Tag Archives: Pop

Theme Park – Theme Park

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Theme Park’s self-titled debut album, out earlier this year, is quite the disappointment. This indie-pop trio from London consists of brothers Miles Haughton (vocals, guitar), Marcus Haughton (vocals, guitar) and childhood friend Oscar Manthorpe (guitar). All in all, this album is inoffensive and easy to listen to and enjoy. However, it is essentially uninspiring and lacks energy. For me, I like to feel evidence of the care and attention put into an album. There is simply no passion, the vocals are clumsy and the songs are generic fillers despite being upbeat and vaguely charming.

Theme Park would certainly not be out of place filtering through an episode of ‘Made in Chelsea’, especially ‘Jamaica’ which is actually quite catchy. Similarly ‘Tonight’, ‘Ghosts’ and ‘A Place They’ll Never Know’ are chilled summer time beats. ‘Saccades’ is a very minimalist track… but I kind of like it.  If you’ve run out of sedatives and fancy a sleep this song is the answer. Like ‘Saccades’, it drifts in and out of clangy and relaxing moments, an interesting few minutes! One of my favourite tracks is ‘Two Hours’ which  has stronger vocals and feels more like a song than an ‘instrumental moment’ like the others. Primary to my concerns for this album is that the songs do not seem to be fully formed, resembling background music. ‘Big Dream’, ‘Wax’, ‘Still Life’, ‘Los Chikas’ and ‘Blind’ are sadly just a bit boring.

Theme Park don’t really seem to have their own distinguishable sound and despite being somewhat catchy, their songs are utterly forgettable. As always I feel that more time may be required to appreciate them. Essentially there is nothing wrong with Theme park … apart from a lack of excitement. They simply haven’t pushed the boundaries.  There’s no lyrical genius, only a central theme for the perfect fun time formula (pretty girl + some drinks + banter = good time). In fact if I hear one more “pretty girl” I might scream. This album is good as background music and I will probably crack it out again for a beach barbecue, it’s perfectly  suited for that sort of situation. However, how many times does that happen, in Aberdeen no less?  Unlike their name, Theme Park are less of a source for amusement, and more a crappy arcade.

5/10

Bailey Johnson.

Haim – ‘Don’t Save Me’

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Haim are simply amazing! With a different sound from your average group these 3 sisters from California, Este, Danielle and  Alana Haim (along with drummer Dash Hutton) have the perfect mix of old-stylie music with up to date pop, folk and R&B.

‘Don’t Save Me’ has become one of my favourite songs this year. It’s upbeat and easy to sing along to with the added bonus of integrated claps; this track is perfect to dance to in a completely ridiculous way (arms flailing included).

‘Don’t Save Me’ also has an essence of the 80’s which I can never resist. The vocals are strong and husky. In a way this song (and most other Haim songs) has some ‘life empowerment properties’. Not in a ‘we are the best’ Destiny’s Child sort of way but in more of a hippy, fun and carelessly free way. This is complemented by the lyrics, for example “Don’t save me now, if your love isn’t strong.” Haim’s songs just create a really great atmosphere, they’re happy and a tad eccentric.

So far there aren’t that many Haim tracks out there, with only the EP ‘Forever’ and a couple of singles to get your Haim fix :( Their newest single ‘Falling’ is potentially my favourite Haim song, so check that out as well as it will be perfect for summer (when the sun eventually arrives).

10/10

Bailey Johnson.

Ellie Goulding – ‘Figure 8′

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My feelings for Ellie Goulding are quite temperamental – some songs I love, some not so much. I am a fan of  ’Starry Eyed’ and I still can’t get enough of ‘Your Song’ but then again that may not count- although it cannot be argued it was an amazing cover.  Unfortunately ‘Figure 8′ is one I am not particularly keen on.  When I first started listening to it, I found it kind of boring and easy to skip, although I did warm to it after a while. It is clear that her new album Halcyon has -unsurprisingly – been strongly influenced by dub–step due to her recent beau Skrillex, although they have sadly broken up since. The song is very electro-pop, and does not do justice to the voice we all know she has. It seems that there has been a fair bit of fine tuning and knob turning in the editing process. I personally don’t think that makes a great song, I prefer it when everything is completely stripped down to the vocals.  ’Figure 8′ is nothing that you haven’t heard before resembling other tracks on her album such as ‘Anything Can Happen’.  I doubt this song is going to be on her greatest hits album but hey ho, she still has plenty of time to fill up that album.

4/10

Aileen O’Hagan

Eugene McGuinness – ‘Sugarplum’

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Eugene McGuinness is a singer/songwriter from London who is somewhat elusive to track down and stalk, however the vague breadcrumbs of knowledge all hint to an eclectic style supported by generally good reviews. ‘Sugarplum’ is from McGuinness’ third album The Invitation to the Voyage which is out now.

This track starts, and I’m immediately brought back to my childhood where I would sit at the electric keyboard convinced I was an expert pianist whilst hitting the intro buttons (think Ross from ‘Friends’). Though maybe my grasp on electro is a tad flawed. Primarily though, despite hints of electro, ‘Sugarplum is a pop song which is light hearted and up-beat.

The vocals are potentially a little shaky and again hark back to times gone by with an air of the 80’s about them, giving the track a nostalgic impression. The chorus, which consists of the repetition “I want you as you are”, is not particularly great. A little too slow and droning to dance to and the instrumental is all a bit too clangy to chill to. However, the lyrics are really quite lovely on closer inspection and reasonably thought provoking. “Blow a bubble in her gum and float over the ocean blue.”/ “We could be painting this town red instead of living in these dungeons of doubt.”

‘Sugarplum’ will be released on December 10th and is definitely worth a listen. Whilst not being particularly awe inspiring ‘Sugarplum’ does have its charms and it is by no means offensive to the ears. This song is irritatingly catchy, plus it gets points purely for the fabulous title “Sugarplum”.

6/10

Bruno Mars – ‘Locked Out of Heaven’

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I have always been wary of Bruno Mars ever since he burst onto our radios a mere two years ago with the sickly sweet ‘Just The Way You Are’. I always seem to find myself on the fine line between love and hate, for example his hit ‘Grenade’ I did not like, yet ‘Marry You’ is a song I still love. Therefore facing another Bruno Mars song I feel slightly cautious about approaching it. Unfortunately this song has me leaning more towards the dislike side of things because the lyrics make me cringe (take for example – “cause your sex takes me to paradise”). However the song is very catchy and as I keep coming back to it I do (and I hate to say it) begin to like it more and more – it would be fair to say it is growing on me a bit like a rash. I do find my foot tapping and my head bopping as I listen to it.

It is a fast paced song which is in a slightly different vein to his previous work. It still has the vintage vibes yet this seems darker in a way and a lot of “yeahs” and “ooohs” and the ridiculously catchy chorus. This does suggest a very different Bruno Mars will be coming to us with the difficult second album attempt which is due to be released December 11th this year entitled Unorthodox Jukebox. This song  will undoubtedly be another pop hit, since Mars has a real talent for writing some incredible pop songs as he did before he became famous with his own work. Yet whilst I can appreciate its poppy vibes (I do love a good pop song) this one just does not do it for me. I’ m going to give it a 6/10 but that’s just me, please give it a listen yourself and leave your own views/ratings in the comments below!

The song is released on November 4th and will be available to buy from all good record shops or to download from the comfort of your own home from iTunes or similar.

Holly Abbott

Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

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Natasha Khan returns with her third album The Haunted Man; a work of eclectic creativity and talented composition. Three years since her previous album, Two Suns, the multi-instrumentalist has cast off her alter-ego, Pearl, along with the lavish aesthetics of her previous work and gone for a slightly more stripped down approach. This can most accurately be said for the stunning and simple accompanying album cover. This image features a bare Khan, draped by a naked man; the image is physically revealing, but completely lacking in any sexual suggestion which litters the pop music industry and Khan stands strong under the weight of the man around her shoulders. Understood as a homage to her musical hero, Patti Smith; a musician whom Khan has described as a ‘raw, honest woman’, this cover makes a bold statement about the strength and talent of female artists, Khan being no exception. Existing among a canon of innovative female artists such as Bjork, Kate Bush and Tori Amos, Khan asserts herself as a gifted musician and composer in her own right, regardless of gender, and certainly regardless of the ‘one size fits all’ perception which has been created for female artists in the music industry today.

If the album cover is raw and simple, can the same be said for the content? To a certain extent yes; her vocals are generally less processed than on ‘Two Suns’, one example being the track ‘Laura’; a haunting piano ballad with clear, gliding vocals which reveals a more vulnerable Khan than is usually presented.  However, the rest of the album is just as densely packed as usual, with lush, atmospheric arrangements and examples of a great variety of genres pervading most tracks, including dream-pop, psychedelia and hip-hop. The gospel vocals of the introduction to ‘Oh Yeah’ contrast perfectly with the hip hop beats and psychedelic synths which follow. Just as we would expect from her previous albums, for the most part Khan’s vocals provide a consistently expressive overture to the tracks. However, it seems as though this album is a step in the direction of a sound which is slightly less vocally centred, opting instead for a more rounded, musical composition such as the rich orchestral influences of ‘Winter Fields’ and the synth combinations of ‘Marilyn’. Lyrically, Khan is meditative and poetic, whether she is dealing with romantic pain: “I get home and there’s a love note waiting/But only he is here tonight/And the words, the promises you’re making/Only echo all these lies”, or an affirmation of life ‘Thank God I’m alive’.

The Haunted Man sits confidently within the catalogue of Bat For Lashes as an album which is very much on trend. With Khan’s talent for composition and her unique musical character, with this album she has once again proved herself to be an inspirational figure and pioneer for intelligent, contemporary pop music.

8/10      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Elizabeth Ozolins

JLS – ‘Hottest Girl In The World’

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Simply by the title it was evident that this wasn’t going to be the best single to ever be released. Previously I have been rather ambivalent about JLS, hits like ‘Beat Again’ have featured on my iPod, but I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan. However this song makes me realise that I actually quite liked JLS, hence my disappointment at this new direction they seem to have taken. Before, they were fun and cheesy in the right way. This song plays it safe and it’s evident from the bland and swishy music video that they’ve tried to be a bit cool and lost some of their charm behind.

“How does it feel to be the hottest girl in the world right now?” Well, these lyrics definitely leave something to be desired. Honestly how could girls not swoon in their thousands at this flattering question I ask myself? *Sarcasm alert*. In spite of this, it does have to be said that this song is rather catchy in a typical pop way and will most likely see some place in the charts. The underlying rhythm is good but not dance worthy and the vocals which are normally of a good quality seem to have morphed into a Timberlake/Usher/Chipmunk hybrid. Rather upsetting to be honest.

I think I might skip past this JLS blunder and hope that in the future they revert back to what they’re best at, being a group of happy chappies that don’t take themselves too seriously whilst providing the bubbly, vaguely romance-based beats.

Bailey Johnson

Primrose Hill – ‘Candy Rain’

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Primrose Hill, for a group pitched as not being “your average X Factor wannabes”, unfortunately seem to fit that bill perfectly. Perhaps unfairly, my initial thoughts – purely aesthetically – were that they appear to be rich young girls who thought making music would be a totally rad thing to do, and who begged their parents to get them a recording gig lest they run away from home. And it might be even more harsh to suggest so (I’m reminded that they are only 15 year old girls), but I don’t think their music does much to fight this image.

Their début single, ‘Candy Rain’ is, originally unbeknownst to me, a cover of the song by the same name released by Soul 4 Real in 1995. My confusion, however was not because I was uninformed, but because the producers thought it was a good idea to shoehorn a pretty poor, and unrelated (beyond awful candy based puns), group rap into the first 30 seconds of the song. Somebody might argue this helps to make this song their own, but they could have either made it:

a) not godawful

b) their own through more interesting ways, like the relatively successful changes to the beat

There are, however, some genuinely nice elements at work here; their vocals actually seem like they’ve worked on them somewhat (though they still don’t hold a flame to the original), and the aforementioned clap-like snare on the beat works really well in making the song feel more punchy and lively than the original.

The myriad problems outweigh the few good aspects; they manage to stick another entirely unnecessary rap segment into it, complete with poor flow and delivery and lyrics that make me quite sad to know exist; “Chocolate covered honeycomb | I’mma call you honey fo’ sho’”. The sadder part about them is they (according to their press release) were written by the team of writers on board for the production of this single. Pair in the whining, obnoxious ‘dangerous’ sounding synths (which make certain portions of the song seem too busy and overproduced), and the middle of the song is utterly butchered.

The tragedy here is, with some work and classier production, they might have had a decent song, but ultimately the elements that comprise their music are simply lacking. I should note, I’m likely not the target audience here, as their YouTube upload of the video boasts an okay 30,000~ view count, and the overarching feedback is positive. My recommendation is; if you are a girl in the age range of 12 to 16, try this out, maybe you’ll get it. Otherwise, steer clear.

3/10

Jeffrey Berraoui

Eric Turner vs Avicii – ‘Dancing in my head’

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“Who is Eric Turner?” I hear you say. Well reader, he is that fellow that provided vocals for the Tinie Tempah song ‘Written in the stars’. There, he basically looked very angsty (not sexy angsty) for a while in front of a piano. Anyway he is back and this time he has teamed up with Avicii on a track entitled ‘Dancing In My Head’ which I cannot decide if I like or not. Sometimes I listen and I feel my foot tapping to it, other times it starts up and I think “I really hate this song”. It is a pretty generic pop song with (what has become common place of recent) a club-style breakdown towards the end. Turner’s vocals are good and he has an interesting voice very different from the top male artists on the scene today. However the lyrics are just not strong enough to make the song spectacular, to be honest they are not really memorable at all. Having listened to the song on a loop for the past twenty minutes I still could not recite any apart from the repeated “that giiiiirrrlll…”. As for Avicii’s role in all this, I am not sure. It has none of the catchy style of his most well known tune ‘Levels’.

As you can probably tell I am still very ambivalent about this track, so I think it would be best to leave it to you all to come to a decision about it. I personally do not think it is that good, but give it a listen and make up your own mind!

Holly Abbott

Stooshe – ‘Black Heart’

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Right. Well… ‘Black Heart’ is a slab of sassy, catchy, melodromatic pop with buckets of swag and astonishing harmonies. At least, that’s what I would write if I were asked to come up with a press release for it. I would probably add a few more buzzwords – sleek, retro, emotionally charged…

The reality is, ‘Black Heart’ is a polished, streamlined, calculated attempt to get Stooshe a hit single. Most people will recognise this. The people who buy it will generally be teenage girls who are moved enough by the lyrics to quote them on their Facebook status, or else they’ll be obsessed enough with the (admittedly catchy) chorus that they have to listen to it on repeat until it gets annoying.

The song is basically a recycled Motown girl group melody, with a 21st century production sheen. Lyrically, it will make the nation’s ‘nice guys’ recoil in horror. “Daddy I’ve fallen for a monster”, they croon. Well, fair enough, girls have been singing about how they can’t resist ‘bad boys’ for decades. However, generally there is some other source of appeal – humour, self-confidence, nice hair, whatever… Here, it seems the girls are truly, deeply in love with this guy, purely because “he’s the best [they’ve] ever had”. Ladies and gentlemen, I am 85% sure they are referring to coitus. Now, there are lyrics in existence which are much more crass and aggravating. But not many of them come with a sweeter than honey melody and chart-friendly chorus. For some reason, I don’t believe the guy in question is really “scaring [them] to death”. Vapid stuff.

One thing I must say in their defence: they have talent. While they have been given this song – an homage to their ‘60s girl group influences – there is evidence they can sing live. They even have some stage presence and charisma. As Nicki Minaj’s recent T in the Park performance indicated, many artists are violating one of music’s fundamental laws of credibility: it is absolutely wrong to record or manipulate vocals in the studio, to the point where the artist can’t, or won’t, sing them live. Stooshe don’t seem to have this problem – their talent and image means they have endless possibilities. It’s a shame then that this is just a little reprehensible.

Alan Henderson