Tim: We should probably mention the fact that it’s Eurovision week – obviously the contest itself has been cancelled, but there’s still the odd thing happening here and there. As ever, we had a listen through the tracks, and although we concluded that overall it not taking place is probably no major loss, there were a few good ones.
Tom: Yep. It’s harsh, but this was going to be the Eurovision of Dull Mediocre Ballads. Still, there were a few highlights.
Tim: We’ve already featured Britain’s, and this from Croatia ended up also being one of my favourites.
Tim: It’s a ballad, and it’s a big ballad. He’s singing about Wild Winds, and how the weather has turned to shit now the target of the song has left him, rain as cold as ice, leaves blowing off the trees and autumn colours all over the place; to be honest I quite like autumn colours, but I guess it takes all sorts.
Tom: I think it says a lot that this was one of our highlights of this year’s entries: this would have been middle-of-the-pack most years, I reckon. It’s certainly a more retro Eurovision song: big key change, big drumbeat at the end.
Tim: Beyond my first sentence, I have two main observations: first, I find myself staggered that, given the lyrics, they didn’t stick a wind machine in front of the backing singers, and secondly, that’s a great key change. Not just because of how it’s performed, or for everything that goes with it, but because right up until he lifts the vocal note, there’s every sign that it’s coming to the end of the song.
Tom: The ol’ fake ending. It can work: and it’ll certainly give a big back-from-the-brink moment to use in the voting recap.
Tim: If you’re not paying much attention to it – you don’t like ballads, you’ve just come back from the toilet – you may well be expecting the song to end, but suddenly HOLY MOLY no it very much does not end. And I think that’s marvellous.