Lesley Roy – Gold

“Seems to me to be having a slight identity crisis.”

Tim: You remember Lesley Roy, she did the single Eurovision entry this year that sounded like a decent pop song. Here’s her follow-up.

Tim: And I am fairly sure that the post-chorus here is exactly what was missing from last week’s Sigala track. It’s the exact same style, but higher pitched and therefore sounding chirpier. Thing is, though, I’m not quite sure how it fits this song, which seems to me to be having a slight identity crisis.

Tom: That implies it has any sort of identity at all. I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it once I’d finished listening, but that might well be because I drifted off into other tabs and other thoughts about three times during it. It’s what Coldplay sound like to people who don’t like Coldplay.

Why do you say identity crisis?

Tim: See, it’s structured like a regular pop song, obviously, and the verses and pre-chorus sound exactly like that as well, with nothing particularly dance-y about them, just a bit of low key stuff before the chorus comes along to cap it off. But then the chorus does come along, and suddenly we get a drum build underneath it, and the focus shifts towards that post-chorus, with a vague sense of “yeah, I know you were looking forward to this bit, but now I’d actually rather you paid attention to what’s coming along in a bit”.

Tom: Right! And if your attention’s being diverted that much…

Tim: And just to clarify, I don’t think either of the bits are bad, at all, as it’s a decent track – I just struggle to know what I’m meant to be paying attention to.

Tom: Whereas I’m having trouble paying attention to any of it. Which is a shame, really, because when I was actively listening I couldn’t really find anything to fault.

Lesley Roy – Story Of My Life

“This could be an actual release, even, rather than the type of track that gets stuck at the end of a album just to fill the runtime.”

Tim: Yesterday you reckoned Italy’s track wouldn’t work because “it’s not a modern audience-appeal pop song”; this here is the one and only track of that description that we both thought was any good whatsoever – your third favourite, and my actual favourite.

Tom: Let’s talk about “favourite” there: I looked up our stats, and I rated it 60/100, which roughly works out to “could be a major artist album track”. Yes, my standards are high.

Tom: And I stand by that rating.

Tim: As how you’ve defined it, fair. It’s female power pop, of the Katy O’Perry or Kelly MacLarkson brand, and more importantly it’s good female power pop!

Tom: Apart from the na-na-na-na-na bit, yes. I think I might have actually rated it closer to 70 (“could be a major artist lead single”) if it wasn’t for that single grating lyric.

Tim: Oh come now, it’s hardly alone in that respect. This could be an actual release, even, rather than the type of track that gets stuck at the end of a album just to fill the runtime. It’s got all the usual tropes – powerful backing instrumental, speedy verse that although plenty good enough is really just put there before we head to the kicker that is the chorus, with raised vocals, empowering lyrics and a good load of chanting to sing along to right from the first listen.

Tom: Even the sounds of the instruments and synths sound very, very much like Katy Perry a couple of albums ago. It does say something that the most “modern audience-appeal pop song” we got in Eurovision was still a bit dated, though. All the tropes are there.

Tim: They’re tropes for a reason, though: combined, they make a heck of a good song that would have stood out nicely against all the ballads – however building and inspirational they may be, sometimes you just need good pop.

Tom: And I think, just because it stood out, it would have punched above its weight.

Tim: Ah, well.