Category: Europop

Danish Week: Le Freak – 25 Hours A Day

The lead singer looks suitably insane.

Tim: Now, with less than two weeks to go, we’ve almost filled up our Saturday Reject slots, but somehow we’ve completely forgotten about any Danish entries. This is a great shame, because this year’s Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was an absolute triumph. Let’s make up for that with a week of the stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQihhZZ73XU

Tim: These guys are pretty much the closest DMGP —

Tom: (That’s “Dansk Melodi Grand Prix”, fact fans.)

Tim: — got to Le Kid, and it really is a good track, isn’t it?

Tom: I’m geeky enough that the “25 hours a day” thing annoys me, just as it would if someone said they were “giving 110%”. The bridge and key change redeemed it, though.

Tim: Good, because yes, it’s annoying, but it’s also as poppy as they come, the lead singer looks suitably insane (with suitably short legwear) and the lighting is just all over the place, which suits the tone of the song no end.

Tom: That’s a proper seventies-hippie getup she’s wearing, and while I do appreciate the short legwear I can’t help but note they’re pulled up so high they look a bit like some kind of schlager-based surgical truss.

Tim: My only slight disappointment comes at the closing part, when they could (and basically should) have got a bit more use out of the oohh-ohh singer that comes in for a couple of notes and then sort of fades away again.

Tom: It does go on a bit too much – but then, it looks like it came out the 70s. That fits it well.

Saturday Reject: Linda Pritchard – Alive

The message is simple: listen to Linda.

Tim: Here’s a song that could be straight out of the Avatar soundtrack, but is actually straight out of Melodifestivalen’s Second Chance round.

Tom: Is it sung in Na’vi? No? Damn.

Tim: No staging, no other people, the message is simple: listen to Linda. Listen to her deliver these inspiring vocals superbly, and watch as we bathe her in heavenly light. First see her as an angel with this halo we’ve started her off with, who has descended to Earth to fill humanity with beautiful music and happy thoughts. Now hear the emotion in her voice as she describes how the pain of a near break-up can turn to something that brings a couple closer than ever. And then see the sparks raining down and the stage fill with light, brought on solely by her perfectly executed key change. Finally, hear her thanks and divine giggle at the end, and take that as a signal to take down the number and vote for her later.

Tom: I couldn’t interrupt a beautiful paragraph like that. In summary: I thought it took a long while to get going, but you’re right – the ending was worth it.

Sanna Nielsen – I’m in Love (SoundFactory Mix)

So remixed that it’s almost a different song,

Tim: The original version of this would belong on the Saturday Rejects pile; this remix is so remixed that it’s almost a different song, though, so it’s going here. Problem with that? Tough.

Tom: This is one extremely danceable chorus. Not so sure about the verses, but it’s got enough of a beat to keep the floor moving, I reckon.

Tim: All the good bits of the original are still there – the chorus melody, the apparent desperation in her vocals to get her message across and the fairly strong dance beat – but added on top is a load of great swooshy stuff and a completely different feel to the verses, which I love.

Tom: That said, the chorus does sound like it’s had a lot of stuff added on top rather than mixed in – the volume crashes upwards, the new things are almost drowning out the old. That said: still excellent.

Tim: It’s gone from being a good dance track to a great dance track. Top marks.

Sarah – Min Øjesten

Who’s for an X Factor winner’s single?

Tim: Who’s for an X Factor winner’s single? From Denmark, that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmDanrKkC2g

Tom: Now, that’s someone you wouldn’t expect to win a UK X Factor. 15 years old and lesbian? I think I’m right in saying all the British winners are significantly more middle-of-the-road. And it’s not often I really appreciate a Beatles cover, let alone one off a reality show, but she can belt out ‘Come Together’ incredibly well.

Tim: The lyrics are of the ‘how can you be with her, have you forgotten me already?’ variety, but fortunately the music’s nowhere near as bland. It been composed by a rather good Danish bloke who calls himself Xander (and whose music we’ll hopefully get around to discussing on here at some point), and it’s pretty much on the other side of the world from the usual British X Factor fare.

Tom: And it’s so much the better for it.

Tim: Interesting, original – basically it’s not trying to be like everything else out there, and it is, as you say, much the better for it. This is an X Factor winner I would be very happy with.

Tom: Damn right.

Roxette – Speak To Me (Bassflow Edit)

My word, does it have a chorus and a half.

Tim: The original of the song is on the album; the single version is this, which is quite a bit more energetic. And my word, does it have a chorus and a half.

Tom: If this is the energetic version, then I’d hate to hear the — wait, the chorus just kicked in. Bloody hell.

Tim: Isn’t it good? You hear it, and it’s just, YEAH. It’s a closing chorus, really, all the way through, and it’s great. Annoyingly, the verses don’t get anywhere near it in terms of quality – they’re just a bit dull and fillery.

Tom: Damn right.

Tim: The weird thing is that when you put those together, you sort of get the impression of three final choruses, each being preceded by a somewhat lacklustre bridge, which is interesting – as though the song’s on repeat but the first half is missing. I don’t mind so much, though – the chorus is really what the song’s about, and it’s a belter.

Tom: I want to use that chorus in the finale of a movie. And I don’t even make movies.

Ola – Riot

I don’t understand why I quite like this.

Tim: Help me, Tom.

Tom: Oh dear. Have you got a girl in trouble?

Tim: Not any time recently, no. But I have an issue, related to this.

Tim: You see, if will.i.am or some such act came out with this song, and for some reason we reviewed it, my half of the page would probably consist of no small torrent of abuse directed at the artist, most likely containing language that would be unsuitable for younger readers. So why do I quite like this?

Tom: You fancy Ola? Just a hunch.

Tim: Oh, please, with that hair?* Here, I don’t mind the appalling auto-tune, the club-referencing, the mindless lyrics or the general shoutiness. The vaguely decent tune that’s behind seems to be enough for me, when it really wouldn’t normally be. Is it just that he’s Swedish? And if it is, does that make me racist in a strange and incredibly specific way? I just don’t know.

* I’m really not shallow.

Tom: It just seems such a dull song for its subject matter. “I want a riot / in this club”? Really? Because it takes a bit more energy and passion than that – particularly the lackadaisical final… poem or whatever it is – if you want to start a riot.

Andreas Wijk – Like My Style

Swedish fashion blogger and model, trying his hand at the music business.

Tim: Swedish fashion blogger and model, trying his hand at the music business.

Tom: Oh, well that’s not going to end badly at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRRWjowkcC4

Tom: Right, I’ll try and get over the appalling audio compression on this and give it a fair review. But when I say “I don’t like the sound of this”, I’m not just referring to the low bitrate.

Tim: Well, I was the same, for the first 40 seconds or so anyway – the verse seemed generic, the backing beat was fairly dull, and by and large it just didn’t seem very good. But the chorus: well, that’s nice. I think it’s the echo on his voice that does it, but it’s a chorus that a properly good boyband could put out and we’d all be loving it.

Tom: It’s not bad, actually, and by the end of the track I can see it being played on a dancefloor. It’s major-key life-affirming pap, and that’s not a bad thing.

Tim: Indeed. The verse that follows that chorus is just as dull as the first one, but then the chorus comes around again and it’s all forgotten. It’s very similar, with the sort of gentle trance backing, to the verses in I Can, and that may be partly why I like this. The bridge, on the other hand, reminds me more of Hold It Against Me – somewhat manky first bit, glorious second bit.

Tom: What is it with record producers and dubstep? It wasn’t a good idea in the first place, don’t try and copy it. Just have the second bit of the bridge, that’s not bad at all.

Tim: I don’t know – I’ve actually grown used to it recently, mainly thanks to Britney Spears’s album, and I don’t mind it too much here. In the end of this song, though, we come back for a lovely finish, with woah-ohs brought to you live and direct from Uptown Girl, and everything seems alright.

Dana International – Ding Dong

This is Dana bloody International.

Tom: I know we said we weren’t going to review actual Eurovision songs before the event, Tim, but I’d like to plead a special exception here. Because this is Dana bloody International, legendary 1998 Israeli Eurovision entrant.

Not only is she back – if you can count being a judge on the Israeli version of Pop Idol as ‘going away’ – but the single’s being released over here in the UK. And she wrote it herself. And it’s pretty damn good.

Tim: It really is pretty damn good, isn’t it?

Tom: A bit of acoustic instrumentation in there, some serious orchestra hits, and a glorious textbook Eurovision key change. What more do you want?

Tim: Not much really. It’s not quite up to Diva standards, but that key change did make my hands go right up in the air.

Vendela – Punk Rock Song

A ‘LOOK AT ME I’M OVER HERE’ track.

Tim: Speaking of loud brash pop music, as we were yesterday —

Tom: Ooh! A bit of punk!

Tim: — here’s an entirely misnomered track.

Tom: Oh.

Tom: This is like will.i.am releasing a track that’s called “I Am Singing Live”. And what kind of a metaphor is “I love you like a punk rock song”? With lots of energy and shouting, but you’re done in about two minutes?

Tim: It’s not perfect, I suppose, but it is a song that knows exactly what it is: it’s an introduction to the artist, it’s a ‘yes, I had a song last year that kind of flopped, but LOOK AT ME I’M OVER HERE’ track that will get attention, get people talking and get her lots of attention. More importantly, though: it’s a track that’s bloody brilliant.

Tom: If I can get over my lack-of-punk disappointment, then yes – it’s not bad – but the lyrics do keep getting in the way. “It’s 1977”? “I’m full of sexual expression”? They sound like they’ve been run through Google Translate a few times.

Tim: She’s got a similar history to that of Eric Saade and that Hilda what we wrote about at the end of last year (whose new single Come The Weekend is due to appear imminently): straight out of the Disney Channel Sweden, she’s fairly young (though apparently that isn’t stopping her being full of sexual expression, or knowing who Patti Smith is) and will probably either be dropped immediately or, more likely given the attention this has got, be around for quite some time. Get used to her.

Tom: I’ll do my best.

Sheelah – The Last Time

We’re about to break up, so let’s have bloody fantastic farewell sex.

Tim: The essence of this song is ‘we’re about to break up, so let’s have bloody fantastic farewell sex.’ Classy, no?

Tom: I’m all in favour of pop songs that aren’t about traditional syrupy monogamy.

Tim: Released back in January but with a video only released a few weeks back, this is very standard middle of the road pop music, and it’s a bloody excellent example of it, as evidenced by the fact that the chorus lead-in in the same as that of My Life Would Suck Without You.

Tom: It is a bit similar, isn’t it? And it is middle-of-the road – but it is a very good road to be in the middle of.

Tim: Well, quite. It is loud, it is brash, it is excitable. Any negative points? Not really. It could be sung perfectly well by one person (say, Kelly Clarkson) and no-one would be able to tell the difference, but I don’t really have any problem with that. A key change might have worked nicely, but the song doesn’t seem to be missing anything. I’m happy with it as it is.

Tom: You know, it took me two listens to realise that there wasn’t a key change. My brain just assumed there was, automatically. Even now I’m not quite sure.

Tim: Is it just me, though, or at 2:10 does it look like she’s singing ‘be-before we say goodbye’

Tom: It’s just you.

Tim: Oh.