Tim: You may recognise Greta’s name from Eurovision 2012 when she was, well, more successful than Engelbert Humperdinck, or 2016, where she wasn’t.
Tom: There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence, but in short: no, I don’t.
Tim: Never mind, because this is entirely different.
Tim: I like it. I don’t have much to say about it, sadly, which could lead to quite a short post, but I like it. There’s a pleasant sound, a catchy and infectious chorus, and so yeah, I like it.
Tom: There’s a lot to like, although I can’t see many folks having more than a ‘like’ reaction to it. It’ll sit happily in a Spotify ‘female light pop’ playlist somewhere, playing in the background at coffee shops, and it won’t offend anyone. That… as ever, that sounds much more harsh than I meant it.
“Somehow I just can’t pay attention to the lyrics.”
Tim: Greta’s first since Eurovision last year, where she didn’t do as well as she’d probably have liked, but never mind that now because here’s this.
Tom: Good job getting a “feat.” in the title just for the music video, there, Hafþór. Still, as cameos go, it’s a good one. Not a bad trick, either.
Tim: Quite a bit going on there, isn’t there? Enough for me to be a big fan of it, anyway – can’t beat a bit of brass, a hell of an infectious yo-oooh-ooh hook, very strong vocal, a middle eight that say “pay attention please” and a whole lot off showing off in the video.
Tom: It’s strange: she’s singing in perfect English, but somehow I just can’t pay attention to the lyrics. I think it’s how it’s mixed: as you say, there’s quite a bit going on, and I think it makes the whole thing a little muddy. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad track — it’s just that I can’t remember any words, just a tune.
I can remember that yo-oooh-ooh bit, though.
Tim: The only gripe I have is the note progression at 2:28, which is straight out of Little Talk and so makes me want to listen to that instead, but if the only problem with a track is that part of it sounds like a really good song, I don’t think they’ve gone far wrong. Good stuff all round.
What a voice. Oh, what a voice. And what a chorus.
Tim: You may remember Greta as half of Greta Salóme & Jónsi, who teamed up to represent Iceland in Baku with the genre-splicing Never Forget.
Tom: Or you may not. I, er, don’t.
Tim: Well, in that case give it another listen. Not bad by a long way, and it definitely deserved to do better than 20th. But anyway, this here is somewhat less metallic, but still something of a belter.
Tom: Ooh, that’s lovely. Almost menacing strings to start with, and… well, then it just keeps building.
Tim: What a voice. Oh, what a voice. And what a chorus, with the melody of that one line outshining quite a few other songs in their entirety. The lyrics and the message of the song, because this, Tom (and Danny O’Whatsisface—
Tom: O’… nope, I can’t remember his name either.
Tim: —well, whatever.) This can be an inspirational song: “I’m gonna tell the world I found the thing that turned my life around…It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere around me.” Then there’s the instrumentation throughout – this is a four minute song with fewer lyrics than most three minute ones, but what’s beneath them and between them is just huge where it needs to be and quiet where it needs to be.
Tom: It’s the first time, as far as I can remember, that I’ve thought adding a sound effects of a crowd rhythmically clapping has worked. It’s a dark song that soars – that’s difficult to pull off. And, oh my word, the quiet piano middle eight is just gorgeous.
Tim: Well, yes. And then after that there’s the key change, which is something special – it’s so slight you might think it’s not worth having, but once you notice it, it just seems so right and perfect.
In fact, everything about this seems so right and perfect.