Hey, you! In the mood to see a slightly-bloodshot critical eye cast over some pop music of varying standards? Then behold the Single Reviews! On the proverbial jukebox today, the best/worst member of a certain girlband; a UK rapper who’s equal parts hilarious/piteous; the most overhyped/hypeworthy band on the planet; and... well, one more artist who doesn’t really capture any kind of extremes. But hey.
There was once a time when older-skewing, slightly-introverted, slightly-safe, yet rather talented musicians were politely referred to as “albums artists”. The term, however, is now more realistically “Artists Whose Catalogues Lend Themselves to
X Factor Boot Camp Butcherings” – doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but summarises
James Morrison nicely, particularly new release
I Won’t Let You Go. Immediate, intense and hugely sellable, it’s every inch a James Morrison song. What else can be said?
Maintaining her flawless record of achieving a
Single of the Week with every track she releases,
Nicola Roberts scoops it once again. Granted, it’s only her second single, but let's not take such a towering achievement away from her, eh?
Lucky Day is infectious, unpretentious, captivating and gorgeously melancholic, her swooning vocals nicely matching Dragonette’s elegantly effervescent production. It’s a shame the polarising
Beat of My Drum scared off so many people, as
Lucky Day cements Roberts as a talent of an almost surprisingly high calibre.
For someone who’s spent most of their career crowing about their roots, it hasn’t taken
Dappy long to shake off his Camden credentials and adopt a done-to-death Stateside sound. Content-wise, the aim of
No Regrets is clearly to dole out a hefty dose of maturity, and it does achieve that, but let’s be honest – the only appeal Dappy holds to most of the public is the probability of him putting his foot in it during another
Never Mind The Buzzcocks appearance.
And we wrap proceedings up with a new offering from
Coldplay, ahead of next month’s
Mylo Xyloto album.
Paradise sees astral organs make way for a Ryan Tedder-style handclap-beat, before the fundamental Coldplayness overwhelms proceedings. Admittedly, there’s a more twiddled, synthy sound present, but the falsetto ad-libs and swelling chorus make it yet another potential set-closer for the inevitable sell-out stadium tour.
There was once a time when older-skewing, slightly-introverted, slightly-safe, yet rather talented musicians were politely referred to as “albums artists”. The term, however, is now more realistically “Artists Whose Catalogues Lend Themselves to X Factor Boot Camp Butcherings” – doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but summarises James Morrison nicely, particularly new release I Won’t Let You Go. Immediate, intense and hugely sellable, it’s every inch a James Morrison song. What else can be said?
Maintaining her flawless record of achieving a Single of the Week with every track she releases, Nicola Roberts scoops it once again. Granted, it’s only her second single, but let's not take such a towering achievement away from her, eh? Lucky Day is infectious, unpretentious, captivating and gorgeously melancholic, her swooning vocals nicely matching Dragonette’s elegantly effervescent production. It’s a shame the polarising Beat of My Drum scared off so many people, as Lucky Day cements Roberts as a talent of an almost surprisingly high calibre.
For someone who’s spent most of their career crowing about their roots, it hasn’t taken Dappy long to shake off his Camden credentials and adopt a done-to-death Stateside sound. Content-wise, the aim of No Regrets is clearly to dole out a hefty dose of maturity, and it does achieve that, but let’s be honest – the only appeal Dappy holds to most of the public is the probability of him putting his foot in it during another Never Mind The Buzzcocks appearance.
And we wrap proceedings up with a new offering from Coldplay, ahead of next month’s Mylo Xyloto album. Paradise sees astral organs make way for a Ryan Tedder-style handclap-beat, before the fundamental Coldplayness overwhelms proceedings. Admittedly, there’s a more twiddled, synthy sound present, but the falsetto ad-libs and swelling chorus make it yet another potential set-closer for the inevitable sell-out stadium tour.
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