Tag: Alessia Cara

Bastille, Alessia Cara – Another Place

“Brilliant chorus. Shame about the rest of it, really.”

Tom: Bastille and Marshmallo’s Happier is still getting regular airplay, more than a year after release. So it makes sense to do it all over again with someone else.

Tim: Sure, why not.

Tom: Brilliant chorus. Shame about the rest of it, really.

Tim: Yeah – it’s telling that every time I think “oh, this is actually pretty, I’ll ignore what Tom’s just said”, it turns out that it’s just because the chorus has started up.

Tom: I think the difference this time is that, while Alessia Cara has a great voice, that’s all she can bring: she doesn’t have an entire sound and style that can be mashed in with the recognisable vocals. Happier worked before it was, unexpectedly, a good mashup of two sounds, but this: sadly, it’s not enough of an Anthem, and it’s not enough of a Ballad.

Tim: Can’t disagree with any of that, really. Shame.

Alessia Cara – How Far I’ll Go

“It’s catchy. Of course it’s catchy.”

Tom: New Disney movie. Therefore, new big Disney “I Want” song; this time sung by Auliʻi Cravalho. Therefore, new cover of that song by an artist signed to a Disney-owned record label. I wouldn’t normally send you this, Tim, but…

Tom: …oh, that key change. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a key change that good.

Tim: Yes, that is interesting – particularly in the way that it kind of appears from nowhere – there’s no real middle eight to speak of, just one chorus that’s normal and one that’s suddenly “oop, there we go”.

Tom: The song’s written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which explains some of the clever wordplay; he’s got a reputation for that sort of thing. And, heck, I figured it has a few (sort-of-justified) tropical sounds in there. I don’t reckon it qualifies for your Tropical Fridays, but I think it’s still worth a listen.

Tim: Given the the fact that it’s all set on a tropical island, I’d say very definitely justified. And also very definitely worth a listen.

Tom: It’s catchy. Of course it’s catchy. I’m just glad that modern Disney wasn’t just a one-hit wonder with Frozen.