Digital Farm Animals

Digital Farm Animals, Shaun Frank, Dragonette – Tokyo Nights

“I found my foot actually tapping, Tim!”

Tom: Okay, good, let’s carry on with Female-Fronted Electropop week, then. I’ll be honest: I’m starting to find all the tracks pretty much indistinguishable.

Tim: Well, let me change your mind. We had a work party a couple of months back and they got Tokio Myers off Britain’s Got Talent in as a guest performer, which was quite cool, except he was in the middle as like a headliner sandwiched between a whole load of DJs and music performers, so he kind of killed the vibe when we all stood still to watch him, which was a bit of a shame.

Tom: Good story.

Tim: Cheers. This is Tokyo Nights.

Tom: Okay, at least this isn’t bland. I found my foot actually tapping, Tim! That’s a rare thing!

Tim: Hooray! Digital Farm Animals have a pretty good record as far as this site is concerned; Shaun Frank we’ve not featured before; Dragonette is, well, Dragonette, so obviously brilliant. All together, we’ve got a song that starts out like a Chainsmokers track and then gets a lot better, and stays a lot better.

Tom: Apart from that second verse. At least, I think it’s the second verse? Not everything’s where I expect it to be.

Tim: Yeah, there is a slightly weird structure to it, sticking an extra chorus in before the first pre-chorus, which got me a little confused the first time I heard it as well. Aside from that I really do quite like this, particularly the way her off Dragonette joins in the vocals on the second verse to keep it a bit interesting. Well, I say particularly that bit, that’s just one small bit that contributes to making pretty much the whole thing being great.

Tom: The additional synths that crop up as we come out of the middle eight, too. It’s not a world-beating single or anything, but it’s not bad.

Tim: NICE ONE.

Alan Walker feat. Noah Cyrus with Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down

“It’s not quite farmhouse, but it’s close.”

Tom: I’ve long said that there are two signs of a Good Pop Song: do I immediately want to replay it? And can I sing the chorus after one listen?

Tom: Yes to the first; not quite to the second, but given it’s the instrumental chorus that takes the lead here, maybe that’s not too bad.

Tim: And given that you’re judging a dance track by the merits of a pop song, I think that’s very good indeed. Mainly because it is very good indeed.

Tom: This sounds almost like an Avicii track: it’s not quite farmhouse, but it’s close. Lots of harmonies, familiar and friendly key progressions, and just generally pleasant to listen to. Apart from the vocal remixing in the middle eight, this doesn’t sound stereotypically Alan Walker — and maybe that’s a good thing.

Tim: Certainly a bit farmy, yes, and I’m definitely in agreement about the pleasant to listen to. I’m not sure about not stereotypical, though – it does sound like a slight evolution of his sound, which is good, but there’s a lot that’s still very much him even beyond the middle eight – the post-chorus, say, is certainly trademark Alan, and very good for it.

Tom: I think you could lose the first twenty seconds of this — as far as I can tell, “eff you” isn’t the radio edit, so it just sounds a bit strange — but the rest of it’s brilliant.

Tim: Hmm – I’d keep the first twenty seconds because I’ve no problem, though yes I’d swap the “eff you” for a “screw you” any day. So yes, that one word aside it’s brilliant. Anyone know when the album’s out?

Hook N Sling feat. Digital Farm Animals – All Around Me

“PARP.”

Tim: Just a quickie for you this Friday.

Tom: Blimey.

Tim: We’ve met Hook N Sling before – they were the ones who teamed up with Galantis to bring us the phenomenal Love On Me. You complained back then that the lyrics were only four lines long; this one comes with a lyric video, because they’re quite a bit more complex.

Tim: Or not, who knows, but either way I think they should be applauded for spreading ‘is’ out into four syllables. It’s probably the music that’s meant to get us going here, and it is so, so very close to getting me going the same way that Love On Me did.

Tom: Yes. I can understand that. Two minutes long! And it’s not a Del Amitri two minutes either, it’s like they couldn’t be bothered to write the rest of it. As for why you’re not going, well, yet, it might get you dancing, except…

Tim: Except it doesn’t, because the otherwise flawless chorus melody gets interrupted by that horrible cranking noise that keeps popping up.

Tom: PARP.

Tim: …and so I can’t jump around happily for ages to forget or at least forgive the ludicrous amounts of repetition. Come on lads, try harder please.

Tom: PARP.

Louis Tomlinson feat. Bebe Rexha, Digital Farm Animals – Back To You

“Doncaster.”

Tom: Let’s get the ridiculous things out of the way first. And I don’t just mean “Digital Farm Animals“; I mean this is filmed in Doncaster. Bebe Rexha filmed a music video in an alley somewhere in Doncaster. And Louis Tomlinson joined her, in a purple-and-yellow tracksuit.

Tim: Well he is signed to the football club, that’ll probably cut down on some of the costs.

Tom: On the plus side: brilliant, you’re representing Doncaster on the world stage! On the downside: mate, Doncaster?

Tim: Tom, I feel you underestimate Louis’s feelings for his hometown – don’t forget at one point he tried to buy the club.

Tom: This has one of the least promising intros and first verses in a while: oh, blimey, it’s going to be one of those terrible stripped-down tracks that just plod on. And then… then it starts doing something.

Tim: I’m guessing you mean when Bebe arrives?

Tom: “You drag me down, you fuck me up” is a really good lyric. And it’s about the first time that I heard that — as the piano really starts to build — that I thought “hang on, this could be good”.

Tim: It could be, and indeed it is, which is very nice indeed.

Tom: And then everything from the half-way point onwards — ie, not the verses — is just great. Yes, it’s all a bit quiet, yes, it’s a bit plodding at times, but that is just such a good chorus. For the first time in a while, not only is this a song I could sing after one listen, but it’s a song I wanted to hear again.

Tim: HUZZAH! I completely agree with you, it is a great chorus. Dips for the middle eight, but rises back up again in due course.

Tom: And it’s from Louis Tomlinson!

Tim: YAY!

Sigala & Digital Farm Animals – Only One

“Strong echoes of Galantis”

Tim: Brilliant fact I’ve just discovered: Sigala comes from my wonderful hometown of Norwich (strapline: A Fine City). But anyway, I’d like you to push play on this lyric video, and then close your eyes so you can’t read the words. Just for the first fifteen seconds or so.

Tom: Your garlic sea?

Tim: Actually, I was more wondering exactly where that ultra light beam was staring, but if you don’t hear it then I won’t spoil it for you. But misheard lyrics aside, this is very good, not least because it has strong echoes of Galantis lurking around in there.

Tom: About thirty second in, I forgot this wasn’t Galantis. It feels very much like their style — albeit with a lot of Sigala’s synth patches applied to it.

Tim: In fact, that’s the main reason I like it so much – we’re into the time of the year where we can look back, and I can safely say that Love On Me is at least top five of 2016 for me.

Tom: Mm, that’s not unreasonable. There is a minor trend for these sort of happy, fun tracks, and I’m on board with it.

Tim: Right – this brings out some of the same emotions and feelings, and with very similar instrumentation it’s not hard to see why. But I don’t care that it’s markedly similar – all I want to do is enjoy the song, and I very much do.