Most female R&B stars can be lumped into two categories. There’s the warblers with the big entourages and earnest sounding heartbroken ballads. See Mary J.Blige and Whitney. Then there are the sassy queens with their finger wagging, ice cool pop, like Beyonce and Ashanti. And occasionally there the ones who come seemingly from outer space with music that sounds like nothing else. These artists include Lauren Hill, Erykah Badu and now Janelle Monae.
“Cold War” is taken from her album “ArchAndroid” which is an album inspired by the 1927 film Metropolis. It tells the story of Cindy Mayweather, a messianic android sent back in time to free the citizens of Metropolis from oppression. Sci-fi inspired R&B soul sounds awful, this isn’t, it’s wonderful. Gloriously catchy, full of life and verve.
It’s here too:
Tuesday 28 September 2010
Thursday 23 September 2010
Single #7: Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow - Shame
As long awaited reunions go, this is easily the dullest.
It ought not to have been. With hundreds of millions of words and column inches given over to the feud between Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, the first time they're musically together again should have been a Doherty/Barat esque bit of songwriting. All spine tingling double entendre. Instead of this, they've cooked up a drab bit of pop music. It's not terrible, it's something far far worse, it's smug.
Whilst this track was never going to be as good as the sum of its parts, you'd at least expect them to go all out. A big, lush orchestral production, with lyrics of betrayal and spite. Not this, a plodding bit of melancholia. They don't duck the option of exploring their history, but there's no real feeling, no anger, no hint at the resentment Barlow must have felt when Williams became the biggest pop star in the world or when Williams was cast out by Take That. They skirt around the issues, smiling coyly in a way that says "Look at us, haven't we done well" rather than lay their souls open. Even the drippy reference to feeling bad at seeing the other’s posters up in a toy shop, smacks as being what rhymed with the previous line rather than a genuine anecdote.
Musically its more Phil Collins than anything else. Predictable and sappy. Really not worth the wait.
It ought not to have been. With hundreds of millions of words and column inches given over to the feud between Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, the first time they're musically together again should have been a Doherty/Barat esque bit of songwriting. All spine tingling double entendre. Instead of this, they've cooked up a drab bit of pop music. It's not terrible, it's something far far worse, it's smug.
Whilst this track was never going to be as good as the sum of its parts, you'd at least expect them to go all out. A big, lush orchestral production, with lyrics of betrayal and spite. Not this, a plodding bit of melancholia. They don't duck the option of exploring their history, but there's no real feeling, no anger, no hint at the resentment Barlow must have felt when Williams became the biggest pop star in the world or when Williams was cast out by Take That. They skirt around the issues, smiling coyly in a way that says "Look at us, haven't we done well" rather than lay their souls open. Even the drippy reference to feeling bad at seeing the other’s posters up in a toy shop, smacks as being what rhymed with the previous line rather than a genuine anecdote.
Musically its more Phil Collins than anything else. Predictable and sappy. Really not worth the wait.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Single #6: Olly Murs - Please Don't Let Me Go
It’s a well known fact that success in the X Factor is no guarantee of any kind of career, in the lasting more than four years sense. There are those who’ve excelled like Leona Lewis and Will Young. Those who did ok and then gracefully went away, like Shayne Ward and Rhydian and the utter failures. Steve Brookstein anyone?
Last year’s runner up Olly Murs has decided now is the time to unleash himself on the pop world, presumably because winner Joe McElderry is still being told by Simon Cowell and whoever else he has follow him around that he’d better do a Leona and wait till they’ve found at least four decent tunes before he actually releases anything. Murs, unfortunately, has been the recipient of less good advice as to pen his debut single, he’s teamed up with Claude Kelly, the man behind most of Christina Aguliera’s poorly received new direction and the odd album track for Miley Cyrus and Kesha. Kelly’s back catalogue is solid and unspectacular, a lot like Murs’ debut single “Please Don‘t Me Go.”
The single is a plodding, middle of the road stinker, with no spark, verve or even decent melody. It’s lilting pop by numbers, with Murs clearly deciding he doesn’t want to start out with a big ballad and would like to market himself as a sort of sub Jason Mraz, the kind of singer who can play Blue Peter, have a drink with the lads and not get bottled off at V Festival. He may well start wearing vintage hats, kooky trousers and start talking up how much he loves the Flaming Lips in interviews, but the whole façade is paper thin. His label have clearly made the decision that the success of singer songwriters like Mraz, Joshua Radin and Jack Johnson is the kind of thing he should be emulating, they’ve perhaps decided this because it’ll be cheaper than recording with a big orchestra and you can pass off all kind of naff rubbish off as easy going pop. There’s no urge to try new things or do anything other than the bare minimum. No-one will mind it, but no-one will love it either.
The prospect for Murs’ debut album don’t seem high either, with collaborators including Scouting For Girls and Preston, it’s going to be so middle of the road, it’ll be in the central reservation.
Murs probably falls in the middle category of X Factor hopefuls, he’ll do alright for a while and he’s definitely got more potential than McElderry, but that’s not saying much. It seems likely he’ll do a Leon and not a Leona.
Decide for yourself below:
Last year’s runner up Olly Murs has decided now is the time to unleash himself on the pop world, presumably because winner Joe McElderry is still being told by Simon Cowell and whoever else he has follow him around that he’d better do a Leona and wait till they’ve found at least four decent tunes before he actually releases anything. Murs, unfortunately, has been the recipient of less good advice as to pen his debut single, he’s teamed up with Claude Kelly, the man behind most of Christina Aguliera’s poorly received new direction and the odd album track for Miley Cyrus and Kesha. Kelly’s back catalogue is solid and unspectacular, a lot like Murs’ debut single “Please Don‘t Me Go.”
The single is a plodding, middle of the road stinker, with no spark, verve or even decent melody. It’s lilting pop by numbers, with Murs clearly deciding he doesn’t want to start out with a big ballad and would like to market himself as a sort of sub Jason Mraz, the kind of singer who can play Blue Peter, have a drink with the lads and not get bottled off at V Festival. He may well start wearing vintage hats, kooky trousers and start talking up how much he loves the Flaming Lips in interviews, but the whole façade is paper thin. His label have clearly made the decision that the success of singer songwriters like Mraz, Joshua Radin and Jack Johnson is the kind of thing he should be emulating, they’ve perhaps decided this because it’ll be cheaper than recording with a big orchestra and you can pass off all kind of naff rubbish off as easy going pop. There’s no urge to try new things or do anything other than the bare minimum. No-one will mind it, but no-one will love it either.
The prospect for Murs’ debut album don’t seem high either, with collaborators including Scouting For Girls and Preston, it’s going to be so middle of the road, it’ll be in the central reservation.
Murs probably falls in the middle category of X Factor hopefuls, he’ll do alright for a while and he’s definitely got more potential than McElderry, but that’s not saying much. It seems likely he’ll do a Leon and not a Leona.
Decide for yourself below:
Tuesday 7 September 2010
Single #5: Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
When Katy Perry first arrived all those months ago, she seemed like the perfect pop star in waiting. She had an insanely catchy single in “I Kissed A Girl”, a track which stirred just the right amount of bile in the right wing press to score tonnes of publicity and airplay. She had an interesting back story. She was raised in staunchly Christian household and learned her trade as a gospel church singer (including releasing an album of gospel material under her real name Katy Hudson in 2001). She spoke of being inspired by Alanis Morissette, Shirley Manson and Joan Jett, and looked like she was ready to inject some life into a flagging pop scene. Which she did, a bit, getting famous in the process, meeting and getting engaged to Russell Brand and turning into the kind of artist record label talk about in their meetings with shareholders. After a brief spell away, she’s returned with a new record “Teenage Dream” and a new single, the title track, which follows on from number one hit “California Gurls.”
It’s not very good, “Teenage Dream” that is. Especially after the summery pop of “California Gurls” with its tongue in cheek lyrics and hyperactive sense of melody. “Teenage Dream” is a whopper of a comedown and a bizarre choice for a second single. Though you can see the logic in Perry’s record label deciding they need to convince those undecided about buying her album that she can do sensitive too, this track is just a plodding mess. It never gets going, with drilled percussion and borrowed keyboards that go from pedestrian to prosaic. Electronics buzz banally, things stutter and hum with the chorus coming and going without any kind of fanfare. It’s nowhere near as good as “Hot n’Cold” or “Waking Up In Vegas”, it’s not even as good as “Thinking Of You.”
Lyrically it’s boring in the extreme, with Perry dredging up Nicholas Sparks style tributes to a man who makes her happy. She’ll reward him by “going all the way tonight” and having “..no regrets” about it, which is nice for him, whoever he is.
The track’s principal writer and producer Dr.Luke has let himself down here. Having fashioned a reputation as pretty much the go to guy for a guitar driven pop song. He’s knocked out tunes for Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks, Britney Spears and countless others. He’s responsible for turning Kelly Clarkson from trying to be Whitney Houston to wanting to front Skunk Anansie and for writing nearly all of Avril Lavigne’s latest offerings. A master at turning in cheeky, bombastic pop rock, this isn’t up to his usual standard.
This is hardly a blow for pop music. Perry was never offering anything particularly original, it just so happened she’d met the right people, chosen the right songwriters and created a persona just wacky enough to win column inches, but never strange enough to push eyebrows up. She can, however, do much better than this.
It’s not very good, “Teenage Dream” that is. Especially after the summery pop of “California Gurls” with its tongue in cheek lyrics and hyperactive sense of melody. “Teenage Dream” is a whopper of a comedown and a bizarre choice for a second single. Though you can see the logic in Perry’s record label deciding they need to convince those undecided about buying her album that she can do sensitive too, this track is just a plodding mess. It never gets going, with drilled percussion and borrowed keyboards that go from pedestrian to prosaic. Electronics buzz banally, things stutter and hum with the chorus coming and going without any kind of fanfare. It’s nowhere near as good as “Hot n’Cold” or “Waking Up In Vegas”, it’s not even as good as “Thinking Of You.”
Lyrically it’s boring in the extreme, with Perry dredging up Nicholas Sparks style tributes to a man who makes her happy. She’ll reward him by “going all the way tonight” and having “..no regrets” about it, which is nice for him, whoever he is.
The track’s principal writer and producer Dr.Luke has let himself down here. Having fashioned a reputation as pretty much the go to guy for a guitar driven pop song. He’s knocked out tunes for Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks, Britney Spears and countless others. He’s responsible for turning Kelly Clarkson from trying to be Whitney Houston to wanting to front Skunk Anansie and for writing nearly all of Avril Lavigne’s latest offerings. A master at turning in cheeky, bombastic pop rock, this isn’t up to his usual standard.
This is hardly a blow for pop music. Perry was never offering anything particularly original, it just so happened she’d met the right people, chosen the right songwriters and created a persona just wacky enough to win column inches, but never strange enough to push eyebrows up. She can, however, do much better than this.
Wednesday 1 September 2010
Single #4: Hurts - Wonderful Life
If there’s one word that sums up pretty much everything about Manchester based electro duo Hurts, it’s poise. They just have so much of it. Watch them perform live and you’ll see a show more choreographed than the longest running West End show, visuals sparkle behind the band as they play, usually backed by an opera singer to accentuate the already pretty enormous choruses.
Both of the duo nearly made it as part of Duran Duran aping act Daggers, but now it’s just the two of them, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson have clearly decided that in their second attempt at bandom, they will do things their way. Their way is one of exactness and decadence, with lavish videos, sharp suits and videos that look more like fashion adverts than new band promos. Slicked hair and stilted poses meet with the mournful bits of the eighties, only smoother and with better lyrics. If you come across them by accident, as many will, then it’s impossible not to be swept along by their songs.
New single “Wonderful Life” is a completely enchanting and enthralling track, mostly because it really shouldn’t work. Telling the story of a man’s attempt at suicide on the Severn Bridge over a bombastic backdrop, straight out of the Ultravox back catalogue, should be a recipe for complete and total disaster. But it’s not. It’s graceful throughout, with a swirling instrumental section and an chorus the postman will have no trouble humming. Whether you’re hearing it for the first or fifteenth time you can’t help be spellbound by it, every nuance is arresting, challenging and invigorating. It’s brilliant.
Hurts will either have a long, sustained career of classy pop songs or burn out in glorious, decadent failure. Each one will be just as fascinating to watch.
Check out their new single here:
Both of the duo nearly made it as part of Duran Duran aping act Daggers, but now it’s just the two of them, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson have clearly decided that in their second attempt at bandom, they will do things their way. Their way is one of exactness and decadence, with lavish videos, sharp suits and videos that look more like fashion adverts than new band promos. Slicked hair and stilted poses meet with the mournful bits of the eighties, only smoother and with better lyrics. If you come across them by accident, as many will, then it’s impossible not to be swept along by their songs.
New single “Wonderful Life” is a completely enchanting and enthralling track, mostly because it really shouldn’t work. Telling the story of a man’s attempt at suicide on the Severn Bridge over a bombastic backdrop, straight out of the Ultravox back catalogue, should be a recipe for complete and total disaster. But it’s not. It’s graceful throughout, with a swirling instrumental section and an chorus the postman will have no trouble humming. Whether you’re hearing it for the first or fifteenth time you can’t help be spellbound by it, every nuance is arresting, challenging and invigorating. It’s brilliant.
Hurts will either have a long, sustained career of classy pop songs or burn out in glorious, decadent failure. Each one will be just as fascinating to watch.
Check out their new single here:
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