Tag: Demi Lovato

Sam Smith, Demi Lovato – I’m Ready

“Why does it feel like it’s odd?”

Tom: Well, I guess we should talk about this. Two artists with very different styles. Well, very different styles for modern pop music, at least.

Tom: I was originally going to say “that’s strange”, but then I realised I couldn’t back the statement up. While my gut reaction was that it seemed like it had a weird song structure, or weird duet structure, it just doesn’t. Sam’s verse and chorus; Demi’s verse and chorus with a bit from Sam; middle eight; big joint abbreviated final verse-and-chorus with a gospel choir. It’s a by-the-numbers traditional pop duet structure. So why does it feel like it’s odd?

Tim: Best guess: the genre shift. Sam’s is standard nice pop, largely unobjectionable, but when Demi comes along for her verse the backing changes significantly: it becomes a lot harsher, and even the underlying beat almost drops into two-step, giving an impression of a middle eight coming significantly earlier than in should do. The chorus comes along sounding nice, then we get an actual middle eight that’s itself chopped in two – part of it lovely and part of it harsh, and then we go into a full melodic and lovely closing chorus.

Tom: At least they actually shot the music video together, though.

Luis Fonsi, Demi Lovato – Échame La Culpa

“This has a billion views on YouTube and you’ve probably never heard of it.”

Tom: This has a billion views on YouTube and you’ve probably never heard of it.

Tom: I’ve been travelling through southern Florida the last week or so, spending a lot of time listening to Spanish-language pop stations. Tim, there is an entire, massive pop music market that no one in Britain has heard of, and it’s got some really good songs going. This hit number one in nearly every Spanish-speaking country (and Lebanon, oddly) — and it didn’t even break the UK Top 40 when it was released back in November.

Tim: Hardly surprising – Despacito may have gone and got massive, but only after Justin got on board, and it became May when people were up for summer party tunes.

Tom: Yes, yes, but: it was massive in all the Spanish-speaking countries before that. And there are a LOT of them. Anyway: I’m not treating this one as a Flashback because the inevitable more-English remix has just been released.

Tim: Ah, well, there you go.

Tom: And, somehow, it’s just not quite the same. Maybe they should have got Bieber in again.

Tim: What, and have him singing about Doritos again? No thanks.

Demi Lovato – Sorry Not Sorry

“This had better be good.”

Tom: Okay. I’ve been really grumpy about music lately. Everything’s been “meh”. So here’s what I did: I went to the “New Music Videos” section of YouTube, picked the most popular pop song, and just decided that’s what we’re doing today. So here we go. This had better be good.

Tom: Okay, I’m not “meh” about this. Instead, I’m actually divided. There are some amazing bits in here: that profane pre-chorus, nearly all the chorus, and the “totally kidding” gag at the very end of the music video. And you know what, I’ll even give credit for some good celebrity cameos.

Tim: I will agree with you that there are some good bits here, or at least one good bit and a few not bad bits. But to be honest I wasn’t remotely sold on the this song until the chorus came along – it’s that bass-level twisted vocal that really gets me, and marks it out as a song I’m not going to like.

Tom: Bad: the actual “sorry, not sorry” bit. Not the meaning, just the actual line: after such a great build, there could be more there. The very next line starts doing something interesting again, but the key moment feels like it’s wasted.

Tim: Huh, see I have an almost exact opposite reaction – happy with the chorus, including that line, and I suppose the middle eight’s alright, but most of this just gets a bit nope from me.

Tom: And as for the video: if you’re going to do the ‘found footage’ style, at least commit to it. Don’t slap a bizarre, out-of-place 90s VHS filter on your footage and then also film a proper video, that just means you’re not confident. Look, this is how to do it, and no, I can’t believe I’m linking to a Justin Bieber video to prove a point. And let’s not even start about the godawful amount of product placement.

Tim: Yeah, that also put me right off, right from the Jaguar logo at the start. On the other hand, it does look like one hell of a pool party to have been at.

Tom: So there you go. I’m not “meh”. I’m both impressed and annoyed by this song. At least I’ve got a reaction.

Cheat Codes feat. Demi Lovato – No Promises

Tom: The big questions here: who are Cheat Codes, and how on earth did they get Demi Lovato? I don’t actually care, I’m just asking a rhetorical question to provide an introduction to this post.

Tim: Never let it be said we’re not brutally honest.

Tom: WHAT’S MY NAME?

Tim: Yeah, that is quite prevalent, certainly. Any other views?

Tom: …sorry, that’s all I can hear, really.

Tim: Fair enough. Not a bad song, though.

Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato – Up

“What’s not to like?”

Tim: So I don’t really know how Olly Murs end up being the main artist here and Demi Lovato being the featured one, but never mind, it’s happened now and we’l just have to live with the implication of that forever.

Tom: For a UK audience? That’s probably about right.

Tim: I suppose so. Doesn’t seem ‘right’ right, though.

Tim: Starts out as a typical Olly Murs song – not great, not terrible, possibly a bit annoying after a while. But then SHE arrives, playing the other half of the slightly rocky relationship and the singer of that lovely chorus, and it all turns magical. Well, not properly magical, but very good nonetheless, not least because it passes my duet requirement of having a happy ending – “that’s up”.

Tom: Yep, Olly Murs definitely has the rough end of this deal. He gets all the downbeat verses, which admittedly aren’t too bad, but…

Tim: But in comparison, not so great. Along with the nice ending, we’ve got her aforementioned lovely chorus, which has a nice simple join-in-withable lead into it, and that good “hold on to what you’re feeling” chanting bit.

Tom: Right. I mean, I still don’t think we’ve got a world-changing record here — it’s a nice chorus, not a spectacular one, but it’s pretty good.

Tim: But don’t forget we also have those myriad “yeah”s in the middle eight – basically it’s a song that we can all take part in and have a lot of fun. And smash stuff up to, often enjoyable. What’s not to like?

Demi Lovato – Let It Go

“You sure as hell won’t be able to concentrate on anything else”

Tim: Not Christmas, but very, very wintery. Lead track from the very enjoyable film Frozen, and to give it some context: sung by someone who’s just unleashed a superpower that’s been repressed for about fifteen years, to less than ideal results.

Tim: WOW. It’s not quite this much of a belter in the film, but it got rerecorded and stuck over the end credits. And boy, was that ever a wonderful decision.

Tom: So this is similar to Elton John’s absolutely brilliant version of ‘Circle of Life’ — albeit without the composer also being the singer.

Tim: Indeed. The lyrics probably won’t make much sense unless you’ve seen the film, but that music and that voice are undeniably brilliant regardless. Admittedly there’s room for more on top of the strumming guitar and drumbeat at the end, but damn, what a voice that lady has. And you know what? Even if you don’t think that backing’s enough for you: put this on in the background, work on something else, but when it comes back at the end you sure as hell won’t be able to concentrate on that something.

Tom: You know what, that’s pretty much exactly what I did.

Tim: This is a song that, despite not demanding it, will nevertheless get your attention. And that’s just great, because what song can hope for more? NO SONG.

Tom: As far as pop music’s concerned, I can’t disagree with that.

Tim: And to close off, I know we don’t generally (or indeed ever) do film reviews, but if we did, I’d say that this is the most heartwarming film I’ve seen in a good long time; if anybody’s put off by the fact that it’s a Disney animated film, you really shouldn’t be. It’s got more emotional depth than pretty much any grown up film I’ve seen, a storyline based in a classic fairytale and emboldened so much more, and enough LOL moments to make even the darkest periods (of which there are a few) very manageable. It’s fantastic. Watch the film, buy the song. That’s it, really.

Demi Lovato – Heart Attack

Three and a half minutes of just pure amazingness.

Tim: This is almost entirely amazing.

Tim: I say ‘almost entirely’, and I think we can all identify the one thing that’s pretty bad.

Tom: True, but then Demi Lovato is not the kind of artist you’d expect a key change from. Sadly.

Tim: Oh, well I don’t actually mind the lack of key change – the extraordinary “AT-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAYY-AAAAAAH” is more than enough for me. My issue was the line “I can play him like a Kindle”, but since I’ve just realised it’s “Ken doll” instead, I have no problems with the track whatsoever.

Tom: Ha. I heard the same thing, although I worked it out a bit quicker than you apparently did.

Tim: The whole thing seems to be three and a half minutes of just pure amazingness. GROO-OOH-OOH-OOOOO-OOOO-OOOOW. SHOO-OOH-OOH-OOOOO-OOOO-OOOOW. ATTAA-AA-AA-AAAAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAACK. FLAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAMES. AT-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAYY-AAAAAAH. ATTAA-AA-AA-AAAAAAAA-AAAAA-AAAACK.

What else is there to say?

Tom: Not much, which is probably for the best after you’ve belted all that out.

Tim: Don’t pretend you don’t want to join in.