SJUR feat. Liza Owen – Lovesick

“That’s a bit of alright, isn’t it?”

Tim: SJUR is off Norway; we’ve not featured him before but he’s got a couple of decent tracks under his belt, and here’s his new one.

Tim: That’s a bit of alright, isn’t it?

Tom: I didn’t understand why you’d said that — until I got to that pre-chorus. I realise it’s almost certainly sequenced on a computer, but I just got this image in my head of a live keyboard player bashing out those chords. It just sounds really fun: it’s the first time in 2018 that I’ve thought “huh, that sounds like a Big Summer Song”. It’s not, don’t get me wrong, but it could’ve been if that sense of fun had stuck throughout. Instead…

Tim: It’s probably for the best that it’s quite short, though, because even by two and half minutes I’m finding that one single vocal line in the chorus a bit repetitive; on the other hand, the rest of it is pretty good. Well, good in the sense of ‘this is a good example of whatever genre this is called’; the genre itself may well be getting a bit repetitive, but that’s by the by as far as the song’s concerned. The rest of the music, I like. The verses, the instrumental part of the chorus where the vocal has some melody, that’s all fine. So it’ll do.

Axwell Λ Ingrosso feat. Trevor Guthrie – Dreamer

“Let’s not focus on that.”

Tim: New one off the pairing, who released their first proper album last month.

Tom: They should have just called themselves “Two Thirds of Swedish House Mafia”.

Tim: Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, though.

Tim: I like that. It’s got strong lyrics, with a couple of people who have big aspersions, and ideally the means to make them happen. If they don’t, of course, then I guess they’ll be eternally disappointed, but let’s not focus on that.

Tom: It also sounds a bit like they’ve got the string section from Coldplay’s Viva La Vida popping up a couple of times, but let’s not focus on that either.

Tim: The good dance beat and production we’d expect from these guys, and the vocals – well, is it just me, or do basically all male dance vocalists sound the same? Admittedly I’m fairly sure I could recognise Aloe Blacc, who was the one off Wake Me Up, but Trevor here styles himself as a solo artist, has appeared on only one other track that we’ve featured here and yet I think I’d struggle to pick this voice out of an aural line up made of any number of other ‘feat.’ vocals.

Tom: That’s true of a lot of vocalists, male and female. Not just for music, either: it’s the same reason that every YouTube video essay sounds the same.

Tim: Fair point, I guess, and maybe that’s the idea – keep the vocalists generic to focus on the dance music – but it still seems a bit weird. Anyway, good tune here.

Tom: It’s not bad. But, as ever, it’s no “Don’t You Worry Child”. Maybe they should have kept the other third.

Franz Ferdinand – Feel The Love Go

“What would you expect a 2017 Franz Ferdinand to sound like?”

Tom: Today in “I didn’t even know they were still going news”, first track from the new album. It’s been 14 years since “Take Me Out”, incidentally.

Tom: I was astonished, half way through that astonishing sax solo, to find the song still had a minute to go. And it ends with a repeat to fade! I don’t really know what to think about that: it’s so out of step with what’s going on in the pop industry lately.

Tim: Which is weird, because your first two sentences are absolutely right – I thought it was time for it to end, and was almost bored by the end of it. The weird thing, though, is that the first three and a half minutes is pretty much exactly what I would have suggested if you’d asked me “what would you expect a 2017 Franz Ferdinand to sound like?” Still heavy on the guitars, with a small amount of synth work thrown to stay up to date.

Tom: The big problem, of course, is that it’s not “Take Me Out”. A band has one hit that big, and they’ll be compared to it for the rest of their career.

Tim: Yep – they may have had three other top ten hits, and four more top 20, but they’ll always be them who who did Take Me Out.

First Aid Kit – Fireworks

“Still going strong.”

Tim: We’ve not featured First Aid Kit for a few years now, but the country pop duo are still going strong.

Tom: Somehow, that’s a surprise to me. I don’t know why; it’s probably the name, which sounds like someone said “hey, that’s a good name for a band” at completely the wrong time and it stuck.

Tim: Here’s the first one up from their new album.

Tim: Not sure why, but ever since I brought it up when we were discussing Perfect, I’ve found myself noticing a lot more songs in 12/8 or 6/8 time, and for some reason that’s joined the key change as a thing the immediately makes a song better. Not automatically good, but maybe bumping it from a 7 to an 8, say. This, well it’s already quite nice, with its gentle swaying manner and its textbook First Aid Kit smile, and that just puts it a little bit higher, to give me a nice relaxed smile. I like it. It’s pleasant.

Tom: You’re not wrong there: although the strongest part for me was the intro and first verse, which was such a strong start that I assumed the chorus was going to be spectacular. Instead, it was good. That’s still high praise coming from me, don’t get me wrong, and I don’t know what else they could have done with it; but I just wasn’t sure that the chorus had actually started.

Tim: Now, if only someone could make a great song that’s also in 3 time and has a fantastic key ch-OH WAIT A MINUTE.

Justin Timberlake – Filthy

Tom: I didn’t get Can’t Stop The Feeling on first listen. It seemed like a bit of a mess. But it grew on me, and now it’s one of my favourite songs of… well, huh, 2016? Man, that stuck around. Anyway, here’s the new one.

Tim: Is that…is that a song about an orgy? With the ‘your friends, my friends, and they ain’t leaving til six in the morning’, and then ‘put your hands all over me…what you gonna do with all that beast’? Because, well, I mean I get the attraction, but come on, it’s January, we’re all still heavy from Christmas and to be honest you’ve got me feeling a bit queasy right now.

Tom: I mean, that lyric’s straight from Gin and Juice, but sure, I know what you mean. Better hope this is a grower, anyway: because this is a good one-minute intro and first verse stretched far, far too long.

Tim: Yeah, let’s just move on. Quickly please.

Saturday Flashback: Birdy + Rhodes – Let It All Go

“It did take a while for me to get it, mind.”

Tim: She’s Birdy, he’s Rhodes, they’re both British and we’re featuring it because I’ve had the lyrics up as one of the 60+ tabs on my iPhone’s web browser for somewhere between nine and twelve months.

Tom: How is that possible? Are… are you OK?

Tim: I’m trying to cut down, but I figured I probably saved them for a reason.

Tim: So, I’ve no memory of hearing this track before, but I’m quite glad I kept it. It did take a while for me to get it, mind, because it did what so many of a good but quiet tracks do: bore me slightly so I lose focus, then pick up in time for the second chorus and make me think ‘ooh, what’s happening here?’

Tom: Ha! Exactly the same. In my case, I was distracted by trying to work out what the visual effects artists did to the footage — how much of that pink is grading, is it filmed day-for-night, is there any… and there goes the chorus.

Tim: And I know that’s not really what I typically want from a track, but I think it does mean it’s good at being the song it wants to be: a quiet one that develops, slightly morose but nevertheless worth sticking with, just for the good bits. And that’ll do for me, when I’m in the right mood.

Charlie Puth feat. Boyz II Men – If You Leave Me Now

“It is good at what it is meant to be.”

Tom: I wouldn’t normally touch Charlie Puth’s high-pitched low-effort pop whining with a bargepole—

Tim: Ooh, that’s a bit…

Tom: (and if you think that’s harsh, you didn’t have to hear Attention on US radio stations every damn hour while in California).

Tim: Oh, fair enough.

Tom: But that’s a hell of a “Feat.” up in the title, so I gave this a listen.

Tom: I expected a Boyz II Men song. I got a Boyz II Men song. And somehow that made it all okay. Because they are still going; they are still, I think, the best at what they do; and while this is still a long way from the Europop we once set out to talk about here, I think it’s still a good track for its genre.

Tim: Hmmmmmmm….yes. I mean, I kind of have to agree with that, because it is, but it’s also, for me at least, throughly dull. But yes, I will grant it that it is good at what it is meant to be.

Tom: Yes, maybe it’s a minute too long. Yes, maybe a few more beats per minute would be a good idea. And, yes, of course we’d both prefer it if someone added a banging donk to it.

Tim: Well, obviously.

Tom: That said, it’s got a key change and a middle eight, so I’ll take it.

Avicii feat. Vargas & Lagola – Friend Of Mine

“Well that’s a hell of an emotional rollercoaster.”

Tim: Ooh, them off Melodifestivalen last year! What are they doing with Avicii?

Tom: Advance warning: this is a video somewhere between ’emotional’ and ‘heartbreaking’. I recommend listening to the song on its own first, because I don’t think you’ll be able to consider it properly otherwise.

Tim: Hmm. Short but sweet.

Tom: So, without that video — well, it’s an Avicii track, isn’t it? There’s not much going on there we haven’t heard before, although that doesn’t mean it’s actually bad. He may have retired from touring, but he’s still happy to chuck out perfectly reasonable farm-house tracks like this.

Tim: “Perfectly reasonable” is a very good way to describe this – nothing new or particularly inventive, but it’ll do. Now, give me a moment to watch that video.

Oh. Oh, well that’s a hell of an emotional rollercoaster, blimey.

Tom: How on earth a video like this got suggested and approved, I’ve no idea, but I’m glad it was.

Tim: Yeah. Yeah, it’s…well, not sure really, but yeah.

Kamferdrops – En Liten Fågel

“I’m now wondering if I’ve ever touched a violin.”

Tim: You may (but probably won’t) remember that about six months back we discussed 1982’s Ein Bißchen Frieden, the mystifyingly second most successful Eurovision song since the current scoring system began.

Tom: I remember the conversation, but not the song.

Tim: It seems that success has rubbed off on Kamferdrops, a Norwegian artist who’s chosen to redo it. In Swedish.

Tom: Advance warning, there’s some potentially-disturbing body-horror imagery in here, albeit dolled up with a lot of candy-coloured graphics.

Tom: It turns out I do remember that song. Or, perhaps, I remember every other schlager song that sounds exactly like it.

Tim: It does, obviously, sound considerably different from the original, and just because of the language – Eurovision then was about about live orchestras, yet I wouldn’t be surprised if Kamferdrops has never once touched a violin.

Tom: I’m now wondering if I’ve ever touched a violin. Seen, sure. Heard, of course. Touched? I don’t actually know.

Tim: Somehow, though, it still has the same issues for me as the original does – it’s just a bit dull, a bit plodding. Sure it still has the pleasant up and down melody in the chorus, which is almost comforting in it’s gentleness, but in terms of things to get excited about, I’m still mystified by the popularity of it.

Tom: Right! This is exactly the same middle-of-the-road schlager as the original. Which, sure, might have worked back then, but why publish it now? Surely there can’t be that much nostalgia?

Tim: Not a clue.

Hot Shade feat. Cal – Don’t Give Up On Me

“That’s not a random session singer, that’s someone who – hopefully – is going places.”

Tim: Hot Shade is American, Cal is Norwegian, and while I don’t want to set false expectations, I think this is one of the best dance tracks I’ve heard in quite some time.

Tim: There is, after all, a lot of good stuff on there. Vocal is perfectly decent, that light piano under the verse sounds absolutely lovely, before descending into fuller piano dance under the sung chorus.

Tom: Where do I know that voice from? That sounds like a combination of Sia and Rihanna, and I know that’s high praise, but seriously, that is a brilliant voice that I’m sure I’ve heard somewhere before. That’s not a random session singer, that’s someone who — hopefully — is going places.

Tim: After that, well, that instrumental bit is really good indeed, and I don’t know if it is different or just seems different, but the second time round it’s even better. No crashing drum beats or anything too bombastic, but just a really good melody, really well produced. And that’s all I need.

Tom: I think you definitely set expectations too high calling it “one of the best dance tracks”, because — while I’m at least convinced that it’s a good track — I’m a lot less sure that it’s a good dance track. But that’s a minor quibble: this is good.

Tim: There’s one thing I do want, though: a middle eight. Of course I do, I always do, but I guessed I missed the e-mail that outlawed them. OH WELL.