Music - Singles of the Week - Monday, February 1, 2010
IndieLondon gleefully checks out the cream of the week’s singles. All you have to do is click on the pictures to order them…
SINGLE OF THE WEEK 1: MARINA & THE DIAMONDS – HOLLYWOOD: Hotly tipped half-Greek, half-Welsh pop megastar in waiting Marina Diamandis limbers up for the release of her debut album, The Family Jewels, by dropping incendiary single, Hollywood. It’s designed to get people excited for the LP… and it does. A pop confection of pure joy, this comes teaming with highly charged synths, a pop-disco sensibility, a cracking chorus and a keen sense of Marina’s own individual style. With an edgy, quasi-‘80s set of vocals and a cool ability to deliver some telling lyrics – “I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America” – it’s clear that Marina is the type of artist who exists to shake up the mainstream a little, while still managing to appeal to its sensibilities. Top stuff!
Released across all formats
Rating: 4 out of 5
SINGLE OF THE WEEK 2: MARVIN B NAYLOR – LITTLE SPECK OF BLUE: Now here’s a real musical curiosity… a trippy slice of psych folk with some decidedly Beach Boys sensibilities! Armed with only his trusty 12-string guitar and a voice both rich and resonant, Marvin B Naylor says he makes music that offers a gateway to a hidden world full of magic and possibility: music that harks back to the English psychedelia of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, while evoking the memory of individual spirits such as Syd Barrett, Roy Harper and Scott Walker (not to mention The Beach Boys!). Beginning with some lush guitar plucking on that trusty 12-string, the song slow builds towards a harmonious conclusion that takes you from the UK, through the Orient (briefly!) right through to sunny California. The lyrics are deliberately trippy and reality biting, while the whole package is instantly catchy – or as Beach Boys’ lyricist, composer and arranger Van Dyke Parks has commented: “Crisply arranged winsome and winning.”
Released as a digital download
Rating: 4 out of 5
CORINNE BAILEY RAE – I’D DO IT ALL AGAIN: After four years away, Corinne Bailey Rae comes back with the sensual I’d Do It All Again, the first single from her forthcoming album, The Sea. Billed as a sweeping, defiant declaration of love and faith, and one of the many highlights on The Sea, it’s a deliberately slow-building effort that actually almost doesn’t get out of first gear! Rae’s vocals are very hush-hush to begin with… while the subtle instrumentation strains to be heard even above that tone. It does eventually layer in enough lush orchestral arrangements to make you swoon, but as a comeback single it’s curiously muted. Critics have been raving about The Sea but it remains to be seen whether it will leave as big an impression on us. We look forward to hearing it, nonetheless!
Released across all formats
Rating: 3 out of 5
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CHA-CHA – PHONOGRAPHIC LOVE: Phonographic Love is described as “a freshly cut slice of pure ear-candy, created by London based Cha-Cha with the sole purpose of getting feet moving and heads bobbing along to their original ensemble of groovy bass lines, melodic synths, snappy guitar jingles, uptempo beats and extremely catchy dual-vocal hooks”. That’s only partly true! New disco-rock trio Cha-Cha intend to charm their way into your ear-drums with catchy hooks, a disco-pop sensibility and a sing-along chorus or two. Phonographic Love has its moments… and we like their non-conformist attitude, as hinted at with opening lyric “what’s on your radio? I hear it’s not for you!” But they’re merely an okay listen at this point, and require something a little more emphatic to really avoid becoming lost in the mix. Phonographic Love is being digitally released on January 31 and is the first single to be taken from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, We Are…, released via Pop Noodle in March 2010.
Released as a digital download
Rating: 3 out of 5
CHERRI V feat WILEY – SKOOL DAZE: A discopop offering with urban influences, Cherri V’s collaboration with Wiley on Skool Daze is a lot better than we could have hoped – but no great shakes at the same time. A grimey synth underscores the disco charged electronic sound, while Cherri and Wiley trade vocals with apparent glee – the one displaying a nice innocence to offset the other’s more lived in urban rapping style. It’s a strange brew that’s only moderately successful, though, albeit one that’s certain to appeal to the Kiss FM/Radio 1 brigade. Heck, you may even find yourself clicking your fingers along to it whenever it comes on the radio.
Released in all formats
Rating: 2 out of 5
GLENN MELING – ALL YOU CAN DO: Glenn Meling drops the catchy rock track All You Can Do as a throwback attempt to a more straightforward style of songwriting. The result is the type of track that has a very Bryan Adams kind of sensibility to it, thanks to the striking opening guitar riff, and the husky lyrics. It’ll probably flounder amid the more mundane mainstream pop scene, but given that it has been available as a free download from Glenn’s website, you should give it a whirl… it’s the least you can do! For anyone intrigued to find out more about where Glenn hails from – he’s a nomadic Norwegian part-time courier who lays claim to never having spent more than a year in one place! He has however studied media in Melbourne, had a small flat in Ealing and has connections to Hull. He also bears a little similarity to Josh Pyke – so like we said, worth checking out!
Released as a digital download
Rating: 3 out of 5
MERETTO – A METHOD OF URBAN SURVIVAL: London based indie/rock band Meretto release A Method of Urban Survival, the new single to be taken from their recently released album Street Talking, and the follow up to the critically acclaimed single Devotion. Mixed by acclaimed producer Simon Hanhart, renowned for his work with artists including Bryan Adams, Vanessa Mae, Marillion (on three of their UK top 10 alums) and Stiff Little Fingers, A Method of Urban Survival sees Meretto displaying their passion for creating energetic indie rock. Alas, and in spite of some decent guitar riffs, it’s a pretty uneventful listen that gushes forth plenty of noise without really making any of it hit. B-side Radio AM is actually the better bet – displaying a keener sense of melody and a more vibrant, less workmanlike approach. Both tracks have been available since January 25.
Released as a digital download
Rating: 2 out of 5
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY – NOTES EP: The Seventeenth Century is a young five-piece contemporary folk/rock band from Glasgow. They draw their influences from folk and baroque music, but aim to present them in a contemporary setting. Hence, the works of JS Bach, Vivaldi and Handel as well as artists such as The Beach Boys, The Dirty Three and The Velvet Underground all come together in some small way to inform their music. The Notes EP – which has been available online since January 25 – is a useful showcase of what to expect, and not at all bad. Title track, in particular, builds from a slow, almost precocious start, to emerge as a richly layered offering that is instrumentally rich. Stripped of these instruments, the boys vocals can sound a little too much like hard work, but set against the ambitious composition of the accompanying music, their work is often quite thrilling. Second track Roses In The Park is euphoric and romantic from the start… as well as surprising. It sounds like a cinema soundtrack backing track to begin with, before stripping things back a capella for a good portion, and then reintroducing that lush soundscape. It takes a while… but you’ll eventually properly dig the journey it takes you on!
Released as a digital download
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Heard a great single, but yet to buy it? Well, we may have reviewed it. Previous reviews:
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