IndieLondon gleefully checks out the cream of the week’s singles…
MUSE – FOLLOW ME: Yet more epic rock from Muse arrives in the form of Follow Me, the latest offering from their latest album, The 2nd Law. The track lacks the immediacy and broad appeal of Madness but still underlines their ability to deliver grandiose rock of real potency. A slow-builder, this finds Matt Bellamy reining things in to a certain extent and allowing the instrumentals to gradually build into a swirling crescendo of electronics. By the time the song hits its stride, he belts out the impassioned chorus and sweeps everyone before him. It’s easy to see why this is a live favourite, given its ability to envelop you in its epic tendencies.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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TAYLOR SWIFT – I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE: Taylor Swift has wisely stuck to upbeat and breezy rather than ballad-driven and schmaltzy for the single releases from Red so far… and she has continued to win admirers. Latest offering I Knew You Were Trouble is another of its highlights and a genuine crowd-pleaser. What’s more, it starts out as a breezy pop song with slick acoustic licks and a flirty sense of impending danger. But once the chorus lands it also incorporates some darker electronic touches that really makes you sit up and take notice. It’s good too.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SPEECH DEBELLE – LIVE FOR THE MESSAGE: Speech Debelle drops one of the highlights to emerge from her current album, Freedom of Speech, in the form of Live For The Message. The track adopts a more straight-forward hip-hop approach, allowing Debelle to reflect on individualism and the freedom of speech and identity theme that underpins the album courtesy of lyrics such as “honesty is proud so we fly it like sparrows, we’re trying to get the knowledge laminated like the pharaohs”. The inclusion of a male rap for the second half of the song also works too, underlining its hip hop credentials in appealing fashion. Joining Speech for an epic refix, meanwhile, are some of the cream of the hip hop community – Akala, DELS, Genesis Elijah and Kasha Rae (to name a few), as well as long-time collaborator Realism. Each of the artists takes the opportunity to deliver a message, making a kind of collage which gels their voices into a whole. It’s arguably even better.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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JESSE BOYKINS III X MELO-X – I’M NEW HERE: Young NYC singer Jesse Boykins III delivers another slice of smooth groove electronic soul in the form of I’m New Here, his full-length collaboration with Melo X. It’s a slick, seductive offering driven by swish electronics and subtle beats, as if to bring out the smoothness of Boykins’ vocals (which the PR credits with coming across as a youthful Outkast meeting D’Angelo). It’s got a late night vibe, too, as well as the sort of coolness associated with the trendy bar scene of any city capital. There are remixes from Jacques Greene and Machinedrum but it’s the original that works best, although Greene does introduce a few more electronic arrangements to pleasing effect.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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ARROWS OF LOVE – CONSPIRACY PODCAST: East London’s explosive post-punk quintet Arrows of Love were inspired to write their new single Conspiracy Podcast by a close friend’s addiction to Internet theorists, which prompted them to conclude that believing everything you are fed by government and mainstream media can be problematic for some. The chaotic track that ensues offers a frenzied melting pot of gritty baselines and stabbing guitars, fuelled by a vocal tale of the unexpected involving a girl who became a disciple of an online conspiracy theorist. Pulled deeper and deeper into the weekly podcasts, she became an unquestioning devotee of his radical sermons, relentlessly preaching his views to all she met, and losing her previous optimistic will for change to a doomed perception of everything around her. The verse structure, some of which is almost spoken, works quite well in creating that tortured state of mind and despair, but the chorus adheres more strictly to post-punk frenzy. Hence, while good and attention-grabbing in places, it’s also a bit of a mess. Better is the B-side, 80’s Matchbox B-Side Disaster, which was inspired by a failed trip to a recent over-ticketed 80’s Matchbox B-Line Disaster show. It’s raw, low-key, almost acoustic and closes with the vocals of Nima’s female counterpart Lyndsey Critchley offering a breathy conclusion. Put together, both tracks show that Arrows of Love can also be diverse and always interesting, no matter what you may ultimately think of each song.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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LEONA LEWIS – LOVEBIRD: Leona Lewis opts for another powerhouse ballad for latest single Lovebird, a track that does admittedly serve as a potent reminder of how good her vocals are, but which also feels like someone badly in need of freshening up. This attempts to be both sincere and heartfelt in moments like “but the time went on, the wind has blown, and I have grown”, before coming over all twee for the chorus which declares “got to sing my song so pretty, dum dum diddy”. I mean, what the hell? ‘Dum dum diddy’? It lends credence to the suggestion that good song-writing is in chronically short supply within the mainstream. For all its worthiness, the ensuing ballad is both dumb, dumb, dumb and over-milked. D’oh!
Rating: 2 out of 5
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WILL.I.AM feat BRITNEY SPEARS – SCREAM & SHOUT: Ooops… in a week where really good singles seem to be in short supply, really bad ones seem to be all over the place. Will.I.Am – an artist who struggles to get above average with almost every release – here actually plumbs the depths and takes Britney Spears down with him. A dance-floor filler that’s symptomatic of the turgid sound of a lot of contemporary dance, this has squiggly synths, irritating bass and a dodgy combination of Will.I.Am’s sung vocals and Britney’s purred ones imploring people to “turn this shit up”. Turn it off and do us all a favour. This is terrible.
Rating: 1 out of 5
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CARLY RAE JEPSEN – THIS KISS: Former Canadian Idol contestant Carly Rae Jepsen releases the dysmal This Kiss as her latest single and only succeeds in grating. Featuring drippy lyrics such as “this kiss is something I can’t resist, your lips are undeniable” and a cheesy ‘80s synth as a back-drop, it’s as if Stock, Aitken and Waterman had never gone away. Jepsen does at least attempt to get a little less sweet in the video but this is embarrassingly bad.
Rating: 1 out of 5
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BO KEENEY – DON’T YOU WORRY EP: Don’t You Worry is the debut EP from 23-year-old newcomer Bo Keeney. Consisting of three songs – the title track, Ambulance and Motivation – the tracks meld alt soul and contemporary blues with smatterings of drum ‘n’ bass while Bo’s hushed vocals add a soulful vocal point that has been compared to a young Stevie Wonder. There are also two remixes of Don’t You Worry from regular Skream and Magnetic Man collaborator Sam Frank and the much lauded south London art collective Breton. Ironically, it’s the title track that’s the weakest link, emerging as underwhelming. Far more interesting is the genuinely catchy Motivation, which has one of the most accessible choruses and a cool back-beat to keep it going, and the slightly more edgy Ambulance, which has an insistent baseline as its hook. Still, two out of three aint bad and Keeney has done more than enough to make us want to take notice of future material.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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RED MEASURE – NO ONE’S FACE EP: Three piece Nashville-based band Red Measure produce brooding, cavernous, beat-centric rock music that occasionally explodes to life. Guitarist and vocalist Randall Suarez is committed to producing songs that delve into the strange darkness of life’s shadows and become an outlet for intense, personal words. Hence, No One’s Face is a deep, profound listening experience. But it’s also something of a drag. The brooding is a little too brooding, with Suarez’s monotone vocal and the monotonous tones of the guitars and drums needing much more sparkle. On a track like Deep Six, for instance, the track comes to life at the two and a half minute mark, but the journey to get to it is too plodding and downbeat. And then the song re-sets itself. It’s mired in deep thinking but needs a little more life, for even when Red Measure up the tempo on final track Dark Tongue Gel there’s still something missing. Vocally, it still feels drained of character or life.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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GALLOWS – CROSS OF LORRAINE: Gallows unleash another slice of their vitriolic punk rock in the form of Cross of Lorraine, from their eponymous third album. A live favourite, it’s the track that brings the LP to a close, capturing everything that you need to know about the band in a three minute assault of unrelenting intensity. To be fair, there’s more traces of melody than is usual for the band, despite the snarling lyrics and confrontational approach. But it’s still an onslaught that is no way intended for the meek, or anyone who likes restraint or songs to be sung rather than screamed. In that regard, it still represents another fail for us.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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CHASE & STATUS feat LIAM BAILEY – BIG MAN: Chase & Status unite with Liam Bailey for new single Big Man, another trademark slice of pop-inflicted drum ‘n’ bass. Bailey’s vocals lend it a strong, impassioned focal point but while the start suggests something brooding, the latter mix of heavy-hitting drums and bass, not to mention the hard-as-nails electronics, renders this a pretty generic piece that struggles to find much crossover appeal. It packs a menacing punch, befitting the big man of the title, but it doesn’t really impress anyone but the Chase & Status loyalists.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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