Europop – Page 47

Rhys – Last Dance

“I’m damned if the instrumentation underneath it doesn’t it turn into something special.”

Tim: New artist off Sweden, not bothering with a surname as presumably that’s too much effort. Here’s the first track, co-written with half of ‘From Paris To Berlin’ hitmakers Infernal.

Tom: Given that Rhys is normally a male name, at least over here, I was surprised by that face and voice.

Tim: So weird thing about this: it sounds great…for most of it.

Tom: It really, really does. That pre-chorus actually made me say, out loud, “oh wow, that’s good”. I think that’s because the melody line there is riffing on something I already know, or perhaps many things I already know: that “if all we ever had” bit is definitely something I’ve heard before. (Any ideas?)

Tim: Oh, you bastard. I hadn’t heard it previously, but now you got me thinking – there’s a lot of Beneath Your Beautiful in that section. DAMN YOU.

Tom: Even if that’s not original, though, I’m damned if the instrumentation underneath it doesn’t it turn into something special.

Tim: Vocal is strong throughout the verses and pre-chorus, instrumentation’s good, particularly during the pre-chorus – but in the chorus it falls down slightly.

Tom: Really? We’ve got a good mixture between vocal hook and instrumental hook, and it sounds great to me. What’s wrong for you?

Tim: I don’t quite know what it is, but above that twisty twirly sound under the chorus, the vocal just doesn’t sound particularly strong, or as loud as it should do. It picks it up for the closing chorus fine, and it’s less noticeable in the second chorus, but at the first chorus it almost gets lost.

Maybe the building up is a designed thing, but it really doesn’t sound like the singing of someone who really is putting in all the effort for every god damn chance.

Tom: I have a feeling that the “god damn chance” bit will age badly. I don’t know how it’ll stand up to many repeat listens, but it’s stood two so far as I write this.

Tim: Other than that, though: great.

Tom: Tim, I almost never actively like new music that you send me.

Tim: Hmm – not entirely sure what that says about this site, but do continue.

Tom: It’s rare than I immediately hit replay, and even rarer that I immediately download the track.

I downloaded this track.

Dotter – Evolution

“It just carries itself, and me as a listener, forwards.”

Tim: Just me for today, and if you recall we first met Dotter about eighteen months ago and Tom and I were both mildly impressed; here, I found the intro fairly promising, and then when the beat dropped and the vocal hit I let out an audible “oh, yes.”

Tim: Now, as I write this, it’s half eleven at night and I’ve just got home from a long shift at work where I haven’t sat down once, and this is just such a lovely, lovely track to lie back to, relax, close my eyes and just enjoy. Coincidentally, this morning I was listening to one of my favourite soundtrack tunes ever, and I like this track for the same reason: it just carries itself, and me as a listener, forwards, almost floating along. I don’t have to focus on it, worry about anything – just relax to it. It might just be the mindset I’m in at the moment, but this is just lovely.

Jim – On & On

“I love the guitar melody in the chorus.”

Tim: Yes, just ‘Jim’ – we’ve previously featured his band Cars & Calories and been rather appreciative, and he’s his debut as, well, Jim.

Tim: And yesterday we had a great chorus, with the verses being good enough to hold the song together beyond those, and then more so; here, I’d say we’ve got a very similar thing.

Tom: I’m less sure on the verses on this, and even less on the somewhat-staccato lyric pacing that results in some bizarre emphases on phrases like “GPS”… but yes, that chorus is good.

Tim: It really comes into its own with that big drop, and I find that steady, unstoppable rhythm really brings some musical accompaniment to the “on & on” narrative of the lyrics. I also absolutely love the guitar melody in the chorus – that short falling riff linking the lines together, it’s a small thing but it just fits so well.

Tom: I was going to call that out too! You’re right, it’s such a simple counterpoint, but it works.

Tim: It’s wonderful.

Frans Walfridsson – Emergency Call

“I find myself wanting the rest to be that good.”

Tim: Yes, it’s a Swede called Frans but don’t worry, it isn’t him off that Eurovision dirge. Instead, he’s off Swedish Idol from a couple of years back, and here’s his debut.

Tom: Ah, it’s good to see the 90s design of bright neon colours and multiple fonts coming back. Wait, did I say good? I meant terrible. Anyway, the music.

Tim: Mmm, and I’d say that’s a decent enough first outing. Admittedly, there’s not much going on verse-wise, but the chorus drop was big enough to bring my attention back to it, and then hang around, which is certainly what a chorus ought to do.

Tom: It is a good chorus, isn’t it? Interesting distortion effects (or possibly just deliberate clipping) on the chorus vocals, which for once seem to fit the style rather than immediately making me turn off. I find myself wanting the rest to be that good, although at least the verse doesn’t drop down to nothing.

Tim: Style is good as well, and it’s showing a nice vocal range and talent – I’ll have this for now, with the hope of a proper belter up next.

Maia – Du’ Kærlighed For Mig

“Mopey Yet Trying To Be Anthemic”

Tim: Maia’s Danish, the song’s called “You Are My Love”, and it’s a pretty good one. Despite Maia having been mostly just a writer up until now, she says she “instinctively knew that it would be wrong to give it to another artist because the words came from the bottom of my heart and had its base in my own feelings”.

Tom: You’re recommending a lot of Mopey Yet Trying To Be Anthemic songs lately. You OK?

Tim: Mopey, you think? I don’t know, but I can see the Trying To Be Anthemic. Advance warning, though: tomorrow’s is of a similar genre. But for now, well, first off I wish I could find the lyrics for this, because while I’m almost certain that what she’s singing halfway through the chorus isn’t the obscenity it sounds like, I’d still like confirmation.

Tom: I’ll be honest, it took me a while to work out where the chorus was, but… yes, I’m fairly sure that’s just an unfortunate syllable, there.

Tim: And if I can get past that distraction, this is an absolutely delightful song. A backing line that’s just lovely, a fantastic vocal that gets all emotional at all the necessary points, and a beautiful close piling everything in together.

Tom: As with yesterday’s track, it takes its time to get there — but it does, at least, get there.

Tim: All in all, I might go so far as to call it beautiful – it really is.

Robin Stjernberg – Feed On My Love

‘It’s a mix of “eww” and “hurr”.’

Tim: Just ten days ago we were saying how we couldn’t remember much about Robin’s single releases – here’s a new one for you to try. Oh, and if you’re about to point out that ‘Feed On My Love’ sounds a bit dodgy…

Tom: I was.

Tim: …see if you can make it through the first verse.

Tom: It’s a mix of “eww” and “hurr”. I wonder if the translators did that deliberately?

Tim: Well it’d have been the lyricist, not a translator – but I really don’t know.

Tom: Good melody in the first verse, though: and even the quiet bits are melodic enough.

Tim: We’ve also a big chorus, there’s no denying that, and as for the rest of it? Well, there’s heft in that piano line, and the backing vocal, but it really is all about that chorus, and the contrast that silence beforehand brings.

Tom: And a heck of a voice too.

Tim: Indeed, and all in I rather think it works. I don’t think it’ll go down in history, but it’s definitely a track to be reckoned with, and it’s enough for me.

Saturday Flashback: Linda Bengtzing – Hur Svårt Kan Det Va?

“A favourite of mine for a long time.”

Tim: I went to see Magnus Carlsson performing a couple of weeks ago, but you weren’t able to; to be honest, you didn’t miss much.

Tom: I’d say “that’s a relief”, but I’ll be honest, it’s more of a “well, that’s okay then”.

Tim: He stuck mostly to his Alcazar stuff, which not only meant he didn’t play Glorious, but he didn’t even play Wrap Myself In Paper! DISGRACEFUL. However, the warm-up DJ did play this, one of the finest schlager songs of the past decade and one which I was astonished to discover we’d never covered.

Tom: Echoes of Mika’s Grace Kelly at the start there, but fortunately it goes down a… well, “original” isn’t the right word for a schlager track like this, but at least it goes down a different route.

Tim: It sailed through to the final Melodifestivalen final in 2008, as is correct, but lost out to, amongst others, the even better Hero by Charlotte Perrelli, so I’ve no problems there. Title translates to “How Hard Can That Be?”, song’s basically “I can be whatever you want, how hard can that be?” A curious message perhaps, with a mix of submission but also knowledge that he won’t want much anyway, but one I suppose works nonetheless. Particularly when you apply this sort of music to it – the big beats, the powerful voice, the key change accompanied by the screaming vocal.

Tom: It’s a bold choice to actually just do a shouted scream in the middle of your second verse, but somehow she pulls it off. And it’s a song that needs that key change — that’s not a bad thing, I’m just glad it was there.

Tim: This has been a favourite of mine for a long time, and I’m not sure it’ll ever stop being.

Elsa & Emilie – Chain of Promises

“It’s like my mind just slides off it.”

Tim: Here’s a nice one for you, a fair mish-mash that’s somewhat pleasant.

Tom: Sounds like my cooking.

Tim: I say ‘mish-mash’ – largely because I have trouble focusing on it. I’ve pressed play on it three times now, running through to the end, but each time I’ve become distracted, or found my mind wandering elsewhere, opening up a new tab or flicking over to Twitter.

Tom: It’s got a really promising introduction, but then it gets caught up in that “don’t even care” loop.

Tim: I remember enjoying it – instrumentation is nice, good vocal, and when I force myself to pay attention to it it really is good – but I can’t actually remember any specific parts of it after it’s finished.

Tom: Yes: it’s musically really nice. The instrumental after the chorus, the fast melody in the background, everything. But it’s like my mind just slides off it. The rhythm of that melody line just doesn’t change.

Tim: It’s really good, but I just…wish I didn’t have to force myself to pay attention to it.

Gaia – New Dawns

“The pop industry knows what’ll sell across all of Europe.”

Tim: On Italian X Factor, the day after the semi-final all the acts put out their would-be winners singles to get in the public’s mind ahead of the final (or at least I think they do – original tracks from them all appeared on YouTube on that day, and got sung at the final); this is Gaia’s, who came runner-up last month.

Tom: And it’s in flawless English: no hint of an accent there either. The pop industry knows what’ll sell across all of Europe.

Tim: A calm and gentle sound running through the first verse, soon giving way to the chorus in a lovely Wrecking Ball-esque fashion, abandoning all pretence of being a melty wishy washy song.

Tom: Well, it’s less of a wrecking ball and more of a… I don’t know how to finish that metaphor, I can’t think of what a half-assed wrecking ball would be.

Tim: Swingball, perhaps? But that really doesn’t do it justice, as it’s a big track, with a powerful message. This isn’t a woman who’s going to lie back and take it, she’ll be up to get back going, and chase those titular new dawns.

Tom: Heh. Titular.

Tim: Yes, very good. But since she’ll be chasing them with a lovely synth and drum backing, and a fantastic voice, she’s very much got my blessing.

Tom: It’s nice, I guess, but it’s nothing special. As with yesterday: there’s nothing wrong with any of the parts, it just doesn’t add up to a coherent whole for me.

Saturday Flashback: Robin Stjernberg – One Down Two To Go

“This is a proper Big Shoutalong Track.”

Tim: This came up on a recommended tracks playlist, and I thought it was great, looked it up, and was surprised to discover it was left as an album track.

Tom: For the second time this week, I said “bloody hell!” after the introduction. That’s a strong start.

Tim: It is, and what makes the album track status particularly surprising is that a lot of the ones that were officially released were damp in comparison and performed abysmally; this one, though, is brilliant.

Tom: It’s weird, isn’t it? My memory of his singles was… well, I’ll be honest, I don’t have any memory of his singles. But this is a proper Big Shoutalong Track.

Tim: The shouted intro, that repeated 1-2-3-off beat in the verses, the a cappella lead in to the chorus (and if you’re wondering where you’ve heard that muffled effect before, it’s in the six-months-later Melodifestivalen entry by State of Drama). We also have a good chorus, with that yeahhh-eahh staying strong throughout, and a good rhythm to hold it up.

Tom: Strange lyrics, though: I’m not sure that “knocked up father on the ground” got translated correctly.

Tim: Yeah, I looked up the lyrics, and to be honest they’re basically a load of nothing. But you know what? I don’t even care that the title is never explained. What are we beating down? Not a clue. But the music and general theme is good enough that I just don’t care. Opportunity missed, record label.