABBA tribute album that Cher’s putting out. I heard it on the radio, and, well, have a listen to this:

Tim: Music aside, briefly: I LOVE that video, stating quite clearly YES BITCH I’M CHER AND I’M DOING THIS.

Tom: Does this need to exist? No, of course not. The original’s a classic, and it’s part of musical history. But you know what? I’d say that introduction and first verse might actually be an improvement on the original, even with all the vocoder there.

Tim: I don’t think you’re too wrong there – I mean, the intro’s basically identical, but her voice certainly adds a lot – it’s a lot stronger, particularly the ‘don’t wanna hear my praaaaaaaaaayer’ bit. Whether or not that vocal and the effect it comes with is an improvement is entirely subjective, and I know I like it.

Tom: This is a 21st-century cover, sung by someone who couldn’t just be replaced by a session singer.

Tim: See also: SOS, and indeed the entire album, which is coming out at the end of September, and which I cannot WAIT for.

NOTD feat. Tove Styrke – Been There Done That

“There seems to be a massive dearth of listenable new music, so let’s have it.”

Tim: Now, this is a track I’ve had waiting for a few days, and I like it, except I have basically nothing to say about it. However, there seems to be a massive dearth of listenable new music, so let’s have it.

Tim: In case you’ve lost track, this is the Tove who gave us the delightfully romantic Brains Out – a song that is, seven years on, still one of my favourites featured here, both video and song. This one – well, it’s very much of the it’ll do variety.

Tom: You might even say ‘been there, done that’.

Tim: It’s a decent track, entirely listenable and danceable – but I’ve really nothing to say about it. Sorry everyone.

Tom: And neither have I. Right. Tomorrow, I’ve sending you something CONTROVERSIAL.

Griffin, Elley Duhé – Tie Me Down

“I love what they’re doing with the instrumentation.”

Tim: Elley is currently primarily for her collaboration with Zedd, but here’s her most recent one; we found the former slightly anti-climactic, but how will this compare?

Tim: Oh, it’s much better.

Tom: And much more generic! But you’re right, it’s not a huge disappointment.

…as ever, that sounded less harsh in my head.

Tim: Partly because it doesn’t drop out at all, but also because (and this isn’t something I say often about dance music) I love what they’re doing with the instrumentation. I first noticed it at the end of the first chorus, but the layered melodies in the background are just lovely, as are the synths they’re played on.

Tom: Whereas I’m finding the mix confusing and a bit difficult to listen to. Yes, the instrumentation’s good, but the track just sounds a bit muddy and overcompressed. But hey, at least I can remember the chorus.

Tim: So sure, this has got a beat, a melody, and standard lyrics, and that’s all you really need for a dance track – but it’s also got a lot more, which I love.

Saturday Flashback: Johannes Hager feat. Josefin Backrud – Game Of Taking Chances

“Did you hear about the Spotify “fake artists” controversy?”

Tom: Did you hear about the Spotify “fake artists” controversy? If not, here’s a good article about it, and you’ll need it, because today we’re talking about one of those fake artists.

Tim: Okay, got that read. Let’s start.

Tom: I heard this playing over a café’s sound system, thought “huh, that’s not bad”, and then found that it wasn’t on Shazam or Spotify. Nor were the lyrics searchable. I got a lucky search on the title, found it, and yep: it’s one of the stock-music Epidemic Sound tracks that have been quietly creeping onto Spotify playlists, and which a Guardian reviewer described as “the most bizarrely nondescript music I’ve ever heard”.

Tom: And the word that comes to mind is: competent. There’s not anything here that’s wrong. The lyrics have a positive sentiment to them, but say basically nothing. The instrumentation does exactly what you’d expect it to at every point. The chorus is catchy. The middle eight is interesting.

Tim: It also sounds entirely ‘bargain basement CHVRCHES’, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Tom: Oh good heavens, you’re right. It is very much Discount CHVRCHES. I hadn’t made that connection. Anyway, the question is: if this wasn’t “stock music”, would I think any better of it?

Tim: See, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with stock music at all – in fact, ten years after watching it I can still bring to mind a brilliant song used in a Skins episode, which after endless searching I have concluded was recorded purely for the episode and, sadly, chucked away. What a waste.