Category: Europop

SHY Martin feat. Boy In Space – Still The Same

“They’re switching places, with an appropriately different sound.”

Tim: Previously, him featuring her, which we both gave a fair old thumbs up to. Now they’re switching places, with an appropriately different sound.

Tom: That was a really interesting video from a produciton perspective, and — while it’s not relevant to the music — I want to talk about it for a moment. The aesthetic is very 90s, because it looks like a cheap disposable camera. 4:3, wide but limited focus, a harsh flash next to the camera and a very short shutter speed. Except there are thousands of shots in there, all taken very quickly, which would’ve been very difficult with actual film: so this is clearly a modern digital camera, presumably with the light constantly on.

It’s a very very interesting style to go for: the past, but not quite.

Anyway, the music! It’s nice enough, isn’t it?

Tim: So, this is tricky, because I like both of these folks as artists, and I liked their last collaboration, and there’s a lot in here that I do like – the melody, the voices, and the sound when it gets going is absolutely lovely.

Tom: Yes. I sense an “except” approaching at speed, though.

Tim: Except, well, there isn’t much time when it really is going. The first chorus has something to it, the second verse a little bit, second chorus a bit more, but it’s not until the closing chorus until it becomes really good and enjoyable – and that happens less than forty seconds from the end. Dammit, I really want to like this, and I do! Just…not very much of it.

Frida Sundemo – Anything

“There is definitely something to be said for soaring strings.”

Tim: First new music from Frida since her divine 2017 album Flashbacks & Futures and here’s an early prediction: I’ll really like it, you’ll get why but not enjoy it as much.

Tim: About right?

Tom: About right, although I reckon this is a cut above the usual dreampop you send over. I’m not saying I’m about to add it to a load of playlists, but there are some genuinely lovely bits in here.

Tim: Sonically, and especially instrumentally, she’s very similar to The Sound of Arrows, just female and solo, and, well, that’s entirely what I’m looking for in music to listen to. There are definite ups and downs, mind, with the occasional moment in the verse bringing along a “hurry up, get to the good bit”, but then OH, it soon does.

Tom: There is definitely something to be said for soaring strings. This feels almost more like a soundtrack piece than a pop song, but then — for me at least — that’s true of a lot of this genre.

Tim: That instrumental section kicks in at 2:45? I could sit back and listen to that for, I don’t know, probably a good quarter hour or so. Just lovely.

Dotter – Bulletproof

” I can’t believe I’ve never seen what is basically ‘human disco ball’ as a trick before.”

Tim: And finally in our trek through the Melodifestivalen final, the song that was runaway favourite heading into to the final, but ended up coming second by just one single point, which has got to be a killer.

Tim: Heck of a song, though.

Tom: Heck of a dress. Actually, the whole staging is brilliant: I can’t believe I’ve never seen what is basically “human disco ball” as a trick before. Even that single beam of light projected into her palm could have been cheesy — so I have absolutely no idea how the production team pulled off the full epilepsy-inducing trick without it seeming completely ridiculous.

Tim: It does look good, doesn’t it? Of course, it’s interesting in this situation to figure what it was that could cause just a few thousand people to vote another way, or if changed could have brought her victory. Is it that bits of the verse are a tad reminiscent of Imagine Dragons’s Thunder? Is it that they saw her start by lying down and thought “yeah, Victor’s already done that, let’s have something new”? Is it even just that not so many people had the phones lit up at 1:25 as they did in, say, a comparable yet almost breathtaking shot from the song just a few previously?

Tom: Or a slightly off note somewhere, or lighting that reflected in a way that seemed distracting rather than cool. Or maybe the audience just got bored of the trick itself. There’s not much wrong with the actual song — I don’t think it’d have won, but there’s not much wrong with it.

Tim: No – these are all tiny, tiny things, that would never normally be criticisms, but might just have made the difference. Who knows. Whatever happened, though, she more than acquitted herself, and hopefully she’ll come back next year.

Mendez feat. Alvaro Estrella – Vamos amigos

“That middle eight is… certainly a brave choice.”

Tim: The party track, the one that everyone loves (or at least enjoys parts of) and listens to at home, and stands no chance at all of going to Rotterdam.

Tom: It’s partly in Spanish, and there’s a got the “come on!” party shoutout at the start and everything. Yep. Ticks all the boxes, doesn’t it?

Tim: Juries ranked it last, alongside Victor.

Tom: I am not surprised, that middle eight is… certainly a brave choice. It’s like you’ve crossed Daddy Yankee and Guy Fieri.

Tim: Perhaps, but even so, the viewers still liked it, because, yeah, it’s the party track, and even with the awful rapping section without even much music underneath to save it, it’s still fun and listenable and not so bad to get behind. The juries, apparently and sensibly, knew better, but it’s still fun to watch on a Saturday evening, surrounded by more sensible stuff. I wouldn’t have a final without it.

Robin Bengtsson – Take A Chance

“You’re a music competition, not the new series of Westworld.”

Tim: We’re three performances in, and yet I’ve only just noticed that this year Melodifestivalen was (almost entirely) shot in 2.35:1.

Tom: Oh, that’s been annoying me all week. Keeps happening — I think Doctor Who’s in 2:1 this season, apparently — and there’s absolutely no need for it.

Tim: Absolutely not, and it annoys me whenever it’s on TV – unlike in a cinema, where the picture gets wider, you’re not getting any extra size benefit. Instead, you’re just losing stuff. I’m fairly sure, here, it was Robin’s slightly annoying suaveness that made me realise it.

Tim: See, again with that cinematic look – I said almost entirely because on occasions, like parts of another song, they were forced to go back to 16:9 so they could fit in the background. Here, we’ve close up shots like the one at the end, and you’re forced to chop his hair off for no good reason. Sure, in some dramas, the directors want to look all cinematic, and fine, that’s their choice. But come off it: you’re a music competition, not the new series of Westworld.

Song’s alright, though.

Tom: He’s got an interesting voice, but I’m not convinced that’s a good thing: my reaction on those first few notes was “oh”, and it took me a while to appreciate it. I’m not sure whether that falsetto at the end is a good idea.

Tim: I don’t know – Europe wasn’t too unhappy with his voice three years ago, getting him fifth place in Kiev, and I think it pretty much works here.

Tom: Well, there’s my bad memory for songs again. Mind you, speaking of memories, it’s certainly a bold choice for a Swedish song to use the words “take a chance on me”.

Tim: Ha, do you know I’d not thought of that, but you’re not wrong. In any case, it ended up mid-table with voters, juries, and combined, and that seems about right.

Victor Crone – Troubled Waters

“Up on stage asking his native Sweden if they’d let him have a go for them. They said no.”

Tim: Ten months after representing Estonia at Eurovision and not doing too badly, he was up on stage asking his native Sweden if they’d let him have a go for them. They said no.

Tim: I say they said no, that’s not entirely fair – the voters didn’t dislike this too much, apparently not holding much of a grudge; the juries ranked it right at the bottom, though, which is disappointing, not least because we haven’t had staging that confusing at Eurovision since Sergey Lazarev four years ago.

Tom: It took me a good few seconds to realise he was lying down at the start. Still, at least he seems to be having a good time on stage, if nothing else, that enthusiasm is genuinely impressive.

Tim: Mind you, it is largely about the song, and…well, as I say so often, I don’t get why this was ranked so low – I know it got to the final which is credit enough, but dammit jurors, let’s in future get them giving reasons for their scores as well can we?

I’ll grant you, it wasn’t the top song of the night, but both he and the song (that note out of the middle eight!) have got a huge amount going for them. DAMN YOU ALL.

Tom: You’re right, that note is impressive — but the overall piece sounded a bit like Avicii’s style ten years ago, and even at three minutes it felt a bit long to me. It’s good! There’s nothing wrong with it! It probably belonged in the final! But I can see why the music industry types would think it’s a bit passé.

Tim: Actually, lastly, back to that staging, and watching Sergey, it’s got me wondering: how long do we think it’ll be before Eurovision gets motion capture on stage?

Anna Bergendahl – Kingdom Come

Tim: Sweden chose its Eurovision entry last Saturday; as tradition dictates, let’s spend the week seeing what they could have had instead, starting with this TRIUMPH (although sadly not an actual triumph).

Tom: It’s time for the Week of Rejects!

Tim: WHAT A SONG, and to be honest I’m almost surprised it came as high as it did, because it’s the sort of song that I love, Swedish folk are okay with and juries slate (pretty much like her song last year, in fact).

Tom: It’s solid, isn’t it? It feels almost like a Eurovision song from a few years back.

Tim: But nope, in the end it came fourth with both and third overall, maths is great isn’t it?

Tom: That makes sense, if there were songs above it that divided public and juries a lot more. Melodifestivalen selections have to at least satisfy both.

Tim: And that, I think, is pretty much exactly where it should have come – the lyrics are powerful, the music is BANGING but it is alas probably not a Eurovision song right now, and we really really don’t want a repeat of ten years ago when she became the only Swede in history not to qualify.

Tom: You’re right: these days something like this stands a fair chance of dropping out in the semis.

Tim: As for the staging, it was kept to a minimum all round this year – I think there was some reason given, but was almost certainly nonsense – but Anna made good use of what was available, with flashing lights and magically appearing dancers, and who’d say no to that?

Cecilia Kallin – Heaven

“And isn’t that just entirely fine?”

Tim: We’ve not featured Cecilia before, or at least not as a solo artist – she’s formerly of Timoteij, whose output we’ve enjoyed on multiple occasions.

Tom: And whose shampoo we miss. (Sorry.)

Tim: It would appear they broke up a while back, though, because here’s this.

Tim: And isn’t that just entirely fine?

Tom: Yeah, “fine” about sums it up. Which is damning with faint praise, really: I think I was expecting something DJ Sammy, and instead I got the title theme to an early-2000s romantic comedy.

Tim: Yeah, maybe I should have warned you, sorry.

Tom: It’s nice! There’s nothing wrong with it! I doubt it’ll be a chart smash.

Tim: It’s chirpy and happy, and all about what you might be feeling if you’ve got a new person you’re wanting to get off with, or maybe something a bit more romantic if they’re really special.

Tom: I mean, that’s specific, but–

Tim: Maybe they’re a new colleague, or a regular commuter; a barista, or the person who’s just moved in next door. Whatever the exact relationship, you just can’t seem to stop thinking about them. You’ve trouble focussing at work, you’re becoming absent-minded elsewhere, you’re spilling your drink every time you see them. All you want, all you’re thinking about, all day and every day, is speaking to them, asking them out, taking them back to your place, sitting them down, standing in front of them, and singing a weirdly damp song you’ve written about them. And then it’ll all be perfect. Right?

Tom: …are you okay, Tim?

Tim: Me? Yeah, of course. Totally okay. Entirely.

KEiiNO feat. Charlotte Qamaniq – Black Leather

“Yeah, I guess we do have to put the folk stuff in, don’t we, it’s kind of our thing.”

Tim: ‘A pop tribute to the Berlin club scene’, this is, so, erm, yeah.

Tim: So that’s, for me, the second track in just four weeks that’s (a) brilliant and (b) coming with a dollop of “yeah, I guess we do have to put the folk stuff in, don’t we, it’s kind of our thing”.

Tom: You’re not wrong. Has the gimmick reached its limit? Because this has a really great chorus melody, and then… then there’s some traditional singing too. I think this might well be better without it. (It’d also be better with a rewrite of that awful “looking like a snack / no way back” lyric couplet, but never mind.)

Tim: This is, according to the notes beneath the video, “the first pop-banger that includes traditional singing from two indigenous cultures; Sami Joik and Inuk throat singing”, the latter of which is what Charlotte provides.

Tom: I actually thought the throat-singing worked well: because it’s so unlike anything I’ve heard before, my brain treated it as almost like a new synth or other vocal sample. The joik, on the other hand, just sounded out of place.

Tim: It is odd: both this and Colours are two great tracks that have just had the folk element shoehorned in, and a tiny (teeny teeny tiny) part of me wonders if the two of them that aren’t Fred (the Sámi rapper) might be happy enough without it. On the other hand, KEiiNO without that would be like Scooter without HP Baxxter: a bit more mainstream, perhaps, but really just not the same at all.

Die Amigos – Cindy

“They’ve got a green-screen and they’re not afraid to use it.”

Tim: There is a moment not far into this lyric video which made me let out one single yelp of laughter. Press play and don’t read ahead until you’ve got to it, spoilers and all that.

Tom: They’ve got a green-screen and they’re not afraid to use it. They should be, but they’re not.

Tim: Now, we’ve said before how fun it is that Germany provides a market for ageing men to keep putting out bangers well into their dotage, but seeing this (with knowing nothing about them beforehand) does make me wonder if we should, at some point, just take their hands and say “okay, hun, okay. You’re done now.”

Tom: Perhaps, but then we’d miss out on moments like this.

Tim: Because, oh that’s not a good look – two old guys (69 & 71, since you’re probably wondering) singing slightly creepily over an Alice Deejay-esque dance beat, one of them strumming an acoustic guitar (why exactly?) and the other vaguely moving his arms in time to the music.

Tom: I can tell you why: because they’ve been going for fifty years. They were quite different back then, and with those trumpets you can hear why they went with “Amigos”. The album title translates as “50 Years: Our Hits From Back Then”, and it’s a remix album. The original (which is as recent as 2010) sounds much more like you’d expect, complete with default mock-pass synth pads and what sounds a lot like a default Casio beat behind it.

Tim: Part of me’s impressed, mind, as it seems actual Germany is all for it: for the past decade they’ve had one new album out every year, and every year it’s gone to number one.

Tom: That’s because purchasing an album, in this decade, is something done either for or by older folks. This is, to be fair, quite impressive.

Tim: True, I guess, but another part of me still just thinks: oh, no.