Scavenger Hunt – Eyes Wide Open

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything I’ve just…enjoyed as much as I do this.”

Tim: Dan and Jill met in LA writing TV adverts, and it all sort of snowballed from there apparently. Here’s their new one, a BEAUTY.

Tim: Now that strikes me as an exceptional piece of pop music. The first few notes sounded good, and when the intro kicked in, that’s a fantastic section – melody, beat, instrumentation, everything. Quietish for the verses but still lurking, still strong, still beating, and then when the chorus comes along it turns the dial up, everything improves, and then the post-chorus comes along and it goes all in, POUNDING AWAY.

Tom: Phrasing. But yes, you’re not wrong: I, as ever, am a little less enthusiastic, but that’s true of almost every song we talk about here. It’s good, it’s not exceptional: it feels like someone’s trying to do a Carly Rae Jepsen track but not quite getting there.

Tim: Yes, but that’s a high bar to set – if you’re heading for perfection but don’t quite make it, that’s still damn good.

Tom: Perhaps, if I’d never heard any of the tracks off E•MO•TION, I’d think this was spectacular — as it is, it feels like one from the B-Sides album, and then, only just.

Tim: But again, though: ‘not quite Carly Rae Jepsen’ is still a good place to be. The middle eight is low key, exactly as expected, setting the scene nicely for a final chorus section, which we are indeed duly rewarded with. Put short: this whole song is fantastic, and it’s been a while since I’ve heard anything I’ve just…enjoyed as much as I do this.

Tom: Huh. Well, I can’t argue with your reaction there, even if I didn’t get the same.

Tim: Although…there is that ending. Now I’ve got no problems with an abrupt ending – I’ll take that over a laborious repeat to fade any day – but this is too abrupt. At least, you know, finish the word you’re singing. This sounds less planned and more someone actually hitting the delete button accidentally, and it grates a lot. But the 3 minutes and 47 seconds leading up to that? Masterful.