Tom: Yep, it’s the band that did the wonderful “China In Your Hand“, and a couple of other minor hits besides, in the late ’80s. And after a long time disbanded, they’ve surprisingly reunited, gone on tour, and recorded a new album.
Tim: Hmm. I’ve never sure, with a heritage like that, whether I want to hear an updated sound or not. Let’s find out.
Tom: And it’s rather lovely, isn’t it? I’ve fallen in love with good string sections lately, and this definitely has one.
Tim: Ooh, that’s very lovely. I was entirely ambivalent about it until the chorus hit, but it’s a very very good chorus. And, yes, a good string section.
Tom: I’m really not sure about how quiet it gets at the start of that second verse, but I reckon the guitar into piano-solo middle eight makes up for it.
Tim: Well, this is something we see many, many times – a quiet verse redeemed by an excellent chorus, then brought crashing back down again. Like you say, though, it’s made up for by the guitar and, again, the chorus.
Tom: But here’s the bit I like most about it: look at that waveform on the SoundCloud player. More than anything, that’s a retro sound coming back: it’s not crushed to oblivion, it’s not a brick wall of compressed sound. There’s space for all the instruments to be heard. I’m not a purist about that, at all; modern EDM shouldn’t have all that much headroom. But for a track like this? Yes, please.
Tim: It does work well – can’t disagree with that at all.
Tom: I doubt it’ll trouble the charts; it’ll probably get plonked somewhere on the Radio 2 playlist and get put in their setlist for the reunion tour. But this is a better comeback single than most bands manage, and they should be congratulated for it.
Tim: Then: congratulations, T’Pau!