Tag: Dragonette

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.

Dragonette feat. Dada – Sweet Poison

“An absolutely brilliant vocal, perfectly delivered.”

Tim: Press play, enjoy.

Tom: One extra comma would make that sentence so different.

Tim: Oh, Tom.

Tim: Since the last time they combined forces, I’ve actually been able to find out who this Dada guy is – he also goes by the name Matt Schwartz, mostly working behind the scenes as a writer and producer, with songs ranging from Wamdue Project’s King Of My Castle to, erm, Joe and Jake’s You’re Not Alone.

Tom: That is an eclectic mix of pop songs, and a mix that spans decades. Well done to him.

Tim: Occasionally it seems he jumps to the front, such as here, where the combination is very, very pleasant. I could list the reasons – particularly for me, the “two wrongs don’t make a rii-ihgt” in the pre-chorus and, of chorus, that glorious “feeeeel” vocal – but really I’d rather just keep listening to this.

Tom: It is an absolutely brilliant vocal, perfectly delivered. Crucially, it’s one that not every singer could do: frequently we find tracks like this where the vocalist could be switched out with no great effect on the music. Here? Not so much.

Tim: One of my favourite tracks of the past few months, I’d say, so I’m just sticking it on repeat.

Tom: I wouldn’t go that far: it’s certainly pleasant, and a cut above what we normally have here, but it’s not going on repeat for me. And that’s down to the melody and the composition: it’s beautifully produced, but I just don’t like the song. Not even the greatest vocalist can help with that.

Dada, Paul Harris & Dragonette – Red Heart Black

“Some sort of subliminal advertising for Swedish beef?”

Tim: Her (by which I mean Martina) off Dragonette does a good feature, doesn’t she? Aside the obvious Hello for Martin Solveig, she was also the vocalist on Galantis’s two tracks.

Tom: Wait, really? Oh! That makes so much sense. How did I not notice that voice?

Tim: And now this. (It’s only online as part of this mix, but it’s the first track, starts a minute in.)

Tom: And an advance warning: there’s a really obnoxious sputtering-noise ident at the start of this: headphone users, beware.

Tom: Oh, those vocals! You’re absolutely right: she does a Good Feature. But let’s talk about the music behind it: this is really good, from the calm sections during the chorus, to the acoustic guitar that gets added in, to the sheer amount of constant, well-produced electronica behind it. Although…

Tim: I think we’ve reached the same the point – let’s get straight to that there elephant in the room, or rather the cow in the room that inexplicably makes itself known on a couple of occasions. I don’t know what it’s doing there, I’d be surprised if anybody does really, unless it’s some sort of subliminal advertising for Swedish beef, but there you go.

Tom: Yes, it’s an odd one, isn’t it? But given how strong the pure instrumental sections are, I’m not going to complain.

Tim: Absolutely not. And I’m going to be honest: I know nothing about most of the people behind this track – both Dada and Paul Harris are ungooglable, being primarily known respectively an art movement and a 1970s musician. Still, it’s a decent track, enjoyable enough, and I’ll never turn down some more Dragonette.

Dragonette – Let The Night Fall

“ALL THE INSTRUMENTS”

Tim: I don’t know why, but I always thought these guys were French; they’re not, they’re from Canada (and not the French bit), but anyway, they’ve just put this new track out.

Tom: There aren’t many pop vocalists who sound distinctive at the moment: Dragonette’s got a great, and individual, voice that means that all the band’s tracks “sound like them”. It’s more obvious in the verses, but that’s because there isn’t ALL THE INSTRUMENTS from the chorus.

Tim: And what a wonder of an ALL THE INSTRUMENTS chorus that is. “We’ll step it up when the sun goes down, let the light fall/No matter what, we’re not stopping now, let the night fall.” This is, without question, a PARTY TRACK, and it is utterly fantastic at being that, right from the instrumentation to the vocals to the smiley face on the artwork.

Tom: Oh, that’s what that is! I genuinely didn’t work it out.

Tim: My one criticism is that middle eight, because, well, in complete contrast to what the chorus states, it pretty much does stop now, and doesn’t really start again properly for another forty seconds or so. On the other hand, everything else is brilliant, and it’s a fantastic return after a couple of years away. Welcome back, guys.

Dragonette – Run Run Run

“It’s all over the place.”

Previously, on Europlop:

Tom: Jenn D performed at the Popjustice party last Christmas. You know, the one we went to. And I don’t remember her at all.

Tim: You know what? Me neither. Although, that reminds me…

And now, the conclusion.

Tim: I do remember Dragonette being there. You won’t, because you left early (silly boy).

Tom: Hey, I saw about half their set before exhaustion overtook me.

Tim: Yeah, yeah, yeah, OLD MAN. Anyway, aside from putting on a pretty good performance, they filmed part of the video for the new track there.

Tom: Ooh, body-mount camera. That’s all very nicely done. But which bit was at the gig?

Tim: Specifically, the bit at about 2:32.

Tom: Ten frames? Fair enough. Full marks for learning the song backwards for some of those lip-sync shots, though.

Tim: Clever, isn’t it? It’s all over the place, fitting in nicely with the ‘run, run, run’ idea, and to be honest there’s not a lot I have to say about both it and the music beside gushing compliments (mmm, gushing).

Tom: Lowering the tone as ever. I agree it’s a good track – but, while I know the vocals in a Dragonette song are always beautifully sung but low-key, I can’t help feeling it could use a bit more enthusiasm here and there.

Tim: Really? I think it’s fairly bang on. The backing synths and drums are good, the voice is lovely as usual, melody’s great and the main line in the chorus is as good an example of a ‘get up and dance or be active in some other way’ line that I’ve heard for a while.

Tom: I’m not quite dancing in my seat – to be true, I can’t remember much of it, but I do have a vaguely warm and fuzzy feeling. Is that enough?

Tim: Yes, I suppose so. OLD MAN.

Dragonette – Merry Xmas (Says Your Text Message)

Here’s something a bit more promising.

Tim: I’ll be honest: while this does come with the obligatory sleigh bells, it’s not quite as enthusiastic about the festive season as the past couple of tracks have been.

Tom: It’s something a bit more promising. Dragonette’s best known for providing the vocals on Martin Solveig’s “Hello”, so at least this should sound decent.

Tom: You know, I think I actually like this, aside from that clunky “X-mas” bit – I understand why it’s there. And that’s a clever bit of censorship, too.

Tim: Sleigh bells have previously been used to indicate joy, festivity and general wellbeing; as far as I know, this is the first time they’ve been used to cover up obscenities, and for that reason alone I’m halfway to loving this track.

Tom: Of this week’s suggestions, I think it’s my favourite.

Tim: Figures. Miserable git.

Tom: That’s doesn’t mean I actively like it – it’s no Hurts – but it’s listenable.

Tim: It’s not as happy as the last two – it’s a Christmas breakup song, with all the disappointment that entails – but despite that, it still seems remarkably upbeat and happy. I think that might be a Titanix-glockenspiel effect, though – after all, how can something possibly sound downbeat when it’s going at 130 sleigh bells per minute?

Martin Solveig and Dragonette feat. Idoling!!! – Big in Japan

Less tennis, less sanity.

Tom: Last time we heard from Martin Solveig, he’d hit the big time with “Hello” and had a video of himself playing tennis against Bob Sinclar.

Tom: This time, there’s less tennis, less sanity, and a much less catchy track.

Tim: Same amount of bassline in fact. Or, more concisely, same bassline.

Tom: It’s still clearly Martin Solveig – it sounds like he’s just tweaking his synth settings a bit to create what is now his trademark sound. But the melody on top of it just isn’t the same.

Tim: No. What is it, actually? I can’t remember.

Tom: It doesn’t have that same kind of shout-along, dance-along quality that Hello did. It’s not bad – but if he’s going to put out something this close to his last big hit, then he’s got to be careful that the first thought you get isn’t “the last one was better”.

Tim: Actually, I reckon the first thought most people would have is ‘what’s this weird mash-up of Hello?’

It could be argued, though, that this is actually a very different song – the first was, let’s be honest, just a chorus (can you remember anything else of it?), whereas this one has nothing particularly memorable at all, much as a track without any chorus would likely be.

It’s not bad – danceable and all that – but with that intro, people (i.e. excited clubbers who love the big hits) will be disappointed it’s not what they were expecting.

Saturday Flashback: Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette – Hello

I defy you not to start at least tapping your foot.

Tom: This track entirely passed me by until I was in America last month. Now, the official video‘s good – high-budget and incredibly well produced, if a bit clichéd – but it’s interrupting the track regularly to spoil the YouTube jukeboxers. Here’s the track, uninterrupted. Don’t forget that this is meant to be mixed into a DJ set, hence the long intro and outro:

Tom: I defy you not to start at least tapping your foot when that beat kicks in.

Tim: It is a good track – although one I often misattribute to MGMT, for no particular reason that I can discern.

Tom: Now, normally I’d complain that there’s very little change throughout – after it kicks in, it’s basically the same song until the end. For some reason, that doesn’t bother me – even the vocal effects that make it less repetitious don’t bother me. Maybe it’s because I’ve listened to a bit of glitch lately.

Tim: I’m happy with it – repetitive it may be, but it’s not bad stuff that’s being repeated. And it is, after all, there to make people dance. And jump. Up, and down, and up, and down, and up, and ooh look we’re repeating ourselves.

Tom: This would get me straight on to a dancefloor, bouncing up and down.

Tim: In a repeated manner, no doubt.