Tim: Their Melodifestivalen entry may not have been as successful as they’d hoped, but they do at least have a slightly higher profile – they’ve got a Vevo channel now and everything. Anyway, here’s their new one.
Tim: And that is, well, perfectly listenable and danceable really.
Tom: I don’t think it’s either of those!
Tim: Oh. It’s not massive praise there in any case, I’ll grant you, but at the risk of going “argh, all sounds the same” old person, you need to be either be special or very lucky to stand out, and this song doesn’t quite have that.
Tom: Careful, that “all sounds the same” is basically my shtick. But look, that chorus is so overcompressed that it’s difficult to listen to. And it’s syncopated in such a strange way that, yes, there’s giant four on the floor percussion in there, but I’m not sure I could tell you with any confidence when any of it lands.
Tim: Oh, shame. There’s one part I actually really do like a lot, which is the close of the middle eight. I’m not quite sure why, especially since young people singing about wanting to be young again doesn’t quite make sense, but the steady vocal accompanied by just a single drum beat pattern giving swift way into full dance mode does strike me as particularly effective.
Tom: It’s just a shame those lyrics are so anodyne. As someone who generally likes terrible, cheesy Europop, I shouldn’t mind this at all: but for some reason it just completely grates me the wrong way. Probably the early reference to a teddy bear.
Tim: All in, let’s say about 68%, then.
Tom: That is a massively generous grade.