Cast of The Greatest Showman – The Greatest Show

“Powerful, confident, a good starter”

Tom: Wait, didn’t we just…

Tim: Happy New Year! Yes, I know we’ve already featured a track from this film, but (a) I saw it yesterday and it’s good, (b) I could happily spend a week writing about the songs, and (c) I think this is suitable to start a year to.

Tim: Well I like it anyway. Powerful, confident, a good starter, and to be honest, now I think about it, not the best track for a review site, because it can’t really be held to many standards that we might judge most regular tracks by.

Tom: Yes, I was going to say. I don’t really have much context for this: it certainly seems like a Big Number, but bear in mind my standard’s the Hamilton soundtrack, so I have to adjust my expec…

Huh. The chorus just kicked in, as I write this. That is a very very good chorus.

Tim: As the opening number for a musical, it has to set the scene (check), get everyone worked up (check), and ideally bring in a number of cast members, which is does fairly successfully: here we have Hugh Jackman taking the lead, Keala Settle joining in vociferously, Zac Efron taking over in the last chorus and then duetting with Zendaya for the closing lyrics, with everyone else trying their best to make themselves heard. Given those targets: a good opener, I think.

Tom: Sure, I’ll go for that. I almost want to see the rest of the film now. Almost. Not quite.

Tim: Incidentally, although I won’t foist any more tracks from the film on you, I will recommend A Million Dreams and Rewrite the Stars in particular as worth checking out, and also… actually, just see the film. It’s not as good a film as it could have been, given P.T. Barnum’s life as the source material, but it is a top notch feel good musical.

Saturday Flashback: Måns Zelmerlöw – Kingdom In The Sky

“It’s actually about someone who’s stuck in the Sims video game.”

Tim: Album track from his still good 2015 album Perfectly Damaged, which I found myself listening to recently. And you might think a YouTube channel largely dedicated to creating lyric videos wouldn’t screw up the very first word, or the chorus, but, yeah, well.

Tim: I wasn’t actively listening when I heard it – it’s towards the end of the album, and I was busy with other stuff –

Tom: And, to be fair, that verse is pretty generic.

Tim: – but it got my attention for a number of reasons. The first, of course, is that big chorus, both for that brilliant string section and for the underlying vocals, even though I can’t for the life of me work the words out.

Tom: I’m going for “because I’m a Sim, love”. It’s actually about someone who’s stuck in the Sims video game.

Tim: Tom, I’ve a feeling you’re not taking this entirely seriously. There’s also the main vocal being about as rousing as you can get without sinking into self-parody and those nice “ooh-ooh-ooh”s that kick it off.

Tom: It reminds me of that song from ‘The Greatest Showman’ that you sent through the other week — not that I can remember it, but I can remember thinking ‘yep, this is ticking all the inspirational boxes’. It’s doing much the same, even down to the military drums. I mean, I’m assuming that other one had military drums, I’m not actually sure.

Tim: It did actually, yes – a good number, too. All in all – I really like this song, and I don’t really get why it’s buried at the bottom end of the album. But hey. It’s here now.

Steps – Dancing With A Broken Heart

“But the video, blimey.”

Tim: Their only single release this year that we’ve not covered, basically because the song’s not that great. The video, on the other hand, which I’ve just discovered, is, well.

Tim: I mean I say the song’s not that great, it’s certainly not bad – like so much of their 2017 comeback, it’s a surprisingly high standard for what it is, which here is a fourth single from the album; even if most of it’s not hugely exciting, it’s immediately raised 20 points when that key change appeared out of nowhere.

Tom: It’s definitely An Album Track, and that key-change wasn’t so much ‘deserved’ as ‘needed’.

Tim: But the video, blimey.

Tom: It’s like some sort of goth pantomime.

Tim: I don’t know what futurologists they’ve been speaking to, but that’s hardly a dance floor I’m looking forward to getting on. Simultaneously overcrowded and spacious, pouring with rain and set on fire, weird makeup and normal dress, it paints quite an unusual picture. And with that and the key change, I’d say it’s well worth a feature.

Ace Wilder – Wild Child

“Several good bits and several bad bits.”

Tim: This one got to the final of Melodifestivalen this year, and has several good bits and several bad bits.

Tim: First bad point: that opening couple of seconds, and the times later on when that bit’s repeated. God, I find that jarring, and it just sounds wrong. Second: the shouting in the verses. Sometimes it can work, as Icona Pop have demonstrated many, many times; other times, like here, it just grates, especially when you’re combining that apparent anger with cheeky nods to the camera.

Tom: There’s promise in the instrumentation under that first verse, though, which is why I didn’t dismiss it immediately. And I’m glad I didn’t, because… well, I’ll let you finish the point you started in your last paragraph.

Tim: Good bit, though: every single moment of that wonderful chorus. The tune, the lyrics, the everything. Other good bit: the middle eight. It shows there’s a proper melody there, and that she’s got a good voice.

Tom: Which makes it odd that she has to switch into the weird not-quite-Icona-Pop voice, really. This could have been great, not just good.

Tim: Overall: yeah. That chorus and middle eight just about make up for the rest.

Ed Sheeran – Castle on the Hill

“Just a bit okay.”

Tom: Really? Really, we’re doing this again? I know this is Tracks We Missed Week, but seriously.

Tim: Yes, yes, I know we didn’t start this blog to write about multiple Ed Sheeran tracks in less than a week, but still. One thing they don’t tell you about working in retail is just how many times a day you’ll hear Ed Sheeran, and that on occasion you may hear Shape of You (awful) immediately followed by Galway Girl (ludicrous) immediately followed by this.

Tim: And that is actually a nicely redeeming song.

Tom: Is it, though? Is it?

Tim: I don’t know if it’s just that it’s worn me down eventually (that certainly hasn’t happened with Shape of You), but musically at least it’s a heck of an uplifting song.

Tom: Well, yes, okay, the chorus is great, but everything around it is just a bit okay. I just can’t get behind romanticising teenage years like that. There’s a song that I can’t find a copy of online — Billy Jones is Dead by MJ Hibbett — that’s a bit more bittersweet, and that works a lot better for me.

Tim: You may not have time for the childhood reminiscences (I actually visited that castle on several occasions in my younger days, so maybe I’m ever so slightly biased towards it), but even so I’m fairly sure it’s hard not to be taken away by that chorus, and the music beneath everything. For all the things we might not like about him, Ed Sheeran can be a damn good songwriter; fairly sure this holds that up.

Tom: Well done to whoever did the casting for ‘Young Ed Sheeran’, though. Spot on.

Tim: Incidentally, speaking of retail and music – the most prominent Christmas song on Apple’s festive playlist? The Sheeran-penned slightly damp When Christmas Comes Around. Bizarre, but true.

Naughty Boy feat. Joe Jonas – One Chance to Dance

Tim: Last week of the year, shall we have a game of Tracks We’ve Missed? This one’s from the beginning of November, one I’ve only just heard but kind of wish I’d heard sooner. Because it’s quite good.

Tom: Huh. I’m surprised I’ve missed that. Oddly, though, I think the introduction and first verse are the strongest part. I haven’t got tired of that overly-repetitive sample yet, and the vocals really stand out.

Oddly, I liked this less on second listen — but it did get a second listen, so it’s a cut above your normal pop track.

Tim: After all, you’ve got Naughty Boy’s production skills, Joe Jonas’s vocal skills, and a song with a very decent beat that’s all about dancing, ostensibly at least.

Tom: Well, yes, technically it is…

Tim: There may be some deeper meaning in there about something or other, but on top of everything, and going by the video, this is a song about Person A wanting to get with Person B by vaguely impressing them, and choosing the medium of dance. And as anyone who’s seen me dancing will know, that’s a medium I can very much get behind. Lovely.

Christmas Flashback: Feuerherz – Merry Christmas

Tom: We started out this Christmas season with three songs in a row that actually made me feel a bit festive. It’s been all downhill since then. Tim: this is your last chance. What’ve you got?

Tim: Ah, um, well, I’ll be honest: this might not be your cup of tea. HOWEVER, although there’s no real song this year that screams “this belongs on Christmas Day”, this one really really does. Feuerherz are a German band with members from multiple nations, and released this a couple of years back; hopefully you’re up to date on your English, German, Italian and Dutch.

Tom: I think there’s a little bit of Spanish in there as well? I’d have been more impressed if they managed to rhyme across languages, but sure, okay, I get the spirit of this.

Tim: Now, I didn’t mention this in the intro for fear of overselling it, but is it just me or does this have elements of Basshunter in it?

Tom: What? … where?

Tim: Specifically, the backing underneath the second half of each verse and the choruses, which put me in such a mind of his stuff that I couldn’t help liking the rest of it, however much the harmonies make it sound like a crap JLS ballad.

Tom: Okay, so now I feel better about it, because “crap JLS ballad” was pretty much what I was going to say here.

Tim: Yeah. It may be a dated reference but every year I think of JB’s beautiful greeting and well up with joy (and there’s an outstanding key change if you keep listening to that). Back to this, though, and you’re not missing much if you’re not fluent in all four languages, as they basically say exactly the same thing: to all our friends, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Tom: This song doesn’t actually help me with that sentiment at all, but hopefully the rest of the world feels different. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Saturday Flashback: Same Difference – All I Want For Christmas Is You

“That’s remarkable.”

Tim: Not a single release, but an X Factor performance, a full ten years ago. The performance that opened the show. What a beauty.

Tim: What a beauty.

Tom: That is… well, that’s remarkable. It feels like it comes from the early 90s, but I just looked it up and it turns out that was 2007.

Tim: Oh, yes indeed. I won’t argue, there are some misguided moments here – Sean’s groin thrusting isn’t really something many people wanted to see having their tea on a Saturday night (though I’m not complaining), what those elves are doing 40 seconds in is anyone’s guess, and there’s a reason we’ve skipped the first thirteen seconds – but otherwise, oh, it’s just pure festive pop joy.

Flying up into the air to switch on the lights; throwing glitter, camp as you like; being lifted onto the shoulders of elves to mark the key change; the winner’s confetti coming down several hours early; oh, it’s all just lovely.

Tom: Special shoutout for both of them managing to throw their glitter late, and thus making the camera operator miss the pyrotechnics — thus making it look like there’s been a minor electrical explosion on the stage, rather than any sort of Christmas magic.

Tim: Oh, but we all know deep down that it is true Christmas magic. They don’t make X Factor like this any more, and damn it’s a shame.

Poppy – Bleach Blonde Baby

“Nice key change”

Tom: So I’m going to move us away from Christmas for today, Tim, because there’s some actually good new pop to talk about. (Or in this case, at least, a new music video — the track came out a couple of months ago.)

Poppy is part art-project, part music-project. I’m going to leave aside the weird art side for this, because, frankly, the new single is a banger.

Tim: Hmm, I guess banger is a subjective term – got to say, it left me a little cold. Sure, it’s a good chorus, but that second verse I just found dull, a right switch off. Nice key change, though.

Tom: Okay, it’s not entirely possible to leave the weird art aside, because that’s a hell of a video. This is a song that passes both my Good Pop Tests: I can hum the chorus after one listen, and I immediately hit replay.

Tim: Well, I’m with you on the chorus, we can agree there.

Tom: The middle eight’s a low point, true, and it’s not like there’s a great message in the lyrics anywhere. But, oh, that chorus.

The Fizz feat. Rick Wakeman – Home For My Heart

“That proper Christmassy bit at the end is quite lovely”

Tim: If you weren’t aware of The Fizz (as I wasn’t until ten minutes before I started writing this), it’s a fun tale, but long story short, it’s a reunited Bucks Fizz without (a) one of the members, and (b) the rights to the name.

Tom: Fortunately, Cheryl Baker’s still there, who is — I’m fairly sure — the only member of Bucks Fizz that most people that most people could name. So, sure, okay, this is The Fizz now.

Tim: Earlier this year they released an album, The F-Z of Pop, and now they’ve sprinkled some bells on top of one of the tracks and called it festive.

Tom: And they got Rick Wakeman! How on earth did they get Rick Wakeman on this? Does he need the money? Do they have blackmail material on him? Does he owe one of them a favour?

Tom: Mind you, that’s a pretty good guitar solo. As for the rest of it…

Tim: Well first off: MASSIVE disappointment when those drums beats into the middle eight wasn’t followed by an enormous key change as would have been entirely proper. Second: that proper Christmassy bit at the end is quite lovely, and it’s nice to see that that haven’t just done a Little Mix.

Tom: Yep, full marks for that last part.

Tim: Third: man alive, that closing chorus line melody is familiar, but I can’t for the life of me place it right now.

Tom: Same – specifically, that harmony on “home”. I just can’t place it.

Tim: And all the rest: this is an entirely decent track, and I’m kind of annoyed I missed their return earlier this year. But here we are now, and it’s nicely done. Just, dammit give me a key change.