Robin feat. Lord Est – Tilttaamaan

“An inevitably awful rap middle eight.”

Tim: You may or may not remember Robin, who’s featured on these pages a few times previously; you most likely won’t remember Lord Est, who hasn’t.

Tom: “Robin” is a bold name in a market already saturated with various Robins and Robyns. Still, let’s see what he’s got.

Tim: A warning: audibly, the middle eight is awful. Visually, it’s rather special, so stay with the video for it.

Tim: “Look! I know I’m overweight and in my mid-forties, but I can be cool! Really! Look! I’ve got sunglasses! And a leather jacket! I’m waving my hands out to kids who are street do! I say ‘street’ and everything! I’m SO COOL.”

Tom: “Lord Est”, huh? I assume he’s the Finnish Daz Sampson, with a similarly lengthy musical pedigree.

Tim: Blimey, yes. That part aside, though, I like this track. Now summer’s approaching (he writes, as it pours down with rain outside), the summer tracks seem to be out in force, and I for am happy with that. Yes, they tend to bring with them inevitably awful rap middle eights (actually, has there ever been a good one? Aside from Wannabe, obviously.), but they’re manageable.

Tom: Mmf. It’s an okay track, I guess, but I’d file it under “well produced” then actually “good”.

Tim: Possibly – the backing and his vocals are all fairly competent and largely enjoyable, and if you’re wondering the conversation in the video’s about him asking her who she was, her responding by telling him to follow her on Instagram (obvs), and then at the end her inviting him to a beach party. BEACH PARTY! FUN! YAY!

Tom: Here comes the summer.

Lord Est feat. Mikael Gabriel – Vuosi Vaihtuu

That’s a cracking instrumental.

Tom: “This is the New Years breaking hit here in Finland!” enthuses an anonymous reader. “Everytime its in radio volume goes up!”

Tom: Hmm. That’s a cracking instrumental that deserves much better vocals.

Tim: Something like that. Certainly is a cracking instrumental.

Tom: “Year of Change” is the title, and while translating the lyrics doesn’t help all that much, it seems to be a generally uplifting song about how the future’s going to be bright. Perfect for the New Year, then. It’s a shame that the lyrics just sound like they’re being phoned in. Put some enthusiasm in, for crying out loud!

Tim: I’m not sure it’s the enthusiasm – I think it’s just that the general tone of the voice doesn’t suit the feeling of the song. The chorus, for example, seems almost a bit military, really. Also, I’m about to say something I don’t think I ever thought I’d say: they should do more with that rapper, because his parts of the verse work better than the rest.

On the other hand, it could be a perfectly appropriate vocal for the song, but we just don’t know as we have next to no knowledge of the Finnish language whatsoever.

Tom: That’s not true. I lived in Helsinki for three months once, and as a result I know “thank you” and at least one swear word. Anyway, translate this, get someone a bit more upbeat on vocal duties, and I reckon this could actually work over here.

Tim: There, I think you’re definitely right.