Thursday, July 25, 2013

Verdict? - #2



This song and video is from the U.K.'s biggest selling debut album of 2012, whatever that really means.

I turned on the television about 10 minutes before the local news and saw this person singing this song on the Ellen DeGeneres show. The volume was down and yet I immediately hated this person. Was this a new trend? Did we need another Janelle Monae? Why am I getting older and crankier?

(Janelle Monae)



I grew twitchier by the second and still hadn't heard a note of music, but I was intrigued and didn't look away because the drummer in the band seemed to be pounding really hard and the three back-up singers who, along with the guitarist who stopped playing to do so, started soul-clapping.

I did the DVR rewind, unmuted the set and decided I could spare 4 minutes.

I didn't hate it, and I think it's because of the drum sound.

As far as current pop music goes, this track by Emeli Sande is not the worst of it.


11 comments:

soundsource said...

for starters how come they never have a singer and just a bass player but that aside I kinda like it better than song #1 but I probably won't listen to either one again

Anonymous said...

I agree about the drum sound being good(enough). The backing track as a whole is pretty annoying but its the singing and lyrics that just kills it for me. You know, the part that actually features the artist. In fact, the showy vocal delivery that seems to be a prerequisite for radio air time just irks me. Then again, that's probably why I don't listen to pop radio.
-BlakeS

buzzbabyjesus said...

The opening piano chord made me think of "Lady Madonna", and the drum sound reinforced that idea. I spent the rest of the song thinking it was pretty good. I never lost the The Beatles connection, even down to the horn charts. I'm not sure it wasn't intentional. I don't need to get this album, or ever hear it again, but I give it a thumbs up. You don't have to look far to find worse. It's way better than Aoife O'Donovan. When you posted her video a little while back, I expressed a favorable impression, and then I,er, acquired "Fossils" and found the production extremely off-putting. This is a lot better than that.

Bulletins From Mars Hill said...

Naw, she is great. She has had a major boost here in the UK. She all but stole the show at the olympic opening. Check out Prince's version of the song over at Willard's wormhole. I had the same reaction as you, but she has quietly become the sound of 2013 in the UK.

Anonymous said...

That is a gospel song passing as a pop record. I really like it. Was it the '80 retro look that put you off at first? Lesley

Ken D said...

It's getting too easy to roll our collective eyeballs at every next-great-pop-soul-diva-from-the-UK. They seem to emerge monthly.
But like this song, I think a lot of the stuff is really good radio music. (Though I'm never excited enough to actually buy an album.) Especially when compared to what passes for female vocalist pop/soul over on our side of the ocean which is basically a fashionable mannequin mouthpiece fronting for a team of knob-twiddling producers...

Sal Nunziato said...

Lesley,

What put me off was the Janelle Monae look. Is Janelle Monae such an icon, a legend, that just a few years later, we'd need more like her? But as I said, I like this track, not a lot, but I don't hate it.

Unknown said...

Did she attend the same school as Amy Winehouse and Adele? Seems to be the same basic formula. I like it, but it just sounds familiar.
And yes, I pick up the "Lady Madonna" vibe, too. You can do worse as far as inspiration goes.
Her appearance is retro, but nothing really surprises me anymore in artists images.

Dave said...

She's better than Monae, and is solid live. I don't understand the visual profiling, Sal, although I guess you can't control a visceral reaction. This isn't my favorite song of hers, and I'm a little surprised this was the breakout hit.

Sal Nunziato said...

Dave,

The "visual profiling" was simply a kneejerk reaction to seeing a second Janelle Monae, when I'm not sure we needed a first.

I did go back, listen and say I liked it.

I did say I was getting crankier.

I'm not proud of it.

Anonymous said...

Have you heard Tim Christensen's beautiful version of Next To Me????

hpunch