Music - Singles of the Week - Monday, March 17
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: GABRIELLA CILMI – SWEET ABOUT ME: Tipped by the press as yet another major new talent for 2008, Gabriella Cilmi releases her debut single Sweet About Me and immediately draws favourable comparisons with the style of both Norah Jones (don’t cringe) and Morcheeba. In spite of a slightly inauspicious opening, the song eventually opens up into a slinky soulful pop song, about making trouble and getting away with it. Radio 1’s Jo Whiley has been spot playing the single, and Radio 2 and Capital Radio playlisted the single six weeks upfront of release. Special mixes of the single from Alex Beedle and Matthew Herbert have also been picking up plays on Kiss, Galaxy, 6Music, Ministry and BBC London, and Gabriella followed in the footsteps of Richard Hawley, The Kills, and Cat Power by performing a live session on 6Music’s The Hub. Vocally, she’s sweet and soulful, while the melodies are enough to brighten your mood on a cloudy day. Slightly less memorable is her cover version of Echo Beach, which served as the theme tune for the ITV series of the same name, but she continues to impress with the punchier, more rocky This Game, which suggests she’s also capable of a great deal of musical versatility. We agree, she’s one to watch! An album, Lessons To Be Learned is due to be released on March 31.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SINGLE OF THE WEEK 2: GUILLEMOTS – GET OVER IT: Having spent most of 2007 writing and recording in a converted East London synagogue, Guillemots return on March 24 with their keenly anticipated sophomore album Red. Preceding it is the lead single Get Over It, which suggests they’ve stretched themselves from the quirky indie sweetness that accompanied their debut album Through The Windowpane. The single boasts a tribal electro stomp that’s totally in keeping with lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield’s assertion that the tracks on Red are designed to “punch instantly”. It’s very much an in your face effort that’s boosted by a foot-stomping beat, an assertive boy-girl vocal trade off and some darker, albeit strong melodies. Anyone anticipating Through The Windowpane mark 2 is best advised to take this lead track’s advice and, erm, get over it. Guillemots are back – but this time they’re leaner, meaner and more direct.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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MOBY – ALICE: Having resorted to using his own vocals for last album Hotel, dance pioneer Moby now reverts back to collaborating with some different artists. The result is arguably one of his best tracks in a long time. Alice features UK-based underground rappers Aynzli and the 419 Squad, who inject proceedings with a distinctly gritty style that’s evocative of both urban London and Africa in style. Moby was certainly drawn to their vocals because of the cultural mix they provide and dutifully conjures a smart and hip set of instrumentals to accompany them. The beat is terrific while the synth-based instrumentals marry some of the artist’s more ambient tendencies with a dancefloor sensibility that’s as vibrant as it is moody. It’s a marvellous return from an artist who has been accused of losing his way in recent times. Alice is all the more notable for making the first track to appear from his forthcoming LP Last Night, which promises “to take a long eight hour night out in New York City and condense it into a 65 minute long album”.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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PANIC AT THE DISCO – NINE IN THE AFTERNOON: Panic At The Disco return with their epic new single Nine In The Afternoon, a lively blend of guitars and pianos that flirts with Sgt Pepper era Beatles, a little ELO and some more traditional Fuelled by Ramen elements. The melodies are fun, the strings and horns that appear late on a welcome addition, and the vocals enthusiastic. The chorus is certainly one that’ll have you singing along after a couple of listens. Nine In The Afternoon is the first single to emerge from Panic At The Disco’s sophomore release, Pretty. Odd, which is due out on March 24. On the evidence of this, the Las Vegas based outfit haven’t suffered any “difficult second album” jitters.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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PJ HARVEY – THE DEVIL: PJ Harvey continues to impress with her newfound ethereal focus on The Devil, the latest offering from her White Chalk LP. The song is backed by some stark piano chords and atmospheric production values that bring out the best in the singer’s distinct, heartbreaking vocals. The back beat is also very assertive to begin with, which helps it to make an immediate impression. Anyone who thought Harvey was all about gritty rock ‘n’ roll has been made to think twice since the release of White Chalk, which marks a major re-invention of her sound. The Devil is just one example of why it rated as one of last year’s biggest surprises and very best offerings.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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THE ENEMY – THIS SONG IS ABOUT YOU: The Enemy continue to impress with the slow-burning new single This Song Is About You. It’s not quite as rousing as some of their singles thus far, but it does show that they are more than capable of slowing things down a little and constructing the type of epic indie anthem that James would have been proud to call their own in their heyday. Lead singer Tom Clarke makes a mockery of his tender years (he’s only 19) by putting forward a mature set of vocals, even though there’s a sneaking suspicion he’s trying to emulate the style of Liam Gallagher a little too closely. But with some fine melodies and a chant-along finale that’s already become a firm live favourite, this is a strong offering that bodes well for The Enemy’s future progress.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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SUPERGRASS – BAD BLOOD: Oxford’s Supergrass return with the second single to be taken from their latest long-player Diamond Hoo Ha in the form of Bad Blood. But while the song is certainly punchy enough and delivered with trademark gusto, it’s also curiously uninspired from this band. Frontman Gaz Coombes attempts to keep up the interest by singing in sharp bursts about “healing bad blood” and walking through “dirty streets”, but instrumentally is where the track is found wanting. The guitars seem content to thrash away despite the odd tempo change and, as a result, the track feels more like an album filler than a proper single. Fans will no doubt disagree but Supergrass appear to have lost their edge with this one.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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TOM BAXTER – TELL HER TODAY: Tom Baxter demonstrates the depth of his songwriting diversity with the achingly romantic Tell Her Today, one of the highlights from his album Skybound. Boasting a heavy Spanish influence Tell Her Today is full of Mediterranean passion thanks to the welcome use of flamenco-style guitars, some sweeping supporting strings and a husky set of vocals that are full of yearning and pent-up romanticism. What’s more, it shifts tempo quite dramatically – and somewhat thrillingly – at around the five-minute mark to indulge in some wonderfully vibrant guitar solos and some Latin American-style piano that the Fania label would be proud to endorse. It’s arguably the most ambitious track on the album, but it’s also the most impressive.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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BOY KILL BOY – PROMISES: Essex-based Boy Kill Boy return with a new album, Stars And The Sea, and new single, Promises. Written in Cornwall and recorded in LA, it’s an up-and-at-‘em effort that bodes extremely well for the new long-player. Chris Peck’s vocals are assured (if slightly more restrained than normal), while the guitars embody an English-ness about them that flirts with punk and more straight forward indie-rock. The chorus, in particular, bears up to favourable comparison with Idlewild in the way that it packs an immediate punch and still manages some intricate layering. Boy Kill Boy were founded in 2004 and pride themselves in delivering easy-to-please guitar pop: it seems that they’ve lost none of their knack for doing just that. The album is released on March 31.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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UNKLE feat JOSH HOMME – RESTLESS: Unkle continue to rate as one of the most innovative and daring dance acts around – a statement that their current LP War Stories proves emphatically thanks to collaborations from the likes of Josh Homme, Gavin Clark and former Cult frontman, Ian Astbury. It’s Homme that takes centre stage on new single Restless, a lively fusion of Unkle’s trademark dance beats and Homme’s Queens of the Stone Age fired-up rock passion. Indeed, the song is equally capable of appealing to Unkle purists as it is Queens of the Stone Age groupies. Needless to say, it’s one of the highlights from War Stories and well worth wrapping your ear drums around.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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SON OF DAVE – OLD TIMES WERE GOOD TIMES: You can’t help but agree with the sentiment behind this single, especially now that our government has seen fit to put booze up and thereby take away the easy idea of having a cheap drink at the end of a long week. But I digress… Son of Dave are old timers who fuse the contemporary cool of Beck with the blues-laced, harmonica vibe of John Lee Hooker and Tom Waits, with a little Alabama 3 thrown in for good measure. Old Times Were Good Times is a funky blend of, well, funk, blues and deep south rock that strikes a genuinely feel-good strut. When they sing, “old times were good times” and immediately declare “yeah, yeah, yeah”, you can’t help but want to sing along in agreement. So Good, So Wrong, the B-side, is equally foot-stomping in nature and another musical good time in waiting.
Rating: 4 out of 5
ANNIE LENNOX – SING: Annie Lennox comes over all worthy with her latest, star-studded offering that’s designed to raise awareness and financial support for the plight of African children. Sing is notable for boasting a who’s who of supporting vocalists, including Anastacia, Isobel Campbell, Dido, Céline Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Fergie, Beth Gibbons, Faith Hill, Angelique Kidjo, Beverley Knight, Gladys Knight, k.d. lang, Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Pink, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright! It’s certainly an inspiring effort, made all the more effective by an accompanying video that’s full of heartbreaking facts about how the AIDs virus is affecting South Africa. Whether it’ll be as effective as Bob Geldof’s Live Aid offerings remains to be seen…
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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BILLY BRAGG – I KEEP FAITH: I Keep Faith finds Billy Bragg and the Blokes draft in Ian McLagan, of Small Faces fame, to deliver some piano and Hammond organ. The legendary Robert Wyatt also contributes vocally. But in spite of such star power, I Keep Faith is a slightly underwhelming slow-burner that marks the first single to be taken from Bragg’s latest long-player Mr Love & Justice. Admittedly, it’s an upbeat record by Bragg’s standards, about keeping faith in someone, but it’s a curiously restrained album opener that sort of sets the tone for what follows on the long-player. That said, fans have already embraced it and, according to the PR, it has become a sing-along favourite in live form. So there… fans are clearly keeping faith.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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GIRLS ALOUD – CAN’T SPEAK FRENCH: One of the highlights to emerge from Tangled Up, Can’t Speak French is a welcome change of pace that places sultry beats above spritely pop. Nicola, Cheryl, Kimberley and Nadine have seldom sounded sexier, while the instrumentals work well to create the seductive atmosphere. It’s evidence that the girls could well be growing up and taking a leaf out of the Sugababes songwriting book. The CD single includes the previously unreleased song Hoxton Hero, a cheaky take on what the girls think about the indie scene that’s certain to rattle a few feathers. For the record, Can’t Speak French marks ther 17th single from Girls Aloud and it’s almost certain to be just as big a hit.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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THE METROS – EDUCATION PT.2: Lippy Peckham upstarts (by their own description) The Metros release their debut single in the form of Education Pt.2. Produced by Baxter Dury, it’s a ragged little offering that’s part Babyshambles, part Clash and not really good enough to sit alongside either. The vocals are cheeky chappy strained and yawn-inducingly punky, the guitars melodic but not really striving to do anything different, and the lyrics as socially aware as ever without really saying anything new. The track is available as an Enchanced CD, standard 7” and 7” picture disc. The standard 7” format features a cover of Gabrielle that was originally released by Shane MacGowan’s first band, The Nipple Erectors. But there’s really nothing titillating about this band’s first release – and the “whoah, hoh” chorus feels like a desperate attempt to grab at some sing-along appeal.
Rating: 2 out of 5
DOES IT OFFEND YOU YEAH? – WE ARE ROCKSTARS: Driven by some tough as nails guitar riffs looped over and over into your consciousness and James’ vocals rolling alongside a distorted bass lines, Does It Offend You Yeah?’s We Are Rockstars isn’t written about the inflated egos of DIOYY?. Rather, it was penned about the social networking ways of the world today – “You’re all rockstars now in a network town, there’s no place to go, to be on your own, making friends and foes, watch the network grow”. The band’s ever growing online presence has soared this year with several Youtube fan videos for We Are Rockstars being posted long before the track was announced as a forthcoming single. But while they’re clearly gaining momentum, the track sucks. It’s boring, repetitive, messy and totally uninspiring. Think Daft Punk meets Human League with a little Nine Inch Nails thrown in – sound odd? You bet. Does it offend? Pretty much, yes. That said, there are much better tracks on the album, which means we haven’t written them off yet.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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THE SECRET HANDSHAKE – GAMEGIRL: Luis Dubuc, aka The Secret Handshake, is currently back in the UK supporting The Rocket Summer. The sold out tour gave Dubuc the opportunity to perform in front of yet another crowd: The Rocket Summer fans, who fell under his spell and succumbed to his blend of indie-electro-pop. The tour also preceded his first UK release since signing to sixsevenine last year. Gamegirl – The Secret Handshake’s first single off of his debut album that’s due for release this summer – is a strange fusion of Daft Punk style electronics and indie-infused electro pop. It takes some getting used to and never really convinces that a whole album would be a good idea, but there’s potential. And (heads up troopers) there’s better to come from the rest of the long-player, so keep an eye on him. The single will be available on CD, 7” and download. Plus, for the first time ever, Enter Shikari are testing their own remixing skills, and have remixed a version of the track for iTunes exclusively.
Rating: 3 out of 5
MODEL HORROR – WE ARE HERE: Championed by Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens on Radio 1, Model Horror release their new single We Are Here in the midst of a UK tour. Sadly, there’s nothing really special here. It’s brash, loud and built around punky, angular guitars and ‘80s influenced synths – but no real sense of originality whatsoever. One can imagine it delivers a bit of a head-rush played in live form, but Model Horror don’t appear to be doing anything different from countless other punk-inflicted, electro-tinged bands at the moment – and that’s a big problem. A lot of the Xfm playlist and Radio 1 late night sessions are beginning to sound the same.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
UTAH SAINTS – SOMETHING GOOD 08: Following a self-imposed exile, Tim Garbutt and Jez Willis buried the Utah Saints name in the early Noughties and vowed only to return when the time was right. Since then, they’ve kepy themselves busy producing and remixing under their Beatvandals moniker, DJed all over the world. Now they return with a new studio album and a series of gigs across the UK, with a mix compilation also planned before the year is out. Something Good 08 (Van She Tech Remix) is not, though, a good place to start for a comeback. True, it trades on the familiar and serves as a reminder of how they can cater for modern dance trends. But it’s a lame remix of a lacklustre track that sounds dated even in re-imagined form. Why didn’t they return with something like Lost Vagueness? This is just lame and hopelessly formulaic – although the big-breated blonde strutting her stuff in the video, and the cheeky newsreel interviews of locals expressing their disbelief, at least make that watchable!
Rating: 1 out of 5
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