Tag: NEO

Tim: Hearing this track made me go straight out to my local music program to buy his newish album, Reborn. We’ve already very much enjoyed Underground and Toxicated Love (title aside) from it, so tell me Tom – what do you think of this?

Tim: Hmm, I suppose it does a bit, actually. Other than that, though: the fade-out ending loses him a point or two, but aside from that I don’t think I can fault this. Lyrically it’s lighter than his last two tracks – a close relationship takes the focus, rather than poisonous feelings or the weird getting run over outside a nightclub thing that was in Underground.

Tim: OH COME ON – are you seriously telling me you’ve never had a password-protected relationsh—okay you may have a point.

Tim: Let’s move on. There is an enthusiasm in the backing there right from the start of the first verse, and when that chorus drops and you get the high-pitched synth running up and down for the rest of the song you can not help but move at least one leg in time to the beat.

Tim: Exactly.

Tim: Really? I love that whole section, and I also especially love the off-beatness of parts of it – the ‘you give to’ that introduces the chorus I think is inspired. If they sorted out the ending, this is a song I would have loved to see on stage competing in Melodifestivalen, because I think it would be an easy finalist, and maybe even a winner – it’s certainly on a par with everything that’s in the final this year.

Bold statement coming up: I reckon this would probably make the top three of the tracks we’ve featured here – it’s on a par with Lovekiller and What Makes You Beautiful, which were both perfect examples of pop music.

Tim: Well obviously there are lots of great tracks, and personal favourites – The Silence, Hollywood Hills, Destiny (yes, really), Heart Is King, Call Your Girlfriend – wow, you’re right, there are loads – but when it comes to picking out flawless pieces of pop music, those two are the ones that stand out, and now this one.

Tim: True, but this matches them, I think. And regardless of whether you’re on ‘perfection’ or just ‘great’, I strongly advise getting his album Reborn, which came out in January, has not a single duff track on it and, unlike a lot of music we cover, is available in all good UK download stores.

Tim: Last seen getting run over multiple times and generally destroying the laws of physics, he’s now gone back to releasing music.

Tim: I must confess that one of my thoughts on hearing this was “Is toxicated actually a word, because I’ve not heard of it?” The answer, should any readers be thinking the same, is: sort of, but not really. We do have toxication, which is something to do with drugs and metabolism and stuff, but I think we can safely put this title down to “more or less sounds like it makes sense and fits the rhythm.”

Tim: Pedantry aside, though, I think the song’s fairly good. Obviously it’s not as amazingly brilliant as One Direction’s track,* nor is it quite up to the level of Underground, but I really like the ways it’s got proper instruments under it, rather than just your standard guitar/drum/keyboard/synth blend.

Tim: Well, they sound good, which it what matter really. I’m a bit disappointed by the long ‘just you wait and see what comes next because it’s going to be something special’ pause that turns out to be there just so he can catch his breath, but that doesn’t spoil it too much.

Tim: All in all, I will give the song a nice round 68%.

Tim: No, don’t worry – it’s not Ne-Yo, it’s NEO, an all-round better musician, although sadly not very lucky when it comes to exiting nightclubs.

Tim: Wasn’t it just? The music as well is very good, and in my view better than the sort of stuff that was on his first album – darker (much), but somehow better, even though I’d normally prefer the Mika-esque style. There’s a level of emotion and feeling to it that just didn’t seem to exist before, and the music’s very much better for it. The high-pitched voice isn’t used as a novelty this time round, but more as something that just belongs and doesn’t seem out of place.

Tim: All round, it just seems a lot more mature than his last album – as though he’s now decided what he wants to do with his music, as opposed to thinking along the lines of ‘this is what Swedish musicians do, I’d better do that.’ I think he’s made the right decision – he certainly looks the part, as part of me was expecting him to grow fangs at 2:57. Very glad he didn’t, though.

Tim: And lastly, what with him being NEO and all if you didn’t think ‘He is The One’ at 2:43, there’s something wrong with you.