Saturday Reject: Arnar Jónsson & Rakel Pálsdóttir – Again

“Eventually.”

Tim: Last week, I said that I wanted a Eurovision track to make me feel something other than lethargy. This one does. Eventually.

Tim: And it’s very much the eventually that is the key word there. This song spends a full three quarters of its running time almost willing me to go to sleep, as if it’s realised that yep, the time is now to head to the toilet or the kettle.

Tom: Don’t get those two confused, Tim.

Tim: Thanks for the tip. I think no, though, I’ll give it a bit of time to see if it improves, and I’ll wait a minute or so, at least until the end of the first chorus, or maybe until the middle eight gets going (or, in this case, completely fails to). But soon, I’ll think “sod this” and get up off my sofa.

Tom: It is definitely a builder — and with some very promising parts in it — but it’s also a very slow one.

Tim: Way, way too slow, because having left it that late, I’ll then entirely miss the good bit. The 45 seconds of this three minute song that is actually worth hearing. And that would be a real shame. So, I guess the moral here is, if you’re going to have a good bit at the end, either be really awful at the start so people go quickly, or just be good all the way through. I know which I’d prefer.

Tom: “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus” is still good advice.

Tim: And never more than here.

Katy Perry feat. Migos – Bon Appétit

“It starts low with the mandatory school register, and never really improves.”

Tom: “Chained to the Rhythm“, while we never wrote about it here, was a brilliant first single from the upcoming album, matched with a creative video. So surely the second one’s going to be at least clo– well, you can probably see where I’m going back to this.

Tom: Full marks for including the acute diacritic in “appétit”. No marks for basically any other part of this song.

Tim: Yeah. It starts low with the mandatory school register, and never really improves.

Tom: No melody to speak of. Repetitive as hell. Really dire lyrics that are just a series of bad food/sex metaphors. The unnecessary, but inevitable, rap middle eight.

Tim: You know it’s coming, you don’t want it to, because you know it’ll sound bad, but there it is anyway, adding absolutely nothing to the song at all.

Tom: The final chorus isn’t that bad, but by the time it arrives, I was more than ready to skip.

Tim: NEXT PLEASE.

Buster Moe – Drowning

“Fancy some light-hearted guitar pop?”

Tim: Fancy some light-hearted guitar pop? Well, light-hearted instrumentally, at least.

Tom: Blimey, the guy from Keane’s aging well.

Tim: Lyrically we’re pretty much as down as we can be, but at least we’re talking about our problems, which is something. Mind you, I do wonder if you’re allowed to call it a lyric video if you only show about a tenth of the lyrics – surely something for trading standards to get involved in.

Tom: And given that it stars him, singing the song, this is… well, it’s a music video, really.

Tim: But to be honest, with the music as it is I can put aside my pedantry, because I quite like this. As I said earlier, it seems a bit jaunty, and right now jaunty will do me just fine.

Tom: It’s not going to hit my playlist any time soon, but that’s more because it’s not my type of music, rather than anything that’s wrong with it.

Helena Paparizou – Haide

“Let’s embrace the Mediterranean, shall we?”

Tim: You’ll remember that Helena’s half Swedish and half Greek; there’s an English version if you want it (and the title means Come On), but let’s embrace the Mediterranean, shall we?

Tom: There’s a slogan for a dodgy tapas restaurant, right there.

Tim: Now that intro was incredibly promising, which makes it quite sad that the first verse marks a sudden drop right down, and almost disappointing. Chorus, though, we’re up and getting our Shakira on, and then for the rest of the song it barely lets up.

Tom: And I’d swear there’s a bit of Bollywood influence in there too, from subtle instrumental hints, to the percussion and synth patterns, to some of the song structure.

Tim: That extended instrumental in the middle is unusual, defenestrating the standard pop structure entirely, and if I’m totally honest I think it ever so slightly harms the song – musically it’s great, but it did leave me wondering “hang on, what’s going on”.

Tom: Yep: there’s several things that could count as ‘pre-chorus’ or ‘middle eight’, depending on how you categorise them, but I think you’re right a bit… different. Not bad, just different.

Tim: On the other hand, only music nerds will care, and I don’t really care unless I’m properly paying attention to it, so who cares? It’s great.

Brenda Veila – Trouble

“The endless spelling.”

Tim: So here’s Brenda, born in Moscow, living in Cyprus, but apparently keen to show us that she knows English spelling.

Tim: Now, I didn’t have huge expectations when I saw the Russia/Cyprus headline in the e-mail, and I’ll accept now that was based on unfair prejudices, because this is a really good song.

Tom: It’s… well, it’s not a bad song. What stands out for you, other than the endless spelling?

Tim: Yes, the T-R-O-U-B-L-E gets a bit repetitive towards the end, and I can’t hear it without comparing it to another spelling song, with which it just can’t compete, but otherwise it’s top notch. Strong theme with the lyrics, decent melody, no problem with the vocal: it’s almost all good. Like it.

Tom: It’s a bit too repetitive and a bit too long for me — even at three minutes — but there’s nothing particularly objectionable about it either. It’ll do.

Drifters – Om Du Fick Se Mig Gå

“Dansband! Oh, it’s been ages. I’m looking forward to this.”

Tim: Drifters, a Swedish dansband who I thought we’d featured more than just the once we actually have; anyway, here’s their latest. No video, alas, but here’s a live performance.

Tom: Dansband! Oh, it’s been ages. I’m looking forward to this.

Tim: Tom, before I get started I’ll tell you and our reader that I’ve just watched the Line of Duty finale and so am properly pumped full of adrenaline; that may or may not have quite a lot to do with the fact that I shouted “OH, YES” when that chorus came along, and almost destroyed my brand new Lego Snowspeeder throwing my arms around.

Tom: That’s possibly the most Tim sentence I’ve heard in a while. For reference, I wrote this while a bit tired.

Tim: We don’t hear schlager like this very often any more, but oh doesn’t it just sound wonderful?

Tom: The opening verse confused me – it actually sounded like a modern song. And then the chorus kicked in, and I actually laughed.

Tim: The thing that gets me about songs like this, the one massive thing, is that they’re just so happy. I can’t find the lyrics online anywhere, but the title means “If You Saw Me Go” – that doesn’t imply a particularly upbeat song, but I can’t stop myself smiling.

Tom: They know exactly what their audience want, and they deliver it. This particular studio audience also sounds like they’re clapping on the 1 and the 3, but I’ll let that slide.

Tim: Particularly, of course, at the key change. The GLORIOUS key change. God, I miss this so much. So, so much.

Saturday Reject: Aron Brink – Hypnotised

“It makes me feel something other than general lethargy.”

Tim: Like so many countries this year, Tom, Iceland hasn’t submitted the greatest song ever for Eurovision; indeed, it fell squarely in the middle of our Zone of Disappointment. Somewhat baffling, when there were a couple of slightly better tracks available. Take this one, came fourth.

Tom: Blimey, it’s like Michael Cera got a makeover.

Tim: Bit harsh; not entirely unfair, though. This is the Icelandic version which was performed in the semi-final; the English one from the final had something weird going on with his vocal, so I don’t know if that explained anything, but oh, it’s so much better than just another soundalike ballad.

Tom: You’re not wrong at all. I know my tastes in pop are a little retro, but this stands above… well, everything else that’s in the poor crop of Eurovision semi-finalists this year. A low bar to clear, though.

Tim: True. But here, well yes, there’s a key change, and yes, it’s got a tedious tropical tinge—

Tom: There’s a new slogan for Lilt. (You’re right, though, those tropical synths are far too loud in the mix, and I’m fairly sure that’s a brief rap middle eight, which really isn’t needed.)

Tim: —but at least it’s different, it stands out, it makes me feel something other than general lethargy.

Tom: I haven’t heard an earnest “a-wey-oh” in a chorus for a while.

Tim: You see? That’s all I want from a Eurovision song. Just, to feel something.

DNCE feat. Nicki Minaj – Kissing Strangers

“But then, there’s that middle eight.”

Tom: If you’re wondering what the chord progression — and maybe some of the verse melody — remind you of, I think it’s probably Mika’s “Relax (Take It Easy)”.

Tom: Thing is, aside from that irritating resemblance, and those questionable “ayyyyy” sounds from Joe Jonas — for it is he — this is a really, really good song. Enough retro influence to be friendly, modern enough to sound good on the charts, and it can definitely be danced to.

Tim: Well, it actually doesn’t remind me of that song, but that might be because it’s ages since I’ve heard it. It is a good song, though. Well, mostly. I think we’re in agreement on that.

Tom: But then, there’s that middle eight.

Tim: Yes. Or rather, no.

Tom: There are some songs where Nicki Minaj fits. (Bang Bang. Back Together.) This… well, I don’t think this is one of them.

Tim: No. Nooooo, nooo, no.

Tom: Also, I’m fairly sure someone’s just put all her previous guest verses into a Markov chain so she doesn’t actually have to perform any new ones.

…actually, that’d be a pretty good idea.

Tim: Certainly save a lot of time. And it might make featuring her a bit less attractive an idea. I’m up for it.

Albin Wass – Radio

“Ooh, this’ll do me nicely.”

Tim: A new artist from Sweden, and within a couple of seconds of pressing play I was already thinking, “ooh, this’ll do me nicely”. Have a lyric video, which as we shall discover is possibly a misguided choice.

Tim: You see the thing with lyric videos is that, by their very nature, they draw your attention to the lyrics. And when your entire song consists of a metaphor that starts out fairly well but eventually ends up comparing ex-boyfriends to mixtapes, that might not be an ideal outcome.

Having said that, though, that’s all I really have to complain about with this song.

Tom: I really like the verses; I really like the builds that they’ve got going on. But the choruses really aren’t my sort of thing — and I’m surprised they’re yours.

Tim: Really? Because my initial reaction of ‘this’ll do me nicely’ was entirely borne out musically, as he’s got a decent voice and the sound’s exactly my type of thing, so overall I’ll give this a thumbs up.

Tom: Good heavens, how times have changed. I remember you complaining so much about this type of sound — both the dubstep influences, and the overcompressed synths. I agree there’s nothing wrong with them; I would have just preferred something a bit more traditional in the choruses given everything that led into them.

Tim: Hmm. You saying that prompted me to listen again to the choruses to see what I’d missed – and yes, I guess there are influences there, but so very minor that they work very well with the rest.

It’s just – well, could they not at least have updated ‘mixtape’ to ‘playlist’?

Frida Sundemo – It’s OK

“I can see how this is a good track.”

Tim: Much as with Darin last week, Frida is responsible for one of my favourite tracks we’ve ever featured here, by which I mean Snow, still wonderful four and a bit years on. Can this beat it?

Tim: No, of course it can’t, BUT it is still flipping good.

Tom: It is good. I can see how this is a good track. I don’t think I like it, though.

Tim: Oh. Well, we’ll come back to that, but first I’ll pass on that it’s apparently about “making peace with the weak and vulnerable you”, and “feeling like the loneliest person in the world and accepting that life sometimes feels like your enemy and not your friend”, and “feeling more alive than ever, about late nights and early mornings, and the longing for embracing every second of life”, all because “that’s how life is, high and low, and it’s OK”. And you know what? Aside from early mornings, I’m good with all of that, particularly if it’s presented in this fashion.

Tom: Sometimes, Tim, I think it’s a pity that music is subjective; because I can appreciate all the effort, the perfect production, the brilliant vocals.

Tim: Right? It’s lovely – strings, vocal, gentle drumbeat, I can’t fault this.

Tom: I… I just don’t like it. I’m a bit bored by it. And there’s nothing I can do to help that.

Tim: Oh, that’s a shame. I don’t know if it’ll particularly cheer people up who are feeling down and awful, but it certainly hits that level and speaks that message. So for doing what it’s trying to do, it’s excellent.