Bacall & Malo – Africa

“Everything Never Gonna Give You Up wanted to be, and everything that it wasn’t.”

Tim: Four weeks ago, I wrote, “I genuinely can’t imagine any situation where anybody would ever think ‘I want to listen to a tropical house version of Never Gonna Give You Up’.”

Adam: There’s a joke in there somewhere about giving up tropical house versions of Never Gonna Give You Up but I’m having a hard time piecing it together.

Tim: I’ve only come across the one, and to be frank that’s more than enough. The question on our lips today, though, is whether anybody would ever think ‘I want to listen to a tropical house version of Africa’.

Tim: And you know what? I really do think they would, and not least because that’s what I’m thinking right now and have done on many occasions since first hearing this. Unlike previously, this genuinely works. The song fits.

Adam: The original did have a tropical vibe to begin with, although maybe Never Gonna Give You Up does too.

Tim: Oh, the latter really doesn’t, which is one of the reasons I hated it – it sounded horribly shoehorned in, trying to mix internet memes and musical zeitgeists. Africa, on the other hand, is a great original track, it’s been reworked excellently, and I like that it gets stuck in my head.

Adam: That’s the thing: the original is so great. I reckon it’s the original that’s getting stuck in your head not anything about this cover. Covers can be great but I just don’t feel this is bringing anything new to the table.

Tim: You could be right about the stuck in my head bit; the main thing though is that this is, in short, everything Never Gonna Give You Up wanted to be, and everything that it wasn’t. And I’m very glad of that.

Adam: This tropical house cover is definitely better than the other tropical house cover but I would listen to the original every time. I think the question we should really be asking ourselves is ‘do we really need tropical house covers of already great songs’?

Tim: Depends – are there enough people willing to press the play button? And for this, I know I am.