The Sound of Arrows – Don’t Worry

“A wonderful slow-builder, and possibly the best one of theirs that I’ve ever heard.”

Tom: From the title, I’ve got a prediction: you’ll love it, I’ll be indifferent. Tim, start your pitch.

Tim: Well, after SIX YEARS, this wonderful band’s second album finally arrived last Friday, and having had plenty of opportunity to listen to it I can declare it, you’ll be relieved but probably not surprised to hear, absolutely wonderful. From it’s glorious intro, through its superb second track Stay Free and beyond all the way to the Lion King stylings of the closing We Will Live Again, via delights like the Moby-esque Wicked Ways, it is a divine listen. Right now, though, we’ll chat about track 4, because that’s the one they’ve just put a video out for.

Tom: Oh. Huh. That… I like that.

Tim: Really? That actually surprises me, because curiously, it’s not one of the best on the album (at least in my view, anyway), and does have a few drawbacks.

Tom: Ah! Then I think this might be the track that’s designed to appeal to the mainstream — hence it’s the first single.

Tim: Well, the first single was actually Beautiful Life, but timing-wise we’ll go with this.

Tom: This is a wonderful slow-builder, and possibly the best one of theirs that I’ve ever heard. Yes, that includes all the previous attempts of yours to promote their tracks to me. Why isn’t it great for you?

Tim: It takes a while to get going, and while that underlying melody that kicks in halfway through is lovely to listen to, it gets repetitive not long after.

Tom: For me, it feels more like the sort of track that’d fit in nicely on Isles of Wonder. Which is a heck of compliment. Remember that? That was a good year.

Tim: When the single biggest political story was George Osborne getting booed. Simpler and better times. But let’s not get lost in nostalgia – let’s talk about the final chorus, which as with most tracks is where everything really shines, especially with those oooh-ooohs coming along. Having said that: I reiterate that the album as a whole is lovely, so just ignore this negativity, put your feet up for 45 minutes, sit back and just listen to it. You owe it to yourself, you really do.

Modiwo – Cosmic Bus

“Transylvanian Pop Hero’s Take the Cosmic Bus to Success”

Tim: I haven’t even heard the track yet but I feel we need to feature it, almost entirely because of the subject line of the PR e-mail: Transylvanian Pop Hero’s Take the Cosmic Bus to Success.

Tom: [sic], I assume?

Tim: Oh yes, and if anything that just adds to the anticipation. Let’s press play and see if this is worth it.

Tim: And now I am so relieved, because that’s just brilliant, for so many reasons.

Tom: …which would be?

Tim: The style of the video! The bus that opens into a stage! The saxophone that comes from nowhere at all that made me do a double take! The inspiring but not stupidly so lyrics! Even – the idea of a cosmic bus itself. Pausing at space traffic lights! Two moons in a shoot-out! There is just so much to love here, and it’s totally wonderful.

Tom: Okay, so here’s the thing: I listened to this just as an audio track first, without the video. And I’ve got to be honest with you: it’s not a great song. And amidst all those exclamation marks, you haven’t actually said anything about the song either. Apart from that saxophone, and, well, fair enough, but the rest isn’t all that great?

Tim: Maybe not great, but it does have something I like in it – partly the uplifting tone, partly, like I said, the positivity in the lyrics. You’re not into it?

Tom: It’s a middle-of-the-pack Eurovision selection track. There’s nothing actually wrong with it, it’s just that without the video’s.. erm, charm? Yeah, let’s go with charm. Without that, it’s only okay.

Tim: Perhaps. So as long as we have videos: can we have more from Transylvania please?

Nadine Coyle – Go To Work

“I am genuinely gutted.”

Tim: Brought to our attention by ‘Axmay’, who describes it as “current, but feels very 90’s house in a sense”. Interested? I was.

Tim: It is, really, very sad that this has had so little attention or success – 57 on the sales chart, and no entry whatsoever into the full combined one – because it’s superb.

Tom: I can see the 90s house connection with those synth patches, and I think that’s what might have killed it — it’s not a contemporary sound, and I can’t see this getting played in many places. Some people and some tracks can pull off retro, but this… doesn’t, somehow.

Tim: See, I love it for that, and although you’re maybe right about it not being played in a lot of places, I can still see it being very successful if it was. It’s produced with Xenomania, the team behind so many wonderful hits, including basically all of Girls Aloud’s hits, and it really does sound like a mix of 90s house and modern day music, and if there’s any justice in the world this’d be all over the place. But no.

Tom: I should add that I’m irritated by that slightly offbeat transition into the chorus. I’m sure I’d get used to it, but you don’t want to mislead people every time there should be a drop. You’re probably right that it deserved more than….

Tim: Nothing at all, and I am genuinely gutted about that.

Maja Francis – Saved By The Summer

“Disgraceful behaviour.”

Tim: There’s a couple of lines here that remind me of Rag’n’Bone Man’s Human, but I promise it’s a lot more upbeat than that was.

Tim: Well, first off, since when was it acceptable to pull multiple petals off at once when you’re doing the loves me/loves me not thing? Disgraceful behaviour.

Tom: Any time you know the result you want, can see how many petals there are, and can calculate quickly. I’m more worried about when it’s become acceptable to apply a VHS filter to a vertical video.

Tim: Other than that, though, I’ve not really got any problems with this. Sure, there could be a bit more melody in the post-chorus (if indeed there can really be described to be any in the first place), but the actual sound of it is good enough that I really don’t care.

Tom: I am wondering why you described it as “upbeat”, at least until it got to the middle eight and final chorus. It takes a while to get there, but yeah, sure. It’s not an immediate replay, but it’s certainly not bad.

Tim: Though I do wish it was a little less Rag’n’Bone Man-y.

Alan Walker feat. Noah Cyrus with Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down

“It’s not quite farmhouse, but it’s close.”

Tom: I’ve long said that there are two signs of a Good Pop Song: do I immediately want to replay it? And can I sing the chorus after one listen?

Tom: Yes to the first; not quite to the second, but given it’s the instrumental chorus that takes the lead here, maybe that’s not too bad.

Tim: And given that you’re judging a dance track by the merits of a pop song, I think that’s very good indeed. Mainly because it is very good indeed.

Tom: This sounds almost like an Avicii track: it’s not quite farmhouse, but it’s close. Lots of harmonies, familiar and friendly key progressions, and just generally pleasant to listen to. Apart from the vocal remixing in the middle eight, this doesn’t sound stereotypically Alan Walker — and maybe that’s a good thing.

Tim: Certainly a bit farmy, yes, and I’m definitely in agreement about the pleasant to listen to. I’m not sure about not stereotypical, though – it does sound like a slight evolution of his sound, which is good, but there’s a lot that’s still very much him even beyond the middle eight – the post-chorus, say, is certainly trademark Alan, and very good for it.

Tom: I think you could lose the first twenty seconds of this — as far as I can tell, “eff you” isn’t the radio edit, so it just sounds a bit strange — but the rest of it’s brilliant.

Tim: Hmm – I’d keep the first twenty seconds because I’ve no problem, though yes I’d swap the “eff you” for a “screw you” any day. So yes, that one word aside it’s brilliant. Anyone know when the album’s out?

Post Precious – Timebomb

“Bold start there, and it plays out interestingly.”

Tim: As far as I can tell, this duo doesn’t actually have anything to do with the girlband who represented us at Eurovision.

Tom: Good heavens, that’s an obscure reference. Well done.

Tim: They’re instead two indie pop folk who’ve teamed up to bring us this joy. I don’t want to spoil it, but don’t have this too loud if you’re in a public place.

Tim: Bold start there, and it plays out interestingly.

Tom: I honestly can’t tell whether that’s “love, you’re fucked” or “love your foot” as the first line.

Tim: Rather than a standard build up to the chorus, it almost builds down throughout the verses before coming storming back in with a PROPER BANGER of a chorus, at least, sort of.

Tom: Oh, I’m glad you qualified that.

Tim: I’m about to criticise it, but I want to say first: overall, this is great. Love it. HOWEVER, I think it’s a lot better on first listen than it comes across later, or at least if you pay attention and study it after a couple of listens it somewhat loses it. First time, you’re blown away by that chorus, you don’t notice that it calms down quite considerably after that first note, and doesn’t *quite* ever make it back up there, which it doesn’t, upsetting.

Tom: Imagine if you weren’t blown away by that first chorus. I mean, I don’t have to, but you might want to.

Tim: Now, as I said, though, I still think it’s great, lovely, and listening to it in the background it’s fantastic, because it’s still big. Just, never quite hits that sweet spot that it did the first time.

Tom: Yep, despite my cynicism, this isn’t a bad track. It’s just a bit anemic for me; it never hit that sweet spot.

Alex Alexander – Never Back Down

“Here’s a fun little track for you.”

Tim: Not sure if his his parents were feeling incredibly lazy and/or cruel, or if that’s just his stage name, but never mind – here’s a fun little track for you.

Tim: I was onside with that from the beginning with the guitar over the slightly swooshy backing, and it never really did anything to lose me. You can probably guess my biggest gripe with it, what with it finishing a full one middle eight and chorus sooner than it should be doing, but what there is is pretty enjoyable all round.

Tom: You’re right: at three minutes, this is about the right length, but it could still do with a bit of variety.

Tim: It’s a slightly unusual blend, with what sound like actual guitars rather than just the usual vocals or synth noises being twiddled around with in the post chorus.

Tom: Yep, and that’s some expressive guitar work — it almost sounds a bit like the Clangers, a musical instrument being used to generate something that could, from a long way away, be interpreted as vocals.

Tim: I’ll try anything once, and this works well. Nice.

IFA – Leende Guldbruna Ögon

“2017 is upon us, and so of course we have a dance cover of it.”

Tim: Quick backstory: waaaaaay back when, two thirds of a century ago, there was a dreary American country track called Beautiful Brown Eyes, which was later covered as dansband classic Leende Guldbruna Ögon; not one I know myself, but apparently big enough that it had a TV drama named after it. 2017 is upon us, and so of course we have a dance cover of it.

Tom: That’s a lot of genre shifts, and actually ties into something I want to talk about for this weekend’s flashback. But anyway. What’s it like?

Tim: It’s good! (That went from ‘good.’ to good!’ after the key change, in case you were wondering.)

Tom: I’d go with “nice”. I’m normally someone who likes simple melodies, but this was a bit too nursery-rhyme in places for me — perhaps a bit too much of that “dreary” survived. It’s inoffensive and fun, though, and I’ll take it. Bonus points, as you say, for the drop down in the middle eight and the brutal key change back up.

Tim: I don’t know if you bothered to check out the other versions, but it’s interesting to see how a track develops with changing musical vogues throughout time. Sure, it may be a bit slow to truly fit in with 2017 trends, but what’s going on in that post-chorus is fairly standard for now, almost Alan Walker-esque —

Tom: Careful with that, at no point has anyone rearranged every damn syllable.

Tim: Well indeed, hence the ‘almost’ — but it is actually very pleasant to hear, and far more so than 1951’s drudgery.

Taylor Swift – Gorgeous

“It has an enjoyable chorus”

Tim: I described Look What You Made Me Do as ‘bloody awful’; you weren’t as down on it but did express hope that further stuff wouldn’t be quite so dark. With due trepidation, then…

Tim: And, well, it’s still not as happy and upbeat as previously (as, of course, we must remember that that Taylor is DEAD), but, surprisingly, I actually quite like that.

Tom: Wait, really? It’s okay, I guess — and to be fair, Look What You Made Me Do has been a grower for me — but apart from the pre-chorus, this didn’t connect with me at all. Why do you like it?

Tim: Partly because right now there’s a slight personal connection – someone at work recently demonstrated a complete lack of etiquette in the ‘buying a drink’ department and now it’s over before it started – but also because the melody’s not unpleasant, it has an enjoyable chorus and she’s actually displaying her vocal talents.

Tom: Yes, she’s got a recognisable voice — one that couldn’t be replaced with just any session singer — but it’s still not as good as… well, basically anything off the last album.

Tim: Oh, that’s very very true – but given that previously described limit, this is actually pretty good. Surprisingly.

Rita Ora – Anywhere

“That chorus melody makes it all so good.“

Tim: First up, a look at the parish notice board, where we see that three lovely Christmas songs came out last Friday, of varying quality, and I would dearly love nothing more than to write about them right now. However, Tom, since you’re in sunny California as I write this…

Tom: Close enough.

Tim: …it’s probably best if we leave those for a while. We’ll have this instead, then, Rita’s new one, as it too is really rather good.

Tom: From the line “over the hills” and onwards, that is excellent. Blimey. And then it goes and does a second good thing, going all Alan Walker-knockoff.

Tim: Hmm, ish – yes, most of it is bloody brilliant, but it’s that Alan Walker knock-off that stops me loving it unconditionally. I’d much prefer it there if the post-chorus was toned down just to an instrumental, or at the very least had been assaulted with a slightly less unwieldy vocoder.

Tom: Yes, to be fair, they clearly didn’t get Alan Walker for this. But ah, that chorus melody makes it all so good.

Tim: Doesn’t it? I don’t have a single gripe whatsoever with any other part of the song – it’s just fantastic, and I absolutely love it. So even with my one complaint, I think this song is excellent, and wonderful, and glorious. Super super duper.