Music - Singles of the week - Monday, August 24, 2015
IndieLondon gleefully checks out the cream of the week’s singles.
SINGLE OF THE WEEK: MALKA – WRAP IT UP: Malka impressed many critics (including our good selves) when she released her debut album, Marching To Another Beat earlier this year, off the back of equally notable singles such as I Never Needed Love and Let It Go. Her latest, Wrap It Up, merely underlines her ability to deliver a memorable track. Shot through with tantalising vocal harmonies that are offset with insistent, borderline tribal beats, this manages to be both hypnotic and empowering at the same time. Malka’s fragile vocals hook you in and serve as a beautiful contrast to the more aggressive beat structures, creating something unique, endearing and totally different. As the album name suggests, Malka isn’t afraid to march to her own beat and the results are frequently stunning.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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MADONNA feat NICKI MINAJ – BITCH, I’M MADONNA: The latest offering from the Queen of Pop is the sound of Madonna at her most playful and provocative. A self-reverential slice of dance-pop, this drops the notable line “bitch, I’m Madonna”, while asking “who do you think you are?”. Needless to say, it’s as sassy as pop records come, perhaps even more so when Nicki Minaj drops her no-nonsense flow. The squiggly electronic loop that runs throughout is somehow infectious and annoying at the same time, and also indicative of the harder club sound that Madonna has been gravitating towards of late. It’s far from Madonna’s best but there’s a certain charm to it too – the type of track that gets your toes tapping along in spite of all the misgivings you have about it. It’s terrible, yet addictive.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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THE LIBERTINES – GUNGA DIN: Taken from The Libertines forthcoming Anthems For Doomed Youth LP (out on September 4, 2015), the new single Gunga Din is a fairly predictable offering from them. That is to say, Pete Doherty’s vocals remain as distinct and punky as ever, while the guitars ebb and flow in often interesting directions. If anything, the chorus is more melodic and less punk-inflicted than days of old and lends the song more crossover appeal. But the lyrics are as downbeat and hard-hitting as ever (“I can’t help it, I’m a bastard in the morning” etc), painting another typically honest and raw depiction of British life as seen through the eyes of this particular outfit. It’s OK but it won’t set the world on fire as their earlier material did.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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TEDDYBEARS – BROKEN HEARTBEAT: What does one focus on when introducing an act who’s not only won a number of Grammy Awards, been a part of countless amounts of ads, including the latest Peugeot and Nike TV commercials, FIFA 2015 soundtrack, as well as climbing the charts with Giorgio Moroder and Charli XCX Diamonds (as co-writers)? In the case of Swedish act Teddybears, it’s continue to build on that success with new single Broken Heartbeat. A chilled summer track, taking inspiration from Ninja Tune’s Thundercat and Elephant Man, whilst packaging it into an easy-listening piece of music, the track is driven by a very catchy and cool bass-line and some lush harmonies, while Beenie Man sprinkles proceedings with his lyrical wizardry whilst managing to retain his signature style. It’s an intriguing mix of styles, veering from summer breeze pop with falsetto elements, to grime-laced rap. It’s at its best when concentrating on the former style, when the laidback pop is a blast (as is the flute solo that appears late on). But overall, it’s a cool late summer offering to savour. You’ll be singing “oh my baby she sung me a song, and nothing about it was wrong” for some time aftewards.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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SPECTOR – STAY HIGH: “These are the ways that we show our love”, sing Spector over catchy new single Stay High. Taken from their eagerly anticipated second album Moth Boys, Stay High, is – in the band’s own words – “about keeping yourself distracted while everything around you goes to shit”. “When all that’s left of your relationship are dates booked on Groupon and your sense of adventure’s dictated by the offers on lastminute.com it’s hard not to want to dislodge yourself from reality permanently.” But while the sentiments may err towards the downbeat, the song itself thrives on its mix of catchy guitar hooks, its bright chorus and smart ear for the stadium-sized crowd-pleasing. If there’s a slight hint of the ’80s at times, that’s probably deliberate too (think The Cult). But this is endearing stuff that makes the prospect of the new album all the more exciting.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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THE BOHICAS – SWARM: The Bohicas are rock and roll painted in vivid primary colours. Hi def, loud, fast and shiny. A barrage of killer hooks, razor blade riffs and choruses that slap you in the face, grab your hand and lead you onto the dancefloor. All shot through with pulp imagery torn from the pages of a graphic novel. The new singly, Swarm, is as livewire as they get… shot through with fuzzy guitar hooks, razor-sharp solos, insistent beats and punchy vocals. The chorus, when it arrives, is a frenzied shot of musical adrenaline… a mix of Kasabian and Oasis. It’s big, brash, fast, furious, addictive and cool. And it’s accompanied by a similarly riotous video, directed by Chris Turner. The band’s album, The Making Of, was also released on August 21.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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ROSIE AND THE GOLDBUG – HEY YOU: Cornish purveyors of hectic electronica Rosie & The Goldbug release their summery new single Hey You and immediately draw comparisons with the likes of No Doubt (albeit with a more electronic focus). Driven by a catchy disco/pop hook, the track builds to a chorus straight out of the Goldfrapp/Gwen Stefani playbook, with Rosie’s vocals particularly reminiscent of the latter singer. The chorus is catchy too, despite proclaiming its subject matter to be “a natural disaster”. It’s bright, breezy, vaguely retro yet contemporary enough to become a firm electro-pop favourite on the mainstream circuit. The brainchild of lead singer and keyboard player Rosie Vanier and named after an Edgar Allen Poe story, Rosie & The Goldbug first came to the nation’s attention whilst still in their teens, with the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Rosie & The Goldbug, in 2008. Songs like this should help keep them in the public eye.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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SILVER SHIELDS – I WONDER IF YOU’RE THINKING OF ME NOW: Citing the likes of Ride and My Bloody Valentine as inspirations, Silver Shields now drop their new single, I Wonder If You’re Watching Me Now, and certainly evoke some comparisons. But while certainly capturing a shoegaze meets indie-rock vibe that sounds like it could have been recorded back in the ’90s, the track itself lacks a certain spark to really capture the imagination. It’s solid, with some good guitar work and a decent enough chorus, but it washes over you and drifts from memory as quickly as it arrived. Still, there’s hope for the London-based outfit, as we suspect there’s more to come.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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