Tim: What would you say if I offered you one of the best tracks to come out a X Factor finalist in recent years?
Tom: I’d say it was probably “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. Why, what’ve you got?
Tim: I’ve got this.
Tim: This is a great debut, in that it says quite clearly “listen to what I can do”. It demonstrates a nice variety of singing styles – a deep, rich and almost soulful voice in the verses, slightly more lightweight and haunting in the middle eight, and a gentle, more ‘standard’, if that’s the right way to describe it, voice throughout the chorus.
Tom: It’s no small feat, being able to convincingly pull off those styles. You’re right: it shows off a heck of a range.
Tim: Not only that, but the backing instrumentation also changes in style quite significantly between the verse and chorus to match those voices, which goes well, as long as you don’t find it slightly jarring which a tiny part of me does.
Tom: Yep. I didn’t expect that to have quite as much… funk.
Tim: Mainly in the “listen to what I can do”, though, is that chorus. Because what a chorus it is – one I really could listen to over and over again. And, in fact, did, on the bus home from work the other night – who’d have thought looping a YouTube video would drain a phone battery?