Tim: So, enough Christmas for you?
Tom: You know, I’m not sure. I’m almost disappointed. I actually got a bit Christmassy there.
Tim: Well, we still have our weekly trips to Christmas Past, but let’s move on for now. Here we have a song that has been played a lot on the radio; that’s been mentioned a lot on the whole internet thing; and that I only heard properly for the first time yesterday, so let’s do it now.
Tim: Here’s a thing: the verses are kind of, yeah, why not, it’s okay, The chorus, though, is progressive in a completely different way – same genre, but just so much more. Not just “the verse but more”, but actually a real improvement and one worth noting. And then it stops, and slightly starts all over again. Verse is low key (relatively; yes there are the good steel drums but they’re somewhat lonely), pre-chorus builds up and the chorus is lovely.
Tom: I really rather liked those steel drums. You don’t hear them much in pop, and while it brings the energy level back down it’s still a much fuller sound than you’d get from most instruments.
Tim: For the middle eight, we’re also starting again, low key and building back up to that great chorus to close us off. It’s a way of working through the song that works very well indeed. And then there’s also the video, which is, Minnie Mouse ears aside, unremarkable enough except for the few frames with the person spraying stuff on the wall. It’s not entirely clear, but it’s almost certainly “as long is the music is loud enough we won’t hear the world falling apart”, and let’s be honest that (a) very true, (b) entirely an irresponsible message to send out and (c) still very true. Let’s just listen to music. Sod politics, sod democracy, sod Russell twatting Brand. Let’s just listen to music.